Not Too Much To Ask

By: Lara

Lara and Kat stood to the side of the large gathering, totally bored. At least Kat was bored. Lara tried to get involved with the activities, but she just didn’t feel the energy. She hadn’t felt the energy to do much of anything since her boyfriend of 17 months had dumped her two months earlier.

Kat sighed and shifted her weight to the other side of her body. "Remind me again why we are here?"

"Because it only cost ten bucks, and because there was a rumor that maybe possibly hopefully some of the guys would show up," Lara told her. "And also because you told me I needed to get out of the house more."

"True," Kat admitted. She looked around her at the giggling mass of females. They were at a NKOTB picnic, and she had never been more bored in her life. Not that she didn’t support the guys 100%, but she just wasn’t into this whole group thing. She had wanted to get Lara out of the house. Ever since Jamie had dumped her for that redhead in his office, Lara hadn’t shown interest in anything, and this was one of the few ways Kat had gotten her out of her pajamas and into the real world. "There is no way that the guys would even show their faces at something like this, though. They’re too busy."

"Let’s stay another half an hour, and then we can go down to Malley’s for a drink, okay?" Lara suggested. Happy that she wasn’t asking to go back home, Kat quickly agreed.

When they had ten minutes to go, a black Cherokee pulled into the dirt parking lot, followed by a black Porsche and a green pick-up. A girl shrieked, "Is that…?" and all the girls ran towards the vehicles. Two huge bodyguards exited the vehicles and held the girls back while Jordan Knight and Joe McIntyre got out. Kat and Lara’s mouths dropped. They hadn’t expected them to really be there. The guys stood in the mass of girls, signing autographs as flashbulbs popped.

Kat’s eyes caught Joe’s blue ones. He wondered who the beautiful woman was who showed no interest in getting any closer to him. He rudely broke through the crowd and sauntered over to her. "Hi there," he said.

"Hello," she said, acting nonchalant, though her insides were turning to pudding.

"Any reason why you weren’t over there greeting us?" He asked cockily. She was amazed at his ego.

"Pretty much because I’m a Donnie girl. I like men, not boys. Come on, Lara."

"But…I…I wanted to meet Jordan, or at least try," Lara said softly. Kat looked at her. She was really interested, and there were signs of life in her blue eyes. Kat turned to Joe, sending him silent signals, begging him to introduce her friend to Jordan. She hoped he would somehow grasp the seriousness of the situation.

"What’s your name, sweetie?" Joe said to Lara.

"Lara," she said shyly. He smiled at her.

"Lara, you stay right here, while we go get Jordan, okay?" She nodded.

Joe took Kat by the arm and led her back to the group of people. "Something bad has happened to her recently, hasn’t it?" He said, his voice low but loud enough for her to hear him over the noise.

"Yeah, it has. Her boyfriend, the first real love of her life, dumped her for another woman. She’s almost been suicidal." She was surprised at the way he had recognized the situation.

"Thought so. Her eyes were completely empty." He pushed through the girls and whispered something in Jordan’s ear. Jordan smiled at the group, signed one or two more autographs, then motioned to the bodyguards.

"Okay, ladies, why don’t you all sit down over here, and in a few minutes the guys will answer all your questions." The guys started herding the woman over to a grassy hill.

As she saw Jordan walking towards her, Lara felt like her legs were going to totally give out. She fought the urge to run away screaming. "Hi," Jordan said, holding out his hand. "You must be Lara. Joey here said you were really looking forward to meeting me."

"Um, yeah, I was," she stammered, hoping her brain would remain active as she took his hand. He took her hand, turned it palm up, and kissed the soft spot right below her fingers.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Lara," he said to her, smiling right into her eyes.

Thank you, Kat mouthed to Joe, glad to see her friend so relaxed and happy.

"You’ll pay me later," Joe said to her. He turned to Jordan. "J, sorry to pull you away from you gorgeous new friend, but we gotta go do this Q and A thing. Get her number or something."

"Do you live around here?" Jordan was asking Lara.

"Nearby," she replied, unable to give more than one word answers it seemed. Usually very intelligent and witty, she was inwardly kicking herself for acting like such a fool.

"Is there someplace we can meet you in about an hour, like a bar or restaurant or something?"

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. "Um, sure. There’s a bar called Malley’s about two miles away. It’s our hangout, you could say."

"I think I passed it on the way up here," Joe said. "We’ll find it. Give us about an hour." He turned to Kat. "And your name is…"

"None of your business," she retorted, annoyed by his attitude. She started to drag Lara away.

"See you soon!" Jordan called to Lara. Joe watched Kat, shaking his head. She was gonna be a hard one to crack, but the Joey Mac charm had never failed him before.

As Kat turned the corner into Malley’s parking lot, Lara was still chattering about Jordan.

"And didn’t he look good in that black shirt? He always looks good, but I don’t know what it is when he wears black, but it makes him look fine!" Lara flipped down the sun visor and looked at herself in the mirror. She gasped. "Kat, please don’t tell me I looked like this when I was talking to Jordan Knight!" Strands of hair were flying in every direction, and her once perfect ponytail was almost non-existent.

Kat laughed. "I should tell you you did look like that, but don’t worry. Driving with the window down does wonders to a great hairdo. You looked fine when you were talking to him."

"Good," Lara said in relief as they got out of the car. "Do you really think it will take them an hour?"

"Probably. Those girls aren’t going to let them go without a fight."

The entered Malley’s and waved to Jim Malley, the owner. He came over to their table.

"Kat, how’re you doing?" He turned to Lara, and smiled warmly. "Lara, it’s been ages since I saw you last! It’s about time you get your skinny ass back in here! I’ve made that seafood soup you like every Friday for months now, and you never came in!"

"Well, I’m here now!" She stated, her voice full of energy and bounce. "Got any left?"

"For you, I’ll make some fresh!" He hurried off to the kitchen. Lara turned to Kat.

"I gotta repair this nightmare. Do you have any makeup in your bag?"

"Do I have any…girl, what kind of a dumb question is that?" Kat handed Lara her bag, which was the size of a small suitcase. "Go for it." Lara headed for the restroom.

Kat looked around the room, thinking about Joe McIntyre. He had quite the ego, along with a sexy body, a great smile, and gorgeous blue eyes that looked at her like she was dessert and he had a spoon. Someone shoved against the back of her chair, and she felt something wet on her back.

"Dammit!" She yelled, standing up. She saw a very big man with a scruffy beard standing behind her.

"Sorry, sweets, but your ass was sticking out in the aisle," he said, looking down at his now empty glass of beer with a frown.

"I’d appreciate it if you kept your eyes off of my ass, okay?" She said, trying to see how much of the beer had really landed on her and how much was on the floor. The man continued on to his table. Lara soon returned, her eyes opening big at the giant wet spot on the back of Kat’s t-shirt.

"What happened?" She asked.

"That Neanderthal in the corner spilled his beer all over me. I gotta run home and change. Will you be okay here?"

"I’ll be fine," Lara said, amused. "You wanna look good for when Joey comes back, don’t you?"

"That is so far from the truth, I’m not even going to address it!" Kat retorted. "I do not want to sit here smelling like a brewery. I’ll be back in a few." She grabbed her purse from Lara and left.

Jordan checked his watch for the tenth time, praying that there would be no more questions. Every time it seemed like they’d be allowed to leave, someone else asked another question. He looked at one of the bodyguards, mentally pleading with him to call it a day.

"Okay," the large man finally said in answer to Jordan’s prayers. "That’s all we have time for ladies."

Jordan stood hurriedly, knocking over the folding chair he had been sitting on. "We’re outta here!" He whispered to Joe, who smiled.

They hurried to their cars. "I saw this place when we turned off the main road," Joe told Jordan. "Follow me." The guys squealed out of the parking lot, leaving their bodyguards to deal with the girls.

Jordan checked his hair in the rearview mirror as he drove. He usually didn’t see fans socially, but this girl was different. There was something in her eyes…something sad…

Joe was also checking his reflection in the mirror, and smiled at what he saw. There was no way she could resist…

Lara sat by herself at the table, her eyes flicking between the door and the clock on the wall. Over an hour had passed. Maybe they weren’t coming..

"Can I buy you a drink?" A voice said in her ear. She turned around to see a companion of the man who had spilled beer on Kat (of course she didn’t know that though).

"Um, no, thank you very much." She said politely, pulling back from the liquor on his breath.

"Come on, little lady. No one as pretty as you should be sitting alone." The man leered at her.

"I said, NO, thank you!" She snapped, turning back around. The man walked off to his table.

A few minutes later, another voice said, "Excuse me, miss, but can I…"

"I said leave me the hell alone!" She whirled around to see Jordan and Joe standing behind her. "Oh, God, oh…I…I thought you were someone else." Her face turned beet red, and she wished the ground would open up and swallow her.

"Well, I hoped you didn’t greet everyone you met like that," Jordan said as he and Joe sat on either side of her.

"Uh, where is your friend?" Joe asked, trying to act nonchalant. Lara smiled.

"Well, see that caveman in the corner? He spilled beer down her back, and she ran home to change."

"Cool." He stood. "Want anything from the bar?"

Lara looked at her watch. "It’s only five o’clock. I usually don’t drink this early."

"Okay. J?"

"Oh, get me a beer, I guess." When Joe walked away, he said to Lara, "He’s nervous. He never drinks this early, either. He needs something to do until she gets back."

"Oh, I see." She understood how Joe felt. She was so nervous sitting next to Jordan. She needed something to do with her hands, so she grabbed one of the menus that were standing behind the salt and peppershakers. "How about something to eat? We didn’t eat at the cookout." Jordan grabbed a menu as well.

Joe returned to the table with a beer for Jordan and one for himself. "Any more menus?"

"Nope. Use mine." Jordan handed Joe his menu, put his arm around the back of Lara’s chair, and leaned towards her. "Mind sharing?"

She shook her head, unable to think clearly. His fingers were resting on her arm, and she wanted to die. She could smell his cologne, and it made her insides mesh. She hadn’t felt this way since…since…

"Actually, Joe, if you’re buying, I would love a drink," she said suddenly. "Make it a Jim Beam and Coke, if you could." She smiled sweetly at him.

"Sure, no problem." He jumped to his feet. Jordan stared at her, but decided not to say anything.

"This place has great seafood bisque," Lara was saying. "It’s not on the menu, but Jim, the owner, always makes it when I come in."

"So, this Jim, is he your, uh…" Jordan fished.

"Boyfriend?" Her eyes narrowed and she seemed to close into herself. "No. I don’t have a boyfriend!" She realized how she must have sounded, and tried to smile. "Anyway, he’s like fifty years old or something!" Joe returned with her drink, and she took it gratefully. "Thanks, Joe. I’ll get the next round."

They decided to wait to order until Kat came back. Joe noticed a band setting up near a small stage area, and asked Lara what was up.

"They are the greatest group. They are here every Friday night. They play 70s, 80s, and 90s music." She took a large gulp of her drink, trying to fight the butterflies in her stomach. Relax, girl. Jordan Knight is just a human being. It’s not his fault that he’s a member of the lowest species on the planet: men.

Joe looked towards the doorway and smiled. Kat was walking into the bar, wearing a pair of short white shorts, and an emerald green cropped shirt which showed off her auburn hair. No matter what she had said to Lara, it was obvious she had chosen her outfit with care.

"Look who showed up, Kat!" Lara said, trying to remain calm. Kat looked at Jordan’s arm around the back of her friend’s chair and smiled.

"So, your name’s Kat," Joe observed as she sat between him and Jordan.

"Got an A in deductive reasoning, did we?" She said smartly, waving a waitress over. She ordered a mix drink, then turned to the others. "Ready for dinner? I’m starving!"

They all ordered, and then Joe excused himself to use the restroom. Jordan watched the band intently as they set up, and Lara took advantage of his interest to yell at Kat.

"Kat, why the hell are you being such a bitch?" She hissed. "He’s perfectly nice!"

"And perfectly full of himself, and perfectly acting like a stuck up asshole! No, thank you," she retorted in a whisper as Jordan turned back around.

They exchanged small talk once Joe returned to the table. Lara ordered another drink, and Kat stared at her. She knew that Lara must be nervous, because she rarely drank.

"Honey, are you sure you need that? I mean, you haven’t eaten since breakfast."

"I’m a big girl, Kat. I can take care of myself," Lara almost snarled. Kat gave her a look that said fine, whatever and washed her hands of it all.

Joe couldn’t believe the walls of ice that Kat had built around her. Whenever he tried to break through, she would slam him back. He was actually beginning to enjoy it. Thoughts of making her subservient to his every wish and desire began to dance through his head…

Kat was fighting her attraction to Joe with every inch of her being. Sure, he was cocky and arrogant, but he was also funny and interesting. She didn’t know if she could keep up the barrier much longer.

She was saved by the waitress, who brought their dinners. Lara tore into her bowl of soup. "God, I missed this stuff!" She sighed dramatically.

"Why? Have you been sick or something?" Jordan asked politely in between bites of his cheeseburger. Lara turned pale.

"Uh, excuse me." She got up and practically ran to the bathroom. Jordan looked at Joe and Kat.

"Was it something I said?" He said, feeling as if he had put his foot in his mouth up to his knee. Joe started to say something, but he saw Kat shake her head ever so slightly.

"It’s not you, Jordan," she said kindly. "Lara’s been a little out of it for a while. Believe me, you were exactly the medicine she needed!"

Lara stood in the bathroom in front of the mirror, tears running down her face. Dammit! Why couldn’t she get over it? Here was Jordan Knight, the Jordan Knight, treating her like something special and acting like he really wanted to get to know her, and she ran away as soon as he got too close. She smiled as she realized her thoughts mimicked the Britney Spears song, "Sometimes": Sometimes I run, sometimes I hide, sometimes I’m scared of you, but all I really want is to hold you tight, treat you right, be with you day and night…. If that wasn’t what she felt about Jordan Knight, she didn’t know what was. She ran some cold water and splashed it on her face, then went back out.

"It’s good you came back!" Joe said as soon as she made it to the table. "J was all over your soup, and it was all I could do to defend it!" Lara laughed, and Kat looked at him gratefully. He held up two fingers, as if to say, you owe me twice now.

"Kat, look. The band’s starting early tonight!" Lara observed excitedly. The place was already packed at just seven-thirty.

"Another drink?" Joe asked, standing to go to the bar.

"Only if I can pay," Lara said, pulling out her tiny purse. Jordan placed his hand over hers.

"Don’t even try it." He handed Joe some money. She smiled shyly, but didn’t move her hand from under his.

As the guitars tuned, Lara stood. "I’m sorry, but I have to go." She ran to the dance floor.

"What happened now?" Jordan asked. Kat laughed.

"Don’t worry. She’s the first one on the dance floor whenever this group is here."

"What do they play again?"

"They’re a cover band, mostly. Lara’s a gonner for 70s and 80s music."

"They don’t play New Kids, do they?" Jordan asked, watching as Lara took her place in front of the bass player. Kat laughed.

Joe returned with their drinks, but Jordan couldn’t take his eyes off of Lara. He couldn’t figure out what was behind the sadness in her eyes, but he was determined to find out.

"Why aren’t you out there?" Joe yelled to Kat as the band started "Get Down Tonight" by KC & the Sunshine Band.

"I like to wait until there’s more people out on the floor," she yelled back, sipping at her beer. The waitress came and removed their plates.

Lara danced as if she were the only one on the floor. She was a lot more comfortable with this kind of music than the usual dance mixes and hip hop. The bassist recognized her and bent down to slap her hand. Jordan stood.

"She looks lonely." He walked out onto the floor and tapped Lara on the shoulder. She whirled around, smiling delightedly when she saw Jordan.

Joe had to laugh as he watched Jordan trying to keep up with Lara. "He’s not used to this kind of stuff," he informed Kat, who smiled back. She was so happy that her friend was having a good time, and she knew that this was a night that Lara would never forget. She looked up as Joe stood. "Are there enough people out there for you now?" He put his hand out, and she took it. They wove their way through the crowd up to where Lara was standing in front of Jordan. He had his hands on her hips and she was grinding back against him.

They remained on the floor for all of the first set. Sweat was running down the back of Lara’s neck, and she held her long hair up with one hand. As the band announced their break, they made their way back to their table. Lara quickly downed her drink, and signaled the waitress. Kat stared at her.

"Don’t worry. Now that I’m dancing, I only want water."

Jordan hit Joe on the shoulder. "Look at the door."

They saw their bodyguards searching the crowded room. They excused themselves and went over to speak with them. Lara turned to Kat, her face flushed. "Is this incredible or what?"

"Yeah, it’s fun," Kat said, her eyes scanning the room as if she could’ve cared less. Lara punched her in the arm.

"Shut up, you bitch! You want him so bad you can taste him!" Lara teased. Kat glared at her, but her face broke out into a slow smile.

"Is it that obvious?" She laughed, then frowned. "But he’s such an egotistical jerk, acting like he’s God’s gift."

"Well, he can be nice. Just keep trying to find that side of him. And from what I’ve seen, he sure doesn’t mind chasing you," Lara observed.

Kat was about to reply, but stopped short at the sight of the Neanderthal and his friend approaching the table. "Don’t turn around!" She hissed at Lara, who was confused.

"Ladies, here you are, alone again," Neanderthal’s Friend said.

"I came over to apologize for spilling shirt on your beer…I mean, beer on your shirt," Neanderthal said to Kat.

"Apology accepted," she said, not even looking at him. He sat down in Joe’s chair, and his friend sat in Jordan’s. Lara’s eyes met Kat’s. She didn’t trust even nice-looking men anymore, and these men were far from nice-looking.

"Let me buy you a drink," Neanderthal said to Kat. As she started to decline, he grabbed her arm. "I insist."

"Well, if you insist," she said, she herself feeling a bit nervous.

Neanderthal’s friend took a hold of Lara’s chair, and pulled it closer to him. She shivered and looked at him fearfully. He smiled and put his arm around her shoulder. "Cold?" He asked, his hand snaking down to her breast. "I can keep ya warm."

Lara searched the room frantically, finding Jordan. She prayed for him to turn around and look at them.

Joe was deep in conversation with the bodyguards. Jordan turned to look for Lara. His eyes found her face, which was pale with fright. He then saw the two large men at their table. He nudged Joe, who took one look at the ugly man hitting on Kat and started for the table.

"Can I help you with something?" Neanderthal asked Joe.

"Yeah, you’re in my seat!" Joe snapped, trying to look tough. If the situation would have been any different, Kat would have laughed out loud at reed-thin Joe standing up to the giant.

"Well, you left these lovely ladies alone, so now they’re our seats," Neanderthal’s Friend said, giving Lara a squeeze. A tear slipped down her cheek, and she looked at Jordan miserably. He grew furious.

"I don’t think the ‘lovely ladies’ want you to sit here. Why don’t you take you fat asses back to your table!"

Neanderthal stood. "I suppose you’re going to make us?"

"No, we are." The two bodyguards stood behind Joe, arms crossed against their broad chests. It would easily be an even match between the bodyguards and the ugly men. One of the bodyguards flexed a bronze bicep. "What’s the problem here?"

"Nothing. No problem. We thought these gals were alone." Neanderthal’s Friend said quickly, glancing at the bodyguards. "We was obviously mistaken." He grabbed his friend and drug him back to their table. The bodyguards resumed their posts by the door.

Jordan immediately sat down by Lara and put an arm around her. "Are you okay?" Concern was written all over his face.

"Now I am, thanks to you." She smiled weakly. "I guess you’re my Knight in shining armor." He groaned at the pun.

"You okay?" Joe asked Kat, taking a huge swallow of his beer. He was a little embarrassed that the bodyguards had to stick up for them, though he knew that he and Jordan would have been toast without them.

"We were handling it fine before you two macho men had to butt in," she said sharply. He glared at her.

"Look, Ice Princess, I don’t know what the hell your problem is, but back off, okay? What would it take to get you to say a simple thank you, for fuck’s sake?" Joe snapped. She blinked at him, then smiled.

"Thank you very much for standing up to those guys for us," she said sweetly. He stared at her, then smiled back.

"You’re welcome."

The band returned to the stage. "We’re gonna do something a bit unusual, and start with a slow song," the lead singer announced. The band started to play "Angel Eyes", by the Jeff Healy band.

"This is my all time favorite song!" Lara said, her eyes shining. Jordan immediately stood and held out his hand to her. Without a word, she took it and they went to the dance floor.

"Dance?" Joe said abruptly. Kat nodded and they went onto the dance floor.

Girl you’re looking fine tonight, and every guy has got you in his sights…

Lara hummed along with the melody, her head on Jordan’s shoulder. He held her tightly, as if he wanted to protect her. She noticed suddenly that he was singing in her ear. Must be something only you can see, ‘cause I can feel it when you look at me… She looked up at him, swallowing deeply.

"So, do you, uh, always go out drinking with fans?" She asked nervously.

"No, just the gorgeous ones," he said teasingly. She blushed. "Just joking," he said quickly.

"Oh," she said softly, looking down. He stopped dancing and cupped her chin in his hands. "No, not about the gorgeous part. You are gorgeous. I meant about the dating fans part. I’ve never spent a lot of time with a fan before."

"Really?"

"I must have been waiting for you." He bent his face down and gently kissed her.

Joe and Kat danced close together, hardly speaking. Joe was still a bit angry at the way she had acted at the table. Gratitude was obviously not a word in her vocabulary. And she owed him twice for things he had done for her friend earlier. He became angrier and angrier, and finally stopped dancing. She looked at him.

"What…" He silenced her with an angry, forceful kiss. She pulled away with a gasp. "Who the hell do you think you are?" She almost yelled, bringing up a hand to slap him. He took the hand, pinned it behind her back, and kissed her again. The kiss took her breath away. She moaned quietly, but he still heard it. Smiling, he drew back, looked into her eyes, and released her hand. She wrapped her hands around his neck, and they kissed again, not even noticing that the dance had ended.

The lead singer smiled as he saw them. "Looks like we better do another slow one, guys." They started playing "Lady in Red", by Chris DeBurgh.

Jordan smiled down at Lara, who was wearing a dark red t-shirt. "Sounds like they’re playing this just for you," he said, wrapping her in his arms again. She laid her head on his shoulder and sighed.

It was 2 in the morning when they finally left Malley’s. Jim Malley had to practically kick them out. As they left the bar, Jordan was holding Lara’s hand, and Joe had an arm slung possessively around Kat’s shoulder. Jordan’s Porsche, Joe’s Cherokee, and Kat’s Mustang were the only cars in the front lot.

Lara looked at the cars and sighed. This meant that the night of her dreams had finally come to an end. Jordan looked at her thoughtfully. "Would you mind if I drove you home?" She shook her head in the negative, unable to speak. He reached his hand out to Kat. "Kat, it was really nice meeting you. I hope to see you again soon."

"Can I trust you to get my best friend home safely?" She teased. He smiled at her, but his eyes never left Lara’s face.

"I’ll protect her with my life." They got into his car and roared off.

Kat pulled away from Joe, the walls going up once more. "It was nice meeting you, Joe." She turned and began to unlock her door. Joe whirled her around.

"Oh, no. I don’t think so, Miss Kat." In an instant he was leaning her against her car door, his hands weaving through her hair. He bit at her ear, whispering, "You’re not playing this game any more. We’re finishing this, at your place, at my place, even in the back of my jeep if we have to."

She shoved him away with all of her might. "Excuse me?" She yelled. He smiled sexily.

"Why don’t you quit fighting it, Ice Princess? You know you want me…bad." He ground his hips against her. "And you know how much I want you."

"You are an egotistical prick, do you know that?" She asked, pushing him away with all of her might, though her insides felt as if she had melted into a puddle. "Don’t make me hurt you!"

