Successfully Troubled {Rated M} (On Hold)

Chapter Forty One.

Patrick licked his lips and lifted her chin up again as she kept her eyes to the floor.

"Look at me." He demanded softly.

It took a few seconds, but she eventually looked him in his eyes.

"Don't be afraid to talk to me about what's going through your mind. Tell me what's wrong." He pleaded.

"I don't know. I just....I'm not used to being treated like this. It's new to me. I mean, Patrick, I'm a confident woman for the most part. I'm a lot better than I used to be, but for some reason, that confidence level goes down when I'm with you sometimes. Because I wonder what do you see in me. Like, what is so special about me? What do I have that other women don't?" She asked, perplexed.

"What do you have?" Patrick repeated her question, "What don't you have? You're smart, you're independent, you're feisty, you're funny and a joy to talk to and be around. You make me laugh all the time. Some of the girls I've met and talked to couldn't beat a child in the conversation aspect."

That made Priscilla chuckle a bit.

"But I love being around you and having you around me. When you're not around me, I look forward to seeing you again. If I'm at work, even if I'm crazy busy, you slip into my mind some kind of way. That's why I randomly text you or call you. Hearing your voice just calms me down, especially if work was a bit crazy to deal with on a certain day. You're amazing at cooking, like damn. You're very sweet and I think it's cute when you get a bit shy around me or when you blush. You have a beautiful heart and I love hearing you talk about your mother. You talk about her with so much love and respect and it's beautiful. You really look out for her and your sisters and I love a woman that's family oriented. I can talk to you about serious topics and silly topics. I've never had that with a woman, ever. And you are so goddamn beautiful to me. You have no idea that when you walk into a room, your presence is well known and the whole room lights up." He told her.

"Oh, please." Priscilla chuckled slightly.

"No, I mean it. You light up the room when you walk into it. You are truly a beautiful, vibrant and sexy woman inside and out. I wish you could see what I see. What do you have, you ask? You have everything I've been searching for in a woman. I've been praying to God himself for a woman like you and he's blessed me with her. That's what you have."

There he went again. Talking about her in such amazing words and praising her in ways she'd never experienced before. She felt her eyes welling with tears and even with her trying to tear her eyes away from Patrick, he wouldn't allow her to.

"Patrick, I..." She began and sniffled slightly, "I..."

"What, beautiful? Don't stop now. Talk to me." He encouraged her softly.

"I'm...I'm falling for you, ok? I'm falling for you hard and it scares the shit out of me. I've been hurt so many times and it's ruined me. I'm scared of getting my hopes up only to have it snatched away from me. I'm just waiting for something to go wrong. I'm waiting for you to get tired of me or just leave like the rest did after they got what they wanted. Why won't you just let me go and find you another woman that is just as good and not as broken? It's not fair to have you go through all of this." She pleaded to him.

The tears began to fall down her cheeks and he lightly brushed them away with his thumbs, cupping her cheeks in his palms.

"And it's not fair for you to be with a man who wouldn't love you as good as I could. I'm falling for you just as hard as you're falling for me. You deserve to be loved and genuinely taken care of. I refuse to give up on you and let you go. I don't need another woman. I don't want another woman. I need you and I want you. Don't be scared, baby. Just let me in. I promise I'll make up for every tear, every heartbreak and all the pain the others took you through." He begged her.