JC
and Laurie smiled at the small group as they walked up to the table. JC’s grinned broadened when he realized that
Chris wasn’t aware that they had entered the room and he grabbed the older
man’s shoulders, startling him.
“Jeez,
what the… you son of a…”
“Have
a seat,” Lance said between howls of laughter.
“You
can sit,” Chris said to Laurie. Then he
glared at JC. “You can go away, I don’t
like you.”
“Thanks,
I’ll take this seat,” JC grinned and sat down.
“So what’s the reason for not liking me this time?”
“Jace,”
Michelle leaned toward him. “When you
scare someone Chris’ age, you could give him a heart attack.”
“Excuse
me?” Chris looked at his girlfriend.
“Someday you’ll be almost thirty.”
“Yeah,”
she grinned evilly. “But you’ll always
be older than me.”
Laurie
put a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. Lance looked over at her.
“So
Laurie… you look nice and refreshed after your…” Lance cleared his throat and
looked quickly at JC before looking back at Laurie. “Nap.”
Laurie’s
eyes widened in surprise and she couldn’t help but glance at JC before blushing
and developing a sudden interest in her napkin. JC just smirked.
“It
was umm… much needed,” she stuttered and the tips of her ears went pink.
“I
can imagine,” Lance smiled casually and took a sip of his water. “Oh darn, look at the time… Isabella and I
are going out tonight and I still have to get ready.”
“Leaving
so soon?” JC cocked his head to the side and looked at Lance. “What a shame.”
“I’m
sure,” Lance laughed and gathered his things.
He threw a wink in the direction of JC and Laurie and said, “I’ll see
you guys later.”
Lance
was chuckling as he left the restaurant and Laurie smiled sheepishly at
JC. He gave her leg a comforting
squeeze and returned her smile. She
began to relax.
“Hey
Laur?” Michelle said and reached for a piece of sourdough bread. “When you get home tomorrow, are you
planning on going into the office or working from home?”
“I’m
probably just going to go home,” she replied slowly and did some calculations
in her head. “I should land in LA
around three o’clock and Craig is supposed to be picking me up.”
“Ok,
just let me know when you figure it out, that way I know where I can get a hold
of you if I need to.” She paused and
took a bite of her carrot stick. “Chris
and I are going shopping with Joey after dinner, he wants to pick up something
for Denise. Do you guys want to come?”
“I
can’t speak for Laurie, but I think I’m just going to stay in and go to bed
early.” As JC spoke, he slowly moved
his hand over Laurie’s leg.
“I’m
going to do the same. Hopefully if I
get some extra sleep, the jet lag won’t be so bad when I get back to LA.”
“Hey,
where did Lance go?” Chris suddenly looked around.
“Sweetie,”
Michelle said as she placed a hand on his arm.
She realized that JC and Laurie were trying not to laugh. “Lance left about five minutes ago.”
“Damn,
I’ve got to start paying attention.” He frowned.
“It’s
all right, you didn’t miss much. Are
you still up for going out after dinner?”
Yeah,
I don’t really feel like hanging around here again. Three days in one spot that isn’t home is just a bit much.”
JC
silently agreed.
**********
After
dinner, they all rode the elevator up to their floor and went their separate
way. JC winked at Laurie before he
entered his room and Chris went off in search of Joey while Michelle changed.
“Hey,”
Justin poked his head out of his door just as Chris ran by. “Where are you going?”
“Crazy,
wanna come?”
Justin
snickered. “I think you’re already
there. Seriously, where are you going?”
“Shelle
and I are going shopping with Joey.”
“Do
you mind if Stacy and I tag along?
She’s never been to Chicago before.”
“I
don’t care,” Chris shrugged.
“Great! I’ll just let her know and we’ll meet you at
your room in fifteen minutes.”
The
door closed and Chris continued on his way to Joey’s room. He faced the door and knocked on it.
“That
was quick, you…” Lance pulled the door open and looked at Chris. “Oh, it’s just you.”
