6
PATRICK
Damn. Hope. It was big. I could tell. If I messed everything up with her, she’d never trust another man. But when that thought went through my head, the one that followed was I didn’t want her to ever have to think about another man. I wanted her to be mine. For good.
I resisted the urge to devour her. It burned through me, but she was scared, so I had to take things slow. I had to be careful. If I wasn’t, I’d scare her off and never get another chance.
“Having hope is a good thing,” I finally said, the words barely making it out past the tightness in my throat.
She smiled faintly, the corners of her mouth lifting just enough to tell me she was happy but still terrified. “Is everything set for the event this weekend?”
Getting personal wasn’t something she did often, so I un
