Title: How to Get a Player to Commit
Author: Steph
Rating: PG
Pairing: Robin/Patrick
Category: Romance/Humor/Drama
POV: Robin
Disclaimer: I do this out of a love for this couple. No infringement is intended.
Spoilers: Picks up after the cabin, so includes all of that.
Summary: Robin decides she wants a commitment from Patrick and comes up with a set of rules to follow in order to get her man.

Note: Thanks for the feedback! Hope you enjoy Rule # 3 and please let me know what you thought! -Steph

---How to Get a Player to Commit: Rule # 3 - Make Him Jealous ---

I smile at Dr. Austin Marcus, as we engage in conversation over lunch in the cafeteria. He's a new cardiologist at General Hospital. He's thirty years old, six foot two, with dark, curly hair and clear, blue eyes. And not a hint of ego or arrogance about him. He's perfect, except for one thing.

He's not Patrick Drake.

God help me, I love that arrogant, egotistical man.

I raise my head, my eyes landing on Patrick as he walks in our direction. Our eyes meet and a smile spreads across his lips, complete with dimple. His eyes move away from mine and land on Austin, who is seated in front of me. He abruptly stops in his tracks, nearly dropping his tray of food. His smile runs away from his face and his jaw tightens, his eyes focused on Austin. I move my gaze back to Austin, my smile widening.

"So, you haven't found a place to live yet?" I ask, my eyes again moving back to Patrick, who's uprooted himself from his spot and is continuing in our direction.

"No, can't find anything I like. Looks like it's the MetroCourt for me for the foreseeable future."

Patrick comes to stand beside us, his eyes moving from me to Austin. He plops his tray down on the table and takes the chair to my left.

"Is this seat taken?" he asks, although he's already sitting in it.

I look at him. "I don't remember inviting you to join us."

He looks at Austin and smiles, "Pretty rude of her, don't you think?" Austin eyes him, but doesn't reply. "Just like it's pretty rude of her not to introduce us, seeing as we haven't yet met."

I roll my eyes and gesture to Austin. "Dr. Austin Marcus, cardiologist, meet Dr. Patrick Drake, neurosurgeon and, apparently, etiquette expert."

Patrick extends his hand to Austin, who accepts it. "Welcome to General Hospital. I hope Dr. Scorpio here has been as hospitable to you as she was to me when I first came here."

I frown. Austin smiles. "She's been very welcoming and helpful."

Patrick nods, pursing his lips. "Glad to hear it. She can take a while to warm up to people, so sometimes she can be less than hospitable. But once the ice thaws a little, she likes to give new staffers a very hands-on experience to make them feel at home."

I bite at my bottom lip, as Austin's brow furrows in confusion. I offer Patrick a glare, but he simply grins at me. Austin doesn't seem to know what to make of Patrick and I'm realizing that this jealousy thing is harder than it looks.

I lean over and run my hand down Austin's forearm. Patrick's eyes follow it.

"Austin just got back from Africa. He spent three years treating people in a poor village ravaged by disease."

Patrick takes a bite out of his sandwich and speaks with his mouth full. "How very Noah Wyle of you."

I roll my eyes. Can't Patrick act just a little impressed?

Patrick tilts his head as he looks at Austin. "So three years in Africa, huh? You must be pretty out of touch. Let me catch you up. Bush won re-election, and Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston are no more. I still haven't decided which one upsets me more."

I sigh, realizing I need to steer the conversation back to Austin's significant accomplishments.

I pat Austin's arm. "In January, Austin received New York's Humanitarian of the Year Award."

Austin blushes and shakes his head humbly. "It was an honor."

Patrick nods and takes a sip of his soda. "Congratulations. Did you get a banquet? They threw me a banquet when I received The Hope for the Future Award for my work developing experimental procedures to treat brain conditions." He pauses, smiles, and shrugs his shoulders. "Turns out, people right here in the United States get sick, too." Austin stares at him blankly, unsure if he is teasing him or not. Patrick picks up a potato chip and points it at him. "So, where did we land on the banquet thing? Mine had those little hot dogs."

Austin shakes his head. "No banquet."

Patrick smiles. "Too bad. Those little hot dogs were delicious."

