(August 17, 2000 New York, New York)

He had not been able to sleep for some reason, Stasia had done her best to tire him out, and he couldn’t help but smile at the memory of the night they had spent exploring the new level their love was reaching. As he walked back into the bedroom, carrying the latte that he had gone out to get for her, his breath caught in his throat. Stasia was laying on her stomach, her cheek resting lightly on her pillow, facing the direction where Lance had been laying. Her hand looked as if it had been reaching out trying to find him. But the vision of her, her hair falling in a satin curtain. Her amazing, bare back was exposed to the waist because the covers had worked their way down. She was completely flawless in his eyes.

He set the coffee cups on the night stand and pulled his t-shirt over his head. He quickly got out of his jeans kicking his sneakers across the room. He climbed back under the covers, and began gently running his fingertips across her back.

“Where did you go?” Her voice wasn’t at all sleepy, but her eyes were still closed. “I woke up and you were gone, I got worried that I frightened you off.”

He leaned over and kissed the small of her back, “I went to get my lover her morning latte.” He kissed his way up to the sensitive area at the base of her neck, carefully pushing her hair aside.

“OK, first of all...major points for the coffee. Second...MAJOR points for calling me your lover, I LOVE the way that sounds coming out of your mouth. Third...if you keep up this kissing thing, we will never get out of this bed, and we have a huge day today.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep. If you want to stay here in bed, we will reschedule this whole taping.” She could feel his lips curl in a smile against her skin.

“Is that a dare Mr. Bass?” She laughed as he kissed her shoulder.

“No. I know better than to dare you Ms. Blake. You cannot resist a dare.” He flipped her over and pulled her tightly yo his chest. “I love you.”

She kissed him, “I love you too.” She kissed him again, “So where’s my coffee?”

“Brat.” His bottom lip shot out in a full ‘Justin pout’.

“I know.” She sat up, pulling the covers up with her, she settled against the head board, with the blanket tucked under her arms. Lance handed her a cup of coffee and then sat up next to her, she snuggled into his arms, pushing at him until she was comfortable. He laughed as she got settled.

“Comfortable dear?”

“Yes thank you.” Jake snuggled in with them and Lance kissed the top of her head. “What was that for?”

“For showing me how wonderful it can be to be domestic.”

“Harry, we’re not being domestic. We’re debating whether or not we can stay in bed all day...honestly, I think we’re being horny.”

“OH LORD I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT! Although, that could be true, but not what I’m talking about. I’m not talking about now, specifically. It’s just that I have this overwhelming feeling of contentment around you. You keep me grounded. The life we lead, is not an average one. Somehow you make me feel like Lance, just Lance.”

She leaned back to look him in the eyes, “But you ARE just Lance.”

“Can I ask you a really stupid question?”

“If it was all over tomorrow, the whole NSYNC ride, you would still be here wouldn’t you?”

“Lance! Of course I would still be here! Do you think I’m in love with NSYNC? Do you think I like the idea that your fans think every move I make is somehow their business? Do you think I want to watch twelve-year old girls glare at me because I’m standing in the way of the wedding you are going to have with them?” She rolled up onto her knees, holding the blanket to her chest, “LANCE! I love YOU the man, not you...the member of NSYNC.”

“In my heart, I believe that. I’ve never felt that before. I’ve always thought that the people I meet want something from me, with you, I’ve never felt that.” He hugged her tightly.

“You should believe that I love you. You should KNOW that I love you.” She kissed him, and then pulled him down with her.

“Is that a cat-like ninja move?” He laughed against her neck.

“Oh no. That, my dear, was purely instinct. I just wanted to do that...I have no clue why.”

“You don’t need a reason.” He growled as the phone rang. “I swear, we can’t be alone, without interruption...EVER!”

“It’s your own fault Mr. Popular.” Stasia reached over her head and picked up the receiver, “Hello?”

“Hi Stasia. It’s Jamie. I wanted to tell you that I sent a FedEx last night, the ID number is 63738-55792X, I’ve gone through everything, and it’s all ok.”

“Thank you Jamie. That is really sweet of you. Hang on a second.” She grabbed a pen and paper from the night stand, “Ok, could you please give me that number again?” After Jamie repeated she quickly said good-bye and hung up.

“What was that all about?” Lance kissed her neck.

“Jamie sent a FedEx, and wanted to give me the ID number so I’d know it was ok.”

“Cool. She really is thoughtful.” He kissed along her jaw.

“Mmm...yeah...thoughtful.” Her eyes slowly closed and her arms wrapped around his neck.

Sitting at the back of the studio with her computer on her lap, Stasia was watching Lance and Dave as they hosted the Free Lance talent search finals. She was smiling brightly at him, as he rocked back on his heels and folded his hands in front of his stomach. He had the most adorable nervous habits. She began chewing on her pen as she he tapped his thumbs together.

She glanced down at her watch and then giggled as she picked up her cell phone. She quickly retrieved Lyn’s number from her directory and hit speed dial.

“Hello?”

“Hi Lyn! It’s Stasia.”

“Hey Stasia! Why are you whispering?”

“I’m sitting in the studio while Lance is taping. I’m having a girlie moment and I wanted to share.”

“OH COOL! What kind of girlie moment? Spill it!”