“Thanks
Bass, love you too.” Chris stuck his
tongue out at him. “Where’s Joey?”
“He
just got out of the shower and he’s getting dressed as far as I know.”
“Why
are you so dressed up?”
“I’m
not dressed up.”
“You’re
wearing a shirt with buttons – you’re dressed up.”
“Isabella
and I are going out tonight, I think we might go see a movie.”
“Ooo,”
Chris nudged him. “You guys gonna hook
up?”
“I
don’t know,” Lance shrugged. “I think
for now it’s just a casual thing whenever we have free time. Well… whenever I have free time.”
“Cool,
have fun. Joey!” He yelled. “Get your ass in gear!”
Joey
opened the bathroom door and glared at Chris.
“Can I at least dry my hair first?”
“Just
throw a hat on, we won’t mind,” Chris grinned.
“Give
me like two minutes,” Joey shook his head and closed the door again.
“Just
meet me back in my room,” Chris hollered.
There
was no answer from Joey and Chris walked back down the hall to his own
room. As he passed by JC’s room, he
thought he heard voices coming from behind the door, but shrugged it off and
just figured he was watching TV.
**********
“I’m
going to order some room service,” JC said as he flopped onto his bed. “Do you want anything?”
“Umm…
an iced tea and umm… that’s it. I’m
still pretty stuffed from dinner.” She stopped on her way to the bathroom and
turned around to smile at him. “And if
I do decide I’m hungry, I can always munch on something you order… or you.”
JC’s
mouth dropped open and he started to laugh.
Laurie made her way back over to the bed and crawled onto it. She placed a light kiss on his lips and then
trailed her mouth along his jaw, to his ear.
“Although,
I wouldn’t say no to some chocolate covered strawberries with a side of whipped
cream,” she whispered huskily. JC
practically leapt for the phone.
Laurie
just laughed and made her way back to the bathroom to relieve the pressure on
her bladder. When she stepped back out
into the room, JC was no longer lying on the bed, he had moved to the sofa and
he motioned for her to join him. She
sat beside him and tucked her legs underneath her body and leaned into him.
“Is
everything ok?” Her hand played with the hair at the nape of his neck.
“Hmm? Oh yeah… is it cool if we spend the night in
your room tonight?”
“Sure,
but what’s the difference?”
“When
I laid down on the bed, I could still smell Alexandria’s perfume. I guess housekeeping didn’t change the
sheets today and I really don’t want to smell it all night.” He turned his head
and kissed her hair. “Especially when I
like the way you smell much better. Like raspberries.”
Before
she could say anything, JC palmed the side of her face and tipped her head up
so that he could have better access to her lips. He gently began to kiss her and one by one, he drew her legs out
from beneath her and rested them across his lap, caressing them with his hand,
while his lips caressed hers. They were
just making themselves comfortable when there was a knock at the door.
“I
swear,” Laurie growled. “If that’s one
of your friends…”
JC
laughed and kissed her forehead, untangling himself in the process. “It’s probably just room service, love. Everyone else has probably left by now.”
JC
stood up and discreetly adjusted himself before he answered the door. He signed for the food and wheeled the cart
into the room.
“Let’s
take this into your room.”
“Ok,”
Laurie said and walked toward the door that connected their rooms and opened it
for him.
JC
kicked the door closed with his foot and turned around to make sure that it was
locked. He pushed the cart so that it
was within arm’s reach of the bed and faced Laurie who was just standing there,
unable to take her eyes off of him. He
slowly walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, walking her
backwards until the back of her knees were touching the bed.
“Since
it’s our last night together, at least for a while, I think we should take our
time,” he paused and kissed her. “And
just,” he kissed her again. “Enjoy our
time with each other.”
“I
always enjoy my time with you,” she responded softly and wrapped her arms
around his neck, drawing him closer to her.