He laughed as he pulled her hair into his fist and jerked her head to face his. He covered her mouth with his own and thrust his tongue in to meet hers. She fought with all her might and finally gave in, wrapping her arms around him. She dragged her foot up the back of his leg, and heard him moan. She inwardly smiled with satisfaction. Two could play at this game!

"I guess you meet women at bars and take them home all the time," she countered. "I am not that type of girl."

"I know that," he said suddenly serious. "I knew right away that you weren’t." He smiled again. "But I also knew right away that I had to have you. You turn me on like nothing I’ve ever experienced before." He released her hair and placed his hands on her hips. "Kat, I would never make you do anything you didn’t want to do, if I was sure you didn’t want to do it."

She stared at him, and nodded slowly. "I believe you."

"Good. Your place, mine, or the back of the jeep?" He asked devilishly. She stomped her foot, totally frustrated. Every time this man got into her heart, he acted like an ass and she hated him all over again. "Okay, back of the jeep, then." He started to pull her towards his car. She pulled back.

"No!" She yelled, digging her feet in. "My house, okay? We’ll go to my house."

"Cool." He smiled with satisfaction, and released her hand. "I’ll follow you."

Lara slid onto the cool leather seat of Jordan’s Porsche, and tried to calm her upset stomach. She was so nervous her hands were shaking. She sat on them to try and stop the shakes. Jordan glanced over at her as he turned the key. "Are you cold?"

"No…I…" she decided to be honest. She showed him her hands. "I’m nervous, and they’re shaking."

"What’s there to be nervous about?" He took her hands in his and kissed each finger. She felt as if she were sinking into the leather. "I am a total gentleman, I promise." He shifted into gear and they pulled out onto the road.

"It’s not that at all! I totally trust you!" She said, to her own surprise. She did trust Jordan. "At least that way, I do. It’s just that you’re Jordan Knight, and I’m just me, and…"

"Just you? What does that mean?" He asked.

"Well…"

"You’re not just anyone, and don’t you forget it!" He ordered. She looked away, obviously not agreeing with him.

"Please don’t get mad at what I’m about to ask you, but I need to ask," he said. She continued to look out the window, but he saw her swallow deeply. "Why aren’t you with anyone? You’re beautiful, funny, kind, smart…"

"I was," she said to the window. "He dumped me a few months ago. Turn right here. My condo is the third building on the left."

Jordan didn’t say anything until he had parked the car. "Would you mind if I came in? If you’re tired, I could just go." She looked at him for a long moment.

"Of course I don’t mind."

He followed her up the walk and stood behind her as she unlocked the door. She threw her purse onto the sofa and turned on a light. "Sorry if it’s a bit messy. I’m gonna go change, so make yourself at home." She disappeared up the stairs, leaving him to investigate the living room and dining room. Every available shelf space was covered with something having to do with zebras. Zebra figurines, zebra pictures, zebra needlepoints. He smiled as he picked up a porcelain baby zebra sleeping next to its mother. The only thing on the coffeetable that wasn’t zebra was a picture of Lara with a young man. He assumed this was the ex-boyfriend. Jordan wanted to punch the guy’s lights out for hurting Lara and putting that haunted look into her eyes.

She soon returned downstairs, wearing a zebra T-shirt and shorts. She saw what he was looking at and the smile faded from her face.

"Wow. Lots of zebras," Jordan remarked as he put the picture down.

"I know, it’s kinda obsessive. I don’t know why I even like them so much, I just do." She headed for the kitchen. "I was gonna make coffee. Interested?"

"Sure." He followed her and sat at the table. She pulled out a bag of chocolate mint flavored coffee, and plugged in the coffeemaker.

"His name is Jamie," she said suddenly, concentrating on measuring the grounds so she wouldn’t have to look at him. "We were together for seventeen months. He was my first…everything, you could say." She put some water in the coffeemaker, turned it on, and sat down with him. "Are you hungry?" She asked nervously. He took her hand and smiled.

"Nope. I’m fine. You know, you don’t have to…"

"I want to," she interrupted. She took a deep breath. "Anyway, I thought everything was fine. I worshipped him, for God’s sake. I guess everything wasn’t fine for him, because he started running around with this little wench from his office."

"How did you find out?" Jordan asked softly, his heart aching for her.

"I came back here and found them together in my bed," she replied, a tear slipping down her cheek. His mouth fell open. "He wasn’t living here, but he had a key. I usually don’t come home on lunch, but that day I had forgotten something. I saw his car in the driveway, and was so excited, thinking maybe we could…" she waved her hand in the air. "But when I came into the house, I could hear them all the way down here. He was already busy." She began to sob. "I went up, and there they were, in my bed, humping away. And he wasn’t even embarrassed! She had the decency to at least cover herself, but he sat up, totally naked, and said, ‘well, at least I don’t have to tell you now.’" She wiped away her tears. "I can’t believe I just told you that. No one knows that. I told Kat that I found a credit card receipt." She got up and poured them each a cup of coffee. He shook his head when she went for the cream and sugar.

"No, black, thanks." He took the cup from her and set it on the table as he stood. "Lara, just because he’s a prick doesn’t mean that you aren’t worth anything better. God, you are so…wonderful, and I hardly even know you!" He took her into his arms, and kissed her before she could reply. She finally pulled away, breathless. She could feel his erection pressed against her. He blushed. "I’m sorry. I…"

She smiled. "It’s okay." They took their coffee out to the living room and sat on the sofa. He pulled her into his arms so he could snuggle next to her. She had never felt so comfortable in her whole life. "Wanna watch a video? Or do you need to go somewhere?"

"No, I am all yours. I’m not expected anywhere until Wednesday." He went to her video collection and picked out "When Harry Met Sally".

"That is one of my all time favorites!" She exclaimed.

"Good. Mine too." He put it in the VCR, and returned to his place on the sofa. He enveloped her in his arms, and pushed play on the remote.

Kat pulled into her driveway with Joe close behind. She took a deep breath before opening her door. She glanced back at him as he got out of his own car. God, he was beautiful. She shook her head and went up to the house, digging out her keys.

"Do you always carry that much shit in your bag?" He asked. She turned to stare at him.

"Yes, I always carry ‘this much shit’ in my bag," she retorted.

(NOTICE THE ‘BREAKFAST CLUB’ REFERENCE? OKAY I’VE SEEN THAT MOVIE ONE TOO MANY TIMES!)

She opened her door, and he wandered into the huge living room. "Nice place," he said.

"Glad you approve," she said wryly. He grabbed her and pinned her against the back of the front door. She gasped as his teeth attacked the side of her neck. Her nails scratched at the back of his shirt as he bit so hard it brought tears to her eyes. He pulled back to smile evilly.

"Just wanted you to know who was in charge here." He looked around. "The bedroom’s upstairs?" He started to lead her towards the steps, but she resisted.

"Look, asshole, I don’t know who you think you are, but…"

"You know exactly who I am." He grabbed her face in his hand. "I’m the man who’s gonna take you places you’ve never been."

"Fuck you!" She shouted, moving out of his grasp. She struggled to open the door, but he leaned his weight against it.

"That’s what I was planning on, Princess."

She slapped at him. "What are you, some kind of rapist?"

"You can’t rape the willing, Princess."

"Quit calling me that!" She snapped, gasping as he picked her up in his strong arms and started up the steps. She fought every step of the way, though she was more turned on than she had ever been before. She hated the control this man had over her body…

Lara was awakened around 4 am by a loud pounding. She stretched. She had fallen asleep in Jordan’s arms. Somehow, without her knowing, he had taken off his pants and shirt, and was asleep in his boxer shorts. More than anything, she wanted to peek at his body, but she had to stop that damned pounding. Jordan hardly moved a muscle. Not exactly a light sleeper, she thought as she went to the door. She looked through the peephole, and all blood stopped running in her veins. Jamie.

"Dammit, Lara, wake the hell up!" He shouted.

Oh, shit, he’s drunk! She shrieked inside. Drawing a deep breath, she opened the door as far as the chain would allow. "Jamie? What are you doing here?"

"Hey, Peaches!" He said lazily, leaning against the door frame. "Long time no see!"

"Jamie, it’s like four in the morning. What do you want?" She said rudely, standing up to him as she never had before.

"I wanted to apologize, Peaches, for screwing around." His green eyes gazed into hers. "I wanted to ask you to forgive me."

"What, did Sonia throw you out?" She snapped, praying that Jordan would remain asleep. It would embarrass her beyond belief if he woke up right then.

"Well, we did have a little disagreement, but it’s nothing I can’t fix." His eyes trailed up her body, from her toes, over her long legs, and up to her dark brown hair. "I missed you, Peaches."

"Yeah, well, you should’ve thought of that months ago," she retorted. "Jamie, we can’t talk now. Go home and sleep it off."

He turned as if to go, and she began to shut the door. He suddenly turned and threw all his weight against it, bursting through the lock. She gasped, and went flying back. He grabbed her by the t-shirt.

"I said I want to apologize!" He yelled, smacking her across the face. She fell to the floor in shock.

Jordan’s eyes opened sleepily, just in time to see the man in the picture hit Lara. He flew to his feet.

"What the fuck do you think you’re doing?" He yelled, grabbing the man and shoving him up against a wall.

"Well well well. No wonder you didn’t want me to come in, Peaches," Jamie sneered. His eyes flickered over Jordan, dismissing him. "I don’t know who you are, pal, but I think you’d better leave."

Jordan laughed. He had the jerk pinned against a wall, and he was being told to leave. "I don’t think so. Jamie, right? I think Lara would really appreciate it if you left."

Jamie’s answer was an elbow thrust into Jordan’s face. Lara screamed as Jordan fell back. "Stop it!" She shrieked, moving between them. "Jamie, please stop! I’ll talk to you…outside." She pressed against him and started moving him towards the door.

"See, asshole? She wants me!" Jamie taunted as Lara shoved him out the door.

She pulled the screen door shut and pushed Jamie down until he was sitting on the front step. She couldn’t believe he had just hit Jordan Knight. How embarrassing. She sighed. "Jamie, couldn’t we talk about this later? I’m really tired."

"Looks like you’ve been busy," he observed, running a hand up her bare leg. She shivered. He smiled, taking it as a sign that he was turning her on. "But he can’t make you feel like I can, can he, Peaches?"

"Nope, not at all," she said truthfully. Sex with Jamie had been likeable, at best, since for the most part he cared only about his own release. She hadn’t done anything but kiss Jordan, and he was awakening feelings in her that she had never felt before.

"Peaches, forgive me. I was stupid." He rose to his feet, weaving drunkenly. "I love you."

"What about Sonia?" She stepped back, sickened by the alcohol on his breath.

"Sonia? Oh, I love her, too," he said quickly. "But she’s not good to me like you." He reached for her, and she stepped back again.

"Jamie, I’ve changed. I’m not taking your shit anymore. You’re not wiping your feet on me again." She headed for the door. "You can sit here all night for all I care. I’m going back to bed." She turned her back on him, her face throbbing where he had hit her.

"No!" He grabbed her arm, whipping her around to face him. He held her head in a vice-like grip. "I won’t let you go again."

She whimpered as his grip tightened. "Jamie…you’re hurting me…"

"Why don’t you come home with me?" He said, his fingers curling around her throat. She gasped for air. "It will be like old times." He took one unsteady step down off the step, but no more.

Jordan grabbed him and threw him onto the grass. "Asshole, is this how you treat women? I truly wonder how you ever got one of them touch you, you’re such a gentleman," he said sarcastically. He punched Jamie in the stomach and again in the face. "Lara, go call the police."

"Jordan…I…"

"Do it!" He ordered. "He can’t drive himself home, and I’m sure as not letting you take him home. Go!" He barked. Lara fled into the house. Jordan pinned Jamie to the lawn. "Do you know what you have in that house? DO YOU?" He yelled. "She is wonderful, and you fucked your way right out of her life. Sucks to be you."

She came hurrying out. "They’re on their way. I told them not to use the siren or lights or anything. The last thing I need is to wake the neighbors."

Jordan held the almost unconscious Jamie down until the cruiser pulled up in front of the house.

"Do you wanna press charges, Miss?" One of the officers asked as the other put Jamie in the car.

"No," she whispered miserably. She couldn’t believe she had ever loved the man sitting in the back of the police car.

"Okay then, we’ll drive him home." The car pulled away.

It was then that Lara noticed the dried blood on Jordan’s face. Jamie’s elbow had caught him right in the nose. "Oh my God! Jordan, shit…your face…"

"I’m fine," he said, touching his nose tenderly.

"Let’s get some ice on that." They re-entered the house, and Lara led him to the kitchen, where she put some ice in a towel and pressed it lightly on his face. He yelped.

"Let me, okay?" He took the towel from her. She sat down next to him.

"I’m so sorry," she whispered. "I haven’t seen him since…since that day, and he picks tonight to come over here, drunk off his ass."

"It’s okay, honey. You couldn’t have seen this coming." He smiled in spite of the pain. "I must say, you are the most interesting date I’ve been on in a long time."

She laughed with him. "Is that what this was, a date?" She asked softly. He thought a moment.

"Yeah, I guess it was." He yawned, and yelled in pain. She had to laugh.

"I guess I should let you get some sleep now." She led him up to her bedroom. "Why don’t you sleep in here. I’ll go down to the guest room."

He shook his head. "No way. I’m not chasing you out of your room," he said adamantly. She looked at him.

"Fine. I guess I’ll just sleep here then," she said, walking into the room.

"Okay. Which room is the guest room?"

She took his hand. "No, you stay with me. I want to fall asleep in your arms again." She led him into the room. He took one look at her huge bed with blue satin sheets, and smiled.

"What if I bleed on your pretty sheets?"

"You buy me new ones." She swallowed deeply. "Jordan, I want to sleep next to you, but I can’t…I don’t want to…" she stuttered. He put his arms around her.

"Honey, I understand. You are perfectly safe with me." He bent down to kiss her. "Always."

Joe kicked doors open until he found Kat’s bedroom. He tossed her onto the bed and began to unbutton his shirt. She moved to get up, but he stepped in front of her.

"Don’t think about it," he said, his eyes gleaming dangerously.

"Fuck off," she said, standing in front of him. She grabbed the front of his shirt and ripped, making buttons fly everywhere. He stared at her, momentarily losing his cool. He quickly regained his composure, and grabbed her by the arms.

"I told you who’s in charge, Princess." He grabbed her shirt and yanked it over her head. He pulled her against him, his hands reaching for the clasp of her bra. She bit at his neck and shoulders, making him groan. She wasn’t giving in without a fight.

He threw the wisp of satin across the room and moved his hands around to her breasts. He cupped them gently, then pinched her nipples, making her breathe in sharply. He sat on the edge of the bed, taking one of her creamy breasts into his mouth. With the other hand, he alternatingly pinched and caressed her other breast. His tongue circled her nipple, and he sucked and bit it until she was pulling at his hair, her head thrown back. He smiled as he reached for the elastic of her shorts. She smacked his hands away, and he looked up at her, cocking one eyebrow. "Problem?"

"Just that you’re a dick," she remarked, pushing him down on the bed. She straddled his waist, and attacked his chest with her teeth. He yelled out loud as she scratched and bit at his soft skin. He took as much as he could, then grabbed her by the waist and rolled her over. He pinned her arms over her head with one hand, and reached for her shorts again with the other.

"You know, Princess, this bitch routine is getting pretty old," he remarked, licking at her breast. She swallowed a moan.

"What routine?" She said, writhing away from his mouth, but unable to move very far.

"Oh. So you’re saying you don’t want me?" He put a hand up the leg of her shorts, and slipped a finger under the side of her underwear. His finger easily slipped inside of her and she gasped.

"I never said that," she groaned, fighting against the hold he had on her. "I’m saying I’m a bitch because you’re an asshole!"

He moved over her, his full weight pressed down on her. His blue eyes were level with her hazel ones. "But you wanna fuck this asshole, don’t you, Princess?" She turned her face away from him, and he moved his finger in and out of her slowly. "Don’t you?"

She gave up. "God, yes!" She said. He released her arms and held her face in both of his hands. He kissed her passionately as she raked her fingernails down his back. He moved to stand at the edge of the bed, quickly pushing down his shorts. He wore nothing underneath, and she stared at his huge penis. With one movement, he had her shorts in a pile on the floor.

"Damn, you’re beautiful!" He said as his eyes wandered over her naked body. She moved to the edge of the bed and took him in her mouth before he knew what was happening. He wove his fingers through her hair, pulling as she grazed her teeth along his cock. "Careful," he warned. She looked up him arrogantly, but continued what she was doing. She ran her tongue up and down the length of him, sometimes tonguing his head, other times taking him fully into her mouth. One hand cupped his balls and teased him, while the other dug into his firm ass. Kat could taste the drops of precum on his dick, and lapped them up eagerly.

Joe couldn’t take it any more. He pushed her back, kneeling by the side of the bed. He placed one of her legs on each of his shoulders, trailing his tongue up the insides of her thighs. She moaned and grasped the sheets in her fists. He moved his hands up to her breasts, pinching her nipples brutally as his tongue attacked her clit and lips. She screamed as his tongue plunged inside of her.

"Like that, Princess?" He said, smiling devilishly. She refused to answer him, and he saw her frustration. She wanted him more than she could handle but didn’t want to give up control. "That’s okay, Princess. I could lick you all night long and be totally satisfied." He flicked out his tongue, barely touching her clit. He repeated this movement over and over until she was moaning and squirming on the bed. He decided she had had enough.

He swung her around to lay lengthwise on the bed, and covered his body with hers. "Ready, Princess?" He said, covering her breasts with kisses.

"You could leave right now and I could care less," she lied, taunting him. He raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, really." He rolled off of her, pulling her to the edge of the bed. "I guess you weren’t ready. I’ll just have to make you beg." He resumed licking and sucking her, taking her to the edge, then slowing down before she could come. She was soon moaning, wanting to come so bad it hurt. She finally gave up totally.

"Okay, you bastard, okay. Please…come up here and fuck me…I need you to fuck me…you win," she gasped. He smiled, taking his time as he moved up over her. She had her legs spread as wide as she could, and she grabbed at him. He chuckled, taking his sweet old time. She grew furious.

"You…you…" she couldn’t think of anything bad enough to call him, so she slapped him again. He just smiled even broader, and with one movement, he was as deep in her as he could go. He started slamming into her, in quick, sharp movements.

"I have infinite willpower, Princess. I can fuck you hard all night long…until your pussy is so sore you can’t even sit right." He whispered in her ear, pinning down her hands to give himself something to push against. She moaned at his words. His brutality was turning her on more than she had ever been turned on in all of her 26 years.

In all honesty, he didn’t know how much longer he could last. His dick was hard as a rock; her resistance had made him horny as hell. He inwardly groaned as she wrapped her long legs around him and used her feet to push him deeper inside of her.

"Well, then, I guess I’ll just have to stand all day tomorrow," she snapped. He released her hands, and she clawed at his back. He could feel her walls start to tighten around him, and he held her face with one hand.

"Look at me. I want you to look at me when you come all around me, and tell me who’s in charge. Tell me…"

"You!" She gasped. "Oh God… Joe…you!" She screamed as she came. He let himself go, pushing into her one last time as he came.

Kat was awakened at ten the next morning by the phone. She groaned and reached over for it. Her hand contacted skin and she jumped. She opened her eyes, and saw Joe stretched out next to her, his back covered with welts from her fingernails. She blushed as she reached over him for the phone.

"Hello?" She whispered.

"Kat?" A muffled voice said.

"Lara?" Kat asked as she moved into the bathroom so she wouldn’t wake Joe. "Why do you sound like you’re in the bottom of a well?"

"I’m in the closet. I don’t want to wake Jordan, and this phone doesn’t stretch…"

"Jordan?" Kat shrieked quietly. "Did you…"

"No…" Lara said quickly. "We didn’t. I’m sorry to call so early, but I just had to tell you. Jamie came by last night around four."

Kat sat on the edge of the tub. "What? What did that fuckhead want?"

"To apologize. To tell me he loves me…and Sonia. To ask for my forgiveness. Of course, this was all after he had gotten totally smashed." Kat groaned sympathetically as Lara continued. "So, I tried sending him away, he broke in, hit me in the face, elbowed Jordan in the nose, and then Jordan beat the shit out of him until the police came and drove him home."

"Oh my God. I hope you pressed charges." When she heard nothing but silence, Kat sighed. "You always were a wuss when it came to Jamie. I hope you didn’t forgive him."

"Come on. Give me some credit!" Lara snapped. "Look, I’ll call you later." She hung up quickly.

Kat hung up, realizing that Lara hadn’t even asked about Joe. She herself didn’t know what to think about Joe. He made her horny as hell, but she wasn’t even sure if she liked him. She returned to the bedroom. He was stretching, and slowly opened his eyes.

"Hey," she said softly. He mumbled something, obviously not a morning person. "Uh, do you want coffee?"

"That’d be great," he replied. "Could I get a shower?"

"Help yourself," she said simply, pulling on a kimono. So much for morning hugs and kisses, she thought. She went downstairs to start the coffee and fry up some eggs.

Before she knew it, Joe was downstairs, wearing nothing but a towel. She stared at the drops of water running off his hair and onto his chest, and willed herself not to go over and lick them off. She set coffee, eggs, and toast in front of him.

"Wow, breakfast. Thanks." He dug in, eating silently except for when he asked for ketchup. She finally could take it no more.

"I mean what I said last night," she said to him, pulling his plate away so he would look at her. "I’m no slut."

"And I meant when I said I knew you weren’t," he replied, grabbing his plate back. "Last night was wonderful. I never experienced anything like it."

"Me either," she whispered, not knowing what to think.

As he ate his eggs, Joe’s mind was in a turmoil. This woman drove him crazy, but he wasn’t sure if there was anything past that. And in his line of work, it wasn’t exactly easy to remain faithful to one woman. He pushed the plate away. "Thanks a lot. It was great." He looked at the clock on the microwave. "Whoa. I gotta run." He stood and went back up to the bedroom to get dressed.

Kat fought angry tears as she washed the dishes. Dammit, why was she letting this get to her? She knew last night when it all started that this wasn’t the beginning of a relationship. She didn’t even like him, for God’s sakes…

Joe pulled on his shirt, gazing down at the torn buttons. He looked at himself in the mirror, hating himself for leaving like this, but having no other choice. He slowly made his way down the stairs. He saw Kat standing by the door. He fidgeted in front of her, the cool character from the night before totally gone.

"Kat, I…" he began. She put a finger over his lips. He thought he saw remnants of tears in her eyes, but wasn’t sure.

"Joe, don’t. I don’t want to hear it. Thanks for an incredible evening, and thanks for introducing Lara to Jordan." She stood on tiptoe and kissed Joe’s cheek. "See ya around."

He stared at her, wondering how someone could be so cold, not realizing that she thought the same of him. He kissed her cheek in return, and left.

A FEW WEEKS LATER

Lara groaned as she dragged her large coffee table across the living room. Why had she ever decided to clean the rugs? Why had she declined Kat’s offer to help? Why did she ever buy a condo with hardwood floors? She hated hardwood floors. She rolled up the Oriental rug and lugged it out back with the others.

She hung the rugs over the clotheslines and began beating them with a broom. She choked and gagged as dust flew everywhere. I guess I should do this more often, she grumbled to herself as she continued abusing the rug. She took out her ever-present frustration with men on the poor innocent piece of fabric. Jamie continued to call once a week, though he never showed up again. And Jordan…she beat the rug harder. After that wonderful yet confusing night, he had left, promising to call. But, of course, she hadn’t heard from him. "MEN!" She yelled, swinging the broom like a baseball bat. "Stupid, dumb, ugly, rough, rude assholes!" Smack smack smack! "They are enough to make a woman turn to other women!" She screamed, feeling better.