“Lyn...he is just SO DAMN CUTE right now! He’s doing that thing where his hands are folded and he’s tapping his thumbs. Lyn, Why do I think that is cutest thing I’ve ever seen?”

“Because you love him!” Stasia could hear her clapping her hands. “How is the taping going?”

“Really well. Did I mention how cute he is?”

Lyn laughed hard, “You may have mentioned it. I have never heard you in full girl mode before, I like it!”

“It doesn’t happen often, so enjoy it while you can.”

“Believe me, I am.”

“We’ll be back in Orlando in two days, how would you like to go to lunch?”

“I’d love it!”

“I’ll call you as soon as I get into Florida.”

“You better! Do you want me to see if Dani, Angela and Morgan can go?”

“You know what? I’d like to just sit and talk. We talked about hanging out, and I’d like to do that.”

“You’ve got a date!”

“Very good...ok, I have to go stare at my boyfriend some more.”

“Have fun! I’ll talk to you soon!”

“Bye Lyn!” Stasia closed her phone and tried to look back down at her computer, but Lance’s laughter filled the room and she looked up again.

She began chewing on her pen again. The director cut to make some adjustments with the cameras. As Lance walked over, she tried to look busy. “What are you working on?”

“Umm...I was just...ah doing the thing with the numbers.” She blushed.

“The thing with the numbers, huh?” He laughed and kissed her forehead.

“Yeah. The thing with the numbers.” She shook her head at her own stupidity.

“You are the cutest thing in the world.”

“Harry, that point is debatable...just ask Lyn?”

“Huh?”

“Never mind. It was a girl thing.”

“I see.” He looked at her sideways as he walked back to his mark.

Stasia had to actually turn her chair, so she couldn’t see Lance. She wasn’t sure what her problem was, but she was in full blown, goofy girlfriend mode. Every time she heard his voice, she got chills. She hadn’t stopped smiling all day. She was feeling so completely connected to him, it seemed as if their relationship was growing stronger every day, and that each of them was growing stronger as well.

As on of the artists was performing, Dave leaned over to Lance, “She is glowing today, what have you done to her?”

“She’s always had that glow, you just didn’t notice.” Lance smiled sideways at him.

“Yeah, WHATEVER dude.”

“I wish she’d stop chewing on that pen though, it’s driving me crazy for some reason.”

“Maybe because she just looks so cute, every guy in the room just wants to hug her.” Dave nudged him with his elbow.

“Well, that could be it.”

Lance had always felt protective of Stasia, but now that she had trusted him with everything she had to give, he felt beyond protective, he felt as if he had to keep everything evil or frightening or even the slightest bit upsetting away from her. He owed her at least that much.

Everything went very well, and Stasia was happy that Ryan Tedder had won the talent search. He had a lot of talent, and would be a huge asset to Free Lance. After he had finished his interviews, and having pictures taken with Lance, with Dave, on his own and with the other finalists, he was turned over to Stasia.

Carson had offered his office for her to work in when he stopped by with Tara to say hello. She smiled brightly and stood up to hug Ryan when he walked into the office. “Hi Ryan! Welcome to Free Lance! How are you holding up?”

Ryan hugged her tiny form and laughed, “I think I’m still in shock. I can’t believe I won.”

“Well I can!” She motioned for him to sit in a chair and he practically collapsed into it. “OK, here we go! You’ve been turned over to me, so we can go over the legal crap, and then go out to celebrate!”

“Sounds good to me. What have you got for me?”

“I’ve got information about what we want to do for you, I’ve got a draft of the contract we had in mind. What I’d like for you to do is, read it carefully. Have an attorney read it carefully, if you are both satisfied, we’ll get together and sign it. If you have ANY problems, I mean anything, like if you don’t like the color of the paper or the font it’s printed in, any problem at all, and we’ll do our very best to fix it.” She handed him a large envelope and then laughed, “Are you SURE you want to do this?”

“I think so.” He laughed and smiled at her, “You guys have been great already.”

“We can’t help it, it comes naturally.” He laughed at her comment as Lance’s head popped through the door.

“How’s it going in here?” He walked in, stood behind Stasia wrapping his arms around her neck and resting his chin on top of her head.

“I haven’t sent him running yet, so we may be in good shape. Ryan has the package with the contracts.”

Lance looked seriously at Ryan, “If you have ANY problems with those, you let us know.”

“Can I ask why that’s such a big deal for you guys?” Ryan raised an eyebrow.

“I hated being with Transcon. I hated the way we were treated, I hated the fact that if we would have had the right people look at the contract, we never would have had a problem. I don’t ever want to put anyone else in that position.”

“OK, I have another question, and this time you can tell me to shut up if you want.”

Stasia cocked her head to the side, causing Lance to straighten behind her. He moved his hands to her shoulders and she covered one of them with her own hand. “Go ahead Ryan. I doubt that you have any question we wouldn’t be willing to answer.”

“Well, I was just wondering, see I’ve only met you guys twice before, and I could tell you were friends, but right now I’m getting a more than friends vibe.”

They both laughed, and Lance answered, “We’re together. You got it right, we don’t just work together.”

“I never would have guessed. Last night at dinner, even today in the studio. You do a good job of being professional. Wow.”

“We don’t hide it, but we don’t exactly play it up either. But now, you are in the inner circle...there is no reason to hide our relationship from you.” Lance smiled.