I groan in frustration. "Patrick, surely you've heard of Austin. Before leaving for Africa, he was the leading cardiologist on the East Coast. He's renowned for his advances in treating heart conditions."

Patrick shrugs and turns to me with a smile, his voice lowering an octave. "You know me, I don't really concern myself with matters of the heart."

I eye him for a long moment, before sighing again, and finally pulling my hand off Austin's arm.

Patrick takes a bite out of his sandwich. "So, I thought I heard something about the MetroCourt when I came over."

Austin nods. "Yeah, I'm staying there until I find a place of my own."

Patrick smiles. "Small world. That's where I'm staying. Maybe we can hang out sometime."

Austin smiles politely, but says rather unenthusiastically, "Yeah, maybe."

Patrick glances at me. "You know, I'm sure Robin could tell you anything you want to know about the MetroCourt. She's spent plenty of time there...at my place."

I lower my gaze, as Austin looks at me. This is backfiring. Patrick is definitely jealous, hence his not-so-subtle way of informing Austin that we have a relationship of some sort and his attempts at trying to one-up him professionally. But poor Austin is no match for him. He's not giving Patrick any reason to believe there's anything to worry about. And I think Patrick's actually enjoying this.

Austin stands up. "Well, I better get back to work. It was nice meeting you, Dr. Drake."

"Please, call me Patrick. I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," Patrick says with a dimpled smile.

Austin nods awkwardly, before looking at me. "See you later, Robin."

I let out a breath, feeling bad about using a perfectly nice man to make Patrick jealous. It worked, just not like I had hoped.

"You're going to have to do better than that," he says, as he eyes me over his cup of soda.

"Excuse me?"

He goes on. "I mean, that guy was as dry as toast. Actually, I feel as if I've insulted toast with that comparison. Honestly, Robin, you could've tried a little harder. I may not save whole African villages, but at least I keep it interesting."

I narrow my eyes at him. "What are you talking about?"

He lowers the cup and leans forward. "What, you don't think I know what you were doing? You were trying to use Dr. No Personality to make me jealous."

I try to laugh it off as absurd. "Please, there's that arrogance again."

"That's okay, you don't have to admit it. It's actually kind of cute."

"Cute?"

"Yeah, very high school. And here I thought I was the one who had the emotional maturity of a high school senior."

"You are. I wasn't trying to make you jealous, Patrick. You just reacted that way. You don't like that another guy could be interested in me."

"I don't get jealous," he says with a sharp shake of his head.

I raise an eyebrow. "Oh, really? You tried to outdo him professionally."

"I don't have to try to do that. It just comes naturally."

I lean forward, my eyes meeting his. "You got all territorial and made sure he knew there was something going on between us."

His lips curl into a crooked smile that makes my palms sweaty. "I felt it was only fair the poor guy know what he's up against. I mean, for the rest of your life you're going to compare every guy you're with to me."

I laugh and shake my head. "And you've set the bar so high."

He licks at his lips, his right hand dipping beneath the table and moving to my leg. He caresses my thigh, slowly running his hand up and down. I shiver at his touch and have to swallow to suppress a moan.

He speaks huskily, "Think back to the cabin. You know exactly how high that bar was set."

I take a deep breath, my heart rate quickening at the thought. I shake my head to clear it. I then move my hand beneath the table and cover his with it, before shoving it off my leg. His smile evaporates.

"I don't care what you say. You were jealous and you were marking your territory. God, I'm surprised you didn't just take me right here on the table."

He arches his eyebrows, his eyes twinkling as a grin again overtakes his lips. "Don't tempt me."

I roll my eyes, stand up, and pick up my tray of food. I then look down at him. "You know, you're not the only brilliant, successful, handsome doctor at General Hospital."

His grin fades again and I smile inwardly. I begin to walk away when he speaks. I spin around to look at him.

"Maybe not, but I might as well as be. You don't have eyes for anyone else. You couldn't have picked Dr. Do-Good out of a line-up once you laid eyes on me."

I groan and turn on my heel. Damn, I hate it when he's right. He is not making this easy.
----
Up Next - Rule # 4: Leave Him Speechless
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it and please let me know what you thought. -Steph