“I think maybe I’ll go for a swim,” Katelin said, once Aidan was tucked in bed. She glanced at Nick out of the corner of her eye, a smirk plastered on her face as she made her way into her room.
Nick quickly ran in front of her and blocked the doorway to her bedroom. “Oh no you don’t. You promised me you’d help me. Now I let you off the hook after lunch so you could watch our son but now he’s in bed and you’re going to help me finish cleaning.”
“But Nicky…” she whined. “You know I don’t clean.”
“Well, little miss spoiled brat,” Nick laughed. “You’re going to learn right now. Now go change into some cleaning clothes and meet me downstairs. You have five minutes.”
“Yes sir!” Katelin mock-saluted her ex-boyfriend and then slipped under his arm and into her room.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“Adrienne?” Kevin said, sitting down at the bar. “What are you doing here all by yourself?”
“Oh, I just had an interview,” she replied, sipping on her drink. “Decided to relax a little bit afterwards. What are you doing here alone?”
Kevin ordered a beer from the bartender and then turned back to her. “Same as you I guess. Needed a change of scenery. My house is getting a little boring by myself.”
“Understand what you mean perfectly,” she smiled. “I felt that way up in New York after Mike died and then Kate came down here. It was pretty bad.”
“How have you been holding up with all that?” Kevin asked, carefully. “I mean, I know I don’t know you all that well so I’m sorry if I’m intruding…”
“Oh, not at all,” Adrienne responded. “Actually, it’s nice to have someone to talk to about it. I don’t bring it up to Katelin because it’s got to be so hard for her. I mean she’s nineteen years old and she has no parents left. I’m just glad that she has Aidan now. Although, I’m sure Mike is rolling over in his grave over that one. He never wanted Katelin to have any sort of contact with Nick.”
Kevin took another swig of his beer. “I don’t think we really ever got why he went to the lengths he did.”
“I think he was okay with it at first,” Adrienne explained. “I mean, every father is wary over who their daughter dates. Mine was the same way. I’m sure you’ll act like that too.” Kevin grinned. “But he took it too far. To the point where he was obsessed with the whole situation. It was all he could think about when you guys were out on tour. What was Nick doing to his poor, innocent daughter? But, while I completely disagreed with his methods, I understood his motives. Katelin was his pride and joy. He loved her so much and it was his fault for the way their relationship turned out. Once he took that little boy away from her, everything changed.”
“Adrienne,” Kevin began. “I think Katelin’s a great girl. And I’ve hated to see what she and Nick have gone through in the past few years. But, I asked about you. How have you been doing?”
“Sorry,” she smiled, sheepishly. “I’m just so used to worrying about her that I barely think about myself.”
Kevin grabbed her hand in his. “Well, you should. You can’t always worry about other people. So, you wanna talk about how you’ve been since your husband passed away?”
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Brooke tossed her cell phone on the bed angrily. She had been attempting to get in touch with her fiancee for days now and she couldn’t. After the argument they had had a few days ago, she was positive that he was ignoring her. Of course, she understood why. This was just too strenuous for their relationship. Them being away from each other. Maybe she should just go home. Was it really that necessary for her to be on tour with the guys?
“Yes,” she heard a voice from the doorway. She spun around and saw Justin in the doorway. “Yes what?” she asked. “Did I just say that out loud?”
“Yes you did,” he laughed. “And it is important for you to be here. We need you. And you shouldn’t let anyone, even Kevin, run your life.”
“I don’t let him run my life,” Brooke defended. “I don’t let anyone run my life.”
“You are letting him run your life if you’re thinking about going home just because of him,” Justin explained logically, sitting down next to her on the bed.
“I’m not doing anything Kevin has said,” Brooke told him. “I’m trying to save my relationship. I’m supposed to be getting married in three months, Justin. But I haven’t talked to my fiancee in days. He doesn’t return my phone calls. He doesn’t acknowledge me anymore. I mean, what the hell has happened?”
“Brooke,” Justin began. “Now, don’t go biting my head off. But, if you can’t do the job that you love to do, because the man you’re marrying is making you feel guilty because of it, then do you really think that it’s meant to be? You respect what he does and you always have. Don’t you think the feelings should be mutual if you’re supposed to spend the rest of your life with him?”
“They are mutual,” Brooke whimpered, pitifully, leaning her head on his shoulder. “Jesus Justin. When the hell did everything get so complicated? I mean, all I was supposed to do was teach you guys how to dance.”
“Excuse me?” Justin giggled. “Teach us how to dance? I don’t think so.”
“Oh shut up.” She playfully hit him on the shoulder. “You know what I meant. To teach you guys these dances. And then go home to my fiancee after a couple of months and plan my wedding. Marry the man I love and live happily ever after. When the hell did everything get so screwed up?”
Justin grabbed her by the arm as soon as she started pacing and stood up, placing his hands on her shoulders and looking her straight in the eyes. “I think you know how, Brooke. And I think the reason is just as much you as it is Kevin.”
Brooke broke the eye contact and looked down at her shoes. “What are you talking about Justin?”
“You know what I’m talking about, Brooke,” he told her, sincerely. “You guys don’t think the rest of us have noticed but we have. We see the looks. We notice the disappearances. Brooke, I love you. I think you’re great. But I will never forgive you if you hurt one of my best friends. So you need to make a choice. The man you thought you loved or the man you might be falling in love with.”
***** ****** ***** ***** ***** *****
Kevin walked with Adrienne back to her hotel, which was just a block away from the restaurant. They had been there for a good two hours, talking about anything and everything. Mike. Brooke. Katelin. Touring. Interior decorating, which Kevin found out was Adrienne’s passion. She had taken a break from it when she had married Mike but was now looking to get back into it.
