Part 5

"Good morning, Dr. Scorpio. You look well-rested."

Robin looked up from the form she was filling out at the nurse's station at Patrick who was leaning against the counter across from her. She didn't bother to suppress the smile his comment elicited. "Good morning to you, Dr. Drake. You look a little tense this morning."

"Well, now that you mention it. I might need to work out some tension tonight." His smile turned from teasing to wolfish in a split second.

"You don't say." Robin arched her eyebrows and looked back down at her form.

"Do you want to help me work out that tension tonight, Dr. Scorpio?" Patrick leaned in closer and spoke so only she could hear him.

"I think that might be doable, Dr. Drake. Someone needs to check your incision since you checked out of the hospital too early."

"Are you saying you want to play doctor?" Patrick licked his lips and grinned at her.

Robin finally deigned to look at him. "You're incorrigible." But she smiled when she said it.

"I prefer the word insatiable. You left me wanting more last night, Robin." He plucked the pen out of her fingers. "But I'm sure that was part of your strategy."

She was taken aback by the simmering emotion in his eyes. "I'm not…"

"You are playing games with me, Robin. But that's okay. I like playing games almost as much as I like winning. See you later." Patrick dropped the pen onto the counter and sauntered away.

Robin frowned and picked up her pen, but didn't immediately go back to writing. Stop it, she ordered herself as she realized she was starting to analyze his reaction and his intentions. This was supposed to be casual. One of the benefits of that was that they didn't owe each other any explanations and she didn't have to twist herself into knots to be who he wanted her to be. She would live with her rules, enjoy his body and his company. That was it. She continued to fill out her lab requisition.

>>>>>>>>>

"You're leaving?" Patrick's voice was flat as Robin got up from the tangle of blankets, sheets and limbs.

"We came right from work. I don't have anything to wear tomorrow or enough of my meds." She shoved her bra into her purse and pulled on her shirt and buttoned her slacks. Seeing him look so blank after the mind blowing session they'd just had tugged at Robin, seeing no harm if she kept it light she put her knees on the bed and leaned over and kissed him.

His hand snaked around her and held her head prisoner as he slid his tongue inside her mouth, tasting, teasing and dragging her under his spell for another moment. She was sighing when he let her go. She was both relieved and disappointed that he didn't ask her to stay.

"Good night," she whispered before leaving. This time she paused right outside his door, looking at it as if she could see through it. Her body and her emotions ached to go back inside and lose herself in his arms again. To lie against his warmth and just for a little while longer and pretend they shared the emotional connection he wouldn't let them make.

Chemicals, she reminded herself and forced herself to go home.

>>>>>>>>

"What's with Patrick Drake lately? I don't think he's asked anyone out since his surgery."

Robin stopped short on the other side of the lockers at the mention of Patrick's name.

"I dunno, maybe they took out more than his liver if you know what I mean?"

"He looks fully-functional to me." The words of the young-sounding woman were a lustful sigh.

Nurses, Robin realized, talking about Patrick Drake. This was not a new occurrence, in fact it seemed like every time she was in the locker room some nurse or other was asking her about Patrick Drake since they worked together so often.

"Maybe administration finally told him to stop harassing all the women in the hospital," said another female voice, her voice full of amusement.

"He can harass me anytime, anywhere and in any position." Murmurs of agreement were heard over the closing of locker doors.

"I think he's involved with Dr. Scorpio. You should see them arguing, it's kind of hot to watch. And he's always looking at her."

"Doesn't she have HIV?"

Robin stiffened.

"Yeah, that's why she's campaigning to start up the Nurse's Ball again. I saw her speak at one back when I was in nursing school."

"I miss those."

"Yeah, me too. We should give her a hand with that, we are nurses." More murmurs of agreement were heard.

"Dr. Drake must really be in to her. Lucky woman. His father is hot too. He's single."

Robin slipped out of the locker room before she was spotted. She couldn't get all the things she heard off her mind for the rest of the day.

>>>>>>>>

"What time do you get off tonight?" Patrick asked as he walked into the lab where Robin was peering into a microscope.

"Does everything you say have to be a sexual innuendo?" Catching his leer she rolled her eyes and made a notation onto her clipboard.

"Come on, you know you like it." His voice was teasing, but Robin also picked up a hint of impatience.

"You have the maturity of a twelve year old." She looked him up and down wondering what was upsetting him. Had he fought with Noah again? Or was the demand of monogamy too much for him to deal with? From what she had overheard the nurses saying he wasn't asking anyone else out, but then she had learned the hard way not to put too much stock into what she overheard in the locker room.

"And still you can't resist my body." Patrick held his arms out to show off the aforementioned goods.