“I still can’t believe I sat through dinner with you guys last night and had no clue. Now I’m looking at the two of you, thinking it is impossible to miss that you’re together.”

Stasia laughed, “Hey, don’t beat up on yourself. We do our best to be professional when we’re working. Right now is not a very good example of that behavior...but NORMALLY we are careful.”

“No need to stay away from one another around me.”

“Well thanks!” Lance patted Stasia’s shoulder, “Let’s take this guy out to celebrate.”

“There’s that plan man!” She laughed and stood up. “Are you up for a night on the town Ryan?”

“Yeah. I think so!”

They started to walk out of the office and Stasia stopped short, “Hey. Have you called your family and friends yet?”

“No, not yet.” Ryan shook his head.

“Why don’t you use Carson’s phone. Call whoever you’d like, and I’ll make arrangements for tonight. If that’s ok with you.”

“Actually, I’d like to call my parents.”

“Well go right ahead. We’ll get thing all set for dinner and after that. We’ll leave you alone to talk to your family.”

“Thanks Stasia. Thanks Lance.”

“Sure thing. Say hi for us.” Lance patted him on the back.

Lance hugged her and waved as Dave walked by, “You two can never keep your hands off of one another!”

“Guilty as charged.” Stasia kissed his cheek. “Dave, what are you doing tonight?”

“Nothing, why?”

“we’re taking Ryan out I’d I’d love it if you’d come along.”

“I’m there. You don’t have to ask me twice.”

“OK, I’m going to call Carson and Tara right now. Brit is in New York tonight too...I’ll give her a call...just DON’T TELL MORGAN!”

Lance held up his hands, “I wouldn’t dream of it!” He left her to go talk to a few of the MTV executives.

Stasia and Dave made some calls and were able to gather a pretty good group of people to go out that evening. Stasia was sitting in Dave’s dressing room with him talking about the second leg of the tour and how excited she was about getting back on the road, when Lance walked in with Ryan, Lonnie and Ron.

“Millie, are you ready to head back to the hotel? I figure we will change and then hit the town. Sound like a plan?”

“Sounds good to me. We’ve been able to round up a pretty good group...we’ve got to put up with all of these MTV people, but it should be fun regardless!”

Dave rolled his eyes, “I had almost forgotten about your sarcasm.”

“Who’s being sarcastic?” She looked around the room.

“MILLIE! DARLIN’! WE”RE GOING TO BE LATE!” Lance was laying on his back on the bed, with Jake sitting on his stomach.

“WE AREN’T GOING TO BE LATE! IT’S OUR PARTY!” She was putting the finishing touches on her make-up.

“You never take this long getting ready. What is the deal?” He and Jake were playing tug-of-war with a sock.

Stasia smiled from the bathroom door, as Lance growled back at Jake, “I was in a girly mood today, thought I’d take advantage of that.”

“Good Lord!” Lance looked up at her and dropped his end of the sock, sending Jake rolling across the bed. “You...look...WOW!” He ran a a hand through his hair. “Wow.”

She had on a strapless black leather dress that was tightly fitted to her knees, where her black, spiked heeled boots started. Her hair was down and her make-up looked smokey. She was wearing the necklace his mother had given her, and that was it.

“So this is OK?”

“Umm...YEAH! Millie...WHERE did you get that dress?”

“Morgan picked it out when we were shopping for stuff for our little show.” She watched as he stood up, and a huge smile spread across her face, “HELLO LEATHER PANTS!”

Lance laughed, “Where have I heard that before?” He walked towards her.

“Oh, I don’t know. You need to wear those ALL THE TIME!”

“I may be able to help you out on that...if you wear this dress all the time.” His lips went to her neck, burning a trail across her shoulder.

“I swear to you. If you don’t get your lips off of my shoulder, we will never leave this room.”

“As much as I’d like to test that comment, you’re right...we have to go.” He laced his fingers through hers, “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

They walked out into the hallway and Ron walked straight into Lonnie. Alyssa’s jaw dropped. Dan was trying desperately to see what had everyone else so stunned.

Ron slowly shook his head from side to side, “Feisty, why didn’t you tell us you were dressing like that, we would have arranged for more security.”

Stasia ran over and hugged him, “You are THE SWEETEST!”

Lonnie pushed his brother out of the way, “Feisty...you are a full on hottie!”

She hugged him, “You big flirt!”

Britney was waiting at the restaurant when the rest of the group arrived. When Stasia walked in, her hand tightly clasped in Lance’s, Britney ran over, “HI! I’m SO excited you guys invited me! Thank you so much!” She hugged the couple.

Lance laughed and hugged her back. “Thank you for coming.”

Stasia hugged her as well, “I’m so glad you were able to be here, I thought you might already have plans.”

It was well after 1:00 am when Lance wandered onto the dance floor to find Ryan dancing with Stasia, Tara, Britney and even Alyssa. Lance stepped up behind Stasia and wrapped his arms around her waist. She knew his touch immediately and slipped her arm around his neck, moving with him to the driving beat of the music.

Carson made his way over to the group and swayed next to Tara. The song ended and a slow song began. Carson smiled at Lance, “May I borrow your girlfriend?”

“One song.” He turned to Tara, “Would you like to dance?”