"I hope that’s not what you really think," a deep voice said behind her, punctuating his words with a sneeze. She turned around to see Jordan standing behind her, holding a bouquet of white roses, and a gift-wrapped bundle. She wished the ground would just swallow her whole. She had her hair pulled back with a bandana, and she knew it was covered in dust. She had on a pair of old jeans with holes torn in the knees, a sports bra, and an old plaid shirt over top.

"What are you doing here?" She snapped, her embarrassment making her sound a lot angrier than she really was. He was definitely a sight for sore eyes. He wore khaki shorts and a white t-shirt, with a black v-necked sweater vest over top. His legs were nice and tan.

"I thought I’d surprise you," he said, holding out the roses.

"Well, you sure as hell did!" She swiped the flowers out of his hand, wanting to cry. Before she knew it, his arms were around her, his lips on hers. As soon as her brain began working, she pushed him away. "Don’t," she whispered. "I’m filthy." But she made no move to unwrap herself from his hold.

"I don’t care." He caressed her face with his hands. "God, I’ve missed you so much." He bent to kiss her, but she pulled back.

"Yeah, I could tell that all the times you called." She withdrew from his embrace and headed into the house. He trotted after her.

"I know…I’m sorry. I was out of the country. You know how bad the connections are on overseas calls," he pointed out. She refused to look at him.

"Funny, I call friends in Korea all the time and never have a problem." She stomped up the steps into the kitchen.

He grabbed her arm, whirling her around. "Lara, I’m sorry. I know I could’ve found a way to call. If you would’ve given me your email address, I would’ve emailed you every day. I promise it will never happen again. Okay?" She looked up into his chocolate eyes and was ready to forgive him for any bad thing he had ever done in his whole life. All she could do was nod, and rattle off her email address. He laughed. "Good. Now sit down and open your presents!"

She sat down at the kitchen table, after washing her hands. She opened the large gift first.

"I really hope you like them," he said, practically bouncing up and down in his eagerness.

The large bundle was a stuffed zebra, with big blue eyes. Lara laughed when she saw it. "Zebras don’t have blue eyes!" She informed him. He didn’t smile.

"I know. But you do." He reached up to push back a piece of hair that had escaped the bandana. "As soon as I saw this, I thought of you, and how beautiful your eyes are."

She swallowed deeply, and began to open the smaller, heavier present. It was a small box, from an expensive jeweler. She opened the box and gasped. Inside was a crystal zebra, with the stripes carefully carved into the crystal. She didn’t know what to say. She opened her mouth and shut it again. Jordan’s face fell.

"You don’t like it. I can return it. I just thought…"

She threw herself into his arms, practically knocking his chair over. "I love it. I absolutely love it. It is the best gift I have ever received." He pulled back to look her in the eye.

"I’m really sorry I didn’t call, Lara. Believe me, I thought about you all the time."

"Really?" She whispered as he pushed the bandana off of her head. "I thought maybe…"

"You thought that after all that shit that happened that night, that I would just walk right out of your life, right?" She nodded, and he sighed. "Stupid, when are you going to realize that you are wonderful and not every man is a Jamie?" She was saved from replying by the doorbell. She jumped to her feet and went to answer it.

"It’s not even noon and this day is already shot to hell!" Kat announced as Lara opened the door. She came in uninvited and plopped onto the sofa. "The stupid exterminators were scheduled to come tomorrow, but no, they came today instead. And since they’re busy tomorrow, they have to spray now. It’s only the basement, so I can come back later, but…" she stopped talking as Jordan walked out of the kitchen. She looked from Lara to Jordan. "Oh, God. I’m sorry." She stood and turned to Lara. "You really need to learn to tell me to shut up."

"You never give me a chance," Lara pointed out. Jordan laughed.

"Don’t leave, Kat. I was going to take Lara out for lunch, and you are more than welcome to come along."

"Nope. I am not a third wheel. I’ll go shopping or something." She gave Lara a hug and headed for the door.

"So, has Joe called you?" Jordan asked, making Kat freeze in her tracks. She slowly turned around.

"No, he hasn’t. Why, has he mentioned me to you?" She said coldly.

"No, I haven’t really talked to him in a while." Jordan fidgeted, realizing he had said the wrong thing.

"I’ll see ya later, sweetie," she said to Lara, opening the door. Lara followed her out to her car.

"Kat, when are you gonna get over him?" Lara asked.

"Who? Joe McIntyre? Oh please, like I even care if he calls," she lied. She had dreams about him almost every night, and they weren’t always sexual. "Besides, who are you to talk about getting over someone?" She snapped defensively. She regretted the words instantly. "Sorry, honey. I’ve had a bad morning. Call me later, okay?" Lara nodded as Kat got behind the wheel and drove away. She sighed, wondering when Kat was going to admit that she was in love with Joe McIntyre.

Joe groaned as the director called cut for the sixth time in ten minutes. "McIntyre, what the hell are you doing?" The man snapped.

"Exactly what you told me to, Jeff!" Joe snapped back. "Can we break for lunch now?"

"Yes, please. Go to your trailer, and when you return, try to concentrate, okay?"

Joe ignored him and headed for his trailer. The filming of his latest music video was not going well. In fact, nothing had been going well the last few weeks, and he couldn’t figure out why. He flopped onto the sofa, turned on the TV, and then moodily turned it off again. He was miserable.

Someone knocked on the trailer door, and he got up to open it. One of the assistants stood there, holding a bag. "Your lunch, Mr. McIntyre," she said, waving a paper bag in his face.

He looked her over, from her long legs to her short red hair. Maybe this was exactly what he needed. She noticed him checking her out and smiled slyly.

"So, are you gonna take this, or do I need to come in and feed you?"

Joe ran his fingers through his hair in frustration as he drove home later that afternoon. The episode with the redhead had been a disaster; he hadn’t even been able to keep it up for five minutes. He had stormed out of the trailer, and had given the best performance of his life, completing the video in less than ten takes. He flew down the highway to his house, cursing out loud. He had figured out what his problem was as soon as he touched the assistant. He had wanted her to be Kat, and she wasn’t. He couldn’t understand what the big deal about Kat was; she was bitchy, demanding, bossy, and rude. The Ice Princess. She was also funny, smart, witty, gorgeous, and sexy. He couldn’t take it anymore.

He hurried into his huge house and headed straight for his study. Opening his Rolodex, he called Jordan’s cellphone. Damn! He wasn’t answering. He called Jordan’s pager.

"Jordan, this is Joe. Can you please call me? I need a favor."

Lara came back into her house, sighing. "Everything okay?" Jordan asked. "I’m sorry I said what I did. I thought they had really hit it off."

"They did, that’s the problem. I think Kat’s met her match in Joe, and that’s why she’s so bitchy about it. They both like control, and they both can’t have it."

"Forget about them." He took her in his arms. "I really would like to take you out for a nice lunch, but I think you might have to change clothes."

"What do you mean? This is the height of fashion." She stuck her nose in the air, and he kissed it. "Okay, amuse yourself while I go clean up."

"Sure I can’t come up and…wash your back or something?" He flirted cautiously. She smiled.

"You wish." She ran up the steps, and Jordan sat on a chair. He noticed that the picture of Lara and Jamie was gone from the coffeetable, and he smiled.

Lara stood under the hot water, letting it wash away the pain in her upper arms. Cleaning the rugs had taken a lot out of her. More than anything, she had wanted to ask Jordan to come up and join her, but she was afraid to. She wanted him badly; there was no denying that. But her heart was overriding her hormones. Also, she remembered the last time she had taken a shower with someone.

"Peaches, come on, let me in there with you," Jamie pleaded.

"No, Jamie, I have to get ready for work!" She said, working shampoo through her hair. He had stayed the night, and she was trying to get ready while he tried to get busy.

"Five minutes, please?" He whined. She could see him taking off his robe, and thought yeah, it’s always just five minutes. Before she knew it, he was in the shower with her, rubbing his hands over her breasts.

"Jamie, no!" She said sharply, knowing he would ignore her. He always ignored her protests, taking her whenever he felt like it. It wasn’t exactly rape, since she didn’t fight him, but it was very rarely consensual.

He grabbed her by the hair, yanking her head back so he could kiss her neck. "Why do you always say no, Lara? You should feel honored that I want you. I could always find it somewhere else…"

Lara quickly fell back into the present. That had always been his threat: give it up or I go somewhere else. Funny how it ended up that she did give it up and he still found it somewhere else… She shoved the memory from her mind and finished her shower.

Jordan was flipping through some of her books when she came downstairs twenty minutes later. She wore a navy blue sundress and blue sandals. Her wet hair was pulled back with a huge clip in the shape of a butterfly.

"Wow," he said simply, unable to take his eyes off of her. She blushed.

"What?" She asked, begging for a compliment. He complied.

"I’ve never seen you dressed up before. You look fantastic." She grabbed her purse and he held the door for her.

She took one step out the door and froze. His Porsche was nowhere to be found. Instead, there was a dark blue convertible in her driveway. Lara knew nothing about cars, but she did know that it was a 19-something-or-other, possibly from the late 50s or early 60s. She turned to stare at Jordan.

"Do you like it? I borrowed it from a friend." He held the door open as she slid onto the long seat. "This is the best part," he said as he climbed in behind the wheel. He put his arm around her and pulled her close, so she was directly beside him. She smiled up at him.

"You’re right. It is."

"So, where to? I absolutely know nothing about this area."

She gave him directions to a nice restaurant with an outdoor patio area. They were seated at a tiny table by a fountain. She sighed happily as she watched the goldfish swim about in the fountain.

"So, has, uh, Jamie come over lately?" Jordan asked, trying to act nonchalant.

"Yes, as a matter of fact. He’s moving back in tomorrow," she said seriously. Jordan knocked over his water.

"What?" He said, shocked. She could hold in her laughter no longer.

"I’m sorry!" She said, giggling so hard tears came to her eyes. "I couldn’t help it."

"Well, your little joke soaked my shorts!" He said angrily. She laughed even harder, and he finally had to smile. "Okay, you got me. Seriously, though."

"No, he hasn’t come over, though he calls every Saturday night. Sonia must have aerobics, or something. I should change my number or something, but it’s kinda nice, having him run after me like this."

Jordan was kept from replying by the waiter. They ordered, and the waiter left. "I worry about you, you know. I don’t like the idea of him coming around again like he did before."

"He won’t, Jordan. I think you scared him," she teased, loving the idea of Jordan Knight worrying about her. "So, where were you all these weeks that you haven’t called?"

He made a face at her, then told her about travelling in Mexico and South America. He grew serious. "I hope you realize that my work has me travelling a lot, Lara. I can’t be around a lot of the time. Will that be a problem?"

"Why, are we going to keep seeing each other or something?" Her tone was light, but her stomach was doing cartwheels.

"I’d like to," he said softly, holding her hand in his. She swallowed deeply.

"I would, too, Jordan, but it has to be for real. I can’t let myself get involved with someone who’s going to find someone else…or already has someone else." Her blue eyes bored into his brown ones.

"I don’t have anyone else, and I don’t want anyone else, okay?" He said, his tone begging her to believe him.

She smiled happily. "Okay."

After their lunch, she asked if he wanted to walk along the river. They left the restaurant, walking the three short blocks to the river that ran through her town. As they strolled hand-in-hand, they asked each other questions about their lives and their families, until they felt as if they had known each other forever. Jordan’s pager interrupted their little slice of heaven. He stared at the number.

"It’s from Joe," he said in wonderment. "He never pages me. Excuse me a second, sweetie."

She politely wandered down to the water’s edge as he called Joe on his cellphone. She heard a familiar laugh and turned to look. There were Jamie and Sonia, throwing bread to the ducks. She looked at Jordan, who was talking on his phone and hadn’t noticed them. She looked at Jamie, and her eyes narrowed. She decided then and there to get him out of her life for good. There was no way she was going to waste her time and thoughts on him when she had someone in her life like Jordan. She walked towards the couple. Sonia’s smile froze on her face.

"Hello, Jamie. Sonia."

"Peach…I mean, Lara! What a surprise! Walking alone?" Jamie said, throwing an arm around Sonia’s shoulders.

"No." She motioned over her shoulder. "I’m with Jordan. I’m sure you remember him."

"Yeah, sure," Jamie said vaguely. Sonia gawked as she recognized exactly who the man on the cellphone was.

"Sonia, could I speak with you alone for a moment?" Lara asked. Sonia glanced at Jamie, then nodded. They moved a few feet away, out of Jamie’s earshot.

"I should be really pissed off at you, for stealing Jamie right out from under my nose," Lara began, and she saw the other woman stiffen defensively. "But you actually did me a favor. That sounds cliché, but it’s true. Jamie treated me like shit, and I was too afraid of losing him to do anything about it." She looked back at Jordan, who was staring angrily at Jamie, and couldn’t help but smile. "But now I’ve found something better, and I couldn’t care less who Jamie fucks."

Sonia stared at her. "What’s your point?"

"My point is, if he cheated on me, what’s to say he’s not gonna cheat on you? He all but emotionally abused me, Sonia, and I don’t want to see any woman treated like that, even the one whole stole the love of my life…at one time, anyway." She took a deep breath, feeling Sonia’s mistrust. "Sonia, what do you do on Saturday nights?"

Sonia looked at her in surprised. "Uh, I take a night class at the community college. Why?"

"I thought so. He calls me every Saturday night, Sonia, at eight on the dot. He knows you’re busy, and he calls me, begging me to come back. A few weeks ago, when he was all beat up, he showed up at my house at four in the morning, broke through the door, and hit me. Jordan beat the shit out of him." Lara’s eyes never left the other woman’s face. "He told me that he loved us both, but I treated him better." She smiled coldly. "You probably don’t take his shit, which is what I should’ve done."

"He told me he was robbed…" Sonia whispered.

"Sonia, I don’t like you. You fucked another woman’s man. But you are a woman, and I wanted to warn you." She turned on one heel, leaving Sonia standing with her mouth open. "Bye, Jamie," she said as she passed him. She headed straight for Jordan’s open arms.

"Everything okay, baby?" He asked. She nodded.

"I just wanted to tell her exactly what kind of an asshole he was. What did Joe want?"

"Oh. He wanted me to ask you for Kat’s phone number."

At four o’clock, Kat finally returned to her house, sure that the exterminators were gone and that it was safe to go back in. Her arms full of shopping bags, she struggled with her keys. She heard the phone ringing.

"Wait, dammit!" She yelled, bursting through the door just as the machine picked up.

"Kat?" The voice made her freeze. "This is Joe. Uh, Joe McIntyre. I’m, um, sorry I haven’t called, but I, uh, have been busy with this video and everything. I just thought I’d call and see how…oh, fuck it. I’m calling because I can’t get you out of my head, and…"

"Yes?" She snapped, picking up the phone.

"Princess!" He said, pleasantly surprised.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" She said rudely.

"And how many times do I have to tell you that the bitch routine is old?" He retorted, his defenses piling up.

"Joe, what do you want? Did you forget something here at my house? Or did you run out of names in your little black book?" She snarled, her heart tearing in two. She didn’t want to fight with him. She had missed him so much.

"Well, Ice Princess, I was calling to ask if you wanted to fly out to California to hang with me for a little bit, while I finish up some stuff here. I have a great beach house, and I’d pay for you to come out, but if you wanna act like this…"

"You know, Joe, some of us have real jobs, you know, nine to five shit," she pointed out, even though she had two weeks vacation coming any time she wanted it.

"Know what? Fine. Fuck you, stay the hell home if you want. You’d just be in the way anyway," he snapped back, sorry he had ever called.

"Well, you know what? Maybe I will come out there, just to piss you off and ruin your life!" She shouted.

"Good!" He yelled back. "Take down my goddamn number, and call me when you have your flight information, okay?" He rattled off his telephone number.

She hung up in response. She sat for a minute, then fell back onto the sofa, shrieking with delight. Out in California, Joe hung up the phone, his face covered with a big smile.

"What now?" Jordan asked as they got back into his car. She looked at him for a long moment.

"I think I’d like to go home now," she said. He looked a little disappointed.

"Oh. Okay, if that’s what you want." They drove back in silence. They got to the condo, and Lara invited Jordan in, so he knew she didn’t expect him to leave. She started up the steps.

"Can you check the machine?" She yelled down to him. He shrugged and pushed ‘play’ on the answering machine.

"Lara? It’s Kat. Can you keep an eye on my house for a while? I’m going out to California…to see Joe. I know, it’s crazy. He got my number, from you I’m guessing, called, we fought, and now I’m on my way out to see him." She sighed. "I can’t wait. Love ya."

"Who was it?" Lara called to him.

"Kat," Jordan said, moving to the foot of the steps. "She’s going out to California. To see Joe. She wants you to watch her house."

"What?" Lara shrieked, poking her head around to look at him. "California? To see Joe? Well, it’s about freaking time. She hasn’t stopped think about him since that night, whether she’ll admit it or not."

She disappeared again, and Jordan went and sat on the sofa. A few minutes later, she yelled,

"Jordan, could you come here? I need your help."

As he made his way upstairs, he heard soft music floating from the bedroom. He slowly pushed the door open. Candles were everywhere, and the bed was covered in burgundy satin sheets. Lara was standing by the bed. She said shyly, "I couldn’t reach the zipper on my dress and wondered if you could help me."

He swallowed deeply, immediately aroused. "You got the dress on," he said lightly, wondering if this was what she really wanted.

"I know, but I’m so full from lunch that I can hardly reach around to get it," she said, turning so her back was to him. "Please?"

His soft hands brushed the skin of her back as they reached for the zipper, and goosebumps appeared all over Lara’s body. She moaned softly. He slowly unzipped the dress, and left his hands sitting on her waist. "Anything else I can do for you?"

She turned around, nodding. "Make love to me, Jordan."

"Are you sure about this?" He asked. The haunted look crept back into her eyes.

"You don’t want me," she said, beginning to move away. He pulled her back.

"Would you stop?" He asked, sighing in frustration. "Of course I want you! I’ve thought about making love to you a million times! I…" he took her hand and placed it over his erection. She gasped at the hardness straining against the material of his shorts. "You tell me. Do I want you?" He took her face in his hands. "I know how much Jamie hurt you. I want you to be sure about this."

"I know I shouldn’t say this, but…I…Jordan, I think I’m falling in love with you," she stammered. He bent his head to kiss the dip between her shoulder and her neck.

"Why shouldn’t you say it?" He murmured, his lips making her stomach tumble in ways Jamie had never accomplished.

"Because…men don’t like to here that, do they? Doesn’t it tie you down or something? And you hardly know me…"

"I feel like I’ve known you forever, honey." His soft hands began pushing the straps of the dress down her shoulders. "And I love to hear it, and I would love to feel tied down by you." He smiled wickedly at the double meaning of his words, and she giggled.

Before she knew it, her dress was on a pile at her feet. She stepped out of it as he pulled off his vest and shirt. She wore no bra, and the feeling of his smooth chest against her breasts was heaven. He turned her around, pressing against her back. She moaned as he hands found her breasts, gently stroking and exploring them.

"You really thought about this?" She whispered as he sucked on her ear. He groaned.

"You don’t know how many times I dreamt about it." He unclipped her hair, letting the still damp strands fall over his face. "Did you?"

She smiled, remembering the nights she woke up with her breasts aching for his touch. "You could say that."

He spun her around and captured her mouth with his. Her fingernails raked down his back as his tongue tangled with hers. She trailed her hands down to his belt, her fingers shaking as she tried to undo the buckle. His mouth never leaving hers, he moved her hands away and did it himself. She opened the button and zipper, and slowly reached her hand inside. He wore nothing underneath, and her hand quickly came in contact with his hardness, making him jump. She sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes never leaving his. She slowly pushed the shorts down to the floor, releasing his hard cock. She caressed it softly, moving her fingers down to his inner thighs and back up, stroking his balls with a feather-light touch. He hissed as he drew in a breath, and she saw him harden even more. She lovingly kissed up and down the sides of him, flickering her tongue every so often. He moaned loudly, placing his hands on the back of her head but not pushing. She finally, slowly, took all of him into her mouth, placing her hands on his backside. She used his ass to push him further into her mouth, and grabbed it to pull him back out again. His breathing grew labored. He didn’t know how much of her warm mouth he could take. His hands tightened in her hair, and he began to pull it ever so slightly. She moaned quietly, which turned him on even more. He carefully pulled her hair, to pull her to her feet.

"I don’t want this to be over too quickly," he said in response to her questioning glance. He fell to his knees, his mouth devouring her breasts. As he tongued her nipples, he quickly pushed down her underwear. She stepped out of them, and he pushed her back until she was stretched out on the bed. He began at her feet, and seemed to place his mouth, tongue, hands, or all of the above on every square inch of her. By the time he made it up to her inner thighs, she felt as if every liquid in her body was running out between her legs. He gazed at her.

"What?" She said nervously, a little shy about the way she was totally open to him.

"You are beautiful," he said, before placing his head between her legs. As his tongue found her clit and eagerly bathed it, she called out his name, grasping the satin sheets in her hands. He lapped up her wetness, just to make her wet all over again. His tongue plunged inside of her, making her limbs go numb. He trailed a hand up her leg, inserting two fingers into her most intimate place. She gasped, wanting to feel more if him inside of her. He teased her a bit longer, then slowly moved his lean body over hers. He spread her legs with his.

"I love you," he said as he pushed inside of her. She let out a long moan, wrapping her legs around his slender waist. As he made love to her, she ran her fingers through his short hair, pulling his mouth to hers again and again. She felt herself begin to come, and she looked away from him.

"No!" He said sharply, grabbing her face and turning it to his. "Don’t be ashamed. Look at me. I want to see in your eyes how I’m making you feel."

"Oh God…Jordan…I’m coming…" she gasped, feeling waves of pleasure ride over her. Hearing her call out his name in her ecstasy brought Jordan to the edge as well. He fell against her, whispering love words in her ear.

Kat pushed stop on her Discman, pulling out yet another CD and changing it. She had the long flight to California to sit and think about Joe, and nothing seemed to please her. No CD was right, no position was comfortable, and worst of all, the older man sitting next to her was hitting on her desperately.

"So, you a movie star? A singer? Wanna be famous?" The man leered, almost spilling his Bloody Mary all over her legs.

"Excuse me?" She said in annoyance, pulling the headphones off of her ears.

"Well, you’re young, alone, and single," he said, pointedly looking at her left hand. "Why else would you be going to California?"

What a chauvinistic asshole! she thought to herself. She smiled sweetly. "None of the above, I’m afraid. I’m going to meet someone."

"Ah. I see." He nodded his head, obviously thinking he was a lot wiser than she. "One of those Internet things, huh? You gotta be careful, Sweets. You never know who you can trust." He eyes lingered on her chest.

"So, you’re married," she observed, staring at his left hand. He grunted in affirmation and turned quickly to the in-flight movie. She smiled, and pulled a book out of her carry-on bag.

Joe arrived at the airport almost two hours early, feeling foolish. He paced back in forth in front of the gate. He finally went to the lounge and ordered a strong drink. Just one. He didn’t want to meet Kat totally sloshed; though it would probably put him a lot more at ease. Thoughts raced through his head. Should he have brought her flowers or something? Offered to put her up in a hotel, so she wouldn’t think he brought her out to California just to screw? He smiled to himself. Who was he kidding? That was one of the main reasons he had wanted her in California.

"Hi," a voice at his elbow said. He turned and saw a sleek blonde sliding onto the barstool next to him. "You’re Joey McIntyre, aren’t you?"

"Joe," he corrected, shaking her outstretched hand.

"Samantha," she said, tossing her hair over a tanned shoulder. "Waiting for someone?"

"Uh, yeah." He turned back to his drink, praying she would leave him alone. The last thing he needed right now was a fan trying to pick him up.

"Me too. My fiancé. We’re getting married tomorrow." She sipped at a glass of white wine. "High school sweethearts and all. He lives in Detroit, but he’s moving here to be with me."

"Best wishes," he said, smiling briefly before glancing out the large windows. Was that plane Kat’s? He checked his watch. Nope. Another hour to waste.

