Her thoughts weredrawn back to last night, and the way Todd handled her emotionallyfragile state. He sure is full ofsurprises. He canbe very sweet and tender when he wants to be. It had been a long time since she had been treated with suchcare. Throughouther stay, he had been the perfect host, and had also proven himselfto be the perfect gentleman. Strangely, though, she wasn’t sure ifthe latter made her feel happy or sad. Perhaps I don’t want him to be such agentleman. Confessing that thought had herquestioning her motives.
Patrick had rearranged hisworkload to knock off early. He planned to drop in on Chloe. He hadbeen thinking about her, wondering how she was feeling, and as yethad not made the call. He stopped off at the real estate office inPort Melbourne, surprised to see Todd packing up his laptop, alsoway ahead of his schedule for the day.
“I thought I’d drop byand see Chloe.” Patrick announced.
“I am sure she wouldbe very pleased to have a visitor.” Todd smiled, but only becausehe felt it appropriate. Their evenings had been happily spenttogether, just the two of them. He didn’t want a visit fromPatrick. He didn’t want Patrick to spoil what they had built overthat past few days.
“Good. Any idea ofwhat I could take along? You know. Something to make her feelbetter. Something for me to score some points.”
“Why do you need toscore points with Chloe? I thought you were currently seeing theredhead from Williamstown?” Pangs of jealousy flared in the pit ofhis stomach.
“You can never haveenough points up your sleeve, Todd. Haven’t I taught you anything?All women love beautiful gifts, all beautiful gifts win you points.Then when the time comes, you use those points to your advantage.”Patrick looked pleased imparting this pearl of wisdom to hisbrother.
“You’re all class,Patrick.” Todd shook his head. “Chloe likes flowers.”
“Cool. Flowers it isthen.”
He stuffed the papersinto his laptop bag in his haste to leave. It annoyed him more thanhe wanted to admit that Patrick was going to be spending time withChloe today. At least he had already planned to be home early; he’dmake sure his brother kept his distance. He didn’t want his brothertaking advantage of Chloe when she was feeling vulnerable.Especially after he had done the gentlemanly thing and kept hisdistance.
Chloe reluctantly left thecomfort of the couch to answer the doorbell. She buzzed Patrickthrough the foyer, and in a few minutes he arrived at the doorcarrying a large pot of orchids wrapped in clouds of soft whitetissue paper.
“Hello Patrick. It’sbeen a while hasn’t it.” He handed her the pot of flowers “Theseare for me? They are beautiful, thank you.”
“You’re looking well.My brother must be taking good care of you.”
Cradling the flowers in the crookof one arm, she moved towards Patrick to kiss his cheek. However,he pulled her close and kissed her on the lips.
She could feel hisenjoyment in that kiss pressed against her stomach, andsurprisingly, it unsettled her. Wow,things sure have changed. Her head began tothrob, and she pulled back quickly, out of his embrace.
“Careful, you’llsquash the flowers. Thank you. Orchids, wow … they really arebeautiful.” She fussed over the flowers to give her a few preciousmoments to think. A few weeks ago she would have been thrilled tohave him kiss her like that. Now it was as though she could see himfor what he really was. Much to her amazement, she didn’t want tobe just another notch on his headboard. Todd’s maturity shonethrough when she held both personalities up to thelight.
Unaware of her reluctance, heplaced his arm around her shoulders and hugged her to him as theywalked towards the kitchen to put the flowers on thebench.
Todd opened the apartment door atthat precise moment. Patrick had his arm proprietarily around her,and from the expression on his face, the heat rising to her cheeksfrom embarrassment had been misconstrued.
“Should I go out andcome back in a couple of hours?” Todd strode by, heading for thekitchen.
“Settle down, Todd. Wewere just getting reacquainted.” Patrick still had his arm aroundChloe.
“Right. I see.” Todddropped the box of groceries on the bench and marched off to hisbedroom.
“Could you reach thatjug up there on the shelf for me please? I want to give them somewater.” She slipped out of Patrick’s embrace to take care of theflowers.
The intercom buzzed, announcinganother visitor. Chloe pressed the button to unlock the foyer doorfor Samantha, who also carried flowers, along with a bottle ofchampagne. She beamed at Chloe when she entered theapartment.
“Hi Chloe. Theseflowers are for you. But not the champagne, that’s to celebrate!”Samantha kissed Chloe’s cheek. She turned and spottedPatrick.
“Hey Patrick.Where’s Todd? He’s notanswering his phone and he said he was going home early.” Samanthaseemed excited.
“He’s here. I’ll gethim.” Grateful for the distraction, Chloe left the kitchen andknocked on Todd’s bedroom door. She could hear cupboard doorsbanging inside. “Todd, Samantha’s here and she wants to talk toyou.”
He opened the door abruptly andnearly bumped into Chloe, his expression closed and unreadable. Hehad changed out of his suit and into jeans and a polo top. Hemanoeuvred carefully around her. “Hi Sam, what’s theproblem?”
“We got it!” Samanthathrew her hands up in the air in a victory sign.
“Youbeauty!” Todd covered the few metresbetween them in record time, grabbed Samantha in a bear hug andswung her around.
“Okay, what’s goingon?” Patrick and Chloe asked simultaneously.
Todd ignored Patrick andaddressed Chloe. “Baker Real Estate now owns a slice of prime realestate in Paddington, Sydney. There’s an old heritage listedbuilding on the site which we plan to renovate for our Sydneyoffice. As well as being a functional space, we thought it wouldshowcase Patrick’s renovating talents.”
“Let’s have somechampagne!” Samantha announced.
“I was going tobarbeque some steaks for dinner. If we are going to drinkchampagne, and you’re driving, we’d better eat. Would you two liketo join us?”
Todd looked first at Samantha,and then pointedly at Patrick. Chloe hoped Patrick had plans.Unfortunately not.
“Dinner for fourthen.”
