"But he lives around the corner," a little voice inside her head nagged. "You could have quite easily run into him at anytime."
"But he’s never home," she argued with the voice. "And its not like he can just go for a stroll around the block."
The voice in her head continued to play Devil’s Advocate and she pressed her hands tightly over her ears. Laurie kicked back the covers, sat up and gave her head a shake. She hadn’t done anything wrong and already her conscience was attacking her.
"Kissing the man you love while you’re married to another man isn’t wrong?" Her conscience taunted her.
"I’m never going to get any sleep at this rate," she mumbled. "I might as well do something productive." She paused and then yelled, "And I liked kissing Josh!"
She walked across the hallways into the room where the computer was situated and waited patiently for it to boot up. She opened the Word program and began to create her resume. If Craig was going to let her work, she was determined to find employment before he could change his mind.
***********
It was almost noon the following day when JC finally woke up. He stretched languidly and contemplated getting out of bed. Deciding against it for the moment, he rolled over and thought back to the previous night. Regret rushed through him when he remembered Laurie’s reaction to Alexandria’s phone call and he couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened between them if they hadn’t been interrupted. He glanced at the clock on his nightstand table and wondered if Laurie was awake yet. Only one way to find out. He dialed the now familiar numbers.
"Hello?"
"Hey baby," JC grinned. He could hear her typing away on the keyboard. "Did you sleep well?"
"I haven’t been to bed," she replied.
"What? Why not?"
"Because I got a phone call at one o’clock this morning from my wonderful husband. Apparently he tried to call me several times yesterday and couldn’t get a hold of me, so he was pissed off. But on the bright side, he said I could try to find myself a job, so I’ve been up all night working on my resume." Laurie told him. To herself she thought, "And fighting with my conscience about my feelings for you."
"I’m sorry," he apologized. "Now if you had stayed here last night..."
"Josh, don’t. Please." She requested.
"I was only teasing." He paused. "Kind of...not really."
Laurie sighed audibly.
"Look, it’s just...I want to be with you in every sense of the word. I honestly think that we were meant to be together Laurie....it’s practically fate that we live around the corner from each other."
"I’ve been telling myself that all night," she thought and didn’t reply.
"Sweetheart? Are you there?"
"Yeah, I’m here." Her heart melted when she heard the endearment. "This is just really hard for me..."
"I know," JC sympathized quietly. "It’s really hard for me too..." then he laughed. "We sound like a broken record. We know we’re both in situations that we have no control over, yet we don’t want anyone except each other."
"Did his voice just get husky?" Laurie thought. "At least we’re not hiding it from each other. That’s the important thing."
"So did you want to get together today?"
"Of course," she cradled the phone between her head and her shoulder and smiled. "I think I’ll need to get a little bit of sleep first though."
"That’s cool...do you want to give me a call whenever you’re ready to go?"
"I can do that," she smiled. "Do you have anything particular in mind?"
"No, I just thought we’d wing it. The guys fly in tomorrow along with the rest of our entourage, so it will be the last chance we have to spend alone for a while."
"All right, I’ll let you get some sleep and you can call me when you’re ready to go. Dream of me." He told her.
"I always do," she replied almost shyly. "I’ll see you later, Josh. Bye."
"Bye Laur."
Laurie hung up the phone and stretched contentedly. She saved her resume, turned off the computer, crossed the hall to her bedroom and quickly fell asleep. When she woke several hours later, it was almost eight o’clock. She cursed and dived for the phone, dialing JC’s number. As soon as he answered the phone, she began to apologize.
"I am so sorry, Josh, I just woke up."
"It’s all right," he laughed. "I’ve actually been working in the studio the whole time...up until fifteen minutes ago, anyway. Your timing is perfect. Are you ready to go?"
"Well..." she began. "I literally just woke up. I looked at the clock and called you right away, so I haven’t had a shower or gotten dressed yet."
"Oh, so you’re not wearing anything right now." He said. Laurie could practically hear the smile in his voice.
"I am so," she swallowed back her giggles. "I have a t-shirt and a pair of drawstring pants on."
"Damn," JC feigned disappointment. "And I was just on my way over. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to be content with staying home now."
"Josh, behave yourself!" She exclaimed, silently hoping that he wouldn’t.
He laughed. "I’m going to be at your door in exactly an hour...you’re going to be ready to go, right?"
"Maybe," Laurie smiled and decided to do a little teasing herself. "Then again, I might just be fresh from the shower and wearing nothing except my robe..."
"Laur..." he groaned. "You’re killing me over here."
She smiled on her end of the phone; pleased that she was able to affect him the same way he affected her.
"Just..." he began, his voice slightly strangled. "Just be ready to go out in an hour."