“Sure.” They both smiled as they watched Britney grab Ryan’s hand and pull him back onto the dance floor.

Carson smiled down at Stasia, “I finally get my dance.”

“I’ve owed you this dance since...what? The Oscars?”

“Something like that. But now you are OFFICIALLY with Lance, so you don’t have to dodge me anymore.”

Stasia looked shocked, “Carson...”

He laughed, “Stasia, it’s ok. You weren’t TRYING to avoid me, it just sort of happened. You didn’t realize you were falling in love at the time...I know how that is.”

“You DO? Are things getting serious?” She was beaming up at him.

“Yeah. Things are getting pretty serious.”

“That makes me so happy! I’m at such a good point right now, I want for everyone to feel this joy. I wake up every morning, knowing that I am in love, and that the man I love, loves me back. I hope that that is what you’ve found.”

He leaned down to whisper into her ear, “I can honestly see myself being with her forever. Stasia, I love her.”

“I am thrilled to hear that!” She hugged him.

“Thanks.”

As the song ended, Stasia started to leave the dance floor with Carson, but Lance stopped her. “I think I’d like to ask you to dance.”

She smiled up at him, “I’d love it.”

Lance watched as her expression went from smiling, to showing her shock, to a huge smile as she recognized And So It Goes... playing. “You did this?”

“Of course I did. It’s our song.” He pulled her against his chest and rested his forehead on hers.

They danced quietly, not speaking at all, just enjoying the feeling of being together. He was gently running his hand over her hair, and down her back. Her fingers were playing with the short hair on the back of his neck. She leaned up, and her lips lightly grazed his ear, “I think we should leave after this song.”

He looked deeply into her eyes and then grabbed her hand and pulled her off of the dance floor, “We have the CD in the room, we can go now.”

Lance slowly surfaced from his peaceful sleep, Jake was snuggled against his chest, he scratched Jake behind the ears and reached for Stasia, who wasn’t there. He sat up and looked around the room. She was sitting on the floor, in his pajama tops, watching the tv with the volume almost completely off. “Millie?”

She held up her hand, “SHH!”

He crawled across the bed to see what she was watching, “You shushed me for a cooking show?”

“OK...SHH! Wait for a commercial.”

He laid on his stomach watching the show, “Who’s the guy with the cape?”

“HARRY!”

“OK, commercial.” He held up his hands.

The commercial started and she turned to him, “NOW you may speak.”

“Why thank you. What are you watching?”

“You are kidding me! You’ve never seen Iron Chef?” She looked at him in complete shock.

“Iron Chef? No.”

“OK! You have to learn fast. Now pay attention, because when the commercial ends...talking is over.”

“OK, give me the crash course.”

“So the guy in the cape is the Commissioner. He runs the show. Now there are a group of Iron Chefs, they are supposedly the best of the best. Each week, the Commissioner selects a challenger. The challenger gets to select the Iron Chef he wants to battle against. The Commissioner selects an ingredient and every dish they make has to have that ingredient in it. But the thing is, it’s all filmed in Japan, and the translators area total riot. They compete for an hour with guys calling the play by play. THEN after all the cooking is over, there is a panel of tasters who try everything and vote. The Commissioner then announces who won the battle. If the Iron Chef loses, it a HUGE DEAL for the challenger. That’s it in a nut shell.”

“I have never heard you talk so fast.”

“I don’t want to miss anything.” She turned back to the tv.

Lance chuckled and pulled her up onto the bed with him. He turned up the volume and said, “So what did I miss so far?”

“Not much, just the opening of the show. The Commissioner is about to reveal the ingredient for the battle.” She laid on her stomach next to him and pulled the blankets over their legs.

The show came back on and Lance laughed as Stasia turned her full attention to the screen. He decided that if she loved the show so much, they would watch.

“Millie, tell me those are not live fish.” Lance made a face.

“Eww. I hate it when the stuff is alive.” She covered her eyes.

“But if they’re alive...DUDE! Did you see that?”

“NO! If it’s alive, I never look until I know they are done...OH YUCK! I looked too soon!”

Within seconds, Lance was hooked. He and Stasia were laughing and smiling and making jokes. He loved mornings like this. They had no responsibilities until their flight to Orlando that night. They had an entire day, without work to do, without press to do, without the guys, without family, without any of the normal demands they faced on a daily basis. Normally, they had something that had to be done. It didn’t matter where they were, but there was always a phone call to make...or take. There was a document to review, or a decision to make. They had worked nonstop before leaving Mississippi for New York. They made sure all loose ends had been tied up.

“TELL ME THAT ISN’T FISH ICE CREAM!” Her nose was wrinkled.

“Sorry...it is.” He stuck his tongue out.

He reached over and took her hand in his, their fingers were laced together. Stasia looked over at him and her eyes were pure silver. She was happy, and her eyes were showing the joy she was feeling in her heart.

Lance smiled at her, “The Iron Chef has this battle in the bag.”

“You’ve got that right! I can’t believe the poor tasters have to eat the challenger’s fish ice cream.” She crossed her eyes and he laughed.

They had been right, the Iron Chef won without a problem. Next up was HGTV, they learned how to tile a bathroom. Stasia was laughing hysterically, “Harry, I agree, black and white tile WOULD look very cool in your bathroom...but do you really think we could do it?”

