"JC?" her voice hesitantly called out to him as her body moved closer to where he was standing.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show up," he said as his eyes were finally able to look at the beautiful young woman standing before him. "Shall we get going?"

"JC..I don't know if this is such a good idea..I mean...I don't know what I mean," she said as she stood before him, nervously biting her lip.

He chuckled before reaching up and gently touching her cheek as a sign of reassurance. "We're gonna go out tonight, just you and me and have a good time, understand?"

"Yeah," she said before taking his hand that he outstretched to her and stepping in the black BMW that he had been leaning up against. "Is this your car?"

He laughed as he noticed her expression as she took in the soft leather interior and expensive features that were inside. "I wish it was, but this is just a rental.

"Must be nice," she mumbled as she watched him start the car and pull out of the parking lot. "Where are we going?"

"That's for me to know and for you to find out," he teased as he reached over and turned the radio on to where it was softly playing. He kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help but feel his pulse race when he would catch her studying him when she thought he wasn't paying any attention. He noticed that her eyes kept landing on his lips which only added to the excitement that was coursing through him at that very place and time.

He leaned over and turned the air conditioning off before rolling down the windows and opening the moon roof that was in the car, letting the fresh in. "It won't mess your hair up, will it?"

She shook her head before letting out a light chuckle as he rolled his eyes at her. "I don't think it will mess it up too bad."

After the short burst of conversation, the car fell silent as the two adults nervously kept glancing at each other, wanting to start another conversation but not quite knowing what to say. JC finally pulled the BMW into an expensive looking restaurant and chuckled when he saw her eyes light up with excitement. "I've heard about this place but never been," she told him softly as she reached up and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I've been here a few times but not very often..I do know that they have good food," he explained to her as he got out of the car and adjusted the shirt that he was wearing. "I guarantee that you'll be stuffed when you walk out that door."

She laughed as she walked around the front of the car and stood beside him, not knowing what she should do. She watched out of the corner of her eye as his hand slowly slid around to grasp hers, causing her heart to flutter with excitement and surprise. The two of them walked slowly into the restaurant as Emily slowly sucked in her breath when her eyes took in the decor of the building. It had to be one of the most beautiful places she had ever been and being with JC made it seem even more captivating.

As the two of them were lead back to a private booth that JC had requested, Emily couldn't stop herself from thinking that everything that was taking place had to be a dream. There was no way that something like this could ever happen to her, it just wasn't possible. She pushed all those thoughts to the back of her mind and decided right then and there to concentrate on having a good time, instead of being haunted by the horrible memories of her past. After all, she was trying to achieve a new her and that would never be possible if all she could think about was the old her.

"Emily...is something bothering you?" JC asked once they had sit down. She let her eyes slowly rise to meet his questioning blue ones and for a brief moment, she felt something she had never felt before. It was a feeling that was hard to describe but for once she felt as if she were special to someone.

"I just drifted off for a minute," she replied softly before adverting her attention to the menu that had been placed in front of her.

He let his own eyes fall to the expensive menu, wanting so much to pressure her to open up to him and let him help her with anything that she was going through, but he had known her long enough to realize that she would only open up to someone when she felt that the time was right. That time obviously wasn't now and he wasn't about to push her and upset her just to satisfy his own curiosity and want. "So...what are you going to order?"

She shrugged as her eyes took in the prices for every item on the menu. The cheapest thing she found was a glass of water and it wasn't exactly what she would consider cheap. "JC..all of this is way too expensive.."

"Don't worry about it," he injected, smiling at her from his place across the table. "I think I have enough money to buy us a nice dinner."

She blushed slightly, feeling slightly stupid since she hadn't taken time to think about what she had spoken. Of course he had plenty of money to buy them a nice dinner, he was JC of NSYNC. "Sorry about that."

He chuckled before reaching over and giving her shaking hand a reassuring squeeze, feeling electricity run through his fingers from the contact with her skin. "Just forget about it. We all say things that we don't think through sometimes. Order whatever you want on the menu..this is my treat."

The waiter came back over and smiled brightly at the two of them as he pulled out a small tablet to take their order on. "What can I get you two love birds tonight?"

The blush that had been evident on Emily's cheeks was now even brighter than before. "We're not together," she corrected the young man quickly, avoiding making contact with JC's face.

"So sorry about that," the man replied before winking over at JC, who didn't seem to be affected by the comment. "What can I get for you, sir?"

"I'll have the Prime Rib, medium well and a salad with French dressing," he said, glancing down at the menu to make sure that was all that he wanted.

"What can I get for you, ma'am?" he then asked before turning so that his body was angled toward her.

"I'll have the chicken salad with honey mustard," she said before closing her menu and handing it to the man.

"What can I get you to drink?"

"We'll have your most expensive bottle of red wine," JC said before Emily could respond. As the waiter walked away, Emily's mouth fell slightly open at the evil grin on his face.

"I'm not a big fan of wine," she said as she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear to advert his stare from being directly on her face.

"You're going to start being one tonight. You'll like the stuff..trust me."