“So,” Kevin looked up at the huge hotel before him. “Looks like we’re here.”
“Yeah,” Adrienne replied quietly. “My place, I guess you could say.”
Kevin laughed. “You know, you never did tell me how that interview went.”
“Oh,” Adrienne considerably brightened. “It went great actually. I have the job if I want it.”
“That’s terrific,” Kevin pulled her in for a quick hug. “Well, if you’re going to permanently be in Florida, you’re going to need something besides a hotel room, don’t you think?”
Adrienne shrugged, sheepishly. “I guess so.”
“Why don’t you give me a call tomorrow,” he suggested. “We can meet for lunch or something and then I’ll set you up with some realtors I know. Even Howie has some great properties. Maybe we’ll find you something.”
“Oh I don’t want to intrude, Kevin,” she began.
“Don’t worry about it,” Kevin interrupted. “We have a day off tomorrow so I won’t be doing anything else. I’d love to help you out.”
“Thank you,” she grabbed his hand and squeezed. “Tonight has been really….therapeutic, I guess you could say.”
Kevin giggled. “Glad I could be of some service.”
“It’s been great,” she clarified. “I really needed to get a lot of that off of my chest. You helped me do that.”
“Well, I’m glad I could help.” He smiled. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Yup!” She grinned as she began to walk inside. “Thanks again!”
“Bye.” He watched until she was safely into the elevator before turning around to go back to his car.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“Nick….” Katelin whined. “Aren’t we done yet? We’ve been working for hours.”
“One more room, Kate, and then we’re done,” he told her. “I promise. Then you’re done.”
“I can’t believed I agreed to this,” she grumbled as she began dusting off an end table.
“Little Miss Perfect cleaning tables?” Nick giggled. “Never thought I’d see that.”
“Shut up,” she groaned, tossing her dust rag on the ground. “I’m done.”
Nick bent down to pick it up and handed it to her. “No you’re not. Finish.”
Katelin’s arms folded across her chest. “No.”
“Yes.”
“You do it.”
“No. You said you’d help me.”
“I don’t remember saying that.”
“Katelin…”
“Niiiick…”
Before Nick knew what was happening, Katelin had bolted out of the room and towards the back doors in the kitchen. Nick was quick to follow her and his long legs caught him up to her outside by the pool. But when he caught her, they both teetered on the edge of the pool for a minute before completely losing their balance and falling in.
Katelin was the first to come up for air, sputtering with Nick right in front of her. “Carter! You idiot!”
“Me?!” Nick exclaimed. “You’re the one that ran!”
“Oh, shut up!” she laughed, splashing him with water.
“Hey!” He grabbed her hands in his to prevent her from splashing him anymore. “This is your fault, Kate. Not mine.”
Katelin’s heart sped up as she realized how close they were. She could feel his warm breath on the side of her face. She wanted to look at him. To see the expression in his eyes but she was too nervous about what would happen if she did. Would she be able to control herself? But before she could make any sort of decision, one of Nick’s hands slid around her waist and pulled her closer to him. His other hand came up to her face and turned it towards his. He stared into her eyes for a minute before pressing his lips to hers. Soft at first. He gently kissed her before sliding his tongue in between her lips to play with hers. Katelin’s arms came around his neck, pulling their bodies closer to each other, if that was even possible. Neither one of them cared that they were still in the pool. That they were fully clothed. That they were freezing. All that mattered was each other. It had been way too long. Three years too long.
Nick groaned quietly as Katelin finally pulled away and looked at him. “What are we doing?” she whispered.
Nick’s head dropped to her shoulder where he placed a delicate kiss. “I don’t know. It just felt right, Kate. You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that again.”
Katelin secretly jumped for joy. He had no idea how long she had wanted him to do that. That and more. But what about Lanie? As far as she knew, Nick had no plans to stop seeing Lanie. So where did that leave her? “Nick, you have a girlfriend.”
Nick sighed. “I know I do.”
“A girlfriend who just saw the whole thing.” Both Nick and Katelin’s heads snapped up and looked at the doorway to the kitchen in horror. There stood Lanie, hands on hips, glaring at the two of them.
“Shit,” Nick mumbled, before letting go of Katelin and climbing out of the pool. “Lanie, it was nothing.”
Katelin’s heart dropped as she attempted not to shed a tear over what she had just heard. ‘It was nothing.' Of course it was nothing. It had been three years. Nick had moved on. And now it was time that she moved on. She was sick of pining over a man who clearly didn’t love her anymore. She was going to go out and find someone new. Someone great. Someone who could love her back because it was obvious that Nick no longer did.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
He watched him get out of the car and walk up to her apartment. He watched as they walked back down the stairs and he helped her into the passenger side. He followed them to the restaurant. A quiet, romantic place right on the edge of town where they sat in a corner booth by the window. They drank wine by candlelight. Had a romantic dinner. Shared dessert until the late hours of the night. They held hands. Shared intimate touches every once in a while. All while he watched, seething with anger. She was his. She had always been his. He was not about to let him take her from him again. No way.
He watched as they finally got up from the table, the restaurant finally closing around them. He again led her to his car. He followed them back through town. Back to her apartment. He watched from a far enough distance as they sat there for a few minutes. He wondered what they were doing in that time. Was he touching her? Kissing her? She was his. Finally, the driver’s door opened and he got out. He made his way to the other side of the car. He helped her out and then locked the door. They walked back up to her apartment. He saw the living room light go on. Then the bedroom light. A few minutes later the living room light turned off. And then he waited for him to come back down. He waited and he waited. But he never did come back down. He was still up there with her. Touching her. Making love to her. Doing things to her that only one person should be doing. And that person was him. The one who was watching.