"Would you like to go up to the hotel with me?" Samantha said suddenly. Joe stared at her. "No strings. It’s just…I just realized that after tomorrow, I have to be a one-man woman, and it’s kinda scary. I’m only twenty-three, for God’s sake." She smiled, and crossed her endless legs. "So…how about it?"

"No, thanks." He gulped the last of his drink, threw down some money, and stood. "I’d feel guilty, and so would you. Good luck with your marriage. I think you’ll need it."

"Fuck off!" She said sharply, her eyes already finding someone new at the other end of the bar.

Joe had to chuckle as he headed back to Kat’s gate. She had to be having some kind of affect on him, if he turned down someone as gorgeous as that. He chuckled again. On second thought, he would have turned her down anyway. There was something too…Twilight Zone, about Samantha.

As Kat walked through the tunnel from the plane to the airport, she switched her bag from one hand to the other nervously. What if he wasn’t even there? And if he was, what if he wasn’t as gorgeous as she remembered? What if she had had too much to drink that night and it was all a nightmare?

She turned the corner into the airport, her eyes searching the crowd. They found a set of gorgeous baby blue eyes, and everything else became a blur.

Joe’s searching gaze found Kat, and he immediately saw nothing else. She walked towards him. He opened his mouth to say something and nothing came out. God, she was as beautiful as he had remembered.

She stopped in front of him. Wasn’t he going to say anything? No ‘hello’, no ‘how was your flight’? "Well?" She demanded nervously, hating the affect he was having on her. "Aren’t…?"

"No!" He snapped, shutting her up. "Before you say anything bitchy…don’t ruin it." He pulled her into his arms, kissing her passionately. Her carry-on dropped to the ground as her arms wrapped around him. Onlookers grinned at the couple who was so obviously in love. "Miss me?" He murmured in her ear.

"No!" She retorted. He smiled as he bent down to pick up her bag.

"Liar."

They retrieved her luggage and headed for Joe’s rented car. As he put her bags in the back, he took a deep breath.

"Kat, I want this to be a great time for you while you’re here. I’ll be busy sometimes, but I’ll try to spend as much time with you as possible." He stared into her eyes. "But I want this to totally be on your terms. The record company rented a huge beach house for me, and there is more than enough room for the both of us. But I don’t want you to feel pressured, so I could rent a hotel room for you, if you’d like." He looked away nervously.

Kat was touched by the offer, but she knew that the only place she wanted to sleep was pressed against him. She smiled a smile that took his breath away. "No, thanks, Joe. With you is where I want to be."

He smiled his charming smile. "Great. I hoped that’s what you would say."

They got in the car, and he started out to the beach.

"So, uh, is there any specific thing you were interested in seeing?" He asked as he pulled onto the freeway. She looked at him, confused. "I mean, any sight seeing type of thing. I mean, this is California." She burst out laughing, which angered him. He was trying so hard. "Now what? What did I say now, Princess?"

Even the use of that hated nickname couldn’t affect Kat. "I’m sorry, Joe, really. I wasn’t laughing to be mean. It’s just that…I grew up in California. I’ve already been there, done that, when it comes to sight seeing out here."

"Then why the hell did you come?" He said, his anger revealing his embarrassment. She stopped laughing.

"To be with you."

"Peaches, how many times do I have to explain this to you?" Jamie waved the perfectly starched shirt in Lara’s face. "I don’t like creases on the arms!"

"But that’s how the shirt is made," she whispered miserably. She had offered to do Jamie’s ironing for him, and had quickly lived to regret it. As with everything else, he was peculiar about how the shirt was to be ironed. He didn’t want creases in the sleeves, but yet the shirt was made with creases in the sleeves, and would look odd without them. "Why did you a buy a shirt like that if you didn’t want it that way?"

"Peaches, don’t argue with me, okay?" He sighed, acting as if he was dealing with a child. "Just do it again, or buy me a new shirt."

She took the shirt and resumed her place behind the ironing board. He wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck. "You look so sexy, ironing my shirts," he murmured, kissing behind her ear. "Just remember, Peaches, there are a hundred women out there who would kill to be ironing my shirts right now…and they’d do it right the first time."

Tears fell onto the hot surface of the iron and sizzled. Jamie didn’t notice. He was too busy unbuttoning her shorts. "You’re right, Jamie. I’ll fix it."

Jordan awoke to a smack in his face. Lara was thrashing in her sleep, tears streaming down her face. They had both dozed off after the wonderful lovemaking, and she seemed to be dreaming. Jordan stared at her for a moment. He had never known anyone who could dream during a nap.

"I’ll fix it…" she sobbed. "Don’t leave me…don’t go…"

"Lara, honey…I’m right here," he said soothingly. She pushed at him, but her forced her into his arms.

"NO!" She screamed, waking up, pushing him away, and scrambling to her feet all in one instant. She looked at him as if she didn’t recognize him. "Why can’t you leave me alone for five minutes?"

"Lara, I…you were…" Jordan was confused.

Her eyes focused on him, realizing who he was. "Jordan? God, I’m so sorry, I thought you were…" she slowly slid to the floor, pulling a cover off of the bed to wrap around her nakedness. He instantly moved to sit next to her.

"Honey, come here. Let me hold you." She snuggled into his arms, but it took a while for her to stop shaking. He remained silent for a moment, then asked, "Honey, did he ever hit you?"

She shook her head. "No. Only that night when you were here." She pushed some hair out of her face. "He always threatened to leave me. That was more painful than any kind of physical abuse."

Jordan turned so he was sitting across from her. "Okay. We’re going to get rid of this asshole once and for all." Lara stared at him. He sounded like he was gonna call in the Mafia and have them blow Jamie away. "Okay, Lara. I’m Jamie. Pretend I’m him. Tell me exactly how you feel. Hit me if you need to."

"What?" She said, her mouth falling open.

"I saw this on TV once. If you get it all out of your system, directing it at me, then eventually, I hope, it will go away. You’ll realize that all men are not Jamie, I am not going to leave you, and you’ll let me love you and treat you the way you deserve to be treated." He nodded encouragingly. "Go ahead."

"I’ll try." She took a deep breath. "Jamie, I really hated the way you always used to put me down."

"Go on," Jordan said, trying to look cocky and self-important, the way Jamie had looked that afternoon at the river. "What else do you got to say?"

"I’m just as good as you are, and…and…I am my own person. I don’t need any man to complete me." She was still a little cautious.

Jordan decided to say one more thing, hoping it would be enough to set her off. "Oh, really…Peaches?"

The damn burst. "Yeah, really! And you know what else? I absolutely hate the name Peaches! Where the fuck did that come from, anyway? Or was it just something that you thought would make up for all the times you put me down, made fun of me, made me feel worthless!" She screamed, getting up on her knees. "I’m better than that! I’m more than someone to clean your apartment, iron your clothes, and screw whenever you feel like it! And while we’re on the topic, you are absolutely awful in bed! I’ve only been with two men, and you suck! No wonder you had to force me, use it as a way to make me stay with you…" she slapped Jordan across the face before she realized it, bursting into tears. She stared at the red welt on his handsome face, and gasped as a one tear fell down that cheek. "Oh, God, Jordan…I’m sorry! Did I hurt you?" She rained kisses on his cheeks.

"No, honey, you didn’t hurt me." He pulled her onto his lap. "I’m not crying for me. I’m crying for you."

Joe was silent the rest of the way to the beach house. He couldn’t believe how deeply he was falling for Kat. She was like no one he had ever met before. Usually he liked someone’s personality, or he just wanted to bag them. He had never had both feelings so strongly for one person. He glanced over at her. Her auburn hair was blowing in the breeze from the open window, and her slender legs went on forever below her short shorts. A finger tapped her thigh in time with the music. It was all he could do to keep from pulling over and attacking her.

Kat stared at the window, seeing nothing. She couldn’t believe what a different Joe this was from the man she had met back home. He had actually offered to get her a room, so she wouldn’t feel pressured. She smiled to herself. No, thank you. She already had ideas about how she wanted that night to go…

Joe pulled into the circular driveway of a huge beach house. She was actually impressed. The house stretched out instead of up, and was located on a cliff overlooking a private beach. He silently handed her the key to the house, and went to the back of the car to get her bags. She hurried to the front door and let herself in.

She found herself in a large foyer with a high ceiling. A circular staircase went up to the second floor, and two steps went down into a giant living room. The back wall of the living room was made up only of windows, and she could see the beautiful blue of the ocean. All she could think was that the ocean wasn’t half as beautiful as Joe’s eyes…

"It’s something, isn’t it?" Joe said, walking up behind her.

"Where are the bedrooms?" She asked, mentally kicking herself as soon as the words were out. Boy, if that doesn’t sound like you wanna drag him off to bed, I don’t know what does!

He smiled a sexy smile. "Upstairs." He carried her bags for her, leading the way up the staircase. He stopped at the top. "To the left are the guest rooms. This way is something a little different." He opened a set of double doors.

Instead of a room, the right side of the second floor was practically a suite. The room was a bedroom and living room, separated by a small landing. Kat’s mouth dropped open. Joe laughed. "That’s exactly what I thought when I came in here. I’m thinking of buying it, to have as a vacation house. My whole family could live here, and I wouldn’t even know they existed, if I was up here." He set down her bags, and took her in his arms. "Mmmm, I missed you, Princess." He breathed in the scent of her lavender shampoo. She sighed, welcoming the strength of his arms around her.

"Really? No little groupies around to take my place?" She teased. He frowned, remembering Samantha.

"Nope. No groupies out here." He bent to pick up her bags, without doing anything more than hugging her. She frowned as well. "So, wanna go pick out a guest room?"

"Well, I, uh…I assumed that, uh…" she floundered. He smiled at her discomfort, which pissed her off. "Whatever! Put me wherever you want me, okay?"

Once again, she could have grabbed the words out of the air if possible. The bags hit the floor and before she knew it, he was carrying her over to the king-sized waterbed. She shrieked with laughter, her anger forgotten.

"Joe! Put me down! You pervert, I didn’t mean…" she punched at him, giggling hysterically as he tossed her onto the waterbed and began tickling her. "Stop, dammit!"

"I’m the pervert? ‘Where are the bedrooms?’ ‘Put me wherever you want me, okay?’" He mimicked her. He pinned down her hands and straddled her waist. "You know where I want you." She stopped laughing and gazed into the hypnotizing blue of his eyes. She swallowed. He grew serious as well. "Kat, if I have an opinion in this, I want you to sleep right here in this bed with me. I didn’t ask you out here to have you sleep in a guest room."

"Oh, so you just brought me out to…" she began angrily. He silenced her with a passionate kiss. When he finally allowed the kiss to end, he had to stop to catch his breath.

"No, I didn’t bring you out just for sex, though you had to know that it would be inevitable. You turn me on like nothing I’ve ever experienced before." He trailed a finger down her cheek. "But I know we just have a short time here, and to be honest, I’m not sure exactly what’s going on." She could tell that was a big revelation for him. "I want to spend every moment, waking or sleeping, with you." She nodded, unable to speak. He smiled his beautiful smile, making her weak in the knees. "Okay." He rolled off of her and pulled her into his arms. "I wanna take you out tonight."

"You mean like a date?" Kat found her tongue.

"Yep. The whole thing. Dinner, dancing, the works. Interested?"

"Uh, sure, except I didn’t bring anything fancy to wear."

"You don’t need fancy. You just need gorgeous, and for you, that’s no stretch." He hopped off of the bed and ran to a giant walk-in closet. "I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty…" he tossed a box and shopping bag to her. She opened the box eagerly.

Inside was a simple black dress. It fell to a little above the knee, with a narrow skirt, but full enough to dance in. The top was sleeveless, almost like a tank-dress, but the back plunged to the beginning of her backside. In the bag was a pair of black sheer stockings. She looked at everything in wonderment, then looked at him in awe. She checked the tag on the dress. "This is exactly my size. How…?"

"I described you to the salesgirl. I showed her how tall you were compared to me, how far my hands spanned around your waist, that kinda stuff, and she came up with that. The only thing I couldn’t find was shoes. I had no clue what size you wore there."

"That’s amazing. Just from your description…" she stood and held the dress against her. She had fallen in love with it.

"Yeah, those girls on Rodeo Drive are real professionals."

"Rodeo…you bought this on Rodeo Drive?" Kat about fainted.

"Yeah, sure." Joe shrugged. "I was down there yesterday, and thought…"

"But you only called today. What if I hadn’t…"

"I knew you’d come," he said simply. That old familiar rage started to build in Kat, but the feel of the silk dress in her hands soon drove it from her mind. "There are a few little boutiques a few miles away. Why don’t you take the car and go pick up some shoes and whatever else you need?" He pulled the keys from his pocket and tossed them to her. She caught them, dropping the dress. She squealed and snatched it up, quickly hanging it on a hanger. She headed for the door of the room.

"Not so quick, Princess." He pulled her back into his arms, giving her a slow, tantalizing kiss. She moaned as his tongue connected with hers, sending electricity through her body. "Don’t forget to come back."

"I won’t," she whispered, reaching back to grab his ass. He let out a yell, and she laughed. "Be back soon."

She jogged down the staircase, but soon slowed to a walk. She stopped short at the bottom step. The thought hit her like a lightening bolt. Oh my God. I am totally, utterly, in love with Joseph McIntyre

Lara stared at the tear creeping down Jordan’s cheek, her own sobs slowly ebbing. He was crying for her?

"Lara, God, you are so beautiful, and sexy, and sweet, and fascinating, and, and, and I don’t know what!" Jordan said earnestly, ignoring the tears that flowed freely down his face. "I know it’s not "macho" for guys to cry, but when I think about the way he treated you, it just makes me so fucking mad!" He pounded the floor in frustration. "Because not only does it hurt you, but it hurts me. What can I do to get you to trust me when there are men like that in the world?"

Lara moved over to sit on his lap, her legs wrapped around his waist. She had never thought Jordan Knight more gorgeous than he was at that moment. She tenderly wiped the tears away from his face, and cradled it in her hands. "Jordan Knight, no matter what has happened, or will happen between us, you have just ruined me for any other man. No one will ever make me feel the way you are making me feel right now." She gently and lightly kissed each cheek, his forehead, his nose, his chin, and then his mouth.

He felt his groin began to stir, and groaned. This was not the time, he told himself. She felt it, and smiled. She leaned back onto the floor, pulling him with her.

Kat drove down the beachfront highway, with the radio cranked all the way up. She shouted along with Ricky Martin. "She’ll make you take your clothes off and go dancing in the rain!" She pulled up in front of the string of boutiques.

She quickly found what she wanted in the shoe store, and also bought a pair of earrings, a gold chain, and a tiny black purse. She was returning to the car with her purchases when a lingerie store caught her eye. She threw her bags into the trunk and headed into the shop with a smile on her face.

"Joe!" She yelled upon her return to the house. She ran through the house calling his name, after dropping her bags in the master bedroom. "Joey?"

She wandered downstairs and into the huge kitchen. He was still nowhere to be found. She returned to the living room and stood by the wall of windows. She saw a figure walking on the beach and smiled. She ran out the door and down the steps to the private beach.

"Hey," she called as she approached him. He smiled, taking her breath away.

"Hey yourself." He gave her a big hug. "Find everything you wanted?"

"Yes, as well as something for you."

"For me?" He looked at her quizzically. She nodded and smiled.

"For tonight," she whispered. He grinned.

"Sweet." He took her hand and they started back to the house.

"Why were you out here all alone?" She asked.

"I was thinking of lyrics, actually." He looked down into her hazel eyes. "Let’s just say that I feel inspired." Kat blushed, something she rarely did. Unable to speak for a moment, she hopped onto his back and ordered him to carry her into the house. He complained about the steps up from the beach, but carried her up the steps, into the house, and to the master bedroom.

"Okay, Joe. Okay, you can put me down now." She said as he headed for the bathroom. He ignored her, carrying her into the bathroom and setting her down carefully in the giant sunken tub. Before she could get up, he turned the jets on full blast. She shrieked as water hit her.

"Joe! What the fuck?" She yelled, looking down at her drenched clothes in dismay.

"Oh, damn. I guess you’ll just have to take them off now," he said in fake disappointment. He pulled his own t-shirt over his head. Kat climbed out of the tub, still a bit pissed off.

"Joe, what makes you think I’m gonna do you after you drenched one of my favorite outfits?"

"Because I know it’s been on your mind since I brought you into this house," he told her, dumping some exotically scented bath salts into the water. He stepped out of his shorts, and she could not take her eyes off of his naked body, no matter how hard she tried. "Now, I wanna take a bath and stuff before I get ready for tonight. You are more than welcome to join me, or there is a shower stall right over there." He stepped into the tub and sank into the hot water, sighing with pleasure.

Leave. Just go over to the door and leave. There has to be other bathrooms down by the guestrooms, and you could shower there, Kat’s pride was telling her. Her body, however, was telling her to get her ass into that tub and jump all over the sexy man relaxing in the water. Her body won.

She peeled off the dripping clothes and placed them in the sink. She lowered herself into the hot water, relaxing as the steam wafted up into her face. She felt him move behind her. She moaned as he began scrubbing her back.

"See? Now isn’t this nice? I told you, if you’d just let me be in charge, everything will always be nice."

She whirled around, making water fly everywhere. Joe was holding back a smile. Noticing that he was totally joking, she smiled back. "Well, when I’m in charge, things could be just as nice," she hinted, thinking about the bag from the lingerie store.

"Let’s take turns," he whispered, replacing the sponge with his hands. She moaned again as his hands found her breasts. "Now, I’ll be in charge. Later tonight, when we get home, you can be in charge."

She nodded, unable to speak. His hands seemed to charge her body with electricity. She leaned back against him, running her fingers through his hair. She could feel his erection against her back. He lathered his hands with soap, and caressed her body, his hands slipping lower and lower, until she was arching against him. "Turn around, Kat," he whispered. She did as he asked, and he lowered her body onto his, his cock slipping into her easily. She gasped as he filled her. He grasped her waist, and began to slowly move her up and down. He licked droplets of water from her neck and shoulders. Neither of them spoke as he continued to move her ever so slowly. She wanted to speed up the pace, but he continued to firmly hold her. Kat felt tortured. She wanted to move faster, harder. She wanted to come so bad, and she knew he realized this, and was teasing her. But, oh, the torture was sweet. Suddenly he moved her off of him, and laughed at the evil look she gave him. Stepping out of the tub, he reached down and helped her out as well. He led her to the shower stall. He leaned her against the wall, kissing her as he reached in and adjusted the water. He guided her into the shower, and pressed her against the back wall. Steaming water poured down on them as he placed his hands under her backside and lifted her up to meet him. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he pushed inside of her once more, except this time he allowed her to set the pace. She moved steadily, but a lot faster than he had moved her before. He met her stroke for stroke, until her back was smacking against the cool tile. She began to moan and breathe heavily, and he took her mouth with his, swallowing her cries as she came. He thrust a few more times before reaching his own release. He carefully lowered her legs, supporting her. He reached up to push some damp strands of hair from her face. "God, what you do to me," he whispered. "And I don’t mean just like this, either."

"What time is it?" Jordan asked Lara drowsily. He was lying with his head on her chest, and she was playing with his soft short hair.

"I don’t care." She replied. The world could end at that very moment, and she wouldn’t have cared.

"I don’t either, but I’m hungry," he almost whined, making her laugh.

"Well, you’re on top, so you look," she told him. He groaned loudly, but got up to look at the clock on the nightstand.

"Yep. I was right. Dinnertime." He started to look for his shorts.

"Well, that helps," she remarked, glancing at the clock. Seven o’clock. She wondered if he would stay the night, or if he would disappear out of her life again.

Jordan looked at Lara, and noticed her staring sadly into space. He flopped down onto the bed.

"I’m not leaving yet," he said, reading her thoughts. "I don’t have to be anywhere until Tuesday. That’s three days from now." He touched her cheek gently. "I have my stuff in the car. I would really like to stay here, but…"

She silenced him with a kiss. "Forget it. You’re staying here." She pulled on a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. "However, you’d better find your shorts before you go running out to your car…nevermind. Where are your keys? I’ll get your bags."

"They’re down on the coffee table," he said, thanking her with a kiss. She rubbed against him.

"You keep doing that and we won’t make it out of this room until Tuesday," she warned him. He laughed.

"But there are so many other rooms to try! The bathroom, the guestroom, the kitchen…"

She hit him with a pillow on her way out the door. "Pervert."

She jogged down the steps, grabbed the keys, and bounded out the door. She was pulling duffel bags out of Jordan’s car when a car she didn’t recognize pulled up in front of her house. She stepped away from the car, eyeing this strange vehicle warily. She was shocked to see Sonia get out of the car and walk towards her. She was even more shocked when she saw the huge bruise on the side of Sonia’s pretty face.

"Sonia? Oh my God. What are you doing here? What…what happened?"

"I asked what he does Saturday nights," Sonia said simply, ignoring the tears that continued to streak her face. "I questioned his business."

"Shit." Lara couldn’t believe it. "Come on in. We’ll put ice…"

"You don’t have to be nice to me. I just wanted to tell you that you were right. He is a monster. He’s an abusive monster, whether it’s with words or his hands." She turned to go. Lara hesitated, then grabbed her arm.

"Sonia, please. Come in. I know I don’t have to be nice to you. But one of the best ways to hurt him is to take the same side against him. At least let me clean you up some."

Sonia allowed Lara to lead her into the house. Lara sat Sonia down at the kitchen table, and prepared some ice, like she had for Jordan weeks before. "Do you have somewhere to go?"

"Yeah. My sister lives not too far out of town." She looked around the room. "This may not be the right thing to say, but I always thought you had a gorgeous house, the few times I was here."

"Thanks," Lara said ungratefully. "Want something to drink?"

"What do you got?"

"You want something strong?" Lara asked. Sonia nodded. Lara poured some bourbon into a glass, adding some soda. Sonia downed the glass in one gulp. "You still have to drive, you know," Lara pointed out. Sonia nodded again.

"Just one more."

Lara handed her the glass. She couldn’t take it any more. She had to ask. "Didn’t it bother you, knowing that you were screwing around with someone who was involved?"

"He told me that you were already like a ball and chain, that you wouldn’t…you hated sex." Sonia had the grace to look ashamed.

"Figures," Lara said wryly. "Well, just to put the record straight, I might have been a leech emotionally, but the only reason I didn’t like sex with him was because he wanted it all the time, and took it whether I was interested or not. That kind of turns you off towards someone, you know?"

"Sweetie, what ever happened to my bags?" Jordan bounded into the kitchen, with a towel around his waist. Water streamed from his still damp hair. He turned deep red when he saw someone else in the kitchen, and his mouth dropped open when he saw who the someone else was. "Oh, sorry. Sonia, right?"

"Yeah. And you’re…Jordan Knight." It was Sonia’s turn to gawk.

"Sorry, J. I got distracted. There are some sweats that might fit you, in the bottom drawer of the dresser, if you don’t want to put your shorts back on," Lara suggested.

"No, my shorts will be fine." Jordan sent Lara all kinds of questioning looks before returning upstairs.

"Wow. When you find someone new you do it right," Sonia remarked, making Lara laugh.

"Well, it wasn’t planned, believe me." Lara poured herself soda without the bourbon and sat next to Sonia. "I was practically suicidal after I found you guys. I had revolved my life around him, and then he cheated on me."

"Well, I hate to say this, but I found out tonight that I wasn’t the only one he was screwing around with. He held over my head that he chose me from about five other women, and I had to believe him. I’m sorry," Sonia said, sincerely apologetic. Lara said nothing, but her hands clenched around the glass she held. Sonia got to her feet. "I’m gonna get moving. Thanks, for everything." Lara nodded and walked her to the door.

Jordan came down the steps as Sonia was opening the front door. "Bye, Jordan. Nice to meet you." She left.

