“Kisses?” Was he kidding? “Are you saying you’ll go to lunch with me?” she asked in surprise. “No, you don’t understand. That’s not necessary.” Holding up one finger to pause the conversation, she glanced over her shoulder to the blonde at the help desk who looked back at them and winked big. “Lord, does she have to be so obvious?” she muttered. Leaning toward him with a conspiratorial air, she twisted her mouth into a cute little sideways knot and whispered. “Actually, I’m trying to bribe you. I know you don’t really want to go out with me. Just pretend for a bit. Please?”
For a moment, Patrick didn’t know what to say. Was she serious? Why wouldn’t he want to go out with her? “Who’s pretending? I want food for lunch and you for dessert.” Patrick loved to flirt and he needed it – he was in for a long dry spell in Afghanistan. A sweetheart like this would be good fantasy material for the long hot nights ahead with only his hand for company.
He waited to see what she would do and what happened next made the earth move under his feet. She smiled. Her whole face lit up with the sweetest smile he’d ever seen. Patrick lost the ability to speak. He knew that smile. He had fallen in love with that smile on a Halloween night seventeen long years ago. The drawing he had made of her beautiful face and that incredible smile was in his duffle bag in his truck. He never went anywhere without it. Even though he had doubted the experience, for years he had looked for her everywhere he went. Since joining the marines and seeing the horrors of war and the despair of humanity, he had laid down his dreams. But he couldn’t seem to let go of the drawing or the memory. And now here she was, standing in front of him like a gift from above. His Destiny.
“Really? You’d actually take a chance on me?” For a brief moment Savannah let herself imagine what it would be like to go on a date. A thrill rose in her chest almost making it impossible to breathe. She had missed so much in this life because of Carville. But there wasn’t anything she could do about it.
“I’m not a gambling man, Baby. But I can recognize the Queen of Hearts when I see her.” Patrick was having a hard time keeping his hands off of her. They hadn’t even exchanged names and he felt totally proprietary about her. It was like his heart recognized her or something. No, chance didn’t have a damn thing to do with this. Meeting Destiny was fate.
“No, you misunderstood me. All I want is a few minutes of your time.” With a hand on one hip and a thoughtful expression on his face, he seemed to be deciding if he were wasting his time with her. “I promise I’ll make it worth your while.” She blushed, realizing how that sounded. Lord, he looked even better up close. From across the room he had been the total package. Up close, he was absolutely stunning – deep dimples and the bluest eyes this side of heaven. “What I mean is - I just noticed that you seem frustrated. My name is Savannah Doucet and I’m something of an expert with this stuff,” she pointed at the wall. “Is there some way I can help you?”
“I’m Patrick O’Rourke. And it’s very nice to meet you.” Very nice. Feeling playful, he chose to deliberately misunderstand her. “So, you’re an expert at relieving frustration? That might be interesting.” Mouth-watering, that was what she was.
“Oh, my goodness,” she put her hands over her warm cheeks. “No, I’m not an expert at that. I don’t have any feminine wiles.” Savannah was flustered. Taking a second to look around the Memorial, she was relieved to see they were alone except for Tammany who was on the phone and not paying them any attention at the moment.
“I beg to differ,” he flirted, blatantly. Stepping back, he slowly took an inventory of her body from head to foot. His love was just little bit of a thing: small bones, lush mouth, dark hair and huge black eyes – no they weren’t black. Are your eyes blue?” He could lose himself in those dark, haunting eyes. This woman was off-the-charts sexy.
Frowning slightly, she answered him. “Yes, they’re a drab navy blue, I guess.”
The look he was giving her was so intense; it made her feel like tiny flames of fire was dancing over her skin. Savannah couldn’t help but stare back.
“I don’t think they’re drab at all. I think they’re beautiful and mysterious.” What was an even bigger turn-on was the intelligence that shone out of them. Patrick felt his heart pound as they engaged in a mutual eye-fuck. Damn, he had it bad!
Savannah didn’t know what to say. She was in unknown territory. This man seemed to be flirting with her. There had to be some mistake. Maybe she wasn’t experienced enough to tell when someone was serious or teasing her. It would be better to get the conversation back on a safe topic. “Are you looking for a particular name on the wall?”
She was nervous. He could tell. Damn, she was cute; he couldn’t wait to get his hands on her. “Actually, I’m looking for the LaVerdure family. But, I’m not having any luck.”
A surge of courage welled up in Savannah. It was as if someone else was in charge of her body. For once, she wanted to be normal and see how it felt to flirt with a man. Going for broke, she decided to see if