He rolled onto his side to face her, his green eyes were flashing, “We could SO do it! We just need to get the tile and that mud stuff. You’re gonna help me right?”

“Of course I’ll help you. We are going to tile the bathroom aren’t we?”

“I am going to call Momma and have her get someone to gut the bathroom downstairs. When we get there, all we’ll have to do is the actual tile work.”

“Maybe we should go get something to eat before I have to help you re-roof the house.”

“Do you think I need a new roof?”

“NO!” Stasia quickly stood up and pulled on his arm until he followed her. “I’m hungry.”

“Let’s take Jake to Central Park, we can walk around, stop to get something to eat, and we can get coffee too.”

“Once again, my Plan Man.”

“Have you seen my orange warm-up pants?”

“They are in my suitcase. They were in that last load of laundry. I just put them in my bag.”

Stasia put on her MSU baseball cap, her black war-up pants, a Michigan State football baby-t and her sunglasses. She laughed as Lance walked out of the bathroom wearing his orange warm-up, a t-shirt and an Abercrombie baseball cap he was carrying his sunglasses. “Well, we look...”

“Millie. This is how people our age are supposed to dress on their day off.”

“People YOUR age maybe.”

“Oh, that’s right, I forgot you are eighty-five this week.”

“Oh HUSH!”

She bent to tie her shoes as Lance attached Jake’s leash. He picked him up and tucked him under his arm. Stasia dropped her key card, id, cash and credit cards into the pocket of her pants and bounced over to the door, tightening her ponytail on the way, “Let’s go boys! We have no place to go and no one is going to call us, because both phones are on the dresser.”

Lonnie, Ron, Alyssa and Dan did their very best to give the couple all of the space they could. Lance and Stasia walked hand in hand with Jake trotting along in front of them. He bought her tulips from a street vendor, they slowly sipped coffee and talked about everything. They stopped to watch a group of school children play soccer, cheering for the team in green, because it was her favorite color.

When Stasia dragged him into a used book store, leaving Lonnie outside with Jake he got to watch her in another place she loved. Stasia seemed to worship books, her fingers gently touched the bindings with great care. Her mouth was slightly curled up in a soft smile. Lance wandered away from her as she was discussing a rare volume of Browning poetry with the shop’s owner. He slowly walked up and down the aisles, he found himself in the fiction section and a sly smile spread across his face. He pulled a book off of the shelf and inspected it very carefully. He looked around to make sure Stasia wasn’t around. He found Dan looking at the true crime books.

“Why am I not surprised to find you here?”

“You’re a logical guy.” Dan smiled.

“I need you to do me a favor, can you buy this book for me, and make sure Millie doesn’t see it?” Lance handed him the book and some cash.

“Sure no problem Harry.” Lance cocked his head and Dan slid his eyes to the teenaged girl a few feet away, looking at a book, which happened to be upside down.

Lance nodded and went to find Stasia, She had a large stack of books in front of her at the counter, “Millie, looks like you’re doing some damage.”

She grinned, “I found something for everyone.”

He slowly shook his head, “You realize if you buy them all gifts every time we go somewhere, you’ll spend a million dollars by the end of the year.”

“It would be money well spent.”

“You are so thoughtful.”

“Yeah, well...” She shrugged. “If you’ve got it and don’t need it...”

“I love you.” He whispered in her ear. “Let me carry those.” He took the bag from the clerk.

As they walked back into the park, Lance took her hand and pulled her to a area full of older men, “What are we doing Harry?”

“We are going lawn bowl.”

“Lawn bowling? What do you know about lawn bowling?”

“Not a damn thing, but who cares, do you have something better planned?”

“No...do you think they’ll mind teaching us?”

“Let’s ask.” He dragged her over to one of the men standing on the edge of the group. “Excuse me sir?”

The man turned, “Yes?”

“We were wondering if you would mind if we joined you. We would both like to learn how to play.”

The man put his arm around Lance’s shoulders, “Well sure young man.” He tipped his hat and nodded his head toward Stasia, “Good afternoon young lady, I’m George.”

“How do you do? I’m Stasia and this is Lance.”

“Well you two kids come along, and we’ll get you started.” He led Stasia and Lance over to his friends. “Joe, Louie, this is Stasia and Lance, they want to learn how to bowl.”

Each man shook their hands. George took Stasia by the hand, and the other two men explained the rules and object of the game to Lance. They decided that Lance would be on a team with Louie, Stasia would play with George and Joe would be the judge.

Lonnie and Ron were sitting on the grass laughing hysterically as Stasia taught George their official good shot dance. George was a great sport, and when Stasia took her first shot, he did the dance with her. They smacked hands, bounced around in a circle and pointed at Lance and Louie.

They played for an hour, with George and Stasia beating Lance and Louie quite soundly. Lonnie and Ron were cheering loudly and clapping. George gave Stasia a big hug. “I’ve been trying to beat Louie for years.”

“You just needed a female touch.”

Lance jogged over to her, “Congratulations!” He kissed the top of her head and wiggled the bill of her hat.

Stasia smiled brightly, “Thanks. You played a good game!” She turned to George, “May we buy you all coffee?”

“You kids don’t need to be spending your money on coffee for us, we’ll buy.”