Jordan opened his mouth to ask one of the dozen questions running through his brain, but stopped at the sight of tears running down Lara’s face. "What? What happened? What did that bitch say to you?" He pulled her into his arms.

"Nothing, Jordan, it’s not Sonia. She’s as much of a victim as I am." She wiped away the tears angrily. "I’m mad at myself for getting so upset. She just told me that she wasn’t the only one Jamie was cheating on me with. There were like five or six girls he was fucking behind my back." She sighed. "I must have been stupid not to see it."

"No, you were in love." He tilted his face up to his, his brown eyes smiling down at her. "You don’t notice anything else, when you’re deeply in love with someone." The tenderness in his eyes made her legs weak.

"Yeah," she whispered. They sat on the couch and he held her tight against his chest.

"Why did she come over here?"

"To tell me I was right, that he’s a monster. She asked what he does on Saturday nights, and he hit her."

"Damn," Jordan mumbled.

"He had told her that I was an emotional ball and chain, and that I didn’t like sex."

"That’s a laugh," Jordan said, teasing her. She bit his chest and he yelped.

"You know what I mean. It was true, I did hate it…with him." Lara smiled as she thought of how much her body still yearned for Jordan’s touch, even after hours of lovemaking that afternoon. "Anyway, she’s off to her sister’s."

They lay quietly for a moment, then Jordan said, "I wonder how things are going between Joe and Kat?"

After they exchanged soft kisses in silence, Kat quickly shampooed her hair. She slipped out of the shower and grabbed a fluffy pine green towel. She wrapped her body in one towel, her hair in another, and went to get her cosmetics and things. As Joe took his own shower, she sat on the chair at the dressing table, her legs shaking. Things were getting so intense between them, and it wasn’t just the sex. All the barriers she had built around her heart were slowly crashing down, and it was all because of Joe McIntyre. She had fallen in love with him practically at first sight, but she was afraid that he didn’t feel the same. There was something in his eyes, but she wasn’t sure how to read it. She decided to keep silent about her feelings. They hardly knew each other, for heaven’s sakes, and she didn’t want to ruin her time in California. She began to blow dry her short auburn hair.

Joe got out of the shower, and began to dry off. He turned on a radio that was sitting in the corner, and she hummed along with the song on the radio. Soon, she couldn’t help but sing along.

"If you had my love and I gave you all my trust, would you comfort me, and if somehow you knew that your love would be untrue would you lie to me, and call me baby?"

Joe looked her in the eye. "I wouldn’t ever lie to you," he said seriously. Then he smiled. "Not about anything important, anyway."

She rolled her eyes and concentrated on her hair. He left the room, presumably to dress. She brushed her hair until it shown, and then applied a reasonable amount of makeup: just enough to bring out her hazel eyes and full red lips. She then pulled on the stockings, and slowly stepped into the dress. She stared at herself in the mirror. It was perfect. It hugged where it was supposed to hug, but was free enough in the legs to allow her to move freely. The low-heeled pumps she had bought made her legs seem endless. She smiled in satisfaction. She checked herself one last time, then opened the door into the bedroom. Joe wasn’t in the room.

She grabbed the tiny purse she had bought and slowly went down the stairs. He wasn’t in the living room, either. She scowled, not interested in looking around for him. She had been hoping to make a grand entrance. So much for that. She strolled around the giant living room, studying the different paintings and knickknacks. She hard a noise behind her. Without turning from the painting she was inspecting, she said, "Well, nice of you to show your ugly face."

"Well, I was busy looking for something." Joe decided to ignore the insult.

"And what was that?" She said, turning around.

"A vase for these." He held a bouquet of multi-colored roses in his hand. She gasped. There seemed to be roses in every color of the rainbow, plus a few white and one black. As she walked towards him, his eyes seemed to drink her in. "Because you are so absolutely gorgeous in that dress, I’m gonna ignore your previous comment."

"I’m sorry. I mean, thank you. I mean, wow." She took the bouquet into her arms, sniffing in the wonderful smell of roses.

"I did find a vase in the kitchen, though it took a while." He took her hand, leading her into the kitchen. She arranged the flowers in the giant vase he had found, and set them on the table.

"Thank you, Joe. I’m sorry I said what I did. I’m just a little nervous. It’s been a while since I’ve been on a real date," she admitted. He smiled. It was hard to believe that this beautiful anxious creature was the same woman who had insulted him the moment she had met him.

"It’s okay. Ready to go?" She nodded, and he got the car keys off the kitchen table. She followed him down the hall to the front door. "You look really nice, too." He wore an almost aquamarine silk shirt that brought out his eyes, and a pair of black dress pants that made his legs look endless. As they reached the door, he suddenly turned around and pressed her against the wall. One arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her to him, while the other hand caressed the back of her neck. His mouth was on hers in an instant, his tongue wrestling with hers. She moaned at the suddenness of it all, but had no intention of fighting it. He eventually pulled back, panting for breath. "I couldn’t help it. You looked so fine in that dress, and all I could think of was pulling it off you."

"Thanks for holding back," she teased, also gasping for breath. He slowly released her, looking her over once more.

"Damn, I have good taste." He took her hand as they walked out the door.

"In dresses or women?"

"Both," he said arrogantly, making her laugh.

As they climbed into the rental car, he asked what kind of food she was hungry for. "Whatever. I don’t really care," she said, watching the sun set against the horizon. She sighed and he glanced over at her.

"Happy?"

She looked at him strangely. People asked how she was, how she was feeling, things like that, but she couldn’t remember the last time someone had asked if she was happy. She thought a moment. "Yeah, I am. I feel relaxed, and comfortable, and…"

"Happy?" Joe suggested. Kat laughed.

"Yeah, happy." She reached over and placed her hand over his, which was on the gearshift. "Thanks to you."

"You’re welcome," he said softly, amazed at how well this visit with her was going. He had been worried that they would fight constantly, in between lovemaking, of course. "Um…okay, I think I know a place that has every kind of food you could possibly imagine. Greek, Italian, seafood, even some Oriental dishes."

"If you take me to a food court, I am going to murder you and feed you to the sharks," Kat warned.

"No, I can promise you that we are not going to a food court." He continued along the highway that ran parallel to the beach. She realized that they were driving towards Los Angeles.

"Joe, we don’t have to go somewhere fancy," she informed him.

"With you in that dress, looking that good? Are you crazy? I am proud to have you with me, and I plan on showing you off."

About forty minutes later (SORRY, KNOW NOTHING ABOUT CALIFORNIA, SO PLEASE ALLOW CREATIVE LIBERTIES), the entered the city limits. Joe drove for about twenty minutes more, pulling into a parking garage. He paid the attendant, parked the car, and hurried around to help Kat out. He took her hand as they walked to the restaurant, a block down the street.

"You are gonna love this place," he told her. "It is so classy, but not the kind of classy that makes you feel uncomfortable. I’m just a city kid from Mass, remember, so too classy doesn’t sit right with me."

Kat laughed at the way he strutted when he said ‘city kid’. "I’m sure I’ll love it. I trust your judgment."

"The club I wanna take you to is right down the street, too."

They walked up to a restaurant that looked like it belonged in Italy, or France, or some foreign country. The tables on the outside patio were all full, and about twenty people were waiting for tables.

"Wait here," Joe told her, placing Kat to the side of all the chaos.

She looked around, recognizing famous people. There was Gwyneth Paltrow, over there were Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt. She couldn’t believe it. Then she realized that she was with a famous person, too! A smile crossed her face at the thought. What if a photographer from People, or US magazine were to take Joe’s picture? She’d be in it, too, and everyone would be asking who the woman was who had been out on the town in LA with Joey McIntyre! She laughed out loud at the thought of Lara picking up her People magazine and seeing her friend’s picture.

"What is the joke?" A sensual accented voice said in her ear. "And who would leave you here to laugh all alone?"

She slowly turned around, and her heart stopped beating. Standing behind her was Ricky Martin. Kat, who prided herself on her coolness in any situation, opened her mouth and then closed it again. Brain, just send a thought down to my mouth, and let me talk! She yelled at herself. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth again.

"Okay, Kat, we can go in now."

Joe, who walked up and quickly put an arm around her shoulder possessively, saved her. She glared at him, moving away from his hold. She gave Ricky her best smile as Joe led her towards the doorway.

"Adios, senorita," Ricky said softly as she looked over her shoulder at him.

"Jealous much?" Kat hissed at Joe as they were guided to their table.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," he said, nodding and waving to different people he knew. Kat sighed, but didn’t reply.

They were given menus and a wine list. Joe asked if she wanted a bottle of wine or champagne, and she nodded without speaking. He sighed, and motioned for the wine steward. He ordered a bottle of expensive champagne.

"You don’t have to buy me, you know," Kat snapped, still miffed at the way he had claimed her in front of the restaurant. Joe looked up from his menu, surprised.

"I’m not trying to buy you. I just thought that a bottle of champagne would be nice, and that you deserved the best. Where did this all come from?" He snapped back, the old habit of fighting with her quickly surfacing.

"Well, I just wondered if you saw me as some kind of possession that you needed to show off, and therefore needed to show off to!" She whispered furiously. "The only thing that would’ve been worse out there is if you would’ve put a collar on me and led me in on a leash!"

"Now there’s an image," he teased, trying to keep a fight from starting. She didn’t smile. "Okay, I’m sorry if I acted possessive. But, hello, he’s Ricky Martin. I’ve seen the effect he has on women." He quickly glanced down at his menu. Kat began to smile, her anger fading as quickly as it had built.

"Oh, so you were feeling insecure."

"I didn’t say that!" He growled to his menu. She laughed out loud, drawing the attention of people around them. She reached across the table for his hand, and he wove his fingers with hers, his eyes never leaving his menu.

The steward returned with their wine, followed by the waiter. They gave their order. Kat looked around the room, counting all the people she recognized. She stopped counting at twenty.

"I don’t believe this," she said quietly. "In a million years I never thought I would be eating at the same restaurant as Ricky Martin, Brad Pitt, and Reese Witherspoon!"

"Is that a problem for you?" Joe asked. He knew she wouldn’t freak out or anything, acting like a crazed fan, but he was worried that she might feel uncomfortable.

"No, though it is kind of amazing."

"You are the most beautiful woman here, and no one can hold a candle to you," he said as their salads arrived. "Especially in that dress."

She blushed and dug into her salad.

"So, we never decided what we were gonna do about dinner," Jordan said, totally comfortable stretched out on the sofa with Lara in his arms.

"I swear, you have a one track mind!" She said, mentally going through her cabinets, trying to find dinner.

"No, two track," he replied, his hand reaching down to cup her breast. She looked up at him sternly, but her eyes were laughing.

"Okay, two track." She slowly got to her feet. "I’ll see what I have in the kitchen."

He followed her back to the kitchen and sat at the table, watching her as she opened and shut cabinet doors. "You are adorable," he said suddenly.

"Yeah, okay," she said. She had on a Penn State t-shirt, and a pair of her oldest sweatpants. Her hair was pulled back into a sloppy ponytail. "Um…I have soup, frozen pizzas, hot dogs, we could make a salad…" her train of thought was interrupted by strong arms wrapping around her waist. She could smell Jordan’s shampoo and aftershave lotion.

"I know what I want for dinner." He kissed behind her ears, sending shivers down her back.

"Jordan, you are unbelievable!" She laughed, turning around to face him. She stood on tiptoe to kiss him. He picked her up and sat her on the kitchen counter. She wrapped her legs around his waist as the kisses got more passionate. He was the first to pull away.

"So, he said you hated sex, huh?" Jordan kissed her neck above the t-shirt.

"Yeah, absolutely," she whispered.

He looked her in the eye. "You’ve been with two people? That’s all?"

She blushed and looked away. "Yeah. Um…you, and him. I told you that at the beginning, that he was my first everything."

"Don’t be ashamed, love." He tilted her head up. "There’s nothing wrong with that. I’m just sorry that you’re first of anything had to be with him." He kissed her forehead. "But now you’re with me, and he’s all in the past, right?" She nodded. He kissed her again, and helped her down from the counter. "Why don’t you go rent some movies, and I’ll take care of dinner." She raised an eyebrow. "Give me some credit. I can handle frozen pizzas!" He exclaimed. She laughed.

"Do you want me to pick up anything else?"

"No, unless you want something. Oh, wait. Get some of those Grasshopper cookies, those chocolate mint things? I love them." She stopped and stared at him. "What?" He asked.

"Those are my all time favorite cookies," she said. He smiled.

"See, we are meant for each other."

After many goodbye kisses, even though she would only be gone about twenty minutes, she finally made it out the door.

Jordan found the pans for the pizzas, carefully read the directions on the back of the package, and put them in the oven. As he was looking for other things to eat, the phone rang. He decided to answer it.

"Hello?" No response. "Hello?"

"Leave her alone if you know what’ s good for you!" The voice on the other end rasped before hanging up.

Kat pushed stop on her Discman, pulling out yet another CD and changing it. She had the long flight to California to sit and think about Joe, and nothing seemed to please her. No CD was right, no position was comfortable, and worst of all, the older man sitting next to her was hitting on her desperately.

"So, you a movie star? A singer? Wanna be famous?" The man leered, almost spilling his Bloody Mary all over her legs.

"Excuse me?" She said in annoyance, pulling the headphones off of her ears.

"Well, you’re young, alone, and single," he said, pointedly looking at her left hand. "Why else would you be going to California?"

What a chauvinistic asshole! she thought to herself. She smiled sweetly. "None of the above, I’m afraid. I’m going to meet someone."

"Ah. I see." He nodded his head, obviously thinking he was a lot wiser than she. "One of those Internet things, huh? You gotta be careful, Sweets. You never know who you can trust." He eyes lingered on her chest.

"So, you’re married," she observed, staring at his left hand. He grunted in affirmation and turned quickly to the in-flight movie. She smiled, and pulled a book out of her carry-on bag.

Joe arrived at the airport almost two hours early, feeling foolish. He paced back in forth in front of the gate. He finally went to the lounge and ordered a strong drink. Just one. He didn’t want to meet Kat totally sloshed; though it would probably put him a lot more at ease. Thoughts raced through his head. Should he have brought her flowers or something? Offered to put her up in a hotel, so she wouldn’t think he brought her out to California just to screw? He smiled to himself. Who was he kidding? That was one of the main reasons he had wanted her in California.

"Hi," a voice at his elbow said. He turned and saw a sleek blonde sliding onto the barstool next to him. "You’re Joey McIntyre, aren’t you?"

"Joe," he corrected, shaking her outstretched hand.

"Samantha," she said, tossing her hair over a tanned shoulder. "Waiting for someone?"

"Uh, yeah." He turned back to his drink, praying she would leave him alone. The last thing he needed right now was a fan trying to pick him up.

"Me too. My fiancé. We’re getting married tomorrow." She sipped at a glass of white wine. "High school sweethearts and all. He lives in Detroit, but he’s moving here to be with me."

"Best wishes," he said, smiling briefly before glancing out the large windows. Was that plane Kat’s? He checked his watch. Nope. Another hour to waste.

"Would you like to go up to the hotel with me?" Samantha said suddenly. Joe stared at her. "No strings. It’s just…I just realized that after tomorrow, I have to be a one-man woman, and it’s kinda scary. I’m only twenty-three, for God’s sake." She smiled, and crossed her endless legs. "So…how about it?"

"No, thanks." He gulped the last of his drink, threw down some money, and stood. "I’d feel guilty, and so would you. Good luck with your marriage. I think you’ll need it."

"Fuck off!" She said sharply, her eyes already finding someone new at the other end of the bar.

Joe had to chuckle as he headed back to Kat’s gate. She had to be having some kind of affect on him, if he turned down someone as gorgeous as that. He chuckled again. On second thought, he would have turned her down anyway. There was something too…Twilight Zone, about Samantha.

As Kat walked through the tunnel from the plane to the airport, she switched her bag from one hand to the other nervously. What if he wasn’t even there? And if he was, what if he wasn’t as gorgeous as she remembered? What if she had had too much to drink that night and it was all a nightmare?

She turned the corner into the airport, her eyes searching the crowd. They found a set of gorgeous baby blue eyes, and everything else became a blur.

Joe’s searching gaze found Kat, and he immediately saw nothing else. She walked towards him. He opened his mouth to say something and nothing came out. God, she was as beautiful as he had remembered.

She stopped in front of him. Wasn’t he going to say anything? No ‘hello’, no ‘how was your flight’? "Well?" She demanded nervously, hating the affect he was having on her. "Aren’t…?"

"No!" He snapped, shutting her up. "Before you say anything bitchy…don’t ruin it." He pulled her into his arms, kissing her passionately. Her carry-on dropped to the ground as her arms wrapped around him. Onlookers grinned at the couple who was so obviously in love. "Miss me?" He murmured in her ear.

"No!" She retorted. He smiled as he bent down to pick up her bag.

"Liar."

They retrieved her luggage and headed for Joe’s rented car. As he put her bags in the back, he took a deep breath.

"Kat, I want this to be a great time for you while you’re here. I’ll be busy sometimes, but I’ll try to spend as much time with you as possible." He stared into her eyes. "But I want this to totally be on your terms. The record company rented a huge beach house for me, and there is more than enough room for the both of us. But I don’t want you to feel pressured, so I could rent a hotel room for you, if you’d like." He looked away nervously.

Kat was touched by the offer, but she knew that the only place she wanted to sleep was pressed against him. She smiled a smile that took his breath away. "No, thanks, Joe. With you is where I want to be."

He smiled his charming smile. "Great. I hoped that’s what you would say."

They got in the car, and he started out to the beach.

"So, uh, is there any specific thing you were interested in seeing?" He asked as he pulled onto the freeway. She looked at him, confused. "I mean, any sight seeing type of thing. I mean, this is California." She burst out laughing, which angered him. He was trying so hard. "Now what? What did I say now, Princess?"

Even the use of that hated nickname couldn’t affect Kat. "I’m sorry, Joe, really. I wasn’t laughing to be mean. It’s just that…I grew up in California. I’ve already been there, done that, when it comes to sight seeing out here."

"Then why the hell did you come?" He said, his anger revealing his embarrassment. She stopped laughing.

"To be with you."

"Peaches, how many times do I have to explain this to you?" Jamie waved the perfectly starched shirt in Lara’s face. "I don’t like creases on the arms!"

"But that’s how the shirt is made," she whispered miserably. She had offered to do Jamie’s ironing for him, and had quickly lived to regret it. As with everything else, he was peculiar about how the shirt was to be ironed. He didn’t want creases in the sleeves, but yet the shirt was made with creases in the sleeves, and would look odd without them. "Why did you a buy a shirt like that if you didn’t want it that way?"

"Peaches, don’t argue with me, okay?" He sighed, acting as if he was dealing with a child. "Just do it again, or buy me a new shirt."

She took the shirt and resumed her place behind the ironing board. He wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck. "You look so sexy, ironing my shirts," he murmured, kissing behind her ear. "Just remember, Peaches, there are a hundred women out there who would kill to be ironing my shirts right now…and they’d do it right the first time."

Tears fell onto the hot surface of the iron and sizzled. Jamie didn’t notice. He was too busy unbuttoning her shorts. "You’re right, Jamie. I’ll fix it."

Jordan awoke to a smack in his face. Lara was thrashing in her sleep, tears streaming down her face. They had both dozed off after the wonderful lovemaking, and she seemed to be dreaming. Jordan stared at her for a moment. He had never known anyone who could dream during a nap.

"I’ll fix it…" she sobbed. "Don’t leave me…don’t go…"

"Lara, honey…I’m right here," he said soothingly. She pushed at him, but her forced her into his arms.

"NO!" She screamed, waking up, pushing him away, and scrambling to her feet all in one instant. She looked at him as if she didn’t recognize him. "Why can’t you leave me alone for five minutes?"

"Lara, I…you were…" Jordan was confused.

Her eyes focused on him, realizing who he was. "Jordan? God, I’m so sorry, I thought you were…" she slowly slid to the floor, pulling a cover off of the bed to wrap around her nakedness. He instantly moved to sit next to her.

"Honey, come here. Let me hold you." She snuggled into his arms, but it took a while for her to stop shaking. He remained silent for a moment, then asked, "Honey, did he ever hit you?"

She shook her head. "No. Only that night when you were here." She pushed some hair out of her face. "He always threatened to leave me. That was more painful than any kind of physical abuse."

Jordan turned so he was sitting across from her. "Okay. We’re going to get rid of this asshole once and for all." Lara stared at him. He sounded like he was gonna call in the Mafia and have them blow Jamie away. "Okay, Lara. I’m Jamie. Pretend I’m him. Tell me exactly how you feel. Hit me if you need to."

"What?" She said, her mouth falling open.

"I saw this on TV once. If you get it all out of your system, directing it at me, then eventually, I hope, it will go away. You’ll realize that all men are not Jamie, I am not going to leave you, and you’ll let me love you and treat you the way you deserve to be treated." He nodded encouragingly. "Go ahead."

"I’ll try." She took a deep breath. "Jamie, I really hated the way you always used to put me down."

"Go on," Jordan said, trying to look cocky and self-important, the way Jamie had looked that afternoon at the river. "What else do you got to say?"

"I’m just as good as you are, and…and…I am my own person. I don’t need any man to complete me." She was still a little cautious.

Jordan decided to say one more thing, hoping it would be enough to set her off. "Oh, really…Peaches?"

The damn burst. "Yeah, really! And you know what else? I absolutely hate the name Peaches! Where the fuck did that come from, anyway? Or was it just something that you thought would make up for all the times you put me down, made fun of me, made me feel worthless!" She screamed, getting up on her knees. "I’m better than that! I’m more than someone to clean your apartment, iron your clothes, and screw whenever you feel like it! And while we’re on the topic, you are absolutely awful in bed! I’ve only been with two men, and you suck! No wonder you had to force me, use it as a way to make me stay with you…" she slapped Jordan across the face before she realized it, bursting into tears. She stared at the red welt on his handsome face, and gasped as a one tear fell down that cheek. "Oh, God, Jordan…I’m sorry! Did I hurt you?" She rained kisses on his cheeks.

"No, honey, you didn’t hurt me." He pulled her onto his lap. "I’m not crying for me. I’m crying for you."

Joe was silent the rest of the way to the beach house. He couldn’t believe how deeply he was falling for Kat. She was like no one he had ever met before. Usually he liked someone’s personality, or he just wanted to bag them. He had never had both feelings so strongly for one person. He glanced over at her. Her auburn hair was blowing in the breeze from the open window, and her slender legs went on forever below her short shorts. A finger tapped her thigh in time with the music. It was all he could do to keep from pulling over and attacking her.

Kat stared at the window, seeing nothing. She couldn’t believe what a different Joe this was from the man she had met back home. He had actually offered to get her a room, so she wouldn’t feel pressured. She smiled to herself. No, thank you. She already had ideas about how she wanted that night to go…

Joe pulled into the circular driveway of a huge beach house. She was actually impressed. The house stretched out instead of up, and was located on a cliff overlooking a private beach. He silently handed her the key to the house, and went to the back of the car to get her bags. She hurried to the front door and let herself in.

She found herself in a large foyer with a high ceiling. A circular staircase went up to the second floor, and two steps went down into a giant living room. The back wall of the living room was made up only of windows, and she could see the beautiful blue of the ocean. All she could think was that the ocean wasn’t half as beautiful as Joe’s eyes…

"It’s something, isn’t it?" Joe said, walking up behind her.

"Where are the bedrooms?" She asked, mentally kicking herself as soon as the words were out. Boy, if that doesn’t sound like you wanna drag him off to bed, I don’t know what does!

He smiled a sexy smile. "Upstairs." He carried her bags for her, leading the way up the staircase. He stopped at the top. "To the left are the guest rooms. This way is something a little different." He opened a set of double doors.