"You wouldn't be trying to get me drunk, would you?" she joked as she felt herself beginning to finally loosen up.

He winked at her before nodding his head. "You found out my secret..I plan on getting you drunk off your ass on this expensive wine, then I'm going to take you back to my house where I will ravish you over and over without you ever knowing what was going on."

She froze as her mind repeated "ravish" over and over in her brain. She was surprised to think that she wouldn't actually mind having him do that to her, but with one exception from what he said. She wanted to be sober so she could experience and remember every moment that they had. "Ummm...maybe we should change the subject."

"Actually, I was enjoying what we were talking about," he said as his eyes danced across from her. He had noticed the expression on her face as he had talked about ravishing her, and knew that she had to feel something for him, even if it was nothing more than physical attraction.

"Well," she said as her shyness began to take control once more. "It makes me uncomfortable."

"Why does it make you uncomfortable," he asked, not wanting to drop the conversation but not totally understanding why he was pressuring her so much.

"JC," she began as her eyes adverted themselves from him to a picture that was on the wall to her left. "Please don't ask me why..I don't know what to tell you."

"You have a reason for wanting to drop it and I'm not going to give up until you let me know what it is," he said as he reached forward and took her hand in his. "I want you to open up to me, Emily."

"I can't tell you," she told him before standing up and making her way towards the ladies room where she let her eyes look into the mirror only to see a woman standing there looking confused and helpless. 'What's your problem?' she silently questioned herself as she reached up and pushed her hair behind her ears. The answer to her question came back. She was scared and there was nothing that he could say to ease her fears.

She let her eyes look over towards the door as she silently thought about how easy it would be to just walk out of the restaurant without having to go back to the table and explain why she had gotten up and left. She didn't want to have to look into his shinning blue eyes and explain that she was scared of him. He had been a complete gentleman towards her, everything that she had ever dreamed of, but now that it was being laid out in front of her, she was scared to reach and take it. If only she were strong enough to just open up to him and let him know how she felt, it might be able to help the situation and to help her state of mind, but she just couldn't.

She threw one last look in the mirror before slowly making her way towards the table, already seeing the concerned look that he wore on his face. Without making eye contact with him, she sat back down in her chair and stared at the ground.

"Everything OK?" he asked once he realized that she wasn't going to talk to him.

"Everything's fine..." she said quietly not opening a window for conversation on the matter.

"I'm sorry for pushing you like that Emily," JC said softly before letting the topic fall out of conversation as the waiter delivered their food. While the two of them ate, not one word was spoken. JC was confused on how easily he had been able to push her away, while on the other hand, Emily was trying to find a way to deal with her fear. She laid her fork down beside her plate before letting her eyes glance up in his direction. He was looking at her with that intent look that made her heart skip a beat but at the same time made her skin crawl.

"Are you finished?"

He nodded his head before pulling out a fifty dollar bill and leaving it on the table. "Lets get out of here," he told her before standing up and waiting until she had done the same before lightly taking her hand and leading her out of the restaurant. Once the two of them were seated in the car, he turned and looked at her, his blue eyes reflecting sorrow in them. "I don't want you to be mad at me, Emily."

"I'm not mad at you, JC..I'm mad at myself."

"No..you don't have to lie just for my sake. I acknowledge that I pushed you too far..and I'm sorry."

"No, listen to me, JC...I don't know what's going through my head right now..I wish I could explain to you, but I don't know how..atleast not yet."

"Well in that case," he said before winking at her and sticking the key in the ignition. "I have a place that we can go that will take your mind off of everything and I mean everything."

"I'm not sure if a place like that exists," she told him bluntly as she studied the trees as the car passed them.

"Believe me..there is a place and you're about to see it," he reassured her before turning off the main highway onto a small curvy backroad. "You need to stop being so negative, Em."

"I'm not negative! I just speak the truth."

"I think you were being negative..and from now on, I don't want to hear ANY negative comments coming from you, you got that?"

"Yes, Sir," she joked before reaching over and flicking his ear. She pulled her eyes away from him and let them settle on the scenery before her. "This is beautiful, JC."

He nodded his head before putting the car in park and pulling the key out of the ignition. "I come here when I need to clear my head..I've never brought anyone with me."

"Really?" she asked him before opening her door and walking around the car, her breath getting caught in her throat. "How did you find out about this place?"

"Justin's Mom once told me about it back a couple of years ago," he began before sitting on the front of his car and motioning for her to join him. "She told me that Paul, Justin's stepfather, proposed to her here..so I came up here and fell in love with the scenery," he said, making reference to the cliff the car was parked that overlooked the city of Orlando. "Its so busy down there, but up here its peaceful."

"Thank you for bringing me here, JC," Emily whispered as she looked over at him.

"It was time to share this place with someone else and I can't think of anyone else that I would rather be experiencing this with for the first time," he breathed as his head slowly moved toward hers. He paused for a moment as he looked into her eyes to make sure there was no hesitation present. When he saw nothing but excitement and encouragement reflecting in them, he moved forward and let his lips slide over hers for the first time.