They all walked to the coffee shop together. George bought Jake a hot dog at the stand outside of the coffee shop. Lance and Stasia went inside and came out carrying trays of cups. Lonnie and Ron took theirs as well as the cups for Alyssa and Dan. The security people were trying hard to not invade the couple’s fun. Lance and Stasia sat at a table on the patio with their new friends .

“You didn’t need to pay for this.” George shook his head slowly.

“George, believe me, it’s not a problem.” Lance smiled. He took off his sunglasses and tossed them on the table. Stasia’s landed right next to his.

Louie nudged Joe, “You ever see two people with such unusual eyes?”

“Never in my life.” Joe shook his head.

Lance and Stasia turned and smiled at one another. Stasia noticing the light in his eyes, and Lance took notice of the liquid silver he loved to see.

George leaned back in his chair, “So what brings the two of you to New York?”

“We were here on business, we extended our trip through today so we could enjoy the city.”

“You two work together? I thought you were a couple.” George grinned.

“Actually, both are true.” Stasia smiled.

“I knew it!” Louie nodded his head.

George looked thoughtfully toward the couple sitting across from him before leaning in a little and lowering his voice, “I can’t help but notice you have four people following you all over the city. Two of them are very large.”

“The twins are our security, Lonnie and Ron. The woman is our assistant Alyssa and the man works with us as well.”

“What do two attractive young people like you have security and employees for?” Joe looked shocked.

Lance ran a hand over his face, “Well, we are in the entertainment business.”

“Woody Allen walks around by himself all the time.” Louie looked at the skeptically.

“Lance is a singer in a very popular group. We have had some strange experiences, so sadly, security is a necessity.”

“You’re a singer?”

“Yes sir.”

George nodded and took a sip of his coffee, “You said you’ve had some strange experiences, are you ok? Do you need any help?”

Lance smiled warmly, “That is so kind of you George, but we are fine. Lonnie and Ron are the best in the business, and they love us like family. We are in very good hands.”

George nodded his head slowly, he handed Stasia a business card with his name and several phone numbers on it. He leaned his head near hers and whispered, “I’m retired form Alyssa and Dan’s line of work. If you ever need any help...maybe by someone who looks like a grandpa, you call me. They can check me out and verify who I am.” He patted her hand. “We can spot one another a mile away, if you ask them later, I’m sure they’ll be able to tell you they knew.”

Louie nodded his head toward George, “I spotted him a mile away.”

Joe snorted, “You may have spotted him a mile away, but I saw you TWO miles away.”

Stasia looked around at the three men, all of them easily in their seventies, “All of you?”

They all smiled and nodded. George squeezed her hand before releasing it, “You have to be in some sort of sticky situation to have two agents with you. I honestly mean it, if you ever need anything, you call. I owe you one, you helped me beat this bum.” He gestured at Louie with his thumb.

Stasia covered her heart with her hand, “Thank you so much. All of you, thank you for caring.”

They were in the VIP area of the airport. The plane had had some sort of mechanical problem, and they were forced to wait for the next flight out of New York. They had waited for three hours. It was almost time for them to leave, but they were all tired and they wouldn’t arrive in Orlando until three in the morning.

On the floor, in his carrier, Jake was softly snoring. Lance’s head was back, his breathing was deep and even, his arms were wrapped around Stasia’s sleeping form. Alyssa was on the phone with Mary, who was running a check on George, Louie and Joe. Lonnie and Ron were playing gin rummy. Dan was writing up a report of the days activities.

Alyssa shut off her phone, and it rang immediately. “Hello?”

“Alyssa, it’s Dani. I’m sorry to call you, but everyone else seems to have turned off their phones.”

“It’s not a problem Dani. What can I do for you?”

“Is Stasia around?”

“She’s sleeping across the room, do you want me to wake her up?”

“No! Could you please just tell her I’m staying at Chris’s tonight, so when she gets home I won’t be there.”

“I’ll tell her as soon as she wakes up.”

A man walked into the room, “We are ready to get you on the plane now.”

Lonnie looked up at him, “OK. Is there a crowd at all?”

“No, actually the airport is quiet tonight.”

“We’ll be right out.”

Lonnie woke up Lance, “Let’s fly.”

Lance stretched and yawned, “OK.” He caressed Stasia’s cheek and kissed her forehead.

“Millie, it’s time to go.”

Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled up at him, “I’m so ready to sleep in a bed.”

“I know.” He helped her gather her things, Jake moaned when his carrier was moved. “He’s ready for bed too.”

They were on the plane and in the air within half an hour, Alyssa walked over to where Lance and Stasia were sitting, “I almost forgot to tell you, Dani is spending the night at Chris’s so don’t worry about waking her up.”

Lance smirked, “Thanks Alyssa.”

“No problem.” She shrugged.

The flight seemed very short, most likely because they all slept the entire flight.

By the time they got to Stasia’s it was four in the morning. Lance carried her bags to the door, and bent to kiss her good night, “I love you.”

She looked up into his eyes, “Please stay.”

“Gladly.”

The thud brought Lance out of his deep sleep. Jake was suddenly wide awake and running down the hall. Lance sat up and looked over at Stasia sleeping next to him. He looked at the clock and when it said it was only five fifteen, he rolled his eyes, Dani and Chris must have had an argument. But why was Jake upset?