Instead of a room, the right side of the second floor was practically a suite. The room was a bedroom and living room, separated by a small landing. Kat’s mouth dropped open. Joe laughed. "That’s exactly what I thought when I came in here. I’m thinking of buying it, to have as a vacation house. My whole family could live here, and I wouldn’t even know they existed, if I was up here." He set down her bags, and took her in his arms. "Mmmm, I missed you, Princess." He breathed in the scent of her lavender shampoo. She sighed, welcoming the strength of his arms around her.

"Really? No little groupies around to take my place?" She teased. He frowned, remembering Samantha.

"Nope. No groupies out here." He bent to pick up her bags, without doing anything more than hugging her. She frowned as well. "So, wanna go pick out a guest room?"

"Well, I, uh…I assumed that, uh…" she floundered. He smiled at her discomfort, which pissed her off. "Whatever! Put me wherever you want me, okay?"

Once again, she could have grabbed the words out of the air if possible. The bags hit the floor and before she knew it, he was carrying her over to the king-sized waterbed. She shrieked with laughter, her anger forgotten.

"Joe! Put me down! You pervert, I didn’t mean…" she punched at him, giggling hysterically as he tossed her onto the waterbed and began tickling her. "Stop, dammit!"

"I’m the pervert? ‘Where are the bedrooms?’ ‘Put me wherever you want me, okay?’" He mimicked her. He pinned down her hands and straddled her waist. "You know where I want you." She stopped laughing and gazed into the hypnotizing blue of his eyes. She swallowed. He grew serious as well. "Kat, if I have an opinion in this, I want you to sleep right here in this bed with me. I didn’t ask you out here to have you sleep in a guest room."

"Oh, so you just brought me out to…" she began angrily. He silenced her with a passionate kiss. When he finally allowed the kiss to end, he had to stop to catch his breath.

"No, I didn’t bring you out just for sex, though you had to know that it would be inevitable. You turn me on like nothing I’ve ever experienced before." He trailed a finger down her cheek. "But I know we just have a short time here, and to be honest, I’m not sure exactly what’s going on." She could tell that was a big revelation for him. "I want to spend every moment, waking or sleeping, with you." She nodded, unable to speak. He smiled his beautiful smile, making her weak in the knees. "Okay." He rolled off of her and pulled her into his arms. "I wanna take you out tonight."

"You mean like a date?" Kat found her tongue.

"Yep. The whole thing. Dinner, dancing, the works. Interested?"

"Uh, sure, except I didn’t bring anything fancy to wear."

"You don’t need fancy. You just need gorgeous, and for you, that’s no stretch." He hopped off of the bed and ran to a giant walk-in closet. "I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty…" he tossed a box and shopping bag to her. She opened the box eagerly.

Inside was a simple black dress. It fell to a little above the knee, with a narrow skirt, but full enough to dance in. The top was sleeveless, almost like a tank-dress, but the back plunged to the beginning of her backside. In the bag was a pair of black sheer stockings. She looked at everything in wonderment, then looked at him in awe. She checked the tag on the dress. "This is exactly my size. How…?"

"I described you to the salesgirl. I showed her how tall you were compared to me, how far my hands spanned around your waist, that kinda stuff, and she came up with that. The only thing I couldn’t find was shoes. I had no clue what size you wore there."

"That’s amazing. Just from your description…" she stood and held the dress against her. She had fallen in love with it.

"Yeah, those girls on Rodeo Drive are real professionals."

"Rodeo…you bought this on Rodeo Drive?" Kat about fainted.

"Yeah, sure." Joe shrugged. "I was down there yesterday, and thought…"

"But you only called today. What if I hadn’t…"

"I knew you’d come," he said simply. That old familiar rage started to build in Kat, but the feel of the silk dress in her hands soon drove it from her mind. "There are a few little boutiques a few miles away. Why don’t you take the car and go pick up some shoes and whatever else you need?" He pulled the keys from his pocket and tossed them to her. She caught them, dropping the dress. She squealed and snatched it up, quickly hanging it on a hanger. She headed for the door of the room.

"Not so quick, Princess." He pulled her back into his arms, giving her a slow, tantalizing kiss. She moaned as his tongue connected with hers, sending electricity through her body. "Don’t forget to come back."

"I won’t," she whispered, reaching back to grab his ass. He let out a yell, and she laughed. "Be back soon."

She jogged down the staircase, but soon slowed to a walk. She stopped short at the bottom step. The thought hit her like a lightening bolt. Oh my God. I am totally, utterly, in love with Joseph McIntyre.

Lara stared at the tear creeping down Jordan’s cheek, her own sobs slowly ebbing. He was crying for her?

"Lara, God, you are so beautiful, and sexy, and sweet, and fascinating, and, and, and I don’t know what!" Jordan said earnestly, ignoring the tears that flowed freely down his face. "I know it’s not "macho" for guys to cry, but when I think about the way he treated you, it just makes me so fucking mad!" He pounded the floor in frustration. "Because not only does it hurt you, but it hurts me. What can I do to get you to trust me when there are men like that in the world?"

Lara moved over to sit on his lap, her legs wrapped around his waist. She had never thought Jordan Knight more gorgeous than he was at that moment. She tenderly wiped the tears away from his face, and cradled it in her hands. "Jordan Knight, no matter what has happened, or will happen between us, you have just ruined me for any other man. No one will ever make me feel the way you are making me feel right now." She gently and lightly kissed each cheek, his forehead, his nose, his chin, and then his mouth.

He felt his groin began to stir, and groaned. This was not the time, he told himself. She felt it, and smiled. She leaned back onto the floor, pulling him with her.

Kat drove down the beachfront highway, with the radio cranked all the way up. She shouted along with Ricky Martin. "She’ll make you take your clothes off and go dancing in the rain!" She pulled up in front of the string of boutiques.

She quickly found what she wanted in the shoe store, and also bought a pair of earrings, a gold chain, and a tiny black purse. She was returning to the car with her purchases when a lingerie store caught her eye. She threw her bags into the trunk and headed into the shop with a smile on her face.

"Joe!" She yelled upon her return to the house. She ran through the house calling his name, after dropping her bags in the master bedroom. "Joey?"

She wandered downstairs and into the huge kitchen. He was still nowhere to be found. She returned to the living room and stood by the wall of windows. She saw a figure walking on the beach and smiled. She ran out the door and down the steps to the private beach.

"Hey," she called as she approached him. He smiled, taking her breath away.

"Hey yourself." He gave her a big hug. "Find everything you wanted?"

"Yes, as well as something for you."

"For me?" He looked at her quizzically. She nodded and smiled.

"For tonight," she whispered. He grinned.

"Sweet." He took her hand and they started back to the house.

"Why were you out here all alone?" She asked.

"I was thinking of lyrics, actually." He looked down into her hazel eyes. "Let’s just say that I feel inspired." Kat blushed, something she rarely did. Unable to speak for a moment, she hopped onto his back and ordered him to carry her into the house. He complained about the steps up from the beach, but carried her up the steps, into the house, and to the master bedroom.

"Okay, Joe. Okay, you can put me down now." She said as he headed for the bathroom. He ignored her, carrying her into the bathroom and setting her down carefully in the giant sunken tub. Before she could get up, he turned the jets on full blast. She shrieked as water hit her.

"Joe! What the fuck?" She yelled, looking down at her drenched clothes in dismay.

"Oh, damn. I guess you’ll just have to take them off now," he said in fake disappointment. He pulled his own t-shirt over his head. Kat climbed out of the tub, still a bit pissed off.

"Joe, what makes you think I’m gonna do you after you drenched one of my favorite outfits?"

"Because I know it’s been on your mind since I brought you into this house," he told her, dumping some exotically scented bath salts into the water. He stepped out of his shorts, and she could not take her eyes off of his naked body, no matter how hard she tried. "Now, I wanna take a bath and stuff before I get ready for tonight. You are more than welcome to join me, or there is a shower stall right over there." He stepped into the tub and sank into the hot water, sighing with pleasure.

Leave. Just go over to the door and leave. There has to be other bathrooms down by the guestrooms, and you could shower there, Kat’s pride was telling her. Her body, however, was telling her to get her ass into that tub and jump all over the sexy man relaxing in the water. Her body won.

She peeled off the dripping clothes and placed them in the sink. She lowered herself into the hot water, relaxing as the steam wafted up into her face. She felt him move behind her. She moaned as he began scrubbing her back.

"See? Now isn’t this nice? I told you, if you’d just let me be in charge, everything will always be nice."

She whirled around, making water fly everywhere. Joe was holding back a smile. Noticing that he was totally joking, she smiled back. "Well, when I’m in charge, things could be just as nice," she hinted, thinking about the bag from the lingerie store.

"Let’s take turns," he whispered, replacing the sponge with his hands. She moaned again as his hands found her breasts. "Now, I’ll be in charge. Later tonight, when we get home, you can be in charge."

She nodded, unable to speak. His hands seemed to charge her body with electricity. She leaned back against him, running her fingers through his hair. She could feel his erection against her back. He lathered his hands with soap, and caressed her body, his hands slipping lower and lower, until she was arching against him. "Turn around, Kat," he whispered. She did as he asked, and he lowered her body onto his, his cock slipping into her easily. She gasped as he filled her. He grasped her waist, and began to slowly move her up and down. He licked droplets of water from her neck and shoulders. Neither of them spoke as he continued to move her ever so slowly. She wanted to speed up the pace, but he continued to firmly hold her. Kat felt tortured. She wanted to move faster, harder. She wanted to come so bad, and she knew he realized this, and was teasing her. But, oh, the torture was sweet. Suddenly he moved her off of him, and laughed at the evil look she gave him. Stepping out of the tub, he reached down and helped her out as well. He led her to the shower stall. He leaned her against the wall, kissing her as he reached in and adjusted the water. He guided her into the shower, and pressed her against the back wall. Steaming water poured down on them as he placed his hands under her backside and lifted her up to meet him. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he pushed inside of her once more, except this time he allowed her to set the pace. She moved steadily, but a lot faster than he had moved her before. He met her stroke for stroke, until her back was smacking against the cool tile. She began to moan and breathe heavily, and he took her mouth with his, swallowing her cries as she came. He thrust a few more times before reaching his own release. He carefully lowered her legs, supporting her. He reached up to push some damp strands of hair from her face. "God, what you do to me," he whispered. "And I don’t mean just like this, either."

"What time is it?" Jordan asked Lara drowsily. He was lying with his head on her chest, and she was playing with his soft short hair.

"I don’t care." She replied. The world could end at that very moment, and she wouldn’t have cared.

"I don’t either, but I’m hungry," he almost whined, making her laugh.

"Well, you’re on top, so you look," she told him. He groaned loudly, but got up to look at the clock on the nightstand.

"Yep. I was right. Dinnertime." He started to look for his shorts.

"Well, that helps," she remarked, glancing at the clock. Seven o’clock. She wondered if he would stay the night, or if he would disappear out of her life again.

Jordan looked at Lara, and noticed her staring sadly into space. He flopped down onto the bed.

"I’m not leaving yet," he said, reading her thoughts. "I don’t have to be anywhere until Tuesday. That’s three days from now." He touched her cheek gently. "I have my stuff in the car. I would really like to stay here, but…"

She silenced him with a kiss. "Forget it. You’re staying here." She pulled on a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. "However, you’d better find your shorts before you go running out to your car…nevermind. Where are your keys? I’ll get your bags."

"They’re down on the coffee table," he said, thanking her with a kiss. She rubbed against him.

"You keep doing that and we won’t make it out of this room until Tuesday," she warned him. He laughed.

"But there are so many other rooms to try! The bathroom, the guestroom, the kitchen…"

She hit him with a pillow on her way out the door. "Pervert."

She jogged down the steps, grabbed the keys, and bounded out the door. She was pulling duffel bags out of Jordan’s car when a car she didn’t recognize pulled up in front of her house. She stepped away from the car, eyeing this strange vehicle warily. She was shocked to see Sonia get out of the car and walk towards her. She was even more shocked when she saw the huge bruise on the side of Sonia’s pretty face.

"Sonia? Oh my God. What are you doing here? What…what happened?"

"I asked what he does Saturday nights," Sonia said simply, ignoring the tears that continued to streak her face. "I questioned his business."

"Shit." Lara couldn’t believe it. "Come on in. We’ll put ice…"

"You don’t have to be nice to me. I just wanted to tell you that you were right. He is a monster. He’s an abusive monster, whether it’s with words or his hands." She turned to go. Lara hesitated, then grabbed her arm.

"Sonia, please. Come in. I know I don’t have to be nice to you. But one of the best ways to hurt him is to take the same side against him. At least let me clean you up some."

Sonia allowed Lara to lead her into the house. Lara sat Sonia down at the kitchen table, and prepared some ice, like she had for Jordan weeks before. "Do you have somewhere to go?"

"Yeah. My sister lives not too far out of town." She looked around the room. "This may not be the right thing to say, but I always thought you had a gorgeous house, the few times I was here."

"Thanks," Lara said ungratefully. "Want something to drink?"

"What do you got?"

"You want something strong?" Lara asked. Sonia nodded. Lara poured some bourbon into a glass, adding some soda. Sonia downed the glass in one gulp. "You still have to drive, you know," Lara pointed out. Sonia nodded again.

"Just one more."

Lara handed her the glass. She couldn’t take it any more. She had to ask. "Didn’t it bother you, knowing that you were screwing around with someone who was involved?"

"He told me that you were already like a ball and chain, that you wouldn’t…you hated sex." Sonia had the grace to look ashamed.

"Figures," Lara said wryly. "Well, just to put the record straight, I might have been a leech emotionally, but the only reason I didn’t like sex with him was because he wanted it all the time, and took it whether I was interested or not. That kind of turns you off towards someone, you know?"

"Sweetie, what ever happened to my bags?" Jordan bounded into the kitchen, with a towel around his waist. Water streamed from his still damp hair. He turned deep red when he saw someone else in the kitchen, and his mouth dropped open when he saw who the someone else was. "Oh, sorry. Sonia, right?"

"Yeah. And you’re…Jordan Knight." It was Sonia’s turn to gawk.

"Sorry, J. I got distracted. There are some sweats that might fit you, in the bottom drawer of the dresser, if you don’t want to put your shorts back on," Lara suggested.

"No, my shorts will be fine." Jordan sent Lara all kinds of questioning looks before returning upstairs.

"Wow. When you find someone new you do it right," Sonia remarked, making Lara laugh.

"Well, it wasn’t planned, believe me." Lara poured herself soda without the bourbon and sat next to Sonia. "I was practically suicidal after I found you guys. I had revolved my life around him, and then he cheated on me."

"Well, I hate to say this, but I found out tonight that I wasn’t the only one he was screwing around with. He held over my head that he chose me from about five other women, and I had to believe him. I’m sorry," Sonia said, sincerely apologetic. Lara said nothing, but her hands clenched around the glass she held. Sonia got to her feet. "I’m gonna get moving. Thanks, for everything." Lara nodded and walked her to the door.

Jordan came down the steps as Sonia was opening the front door. "Bye, Jordan. Nice to meet you." She left.

Jordan opened his mouth to ask one of the dozen questions running through his brain, but stopped at the sight of tears running down Lara’s face. "What? What happened? What did that bitch say to you?" He pulled her into his arms.

"Nothing, Jordan, it’s not Sonia. She’s as much of a victim as I am." She wiped away the tears angrily. "I’m mad at myself for getting so upset. She just told me that she wasn’t the only one Jamie was cheating on me with. There were like five or six girls he was fucking behind my back." She sighed. "I must have been stupid not to see it."

"No, you were in love." He tilted his face up to his, his brown eyes smiling down at her. "You don’t notice anything else, when you’re deeply in love with someone." The tenderness in his eyes made her legs weak.

"Yeah," she whispered. They sat on the couch and he held her tight against his chest.

"Why did she come over here?"

"To tell me I was right, that he’s a monster. She asked what he does on Saturday nights, and he hit her."

"Damn," Jordan mumbled.

"He had told her that I was an emotional ball and chain, and that I didn’t like sex."

"That’s a laugh," Jordan said, teasing her. She bit his chest and he yelped.

"You know what I mean. It was true, I did hate it…with him." Lara smiled as she thought of how much her body still yearned for Jordan’s touch, even after hours of lovemaking that afternoon. "Anyway, she’s off to her sister’s."

They lay quietly for a moment, then Jordan said, "I wonder how things are going between Joe and Kat?"

After they exchanged soft kisses in silence, Kat quickly shampooed her hair. She slipped out of the shower and grabbed a fluffy pine green towel. She wrapped her body in one towel, her hair in another, and went to get her cosmetics and things. As Joe took his own shower, she sat on the chair at the dressing table, her legs shaking. Things were getting so intense between them, and it wasn’t just the sex. All the barriers she had built around her heart were slowly crashing down, and it was all because of Joe McIntyre. She had fallen in love with him practically at first sight, but she was afraid that he didn’t feel the same. There was something in his eyes, but she wasn’t sure how to read it. She decided to keep silent about her feelings. They hardly knew each other, for heaven’s sakes, and she didn’t want to ruin her time in California. She began to blow dry her short auburn hair.

Joe got out of the shower, and began to dry off. He turned on a radio that was sitting in the corner, and she hummed along with the song on the radio. Soon, she couldn’t help but sing along.

"If you had my love and I gave you all my trust, would you comfort me, and if somehow you knew that your love would be untrue would you lie to me, and call me baby?"

Joe looked her in the eye. "I wouldn’t ever lie to you," he said seriously. Then he smiled. "Not about anything important, anyway."

She rolled her eyes and concentrated on her hair. He left the room, presumably to dress. She brushed her hair until it shown, and then applied a reasonable amount of makeup: just enough to bring out her hazel eyes and full red lips. She then pulled on the stockings, and slowly stepped into the dress. She stared at herself in the mirror. It was perfect. It hugged where it was supposed to hug, but was free enough in the legs to allow her to move freely. The low-heeled pumps she had bought made her legs seem endless. She smiled in satisfaction. She checked herself one last time, then opened the door into the bedroom. Joe wasn’t in the room.

She grabbed the tiny purse she had bought and slowly went down the stairs. He wasn’t in the living room, either. She scowled, not interested in looking around for him. She had been hoping to make a grand entrance. So much for that. She strolled around the giant living room, studying the different paintings and knickknacks. She hard a noise behind her. Without turning from the painting she was inspecting, she said, "Well, nice of you to show your ugly face."

"Well, I was busy looking for something." Joe decided to ignore the insult.

"And what was that?" She said, turning around.

"A vase for these." He held a bouquet of multi-colored roses in his hand. She gasped. There seemed to be roses in every color of the rainbow, plus a few white and one black. As she walked towards him, his eyes seemed to drink her in. "Because you are so absolutely gorgeous in that dress, I’m gonna ignore your previous comment."

"I’m sorry. I mean, thank you. I mean, wow." She took the bouquet into her arms, sniffing in the wonderful smell of roses.

"I did find a vase in the kitchen, though it took a while." He took her hand, leading her into the kitchen. She arranged the flowers in the giant vase he had found, and set them on the table.

"Thank you, Joe. I’m sorry I said what I did. I’m just a little nervous. It’s been a while since I’ve been on a real date," she admitted. He smiled. It was hard to believe that this beautiful anxious creature was the same woman who had insulted him the moment she had met him.

"It’s okay. Ready to go?" She nodded, and he got the car keys off the kitchen table. She followed him down the hall to the front door. "You look really nice, too." He wore an almost aquamarine silk shirt that brought out his eyes, and a pair of black dress pants that made his legs look endless. As they reached the door, he suddenly turned around and pressed her against the wall. One arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her to him, while the other hand caressed the back of her neck. His mouth was on hers in an instant, his tongue wrestling with hers. She moaned at the suddenness of it all, but had no intention of fighting it. He eventually pulled back, panting for breath. "I couldn’t help it. You looked so fine in that dress, and all I could think of was pulling it off you."

"Thanks for holding back," she teased, also gasping for breath. He slowly released her, looking her over once more.

"Damn, I have good taste." He took her hand as they walked out the door.

"In dresses or women?"

"Both," he said arrogantly, making her laugh.

As they climbed into the rental car, he asked what kind of food she was hungry for. "Whatever. I don’t really care," she said, watching the sun set against the horizon. She sighed and he glanced over at her.

"Happy?"

She looked at him strangely. People asked how she was, how she was feeling, things like that, but she couldn’t remember the last time someone had asked if she was happy. She thought a moment. "Yeah, I am. I feel relaxed, and comfortable, and…"

"Happy?" Joe suggested. Kat laughed.

"Yeah, happy." She reached over and placed her hand over his, which was on the gearshift. "Thanks to you."

"You’re welcome," he said softly, amazed at how well this visit with her was going. He had been worried that they would fight constantly, in between lovemaking, of course. "Um…okay, I think I know a place that has every kind of food you could possibly imagine. Greek, Italian, seafood, even some Oriental dishes."

"If you take me to a food court, I am going to murder you and feed you to the sharks," Kat warned.

"No, I can promise you that we are not going to a food court." He continued along the highway that ran parallel to the beach. She realized that they were driving towards Los Angeles.

"Joe, we don’t have to go somewhere fancy," she informed him.

"With you in that dress, looking that good? Are you crazy? I am proud to have you with me, and I plan on showing you off."

About forty minutes later (SORRY, KNOW NOTHING ABOUT CALIFORNIA, SO PLEASE ALLOW CREATIVE LIBERTIES), the entered the city limits. Joe drove for about twenty minutes more, pulling into a parking garage. He paid the attendant, parked the car, and hurried around to help Kat out. He took her hand as they walked to the restaurant, a block down the street.

"You are gonna love this place," he told her. "It is so classy, but not the kind of classy that makes you feel uncomfortable. I’m just a city kid from Mass, remember, so too classy doesn’t sit right with me."

Kat laughed at the way he strutted when he said ‘city kid’. "I’m sure I’ll love it. I trust your judgment."

"The club I wanna take you to is right down the street, too."

They walked up to a restaurant that looked like it belonged in Italy, or France, or some foreign country. The tables on the outside patio were all full, and about twenty people were waiting for tables.

"Wait here," Joe told her, placing Kat to the side of all the chaos.

She looked around, recognizing famous people. There was Gwyneth Paltrow, over there were Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt. She couldn’t believe it. Then she realized that she was with a famous person, too! A smile crossed her face at the thought. What if a photographer from People, or US magazine were to take Joe’s picture? She’d be in it, too, and everyone would be asking who the woman was who had been out on the town in LA with Joey McIntyre! She laughed out loud at the thought of Lara picking up her People magazine and seeing her friend’s picture.

"What is the joke?" A sensual accented voice said in her ear. "And who would leave you here to laugh all alone?"

She slowly turned around, and her heart stopped beating. Standing behind her was Ricky Martin. Kat, who prided herself on her coolness in any situation, opened her mouth and then closed it again. Brain, just send a thought down to my mouth, and let me talk! She yelled at herself. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth again.

"Okay, Kat, we can go in now."

Joe, who walked up and quickly put an arm around her shoulder possessively, saved her. She glared at him, moving away from his hold. She gave Ricky her best smile as Joe led her towards the doorway.

"Adios, senorita," Ricky said softly as she looked over her shoulder at him.

"Jealous much?" Kat hissed at Joe as they were guided to their table.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," he said, nodding and waving to different people he knew. Kat sighed, but didn’t reply.

They were given menus and a wine list. Joe asked if she wanted a bottle of wine or champagne, and she nodded without speaking. He sighed, and motioned for the wine steward. He ordered a bottle of expensive champagne.

"You don’t have to buy me, you know," Kat snapped, still miffed at the way he had claimed her in front of the restaurant. Joe looked up from his menu, surprised.

"I’m not trying to buy you. I just thought that a bottle of champagne would be nice, and that you deserved the best. Where did this all come from?" He snapped back, the old habit of fighting with her quickly surfacing.