"It’s too bad you didn’t say be ready to go," she teased. "Because that could be taken a few different ways."
"I know, that’s precisely why I didn’t say it."
Laurie laughed and decided to give him a break. "All right, I will be ready to leave when you get here."
They said their good-byes and ended the conversation. Laurie practically flew off of her bed and into the bathroom to take a quick shower. When she emerged, she dried her hair, making sure it was slightly wavy. She walked into her bedroom and glanced at the clock and realized that she still had forty-five minutes to get ready.
Exactly an hour later, Laurie had just finished putting the finishing touches on her make-up and the doorbell rang. Her stomach tightened with apprehension and she took a deep breath. She walked downstairs and smiled when she opened the door.
JC was standing there holding a single red rose. "Damn, you’re dressed."
Laurie burst into laughter and invited him in. "Sorry to disappoint you," she said. "Maybe next time."
"This is for you," he handed her the rose. When she reached out to accept it, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms. He stared at her intently for half a second before his lips touched hers. After a moment, Laurie spoke.
"So what’s the plan for tonight?"
"I thought maybe we could have a late dinner at the pier and then take a walk along the boardwalk. All the teenies should be in bed."
She turned from him and put the rose into a glass filled with water. "Are you sure that’s such a good idea?"
"What do you mean?"
"We would be in public Josh...what if someone were to see us together?"
"So we’re just old friends out for dinner and a walk," he shrugged. "I don’t see what the big deal is."
"All right," she reluctantly agreed.
"Besides," he paused and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I would be proud to be seen with you in public."
"I just don’t want to think about the damage control that you would have to do if anything happened."
"It will be fine," he reassured her. "I doubt that anyone would be looking for us anyway."
"They wouldn’t be looking for me in the first place," she allowed herself to laugh. "I’m not anyone important..you’re the big hot shot popstar."
"Laur...you are important...you’re important to me." JC said quietly. "But if you don’t want to go out, I understand. We can spend a quiet night here or back at my place. I don’t care what we do, as long as we’re together."
"You know...I think dinner on the pier sounds wonderful."
JC smiled and leaned in to kiss her again. He waited while she made sure the front door was locked and walked out to his car with him. Her jaw dropped open when she saw it.
"You want me to ride in this?" Laurie’s eyes drifted over the car appreciatively. "Isn’t this...a Viper?"
"Absolutely," he grinned and opened the passenger door for her. "Your chariot awaits, madam."
"This is amazing," she closed her eyes as he turned onto the road from her driveway and let the wind rush through her hair.
"Do you mind that the roof is down?"
"Not at all," she replied and opened her eyes so she could look at him. "I’m glad I decided to go out tonight."
"Me too," he winked in her direction and took his hand off the stick shift long enough to give her thigh a light squeeze.
A chill ran up her spine when he touched her and it was in that instant that she realized she couldn’t wait for him to touch her again. JC pulled onto the freeway that would take them to the pier, shifted into fifth and returned his hand to the same spot on her thigh. As he drove, he occasionally moved his fingers to caress her leg. Laurie fought the urge to make him pull over and instead rested her hand on top of his.
"It shouldn’t be too much longer," JC shouted so she could hear his voice above the wind. He moved his hand from her leg again to downshift as they approached their exit. When they stopped at the first red light, he looked over at her. "Are you all right?"
"I’m fine," she replied. "I’m just enjoying my time with you."
"Your eyes are watering...was the wind too much?"
"Maybe a little, but I wouldn’t have traded it for the world."
**********
"Dinner was delicious...thank you."
"You’re welcome," JC smiled. "I found that little restaurant a couple of months ago and they’ve never failed to disappoint me."
"I can see why." Laurie sighed contentedly.
They passed JC’s car on the way to the boardwalk and he sighed inwardly. He wanted nothing more than to be able to openly display his feelings for her, but he knew that wasn’t possible. He debated on whether or not to reach over and take her hand into his and decided against it. If any photographer were to see them together, let alone holding hands, there would be hell to pay on all sides.
Frustrated, he shoved his hands into his pockets and continued walking. Laurie noticed his distress and turned to him.
"Josh...what’s wrong?"
"I want to be able to hold your hand," he closed his eyes. "And I hate that I can’t."
"Do you want to leave?"
"No." He said adamantly. "I want...I want to walk on the beach with you...I want to sit on the sand and watch the ocean waves lap against our toes. I want to count the stars with you..." he paused and his voice dropped down to a whisper. "I just feel so much when I’m with you. I want to experience everything life has to offer and I want to be able to share it with you, without worrying about what other people will think." He paused again. "And I just hope...that someday that will happen for us."
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