Lance swung his legs out of the bed, Jake must have to go out. He padded across the room, and was almost into the hall when he heard Jake begin to growl, “What the hell?” He whispered and couldn’t believe it when Jake began barking. The barking was followed by a sharp yip, and Jake rand down the hall and into the bedroom.

Jake grabbed the bottom of Lance’s pajama pants and tugged on them, pulling him back toward the bedroom. Lance cocked his head, and his heart began to pound when he heard the unmistakable sound of the floorboards in the livingroom creaking.

Without another thought, he lightly covered Stasia’s mouth with his hand and gently shook her, when her eyes flew open, and her brow furrowed, he silently held a finger to his lips. She slowly nodded her head. He let go of her mouth and she mouthed, ‘What’s going on?’

In the darkness, he leaned down next to her ear and whispered, “There is someone in the living room.” He could feel her begin to shake. “Grab Jake, we’re getting out of here...now.”

Stasia didn’t even consider debating or arguing. She picked up Jake and quietly tip-toed to the window. Lance silently pushed the window up and Lowered Stasia, with Jake in her arms, to the ground. He grabbed his phone off of the dresser and hoisted himself out the window. He could hear the person in Dani’s room. He carefully closed the window from the outside.

They crouched down, below the level of the windows and crept to the security gate. Stasia quickly punched in her code and the slipped out. Lance’s voice was still low, “Do you know any of the neighbors?”

“No, but I know all of the guards at the gate.” They ran the short distance to the guard booth and Stasia was very relieved to recognize Chad in the booth.

Chad jumped when they knocked on the door, “MISS BLAKE! You frightened me!”

“I’m very sorry, but there is someone in my apartment, we crawled out the window.”

“OH GOD! Get in here!” He held the door open. Lance and Stasia sat down on two chairs. “You’re both in your pajamas, I’ve got a jacket if you’d like it Miss Blake.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

Lance was hitting speed dial numbers, “Alyssa. It’s Lance. Stasia and I just had to climb out the window, there is someone in the apartment.”

She didn’t even say good-bye, he knew she was on the way.

He went through the same process Lonnie and Ron, both of whom said to stay put and wait for them to get there. It could not have been five minutes later when Alyssa came tearing into the parking driveway with Dan and Mike in the car.

She jumped out and ran over, “Are you two OK?”

“We’re fine. Just a little freaked out.” Stasia nodded.

Lonnie’s Jeep came flying up behind Alyssa’s car. He and Ron were out of the car before it was completely stopped. Lonnie left the engine running, “Alyssa, what do you want us to do?”

“I want you to get these two out of here...NOW! I’ll call Lance’s cell, when we know what’s going on.”

Ron tossed Lance the button down shirt he was wearing over his t-shirt. Lance put it on and took Stasia’s hand, the two of them climbed into the backseat of the car and his arms automatically went around her.

He hit speed dial and listened to the phone ringing on the other end, “Lance, you better be dead.” Justin’s sleepy voice answered.

“Close enough. I’m having Lonnie bring Stasia and I to your house.”

Justin was completely alert, “What happened? Are you guys ok?”

“We’re ok. There was someone in the apartment, we crawled out the window and called Alyssa and Lonnie. Alyssa, Dan and Mike are going in to see what’s going on in the house.”

“Shit! I’ll make coffee.”

“Thanks J.” Lance hung up the phone. “Lon, take us over to Justin’s. I figure he has the best security.”

“You’ve got that right. He’s got the system you should all have.”

“Could you hold off on the lecture until later?”

“Lance...”

“Lonnie, seriously...PLEASE shut up.”

Lonnie mumbled something from the front seat and Lance rolled his eyes.

It took ten minutes to get to Justin’s house. Lonnie buzzed the house from the gate and Justin’s voice came over the speaker, “I’ll buzz you in Lon.” The gates slowly began to part.

Most of the lights in Justin’s house were on and he was standing on the front porch when the car stopped. Jake hopped out of the car and ran over to Justin who scooped him up and scratched him behind the ears.

Stasia jumped out of the car, Justin couldn’t help smirking at the outfit she was wearing. She had on men’s pajama tops, which coincidentally matched the pants Lance had on, she was wearing sweat socks and an oversized security service jacket. Lance didn’t look much better in his pajama bottoms, a shirt that had to belong to Lonnie or Ron and bare feet.

Justin put his arm around her shoulders and steered Stasia into the living room. “How are you?”

“I’m fine. I’d just like to know what’s going on.” She sighed and dug her hands into her hair in frustration.

Lance sat down next to her on the couch. Justin reactivated the alarm system, and sat in a black leather chair across from them. “OK, no I have you locked in.” He looked at them again and got up. “Lance, why don’t you get something to drink.” He disappeared up the stairs.

Justin returned a few minutes later with sweats and a sweatshirt for each of them. “The pants are Morgan’s they should fit right?”

Stasia nodded, “Why, may I ask, are Morgan’s PANTS here?”

“Stasia, get your mind out of the gutter! She leaves a pair of sweats here so if we go swimming, she can put them on after.”

“Makes sense.”

“I know.” He stuck his tongue out at her.