"Well, I just wondered if you saw me as some kind of possession that you needed to show off, and therefore needed to show off to!" She whispered furiously. "The only thing that would’ve been worse out there is if you would’ve put a collar on me and led me in on a leash!"

"Now there’s an image," he teased, trying to keep a fight from starting. She didn’t smile. "Okay, I’m sorry if I acted possessive. But, hello, he’s Ricky Martin. I’ve seen the effect he has on women." He quickly glanced down at his menu. Kat began to smile, her anger fading as quickly as it had built.

"Oh, so you were feeling insecure."

"I didn’t say that!" He growled to his menu. She laughed out loud, drawing the attention of people around them. She reached across the table for his hand, and he wove his fingers with hers, his eyes never leaving his menu.

The steward returned with their wine, followed by the waiter. They gave their order. Kat looked around the room, counting all the people she recognized. She stopped counting at twenty.

"I don’t believe this," she said quietly. "In a million years I never thought I would be eating at the same restaurant as Ricky Martin, Brad Pitt, and Reese Witherspoon!"

"Is that a problem for you?" Joe asked. He knew she wouldn’t freak out or anything, acting like a crazed fan, but he was worried that she might feel uncomfortable.

"No, though it is kind of amazing."

"You are the most beautiful woman here, and no one can hold a candle to you," he said as their salads arrived. "Especially in that dress."

She blushed and dug into her salad.

"So, we never decided what we were gonna do about dinner," Jordan said, totally comfortable stretched out on the sofa with Lara in his arms.

"I swear, you have a one track mind!" She said, mentally going through her cabinets, trying to find dinner.

"No, two track," he replied, his hand reaching down to cup her breast. She looked up at him sternly, but her eyes were laughing.

"Okay, two track." She slowly got to her feet. "I’ll see what I have in the kitchen."

He followed her back to the kitchen and sat at the table, watching her as she opened and shut cabinet doors. "You are adorable," he said suddenly.

"Yeah, okay," she said. She had on a Penn State t-shirt, and a pair of her oldest sweatpants. Her hair was pulled back into a sloppy ponytail. "Um…I have soup, frozen pizzas, hot dogs, we could make a salad…" her train of thought was interrupted by strong arms wrapping around her waist. She could smell Jordan’s shampoo and aftershave lotion.

"I know what I want for dinner." He kissed behind her ears, sending shivers down her back.

"Jordan, you are unbelievable!" She laughed, turning around to face him. She stood on tiptoe to kiss him. He picked her up and sat her on the kitchen counter. She wrapped her legs around his waist as the kisses got more passionate. He was the first to pull away.

"So, he said you hated sex, huh?" Jordan kissed her neck above the t-shirt.

"Yeah, absolutely," she whispered.

He looked her in the eye. "You’ve been with two people? That’s all?"

She blushed and looked away. "Yeah. Um…you, and him. I told you that at the beginning, that he was my first everything."

"Don’t be ashamed, love." He tilted her head up. "There’s nothing wrong with that. I’m just sorry that you’re first of anything had to be with him." He kissed her forehead. "But now you’re with me, and he’s all in the past, right?" She nodded. He kissed her again, and helped her down from the counter. "Why don’t you go rent some movies, and I’ll take care of dinner." She raised an eyebrow. "Give me some credit. I can handle frozen pizzas!" He exclaimed. She laughed.

"Do you want me to pick up anything else?"

"No, unless you want something. Oh, wait. Get some of those Grasshopper cookies, those chocolate mint things? I love them." She stopped and stared at him. "What?" He asked.

"Those are my all time favorite cookies," she said. He smiled.

"See, we are meant for each other."

After many goodbye kisses, even though she would only be gone about twenty minutes, she finally made it out the door.

Jordan found the pans for the pizzas, carefully read the directions on the back of the package, and put them in the oven. As he was looking for other things to eat, the phone rang. He decided to answer it.

"Hello?" No response. "Hello?"

"Leave her alone if you know what’ s good for you!" The voice on the other end rasped before hanging up.

"I am so full!" Kat exclaimed, throwing her napkin over her plate. She was sure that she had gained ten pounds from the extravagant dinner she had just eaten. There was some of everything: seafood, pasta, and some of the best steak she had ever eaten. She and Joe had ordered a few entrees and shared them. "I should’ve brought extra clothes. I’m probably going to burst right out of this dress!"

"You wouldn’t hear me complaining if you did that," he observed, pulling out his wallet. She gave him a playful glare.

"You’ll get your turn later, honey," she said seductively. He all but drooled, imagining Kat slipping that silk dress off of her body.

They stood, and once again he took her hand. She loved the way he would immediately reach for her hand, like he wanted everyone to know he was taken. It wasn’t possessive, like when he had put his arm around her. It was…just nice.

"Do you mind walking the few blocks to the club? It’s so nice out," Joe said, as he looked down at her shoes. "Can you walk in those?"

"No problem. If not, I’ll just take them off." They started down the sidewalk.

"What about your stockings?"

"You can buy me new ones," she said simply, swinging their hands between them.

"Oh, really?" Joe said, pretending to be insulted as he reached over and tickled her. She shrieked with laughter. The noise echoed between the buildings on the street. "Will you shut up? People will think I’m attacking you or something."

"Don’t you wish," she said, giving him an evil smile. He groaned as all kinds of nasty thoughts drifted through his head.

"Woman, don’t tempt me," he warned. "There are a lot of alleys I could easily pull you into."

She laughed and skipped ahead of him. The club was easy to spot; there was a line outside the door almost a block long. She slowed down. "Are we gonna be able to get in there?" She said doubtfully.

"No problem. Being famous has its perks. Stay here again, okay? And don’t go flirting with anyone this time," he said sternly. She stuck her tongue out at him. He pushed through the people and walked up to the doorman, who was checking names on a clipboard.

"So, we meet again, beautiful lady." That sensual voice was once again breathing in her ear. This time, Kat was more in control.

"Are you following me?" She said lightly.

"Would you like me to?" His brown eyes seemed to look right through her. She fought the urge to pass out.

"Well, it would be something I’d enjoy, but I don’t think my date would enjoy it."

"Ah, yes, young Joseph," Ricky said, amused. "Well, I’ll leave you, for now. Save me a dance?"

"Of course," she said softly, as Ricky disappeared into the crowd just as Joe reappeared.

"We’re in! Let’s go." He grabbed her hand and led her towards the doorway. As they approached, he stepped behind her, keeping a hand on her waist. "I feel better having you where I can see you!" He yelled over the music. "It gets crowded in here sometimes!"

He guided her through the mass of people by the doorway and into the club. It was like nothing she had ever seen. Catwalks and walkways were spread all over the walls, while a dance floor the size of an Olympic-style swimming pool was in the middle. Bars were on all four walls, with waitresses bravely venturing onto the dance floor to fill drink orders. Loud bass music pumped from huge speakers, though Kat couldn’t find a DJ.

"This is great!" She said to Joe, smiling broadly. He smiled back and led her towards the dance floor.

They danced for a while, then Joe noticed sweat starting to run down Kat’s neck. "You want a drink or something?" She nodded. "Don’t move. I should be able to find you again if you don’t move from this spot." She nodded again, and he headed for the closest bar.

She felt kind of idiotic, standing alone on the floor, but once she noticed that no one even noticed her, she began to watch everyone else while she waited.

Joe shoved his way to the bar, and ordered a mixed drink for Kat and a beer for himself. "Joey!" A voice yelled in his left ear. He turned to see Samantha, the girl from the airport. "I don’t believe this! What a coincidence!" She threw herself into his arms before he could protest.

Kat’s sharp eyes found Joe just as a cool looking blond threw herself at him. Kat frowned. He didn’t seem too eager to push her away.

"Samantha, right? How are you?" Joe politely tried to disengage himself from her arms. "Is your fiancé here, too? I’d love to meet him."

She frowned. "Yes, he’s here somewhere. So, are you staying here in LA?"

"No, we’re, uh, up at the beach." He emphasized the we in his statement.

"Right, the friend that you were waiting for." She reached out and caressed his cheek. "You don’t know what you missed out on today…"

"I’m sure that someone else was lucky enough to find out," he remarked. Samantha’s eyes narrowed.

Kat watched as the blond touched Joe’s cheek. He obviously knew this woman. He had probably picked this club knowing he’d run into her.

"Beautiful lady, why are you looking so angry?" A voice said in her ear. "Frowns wrinkle your pretty face." She didn’t even have to turn around to see who it was. A sultry-sounding dance song came over the speakers, with a bump and grind bass line.

"Did you come to claim your dance?" She said, turning around. He smiled.

"Are you sure you can dance to this?"

"Are you sure you can keep up?" She challenged. He took her in his arms, pulling her against his body. They were soon dancing in a style that could only be described as dirty.

Kat forgot that anyone named Joe McIntyre even existed. Ricky Martin’s brown eyes were glued on her face as his hands moved up and down her back. The few times he would let her go were only as part of the dance, and he would soon pull her back.

"Your name is Kat, right?"

"Yes," she whispered, figuring he must’ve heard Joe call her name outside the restaurant.

"Interesting," he remarked, but would say no more. He suddenly pulled her close and simply swayed to the music, singing the words in her ear. She soon realized that he was translating them into Spanish, and decided that it was the sexiest thing she had ever heard.

"Look, Samantha, great to see you and all, but someone’s waiting for me, okay?" Joe finally got rude. He grabbed his drinks and turned to leave the bar. It was then that he saw Kat dancing as close to Ricky Martin as she could without getting inside his clothes. Samantha followed his gaze and laughed.

"Well, Mr. McIntyre, it looks like your little friend has found someone else to take care of her."

He shot her an angry look and continued down to the dance floor.

"Kat, here’s your drink." Joe thrust the glass between Kat and Ricky. She turned to glare at him.

"Oh, thank you, Joe. I practically forgot you had even gone to get it, I was having so much fun dancing with Ricky." She took the glass, her eyes never leaving Ricky’s face. He released her.

"Well, carida, it was nice to meet you, but I will return you to the man who brought you here." He pulled a card out of his pocket. "In case you ever want to call me, this has my personal number on it." He leaned towards her to kiss her cheek. "You do know, carida, that who you leave here with is totally up to you," he whispered. He smiled at her and Joe, and was gone.

"I can’t leave you for a fucking minute, can I, before you are all over someone else!" Joe shouted. Kat finished her drink in one large gulp before answering.

"Well, at least all we were doing was dancing, not feeling each other up at the bar!"

"Um…you couldn’t have been any closer to him if you were inside his body!" Joe yelled back. They glared at each other.

"Take me back to the house," Kat ordered. "Now."

"With pleasure. Can I call the airline for you, too?" Joe threw over his shoulder as he pushed through the crowd.

"Will you let me pack my stuff first?" She shot back.

"I guess you can put your shit together before you get your sorry ass on that plane," he replied as he moved ahead of her to break a path. There was no reply. He sighed and turned around. Kat was nowhere to be found. At first he thought she had just left him, but then realized that not only did she not have a way home, but she wouldn’t have known the way back to the house anyway. He searched the crowd. There were so many people on that particular walkway that he knew she couldn’t have gotten far.

"JOE!" He heard a feminine voice screech. He walked in that direction, and saw Kat pushed up against a wall. An extremely drunken man was trying to get his hand up her skirt. Her eyes were wide with fear as she punched at the man. Joe walked over, grabbed the man, and threw him into the crowd. He took Kat’s hand, yanking her through the crowd, not even giving her time to breathe. He only stopped when they were one block up the street. She pulled away and leaned against a street sign.

"He…he…grabbed me, and…and…and I couldn’t move…I couldn’t get away," she sobbed, barely breathing between sobs. "You were gone…you were leaving…I couldn’t make you come back…"

He pulled her into his arms, shushing her with sweet words as he caressed her hair. "No, Kat, no, honey, I would never leave you like that. I turned around and you were gone, and I totally panicked. I thought you had left me to get home on your own, or with someone else. Shhh, it’s okay…"

She sobbed for a while, but then he eventually started walking toward the car, still holding her tightly. She wrapped her arms around his slender waist and cried onto his silk shirt.

When Lara burst through her door, her arms full of bags, she sniffed appreciatively. "Mmm, pizza. I love coming home and smelling dinner." She followed her nose into the kitchen.

Jordan was pulling the pizza out of the oven. The tiny kitchen table was set with plates and glasses, and his vase of flowers was in the middle.

"Wow. You’ve been busy," she remarked, turning her face up to his for a kiss.

"Did I impress you?" He asked. She nodded and he laughed. "Good, because this is about as good as it gets." He dug through her grocery bags for the cookies, and she slapped his hands away.

"No. After dinner." He helped her unpack the bags. She had bought cookies, as well as basic sandwich fixings, soda, and snacks. "I wasn’t sure what you liked, and I didn’t have much here, so…"

"This is perfect. I say we hole ourselves up here until I leave, just eating junk food and watching movies."

"Yeah, you would say that. You get a workout every time you get on stage," Lara observed. "Some of us can’t stay that thin that easily."

"Well, I will just have to give you a workout then," he said softly, taking a loaf of bread out of her hands and placing it on the table. He took her in his arms and began to give her deep kisses.

"Dinner is getting cold," she said breathlessly, not really caring.

"I like cold pizza," he murmured, pulling her t-shirt over her head. He carefully lowered her onto the kitchen floor.

Joe got Kat settled into her seat, and then hurried over to get behind the wheel. He said nothing the whole way home, but simply held her hand whenever he wasn’t shifting gears. He zoomed up into the driveway, and opened the car door for her.

They silently entered the foyer of the large house. He turned on a light and looked at her. "Do you…uh…do you still want to leave?"

"Do you want me to go?" She asked sadly. He pulled her into his arms.

"No, Kat, God, no. I want you to stay." He kissed her hair. "I was so jealous when I saw you dancing with him."

"But you were…"

"It was nothing, I swear," he insisted. "I ran into her at the airport, and she wanted me to get a room with her, while she waited for her fiancé. I said no, and that was the end of it. I had no idea I would ever see her again, Kat, honestly."

"I’m sorry, too," she whispered. She decided to be honest with him. "I’ve been burned in the past, Joe, and I couldn’t handle it again."

He cradled her face in his hands. "I would never intentionally hurt you, Kat. I promise you that." He yawned big. "Let’s go to bed. I am exhausted. You are more work than you’re worth."

She opened her mouth to snap at him, but saw the smile on his face and shut it again. He led her up the steps to the bedroom suite. He undressed in the bedroom while she took off her face in the bathroom. She opened her purse to get something, and noticed Ricky’s card. She also noticed that there was a phone in the bathroom. In the bathroom, of all places, she thought to herself. She looked from the card to the phone and back again.

"You want anything from the kitchen before we turn in?" Joe called.

"Um…juice, please," she called back. She heard him leave the bedroom.

You shouldn’t be doing this, she told herself as she picked up the phone and dialed.

"Are you even gonna let me get some sleep tonight?" Lara pretended to be angry as she pulled her clothes back on. "You don’t let me have dinner…"

"Well, I can’t help it," Jordan protested, pulling his shorts on. "You are just so…yummy."

"Yummy?"

"There is no other word for you. Just yummy." He gave her a smacking kiss on the cheek.

She felt the pizza. "Still lukewarm. Do you wanna nuke it?"

"Nope. I told you. I like cold pizza. Especially for breakfast."

Lara made a gagging sound as they sat down to eat. She told him what movies she had brought. She had rented seven videos, hoping they would last until he had to leave. She stared out into space, wondering what would happen once he left.

"I’ll call and I’ll call and I’ll email and I’ll call," he said, reading her thoughts. She snapped back into reality.

"I know you will. It’s just…I’ve never felt anything like this before. I almost wanna think it’s a dream." She finished off her second slice of pizza and took her plate to the sink. Jordan put the leftover pizza in the fridge for his breakfast. He stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. He saw tears plop down into the dishwater.

"It’s just as hard for me, honey. I have to leave you here and go back out and do my job."

"Yeah, but there are beautiful women all over the place out there, just dying to get their hands on your gorgeous body. You could easily be distracted into forgetting…"

"No!" He snapped at her, whirling her around. "Lara, when are you gonna get it into your thick skull that you are the one I want? Not the women who run screaming after my limos, tearing their clothes off! That kind of pleasure is only temporary." He grabbed her face and made her look him in the eye. "I hardly even know you, but what I feel is so special that I can’t imagine finding it with anyone else. You’re beautiful, you’re sexy, you’re smart. You make me laugh. You make me feel like I can really find someone who will love me for me, not for my money or my fame." Her big blue eyes stared up at him, brimming with tears, and he felt his own eyes get misty. "I love you, Lara, and that’s something you will just have to learn to deal with. No matter where I go or what I do, my heart is staying right here with you."

Kat watched the bathroom door as the phone on the other end rang.

"Hello?" A voice said. Kat was unable to speak. "Hello?" The voice said again, a bit pissed off.

"Ricky? It’s Kat."

"Carida!" She could hear the smiles in his voice. "Como estas, senorita bonita?"

"Fine," she said, blushing as she translated the simple Spanish words for pretty lady. "I don’t even know why I called. I don’t…"

"That’s okay. I am honored that you called, though I know where your heart lies."

"Huh?" She said, momentarily losing her cool.

"You love Joseph, carida, and he is head over heels in love with you. The looks you give each other say it all." He sighed. "Unfortunately for me, that is. Well, carida, good luck with Joseph, and if you ever need anything, give me a call, okay?"

"Um, sure," she said, shocked into silence at what he had said. "Bye."

She hung up the phone just as she heard the bedroom door open. "Kat, aren’t you done in there yet?"

"Be out in a minute…"

"You better, or I’m coming in!" He yelled.

She hurriedly dug through her bags and found the gorgeous negligee she had bought that afternoon. It was a dark green, which brought out the reds in her hair. It draped in folds across her body, reaching down to her ankles. There was a long slit up the left slide, revealing her leg almost to her hip. Spaghetti straps held it up, and the back plunged as low as her silk dress had. The body of the dress was satin, but across the chest was the finest of lace. She brushed her hair one hundred times (a childhood ritual) and took a deep breath as she opened the door.

"I was beginning to think you…" Joe looked up from the plate of snacks he had arranged, and stopped in mid-sentence. His mouth opened, then shut again. "I was…uh…I thought that…uh…" Any thoughts of crawling into bed and sleeping left his mind as he stared at Kat in the beautiful nightgown. All fatigue was gone as his body sprang to life.

"Yes?" She asked, enjoying the way he was gawking at her. "You said you were tired, so I thought I’d change into my pjs so we could go to sleep."

Without a word, he carefully picked up the tray and sat it on the nightstand. He wordlessly strode over to her and stopped in front of her. His hands didn’t touch her, but his eyes slowly moved from the top of her head all the way down to her toes. His gaze returned to her face. He reached up and gently held her face in his hands. He began to softly kiss her, just letting his lips brush against hers. His thumbs traced the sides of her face as his lips searched hers. After almost ten minutes of sweet kisses, he finally allowed his tongue to slowly explore her mouth. His hands still hadn’t left her face. Kat felt as if her bones were turning to oatmeal, and it was all she could do to remain standing. Joe’s mouth eventually left hers, and began to trail kisses down to the soft spot where her neck met her shoulder. His lips covered every inch of her right shoulder, then moved to do the same thing to the left. His hands made their way down to her arms, and he held her still as he explored her shoulders. He slowly raised his head to look in her eyes. By this time, Kat’s entire body was shaking. He sat on the edge of the bed, leaned back on one arm, and just stared at her. She could feel her whole body turn a rosy-red under his hot eyes. She swallowed deeply, occasionally looking away, but sooner or later her gaze turned back the beautiful blue of his eyes. After about fifteen minutes, he stood again, and slowly unbuttoned his shirt, throwing the piece of silk to the floor. Kat brought a shaking hand up to his smooth chest, and lightly drew her nails across it. Joe drew in a deep breath. She reached up to cup his face, and began to copy everything he had done to her. As her lips found the sweet skin of his shoulders, she heard him moan faintly. He wove his fingers through her hair and pulled her head up to his, kissing her passionately. His hands moved to roam across her back, pressing her tightly against him. He moved to bite at her neck, and nibble at her ears. She heard him whisper something.

"What, Joe? I couldn’t hear you," she whispered back.

"I said I love you, Kat," he repeated, his blue eyes shining. "I am totally in love with you."

Kat lay in Joe’s arms, her head on his smooth chest. He was lazily playing with her hair, almost on the verge of sleep. She lay immobile, not wanting to believe what he had said to her. Did he really love her? Or was it just something he had said because he was about to make love to her? And then, there was what Ricky Martin had said to her on the phone. Was it so obvious that she was in love with Joe? She sat up suddenly.

"I’m thirsty. Do you want anything?"

"Mmmm, no. You don’t have to go downstairs, you know. There’s water in the bathroom," he said drowsily.

"Um, no. I think I’ll go downstairs. The water tastes better down there," she replied, improvising.

Kat pulled on a robe and ran down the stairs.

The ringing phone interrupted Lara’s wonderful dream of her wedding to Jordan. She opened one eye, looked at the clock, and groaned loudly. Three am? There was only one person who had the nerve to call her at three am.

"Kat, this better be really fucking important for you to call me at three in the morning!" She snapped, not even worrying about waking Jordan. The man slept like the dead.

"Three? Oh, shit, Lara, I’m sorry. I keep forgetting that you’re on East Coast time."

Lara sighed and sat up, hearing the excitement in her friend’s voice. "That’s okay, I’m sure I’ll get you back one of these days. What’s up?"

"Well, Joe said he loves me. That he’s in love with me. And I think I’m in love with him, too. Even Ricky Martin noticed it."

"Whoa. Wait a minute." Lara rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Ricky Martin? You met Ricky Martin?"

"Yes, at the club tonight. He gave me his cellphone number," Kat replied, enjoying the conversation immensely.

"Bitch, stop acting like Ricky Martin gives everyone his personal cellphone number!" Lara shouted, forgetting the man sleeping beside her. "What was he like?"

"We’re not talking about Ricky Martin. We’re talking about…"

"Tell me!"

Kat spent five minutes describing every detail of her encounter with Ricky. "And then, he told me that he was honored that I called, but he knew I loved Joe."

"Of course you love him. It’s so obvious," her friend said, laying back down and snuggling next to Jordan.

"Who’s that?" He mumbled from under his pillow.

"Kat," she said, rubbing his back. "Sorry I woke you, J. Go back to sleep."

"Gimme the phone," he said, surfacing from under the pillow. She handed it to him. "Kat? It’s Jordan."

"Jordan, hey!" Kat said in surprise.

"First of all, do you realize it’s three in the morning? Second of all, this better be good for you to be calling at three in the morning." He stopped to kiss Lara on the cheek. "And finally, you know you love Joe, and he’s head over heels in love with you. Deal with it." He handed Lara the phone and put the pillow back over his head.

"Well, that says it better than I ever could," Lara said, laughing hysterically. Kat had to laugh as well.

"Okay, it’s unanimous. I love him. Now, I just have to tell him." She sighed. "I’m sorry I woke you. I’ll call earlier next time."

"Okay, talk to you then. Kiss Joe for me," Lara teased.

"No, I’ll kiss him for me."

Kat ran back up the stairs and bounded onto the bed.

"What? What is it?" Joe sat up suddenly.

"Nothing." She threw herself into his arms and covered his face with kisses. "I love you, too."

Lara woke up Sunday morning, looked at Jordan, and smiled. She stretched as best she could with his heavy arm draped across her body. There had to be no better feeling in the world than waking up next to the man you loved. She slithered out from under his arm, pulled on a kimono, and went down to make some breakfast. She made chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. She filled a plate with pancakes, another plate with bacon, and then placed a pot of coffee and a pitcher of apple juice with the food on a tray. She carefully carried it up the steps. This was an hour later, and Jordan was still asleep. She carefully set the tray on a nightstand and sat on Jordan’s back, straddling his waist.