JC
looked away from Laurie long enough to lift the lid off the chocolate covered
strawberries and set it to the side. He
picked up one of the strawberries and swirled it around in the bowl of whipped
cream and brought it to her lips, giving her a taste of what was to come.
Her
lashes fluttered as he brought the succulent dessert to her lips and her tongue
darted out to taste the whipped cream.
JC groaned and his lips crashed against hers, the fruit temporarily
forgotten.
**********
Michelle
walked up behind Chris who was flipping through a row of records and placed her
hands on his shoulders.
“Find
anything interesting?” He asked with looking back.
“Not
really… although I was seriously contemplating buying the Sesame Street record
that I saw.” She couldn’t help but
grin. “I had the same album on an
eight-track when I was younger.”
“Serious? I wanna see it.”
“Chris…”
“Come
on, just show me where it is.” Chris grinned and she relented, leading him to
the children’s music section. He picked
up the record and examined the songs on the back of it. “Oh cool, it’s got the Rubber Ducky
song! Hey, do you think Bert and Ernie
are really gay?”
Michelle
burst into laughter, attracting the attention of the other patrons of the
record store.
“I’m
gonna buy this. We can listen to it on
the bus on the way to Toronto tomorrow.”
“Umm…
I don’t think JC and Justin would appreciate that very much.”
“Bah. They wouldn’t know good music if it bit them
on the ass.”
Michelle
covered her mouth to stifle the giggles she felt building. “They would hurt you if they heard you say
that… and you think Sesame Street is good
music?”
“It’s
classic… we all grew up with it.”
“Yes dear,” she smirked.
“Whatever you say.”
Chris
shook his head and walked to the register to pay for his purchases and Michelle
went outside to join the others.
“Did
he finally choose something?” Joey asked.
“Yeah
he umm… bought a few things.”
“Anything
normal?” Justin laughed. Michelle started to chew on her lower lip
and looked anywhere but at Justin.
Justin's face visibly paled.
“What did he buy?”
“She’s
sworn to secrecy,” Chris said as he walked up behind her and wrapped an arm
around her waist. “You’ll find out
tomorrow.”
“Oh
shit. Joey… wanna trade buses? I’ll pay you!”
“No
way man,” Joey chuckled. “You couldn’t
pay me enough to listen to whatever he just bought.”
**********
“Josh?”
Laurie murmured. She was stretched out
along side him and trailing her fingers in the light smattering of hair that
covered his chest.
“Yeah
babe?” His eyes were closed and his
hand was slowly caressing her arm.
“I
love you.”
“I
love you too.”
After
a few minutes of comfortable silence, JC was starting to drift off to sleep and
Laurie spoke again.
“Josh?”
“Hmm?”
“What
umm… what do you see happening between us?” Laurie closed her eyes and prayed
for strength. She couldn’t believe that
she was bringing up such a sensitive topic.
“I mean, are we always going to have to hide behind closed doors? Is sex all we have between us anymore?”
Laurie
held her breath as JC slowly turned his head to look at her. She couldn’t gauge his reaction to what she
had just said and she was now mentally cursing herself for saying anything in
the first place.
“What
brought this up?” JC was astonished.
And very wide awake. Laurie
opened her mouth to speak and he stopped her.
“Laur,” he said quietly. “I’m
with you because I want to be with
you. I love you. I love making love to you… it isn’t just sex
to me, it never has been. I thought you
knew that.”
“I
do, it’s just… I’m pretty sure that Lance knows and it’s making me feel really
insecure. About everything.”
“Honey,
that’s just Lance. He picks up on
things that other people don’t really pay attention to. That’s part of what makes him such a great
businessman.”
“I
know, but…”
JC
gathered her into his arms and kissed her temple. “Sweetheart, if you’re starting to have doubts about us, you’ve
got to let me know now… before I fall any deeper in love with you.”
“I
don’t have any doubts,” she told him.
Her eyes were calm and steady as they met his.
“Good.” JC hugged her tightly and they settled
beneath the covers, falling asleep in each others arms.