Stasia got up and went into the bathroom to change. Justin took a good look at his friend, “What are you going to do Lance?” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

“I have no idea what I CAN do. We have security, we have involved the FBI, we don’t go anywhere without everyone and their brother knowing where we’re going, when we’ll be back and what fricking deodorant we’re wearing.” He tugged on his hair, “I feel so damn helpless.”

“We all do...”

“Thanks Justin, but what you forget is that I’m in love with her, it’s different.”

“Lance, I know. But YOU have to remember that I love her like a sister. YOU have to remember that we all love YOU. Yeah, Stasia was in danger tonight, but so were you. How do you think it makes me feel to know my best friend had to climb out the damn window? How do you think I feel knowing you BOTH could have been killed, or hurt or...God knows what?”

Lance’s eyes rose to meet Justin’s, he voice was low and shaky when he spoke, “Justin, I don’t have any fear for myself anymore...somewhere along the way, it’s like I’m willing to trade myself for her safety. I don’t care what happens to me, I just NEED her to be safe.”

“Lance, you HAVE TO worry about yourself. Think about it, she has had so much loss in her life, honestly, I don’t think she could go on if something happened to you. How much more can she possibly handle? I know she is strong, she’s proven that to us over and over, but her love for you is so deep, and so much a part of who she is, if something happened to you...it would kill her.”

“I can’t think of it that way.”

“You don’t have a choice.”

“What am I going to do?”

“You are going to lean on your friends. WE are going to figure something out. WE aren’t going to let anything happen to ANY of us.” Justin’s voice was firm and strong. Lance knew the people around him cared about him, but he had needed the reminder. “You haven’t given up so far, I’m not going to let you give up now.”

Lance’s head began to slowly nod up and down, “Thanks Justin.”

Stasia came out of the bathroom and Lance laughed, “Nice dress you have there.”

She did a little spin for them, “Why thank you. Apparently, Justin is a little taller than I am.” The sweatshirt fell below her knees.

Lance’s phone rang and he answered before the first ring had completely ended, “Hello?”

“It’s Alyssa. Where are you?”

“Justin’s.”

“We’re on our way, I need to bring Stasia back here.”

“Why?”

“She needs to tell us how much of this mess is new.”

“Mess?”

“Lance, this place is trashed.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah, we’re on our way.”

“Alyssa, did you get him?”

“No...he was gone.” Lance’s eyes slammed shut. “We’ll be there in five Lance.”

“Ok.” He closed his phone. “Millie, we have to go over to the apartment and check out the damage.”

“Damage?” Her face fell.

“Alyssa says it’s a mess.”

Justin stood up. “Make sure you pack your stuff Stasia. You’re staying here.”

“Justin...”

“DON’T Justin me! I have the most security. You can’t stay there now. Dani can stay with Chris...”

Lance and Stasia looked at one another, “DANI!” Lance tossed Stasia his phone.

Stasia quickly dialed Chris’s number, it rang three times before Chris’s groggy voice picked up the other end, “LANCE YOU SON OF A....”

“It’s Stasia.”

“Stay-A, why are you calling me at a quarter to six?”

“I need to talk to Dani.”

There was some shuffling as he woke Dani, “Stasia?”

“Dani, I have some pretty bad news. The apartment was broken into.”

“ARE YOU OK?”

“I’m fine, I’m at Justin’s, Alyssa is on her way here to pick me up and take me back over to see the damage. Dan, I’m SO SORRY!”

“It’s not your fault. Chris and I will meet you there.”

Alyssa pulled up in the drive, Justin put a bowl of water on the floor for Jake and the group walked out the door. Alyssa rolled down her window, “Everyone is coming?”

“I guess so, and Dani and Chris will meet us there.”

Alyssa ran her hand over her face and rolled her eyes, “Great, the gang’s all here. Do you people go anywhere alone?”

Stasia slowly turned to face her fully, “Excuse me?”

“Nothing.”

“Bull shit. What did you say?”

“Stasia just get in the car.” Alyssa tried to level her with a look.

Lance looked down at Stasia, and saw the black creeping into her eyes. “I will NOT be getting in your car. I realize you are trying to do your job, but you know what? I don’t care. This is MY LIFE and if I feel safer and more at ease with ‘the gang all here’ then you better damn well bet they are going to be here. Now, if you want to bring the attitude down a notch, we can go over to my apartment, which some freak trashed and see what we can find out. Does that sound ok to you AGENT?”

Alyssa looked completely shocked, “Yeah...I’m sorry about that Stasia. I’m just a little...”

“I know. Me too. Let’s just get this over with.” Stasia got in Lonnie’s Jeep and her head slammed back against the seat.

When they got to the apartment, Chris and Dani were outside talking to Mike. Stasia walked over to Dani who hugged her tightly, “You didn’t tell me you guys were inside with him! Are you OK?”

“Honestly, I’m fine. Just a little freaked out.” Stasia turned to Dan, “Can we go in and get this over with?”

Dan looked curiously at Alyssa, who slowly nodded, “Sure Stasia. But would it be ok if just you and Dani went in first, after we figure everything out, everyone else can come in.”

Dani took Stasia’s hand and they both nodded.

When the were out of ear shot Chris turned to Lance, “We have got amazing women. They may be little, but they are full of fight.”

“I know Chris.”

Stasia and Dani stepped into their apartment and theirs jaws dropped. Stasia’s free hand flew up to her mouth, “OH MY GOD!”