Nine
"You could have made more than one trip," Robin said dryly as she opened the loft door to reveal Patrick who was loaded down with two boxes almost blocking his view and many, many bags.
"Not helping!" he grunted and shifted the packages precariously.
"Oh!" Robin looked trying to find a way to take something from him that wouldn't cause it all to topple and take him with it.
"Move!" Patrick cried out, half in laughter and half in panic.
Robin jumped back. "Clear the way!" she warned her roommates who were laying out the food on the kitchen counters. She slid the loft door closed and rushed after Patrick and caught one of the bags that fell after he put the boxes down on the breakfast bar in the space that Lainey and Kelly had hurriedly cleared for him.
"You could have called and we would have come down and helped," Robin scolded as she took his hands and inspected them. "You didn't hurt your hands did you?"
Patrick rolled his eyes and took his hands back. "I'm a big boy, Mama Scorpio. I know how not to hurt my hands."
"I bet you know what to do with your hands," Kelly chimed in.
"That's not what he said." Robin snorted and rolled her eyes. Kelly was irrepressible.
"Let's get the ice into the chests on the deck and load in the beer and soda. We also have a garbage can for the…"
"Has she been ordering you around all afternoon?" Patrick interrupted and looked at Robin's roommates sympathetically.
"I'm just trying to get things done." Robin put her hands on her hips and glared at Patrick.
"Your way. I think we all know how to…" he trailed off and cleared his throat.
"What? Why are you stopping your lecture, Dr. Drake?" Robin smirked at him.
"Well, now that we're, uh, you know, dating, I thought maybe I shouldn't…do that." Patrick flushed and shifted around uncomfortably.
"You mean now that you're Robin's boyfriend you should act like you're whipped?" Lainey asked in an innocent tone of voice. Robin's lips twitched. Kelly didn't bother holding back her laughter.
"Hey! That's not what I said!" Patrick flushed more.
"Patrick." Robin walked up to him and put her hand on his chest. "We're dating, not getting lobotomies or personality transplants. If you feel threatened by my ability to organize things and accomplish goals you should feel free to express it." She bit her lip to keep from laughing.
"Hey!" Patrick cried out again and then started to laugh. Robin grinned up at him and winked. He bent down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Where should I put the ice?"
"Boyfriend, huh?" Kelly walked over, holding a bag of ice. Patrick let go of Robin and held out his arms and looked at her, waiting for the punch-line. "Just remember to lock the linen closet doors from now on."
Robin covered her face in mortification. Patrick just laughed and thanked her for the tip. Moments later they all headed outside carrying bags of ice and they worked in harmony setting up the beverages.
"You know as first official loft boyfriend you have certain duties," Lainey said. Patrick, Robin and Kelly looked at her questioningly. "Changing lightbulbs in high places. Killing bugs. Opening jars."
"You mean man's work. Does this mean that you'll do my laundry and dishes?"
"Hey!" All three women admonished.
He shrugged and popped open a beer and sat back against the deck railing.
"Who said you could have a drink yet?" Robin teased as she stood over him with her hands on her hips.
"The sweat rolling down my back from carrying it in."
"Does this mean you need a shower?" Robin asked.
"I told you we had to give her the bedroom with the ensuite bathroom," Kelly said. Lainey grimaced and nodded.
"What I meant is that we need to get ready for the party," Robin said, her voice squeaky with embarrassment.
"They know what you meant, honey," Patrick interjected.
"God. I'm going go get ready. You do what you want!" She threw her hands up and turned and stormed back inside.
"She's cute when she's embarrassed," Patrick observed with a smitten grin.
"You're not really mad," Patrick said as he walked into the bathroom. Robin had started the water for a shower and was starting to get undressed.
"No? Is that observation based on your keen knowledge of women?" Robin snarked.
"No, my keen knowledge of you. You're embarrassed but you really like it when I get dirty with you."
Robin closed her eyes and started counting under her breath. Then she stopped and cursed the damned counting. "With me, not in front of the entire world!"
"Your friends are not the entire world. I'm sure it's not surprising to hear that we might be showering together."
"Thinking about it and hearing about it are two different things." Robin tossed her shirt into the hamper.
"Aw, come on, Scorpio. Don't pretend you don't tell your friends details. Do the words stallion and broken hip mean anything?" He leaned in close and brushed his lips against her ear.
Robin closed her eyes. "How long were you standing there anyway?"
"Never telling." Patrick licked his bottom lip and reached around and undid the clasp of Robin's bra. "You're the one who said we weren't getting personality transplants."
"I didn't mean you should act like you were fifteen," Robin muttered and then sighed as he pulled down her shorts.
"It'll keep you young," Patrick insisted as he began to take off his own clothes.
Robin opened her eyes and watched as he tossed his clothes onto the floor of the bathroom. Once he'd kicked them aside and they landed in a wet spot she tilted her head and looked at him in mock curiosity. "Did you bring anything to change into?" she asked.
Patrick's jaw dropped as he remembered the one bag he had left in the car.
"You're just mean."
"What happened to showing my roommates what they're missing now that you're a taken man?" Robin asked as she looked in the mirror to put in her dangly silver earrings. "Since when are you so shy, anyway." She smoothed her hair down and looked at Patrick who was buttoning his gray-blue shirt.
"Since your next door neighbor is a big, burly man who told me that I had a nice towel."
Robin giggled and walked up to Patrick, undeterred by his glare and reached up to finish his buttoning job. "You look mighty handsome, Dr. Drake."
"Don't try to appeal to my vanity now to make up for making me go to the car in my towel to get my bag."
"But you are so handsome, Dr. Drake." She looped her arms around his neck and pressed her body into his. At his request she was wearing the same red dress she had worn on their first date after her return from the Maarkham Islands.
He smoothed his hands over the material at her hips and sighed. "I don't know if this boyfriend-girlfriend thing is going to work for me if it means habitual humiliation for me," he teased.
"You get your shots in. And I would have gone to get your clothes myself, fully dressed, if you hadn't squirted me with the moisturizer while I was offering."
"That was an accident!" Patrick insisted as he tried and failed to stop from snickering.
"You opened the bottle, aimed it at me and squeezed." She pressed a kiss to chin. "Being in a relationship is not about being mean to each other. I hope that you don't think that."
Patrick wrapped his arms around her and leaned down. "Don't worry, I don't. We're fun you and I. I like it that we can laugh together. I missed that. I missed you." He stroked her cheek.
"Me too," Robin admitted. "I'm really happy that we're giving this a try. And I'm really happy when the b-word is mentioned you've stopped flinching."
"I never flinched." Patrick laughed and kissed her cheek. "But I might really suck at this, you know."
"So you keep telling me. There's no magic formula. Just communication, respect…"
"Good sex."
"Yes, good sex, fun, laughter." She paused. "And the occasional humiliating moment."
"And more mind-bending sex," Patrick whispered huskily before capturing his lips for a heated kiss. When he pulled back he brushed the hair that had fallen on her cheek back. "There's something I want you to know. While we were together, and after, I didn't…I was never with anyone else. I tried, I almost, but I never did."
Robin's entire being froze at his confession. She opened her mouth to speak.
"You don't have to say anything," Patrick said, putting his hand over her lips. "I just wanted you to know."
"Patrick, I really should…"
"No. Don't. It's the past now. From here on out it's just you and I. Like we agreed." He leaned in and kissed her. "Come on. I hear your roommates reorganizing your work and I want to watch you trying to put it back in order." He grinned and pulled her out of the room. She followed along, but her expression was still troubled.
TBC