Robin rolled her eyes again and changed slides. "I won't be done for another hour. I can meet you at your room."

"I'll order dinner for us." It wasn't an invitation.

"Thanks, but I already ate." She looked through the scope again and then made another notation. She didn't realize Patrick hadn't left until he leaned against the bench next to her. "What?"

He crossed his arms. "Why are you acting like you're coming over to service me?"

"My meds were upsetting my stomach and I needed to have something eat." It was the truth, but if it wasn't she would have found another reason to avoid sharing a private meal with him. They'd been having their "fling" for over two weeks now, had spent half those nights making mad, passionate love, sex, she amended hastily, and for all of them she had avoided sharing anything more intimate than some wine and had never stayed the night. She was more than managing to avoid being emotionally entangled with it all, in fact, she was feeling more disconnected from him than ever. She assumed that he welcomed this.

"Oh." Clearly, thrown, Patrick uncrossed his arms and straightened up. "Are you feeling all right now?"

"I'm fine. I just need to finish these measurements and then I can come over."

Patrick thought for a moment. "Did you bring something to change into tomorrow morning?"

"No." She could see where he was leading her and had been hoping to avoid this conversation a lot longer or, to tell the truth, completely. She put her pen down and crossed her arms.

"Then I'll just meet you at your place."

"No, that's not convenient for me."

"I know what you're doing."

Robin looked over at him and schooled her features into an expression of mild interest, but inside she was a quivering mess of chaos. This was it, she was sure, he was going to end it, having had enough of her inability to just go with the flow and not having a queue for his bed.

"You're treating this like a…a booty call to get me to change my mind and suddenly want to be your boyfriend, Robin. I can't be manipulated." He spoke quietly and his tone was completely serious. She wanted to punch him.

"You are such an arrogant jerk!" She couldn't believe he thought that, but at the same time she wasn't surprised.

"You're the one acting like a jerk!" He pointed his finger at her.

"You want no strings sex, that's what you're getting and now you're complaining about it!" Robin threw her hands up in aggravation.

"What else am I supposed to think, Robin? I know you enjoy my company outside bed. Just because we've agreed there's no future in this doesn't mean we can't keep doing that along with enjoying mind blowing bed gymnastics."

"And you know that I enjoy your company because we've spent so much time together outside the hospital before now." Robin crossed her arms.

"We would have if you weren't resisting me."

"Oh my god. You make no sense."

"Acting on the passion that we both obviously feel was supposed to add to what we already had, not take away from it," Patrick snapped.

"According to you we didn't have anything because you don't want to emotionally connect."

"I said I didn't want commitment, that's not the same thing!" Patrick stopped and took a deep breath before speaking more calmly. "I care about you, Robin and I have never treated you like you're a hooker, you're the one doing that. If you would stop with these games we could both have a good time. I know you care about me though apparently you'd rather cut your tongue out than admit it for some reason."

"Great, now I'm a hooker."

"Showing up at my hotel room for sex and then leaving and barely talking to me any other time seems a lot like prostitution to me and I'm getting really sick of it."

"You would know wouldn't you?"

"Don't turn this around on me," Patrick said reasonably.

Robin looked at Patrick like he had three heads. She couldn't believe he was serious. "You ass. Did it ever occur to you that rather than trying to manipulate the amazing Patrick Drake into being my committed boyfriend," Robin said the last few words mockingly, "I'm trying to deal with this the best way I can so I don't get everything all muddled up. Not everything is about you, Patrick."

Patrick shot a worried look at his shoes.

"I don't think for one minute that you're boyfriend material for me, all right, but the only people I've ever had sex with were men that I loved very deeply. I'm trying to keep this clean for the both of us. Maybe after a while, if it lasts that long, I'll be able to spend time with you and have sex with you without worrying that hormones will confuse me."

"Oh." Patrick licked his bottom lip and frowned. "Do you still want to come over tonight?"

Robin didn't know whether to laugh or scream. She turned back to the work bench for a moment before swinging around to look at him again. "I'll be there."

"Okay." Patrick walked to the door and then hesitated. "If you had just told me what was going on I could have tried to help you. I'll do what I can to make sure this stays clean, for both of us, all right?"

Robin turned her head to look at him. Though he infuriated her, he was right, they were more than just sexual partners. "Why don't you order me some dessert? Something chocolate?" She offered as a concession.

"With syrup and whipped cream." He winked at her, flashed a dimple and left.

Robin turned back towards the work bench and smiled as she pulled out the next slide she needed to track. She was really crap at this casual stuff, but maybe now that it was out in the open it would be easier. He hadn't walked away and that meant something. Right?