"Baby, it’s almost ten. If we wanna do anything today, you gotta get up." She placed a row of kisses up his spine, ending at the base of his neck. She heard him moan.

"You keep doing that, I’m gonna do more than just ‘get up’, sweetie," he mumbled into the pillow. "How can you be so damn cheerful in the morning?"

"Because you’re here, because I love you, and…because I have always been a morning person," she said happily. He rolled over to smile at her.

"You are sick, you know," he told her. He sniffed. "Breakfast?"

"In bed," she said, reaching over to get the tray as he carefully sat up so as not to bump her.

"Wow. This looks great."

They tore into their breakfast as they watched the morning TV shows.

"I wanna take you shopping," Jordan announced, his mouth full of pancakes. She stared at him.

"Why?" She said slowly. He stopped in mid bite, taking time to swallow.

"Lara, I love everything about you, and I’m not trying to take you shopping to change anything about you," he said firmly, reading her mind yet again. "I just wanna spoil my girl."

Lara’s heart leapt when he called her his girl. "Okay," she said. "I better warn you, I never have much money, so taking me shopping may be the worst mistake you ever made." She finished her last pancake and poured herself a cup of coffee. "I’m gonna go shower while you finish your breakfast." She leaned down to kiss his forehead, and he placed a hand on her arm.

"I love you," he said.

She looked down into his brown eyes and felt her body melt. She felt as if she could never hear him say that enough. "I love you, too, Jordan." She bounced off to the bathroom.

Jordan groaned at her energy. He was sure it wasn’t healthy to be that energetic any time before noon. He was emptying the pitcher of apple juice when the phone rang. Lara made no move out of the bathroom, so he figured she hadn’t heard it.

"Hello?"

"You’re still there?" The voice rasped. "How many times do you have to be warned?"

Jordan stared at the phone in his hand as the dial tone rang out.

Kat opened her eyes at the ungodly hour of seven in the morning. She was worried. Here it was, seven am, and she wasn’t sleepy anymore. She didn’t think that was legal. She looked over at Joe, who was lying on his stomach, a little bit of drool seeping out of his mouth and onto the pillow. She giggled. She couldn’t help it.

"Wha?" He mumbled, still half-asleep.

"I wish I had a video camera. Or even just a regular camera. ET or any of those shows would pay big bucks to see the great Joey McIntyre drooling on his pillow."

"I wasn’t drooling," he protested, as he wiped the saliva off of his face. The action and the words sent Kat into shrieks of laughter. With a yell, Joe jumped on her and pinned her down.

"You laughing at me, Princess?"

"Don’t…call…me…Princess!" She yelled as she gasped for breath. He began to tickle her and she laughed even harder.

"Did you really say you loved me?" He said, suddenly serious. Kat froze.

"Uh…yeah…I did," she said, deciding that brutal honesty was best. "Did you?"

"Yeah, I did." He reached down to caress her face. "I totally love you. It scares me to death, but I love you."

"It scares me, too," she admitted. He moved off of her to pull her into his arms. "I…I was hurt, before, by someone I trusted with my heart."

"I’ve been hurt, too, Kat. I can’t promise you that everything will work out, but I promise to do my best not to hurt you, okay?"

She nodded without speaking. She knew if she spoke, the tears of happiness that filled her eyes would pour out onto her face.

"So, change of subject. What do you want to do today? Tomorrow I have to go and finish some stuff with the video, but today I’m yours." Joe ran his finger up and down her back.

"Um…uh…" she could concentrate on nothing but that finger. She sat up and faced him. "How about we spend the day on the beach. We could have a picnic."

"You mean like with a basket and a blanket and ants and Frisbee?" Joe sat up as well, suddenly excited.

"Well, there might not be ants on the beach," Kat began, wondering how the picnic went from ants to a Frisbee.

"I haven’t been on a picnic since I was a kid! That’s a great idea!" He jumped out of bed, kissed her loudly on the cheek, and pulled on some boxers. "I’ll see if there’s a basket and stuff downstairs. Why don’t you get dressed?"

As Joe rushed from the room, Kat wondered what she had gotten herself into.

Jordan decided that Lara would need help washing her hair. He got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. He heard her singing along with Joe’s new song, which was blaring on the radio that sat on the vanity. He slowly opened the shower curtain, and slid in to stand behind her. The shower stall was huge, and she didn’t notice him until she turned around. She shrieked at the sight of him and her eyes grew big.

"Lara, honey, it’s me, just me." Jordan pulled her into his arms. "God, I’m sorry, I wanted to surprise you, but not like this," he babbled, instantly feeling guilty.

"No, Jordan, it’s fine," she whispered, practically gasping for breath. "I don’t know why I freaked like that. I’m sorry."

"He used to sneak in on you?" Jordan said, realizing the obvious. She nodded.

"All the time," she whispered again. "Usually when I was trying to get ready for something."

He sighed, hating Jamie more and more with each passing hour. "Okay, I’ll let you go. Call me when you’re done."

"No, Jordan, stay here," she said, pulling on his hand. "You can stay here, if you want to. I just don’t feel like… I don’t think I want to…nevermind. If you want to, we can."

"Don’t you dare!" He snapped, taking her head in his hands. "Lara, don’t you ever say yes to me if you are not one hundred percent interested, do you hear me?" He glared down into her blue eyes. "I want it to be okay on both sides, not just mine. I can get a quick lay anywhere, if I really wanted to. I only want you to make love if you really want to, okay? I will not leave you just because you say no, understand?" She nodded the best she could, with his hands holding her head. "Oh, sorry," he said, releasing her. She drew a ragged breath and handed him the shampoo.

"Here, if you’re gonna stay." She turned her back to him as he squirted shampoo into his palm. "So, do you really wanna take me shopping?"

"Definitely. Anywhere you want, within reason," he warned playfully, knowing full well that if she had asked for the Hope Diamond, he would’ve done his best to get it for her.

"Okay, we’ll just go to the mall and play it by ear from there." She sighed, loving the feel of his hands rubbing the shampoo through her hair.

"Okay, rinse," he ordered, stepping back so she could turn and rinse out her hair. As she worked the shampoo out, he let his eyes wander over her body. He was so intent on what he was doing, he didn’t notice her staring at him, with a slight blush on her face.

"Enjoying yourself?"

"Oh, uh, sorry," he said sheepishly, quickly grabbing the shampoo to wash his own hair. She smiled and wrapped her arms around him.

"You are so cute." She gave him a big kiss, then stepped out of the shower so he could finish on his own.

When Kat finally wandered downstairs, Joe had his head buried in a huge picnic basket.

"Look what I found!" He said excitedly. "Isn’t this great?" He was placing plates and silverware into the basket. "We’ll have to drive down to the shops to get food; I don’t exactly have the fridge stocked."

"And we need to get a Frisbee," Kat reminded him as she poured herself a glass of milk. "Besides, Joe, honey, do you realize that it is like barely eight thirty? We have ages to go before lunch."

Joe looked at his watch. "You know what? You’re right." He took the milk out of her hand and put it on the counter.

"Hey!" She shouted. "I was thirsty."

"I’ll give you something to quench your thirst." In an instant, he had her over his shoulder and was carrying her up the stairs.

"Joe! Put me down!" She shrieked.

"Nope. You need to be taught a lesson," he replied, kicking open the door to the suite.

"Why? What did I do now?"

"You called Ricky Martin last night." Joe threw her onto the bed and began to step out of his boxers. Her smile faded.

"What?"

"You called Ricky Martin last night." He was surprisingly calm. He grabbed a hold of her shorts and pulled them down. "I was gonna use the phone, picked it up, and heard you talking."

"Eavesdropping now, are we?" She asked, yanking the shorts back up.

"All I heard was that he said it was obvious you loved me." He stood at the foot of the bed and stared down at her. "I’m not mad."

"I don’t care if you’re mad. You shouldn’t be listening to other people’s conversations!" She said, jumping to her feet.

"Excuse me, who’s the one that is supposedly here with me, but is calling other men?" Joe shouted.

"Um, since when are you my keeper?" Kat shouted back, quickly falling into the old routine of yelling at Joe.

"Since never, Princess. I would never want that job!" Joe threw back at her. "Why are you getting so defensive? Embarrassed that I found out that you called him?"

"Of course not!" She screamed, totally embarrassed that he had found out. "I’m not going anywhere with you today, until you apologize for listening to my phone call. I’ll be in one of the guest rooms when you’re ready!"

"You’ll be there until you get your ass on your flight back home, Princess, because it’s you who needs to apologize!"

Kat slammed the door and ran down to the guestroom. "What a fucking baby!" She said as she threw herself onto the bed, ignoring the tears that fell down her cheeks.

"What a child!" Joe said to himself as he pulled his boxers back on. He sat on the edge of the bed, holding his head in his hands.

Jordan and Lara had a wonderful time out shopping, totally oblivious to the fact that their friends were sitting in separate bedrooms on a gorgeous California morning, pouting and desperately wishing the other would come in and apologize.

"Okay, Jordan, really!" Lara laughed as they returned to the car for a third time because their arms were so full of bags. "This is enough! I swear, the word is spreading, and shopkeepers are jumping up and down when they see you coming."

"Are you having fun?" He asked as he popped the trunk of his car.

"Yes," she admitted.

"That’s all that matters, then." He grabbed her hand and swung it between them as they returned to the mall. "Okay, where else do you want to go?"

"I think the only stores we haven’t hit are the bookstore, Victoria’s Secret, and the toy store," she said, laughing. "Unless you wanna buy me a camera at the camera store, or a tuxedo at Simply Formals."

He pulled out his wallet. "Here." He handed her a credit card. "Go get what you want, and I’ll come find you, okay? I wanna look for something for my mom."

"Okay." They kissed, and Jordan headed down the mall.

Lara was studying the Jane Austen books at Waldenbooks when someone wrapped their arms around her.

"Back already?" She said, snuggling close.

"If you’ll have me," a voice said. She whirled around.

"Jamie!" She gasped. She struggled against him, finally breaking free. "Don’t fucking touch me, you prick!"

"What? What’s wrong, Peaches?" He leaned against a bookcase, smiling arrogantly.

"Number one, I hate it when you call me that. Number two, I don’t want you touching me. Number three, I don’t like men who hit women."

He stared at her, realizing that she had somehow spoken to Sonia. He shrugged. "She deserved it, poking her nose where it doesn’t belong." He smiled lazily, and reached out to touch her cheek. "It’s you that I wanted anyway, Peaches."

"Well, too bad. I’m with someone else now, and he’ll be here any minute. Unless you want him beating the shit out of you again, I suggest that you get your ass out of here."

"Ah, yes, your little pretty boy. Where is the big man, by the way?"

"He’s in another store, Jamie, and he will kick your ass. Leave me the hell alone, okay?" She brushed past him and went to the counter with her purchases.

"Is he bothering you, young lady?" The man behind the counter asked. He had been watching the whole exchange.

"No, I’m fine, thank you," she said as Jamie stomped out of the store. She decided not to tell Jordan about the encounter. She didn’t need him running through the mall, trying to find Jamie so he could kick his ass. She smiled at the thought though.

She was on her way into Victoria’s Secret when she ran into Jordan.

"I hoped you would stop in here," he said, smiling devilishly.

She blushed and didn’t reply. He stood in a corner and watched in amusement as she pawed through the racks. She finally turned to him. "Couldn’t you go…I don’t know…do something? I feel uncomfortable with you staring at me like that. Besides, I want to surprise you."

"Okay, okay." He went out and sat on a bench near the store.

She wanted something special, and knew it would hit her as soon as she saw it. She wasn’t disappointed. It was a short nightie, made of smoky blue-grey satin, with sheer patches here and there which revealed a lot but left some things to the imagination.

She paid and went out to Jordan on his bench. "Ready?" She asked. He nodded and stood.

"How about lunch?"

"I’d like to go back to the river again today," she told him as they walked through the mall.

"Same place?"

"No. They have little stands down by the water. I’d like to do a hot dog and fries kinda thing, if you don’t mind."

"A woman after my own heart," he said, throwing an arm around her shoulder and giving her a squeeze.

"Lara," a voice called behind them. She turned, and her heart sank. It was Matt, one of Jamie’s more annoying friends.

"Matthew," she said coldly, unconsciously moving closer to Jordan. Jordan noticed, and tightened his arm around her.

"Wow, Jamie was right. You do look like shit since he left you," the man said rudely. Jordan frowned, but Lara nudged him to keep him quiet.

"Matt, exactly what did Jamie tell you happened? Not that I really care what you think."

"Uh, well, just that he decided he had had enough of you and wanted something more," Matt said, getting a bit flustered. Lara had never been one to stand up to anyone.

"Well, let me set the record straight, okay? I came home, to my house, and found Jamie and Sonia in my bed. He had been screwing around on me for ages, which you obviously knew. But don’t let him even tell you that it was all him, okay? I had something to say in the end, okay?" She looked up at Jordan and smiled. "Let’s go, baby."

Without another word, she turned and strode out of the mall, with Jordan close behind.

Kat looked at the clock for the hundredth time. It was almost noon, and she was hungry. Why did he have to be so stubborn? She decided to slip out of the guestroom and go down for a sandwich or something.

Joe stared at the clock. It was lunchtime. So much for my picnic, he thought. He knew he could go on his own, but he didn’t want to eat alone. He sighed and stood. He was hungry, and wanted some lunch. He decided that he would go down and eat something, and wait for Kat down there.

Just as Kat passed his door, he walked out, and they collided.

"Sorry!" They both said at the same time. They stopped and stared at each other.

"Apology accepted," Joe finally said softly. She nodded.

"Apology accepted," she repeated. After a long moment, he took her in his arms, and she made no movement to resist.

"I was…I felt…" he whispered as his mouth found hers.

"Jealous?" She replied when he let her come up for breath.

"Yeah," he said as he began to pull her back into his suite.

"And I was so…so…" she struggled with his t-shirt, yanking it over his head.

"Angry?" He pulled down her shorts and they fell to the bed.

"Yeah."

Lara laughed so hard she almost rolled into the river. There were jugglers walking through the groups of people, and one of them was trying to teach Jordan to juggle. He kept dropping balls, or he’d miss one, or they’d hit him on the head. Lara was giggling so much she could hardly breathe.

She was on a blanket on a grassy spot, not too far from the water’s edge. They had eaten hot dogs, fries, and ice cream, and she felt as if her stomach would burst. She decided to stop watching the monstrosity of Jordan trying to juggle, and lay back on the blanket. Jordan’s cellphone suddenly rang near her foot.

"Honey, your phone!" She yelled over to him. He dropped the balls, apologized to the juggler, and jogged over to her.

"Thanks, sweetie," he said, giving her a long kiss before answering the phone. "Yeah?" Lara watched his face go from smiles to frowns. "No, man, Miguel…come on…do I have to?" He all but whined. Lara’s heart sank as he looked at her with sad brown eyes. "Okay, I’ll get the next flight out."

She hated herself for the hot tears that threatened to fall. She looked away.

"Baby, I’m sorry. There’s a problem with the editing of my new video, and they need me to come in. I’m so sorry. I had hoped I could stay here with you until Tuesday." Jordan cupped her face in his hands.

"It’s okay. I understand," she said, taking a deep breath. "I’m sure this won’t be the last time this happens."

They silently packed up their things and went back to the car. When they were back at the house, Jordan unloaded the car while Lara called the airport for him.

"The best I could get was in two hours," she told him.

"Good," he replied, taking her hand and leading her upstairs. She stared at him. He stopped on the third step and looked down at her. "If you don’t mind, the last thing I would like to do is make love to you once more before I have to go. But if you don’t want to, I would be happy just holding you until we have to leave."

She smiled, took his hand, and led him to the bedroom. "I want you to make love to me, Jordan. I want that more than anything."

"How about a picnic dinner?" Joe suggested, as Kat lay in his arms. "We can still play Frisbee, since it stays light so late."

"What is it with you and Frisbee?" She asked, laughing as she tickled him.

"I don’t know. Picnics and Frisbee just go together, I guess."

"Man, you weren’t kidding when you said that it was inevitable that we’d have sex a lot when I came out here," she observed, watching his face for a reaction. "You haven’t let me leave this room for more than ten minutes the whole time I’ve been here. You’re some kind of nympho, aren’t you?"

"Excuse me? I’m the nympho?" Joe said, almost in a shriek. "We won’t even go there, Princess." He got up to finally get completely dressed. Kat remained on the bed, enjoying the view of naked Joe slowly covering up his gorgeous body. When he was finally completely covered, she got up with a sigh and put on her own clothes.

Joe called one of the delis downtown, and placed an order for some sandwiches and things while Kat finished packing up the basket. They drove to the shopping area, and Kat went in and paid for the food while Joe went in search of a Frisbee. When she met him at the car, she noticed that he had a bag big enough for ten Frisbees.

"And just what is in there?" She asked as she opened the passenger door.

"A Frisbee." He put the car in gear and headed for the beach.

"And?"

"Kites."

"Kites?"

"It’s a good day for kites," he protested. He looked like such a little boy that she had to lean over and kiss him.

"I love you, Joe."

"Where did that come from?" He asked, surprised.

"Nowhere. I just love you."

Jordan and Lara made love in almost complete silence, as if tomorrow was their last day on earth. They silently got dressed, and Lara watched as he packed up his things. Her heart was so full of love for him that it was painful to even look at him. She finally just lay back on the bed, tears pouring down to fall in her hair.

Jordan glanced at her, and did a double take. "Oh, honey, please don’t cry. It breaks my heart." He dropped his suitcase and sat on the edge of the bed.

"I’m sorry, J, I don’t want to cry, but it just keeps coming out." She glanced at the clock and quickly sat up. "We’d better get a move on, if you wanna make that plane." She started for the door but he pulled her back.

"You’ll hear from me this time, I promise, okay?" He took her face in his hands, his eyes searching hers. "And I’ll visit as soon as possible."

"It’s like you said, Jordan, I have to be able to deal with the fact that you won’t be around a lot. As long as I’m sure of your feelings for me, I should be able to handle it." Lara took a deep breath and tried to stop crying.

"I love you, Lara. You and no one else," he said firmly, kissing her eyelids.

They drove to the airport, making small talk. He told her that he had made arrangements for the friend to come pick up the car he had driven to her house.

"Don’t park," he said suddenly. "Just drop me off." She stared at him. "It will be easier for both of us if you leave instead of coming in with me."

She nodded as she pulled up in front of the departure area. She got out and popped the trunk so he could get his bags. He put them down behind the car and took her in his arms.

"I’ll miss you so much. I’ll call when I get there."

She nodded, unable to speak. He caught his mouth with hers, giving her a long passionate kiss. He finally pulled away, picked up his bags, and started away without a word.

"Jordan!" She finally said, ignoring her tears. "I love you!"

He turned around, smiling his beautiful smile. She saw the tears on his own face. "I love you, too." He disappeared into the airport.

"Dammit, I can’t make these things work!" Joe said angrily, struggling with his kite. Kat laughed, easily controlling her own kite.

"You just have to have the touch," she informed him.

"I’ll show you the touch," he said, leering at her. She laughed again.

They had had a wonderful picnic supper and had lounged around on the beach until he had dug the kites out of the bag.

"So, will you be gone all day tomorrow?" She asked.

"Pretty much. I’ll leave early, but be home by supper. Why? You planning on calling Ricky Martin again?"

Kat opened her mouth to yell, then realized he was joking. "Maybe," she said. "Him and a few other guys."

"Whatever." He finally gave up on his kite and let it fall. He plopped onto their blanket and dug for the bag of chips. "I love having you here, you know."

"I love being here." She let her kite fall as well and sat beside him. "When do you go back to Boston?"

"As soon as this thing wraps up, which could be days or a week." He munched on a chip and stared at her. "Come to Boston with me. Move in."

Her mouth dropped, and for once she was speechless. "Wha…wha…huh?"

"I want you to move in with me. I want you to be there whenever I come home." He held her hand in his.

"Joe…I…wow." She withdrew her fingers from his. "God, that would be great, but I can’t."

"Give me three reasons why."

"Well, number one, I have a life at home. Number two, we hardly know each other. Number three, you’d hardly be there anyway."

"All true, except I think we know each other pretty well, and I know I want to be with you as much as possible." He stood and brushed sand off of his legs. "Oh well. I had to try, and it’s not the last you’ll hear of this, I promise you that." He looked at the sky. "It’s getting late. Let’s go back in."

Kat helped clean things up, but her mind was on what he had said. She wanted nothing more than to move in with him, but it was just too big of a risk to take. Even though she knew she loved him, she was so afraid. She decided to let it go, hoping he would forget about it.

Lara spent most of the afternoon curled up in her bed, holding the pillow that Jordan had used. She had it mashed up against her face, smelling the masculine scent that was left on the pillowcase. She mentally yelled at herself for being such a baby, but she made no move to get up. Finally, she had to go to the bathroom, and could wait no longer. She went into her bathroom.

The toilet seat was closed, which made her smile. For the short time that Jordan had been there, there had been constant arguments about whether the seat should be up or down. She did a double take when she saw that something was on the top of the seat. A small jewelry box sat on the seat, placed on top of a greeting card-sized envelope. Lara picked the things up and sat down. She opened the card, and before she even got past the second line, tears were running down her face again. The card was totally mushy, and that was why she absolutely loved it. The card also said that he had hidden little gifts all around the house, to remind her of him. Like I need help thinking of him, she thought with a smile. She opened the box and gasped.

Inside was a set of blue topaz jewelry that she had seen in one of the store displays. There was a blue topaz pendant, tennis bracelet, teardrop earrings, and a dainty blue topaz and gold ring. She had admired the set, saying she wished she could afford even the ring, though blue topaz really wasn’t that expensive. The whole set was expensive, and she sat and stared at it. She slowly put the ring on her finger (perfect fit, of course) and saved the rest for another time when she knew she would be dressed enough to wear it. She slowly returned to the bedroom and placed the box on her dresser. She sat back down on the bed, grabbing Jordan’s pillow once more, but this time she wasn’t as sad. She lost herself in daydreams, and memories of the wonderful days they had had together so far. She spent most of the day there, not even noticing the sun go down.

Kat and Joe came back into the house and put things away, but then decided to go for a walk on the beach. Joe noticed that Kat was being unusually quiet.

"Did I scare you, about moving in, I mean?"

"Um, well, no…I mean, well, yeah," she stammered. He laughed, swinging her hand in his.

"I’m sorry. I just all of a sudden really wanted to ask you, but I kinda figured you’d say no."

"Let’s upgrade the no to a maybe, okay?" She said softly, stopping to look in his eyes. He nodded slowly.

"So, how do you think J and Lara are?" He asked to change the subject. They continued walking.

"Knowing her, she is in seventh heaven. But also knowing her, it will kill her whenever he has to leave."

"Is she strong enough to handle it?" Joe asked as they sat on a dune.

"For Jordan Knight? Oh, definitely," Kat said, laughing.

Lara opened her eyes and looked at the clock. Ten o’clock. She had fallen asleep sometime around six. Her stomach growled and she stretched as she sat up. She was now wide awake, and decided to scrounge up some dinner. She wondered why Jordan hadn’t called, but this time she had all his numbers if she really wanted to talk to him. She told herself she was NOT going to call him already. She’d be good and fight the urge to call him and whine into his voicemail.

She wandered downstairs, turning on lights as she went. She went into the kitchen and put water on to boil. She was suddenly hungry for macaroni and cheese. As she dug the butter and milk out of the fridge, she heard a commotion at the front door. Must be Jordan’s friend, picking up the car, she thought, wondering why he was coming by so late. She walked out to the living room, a carton of milk in her hand.

When Lara saw who was pretty much breaking through her front door, the carton of milk fell to the floor. "Oh, shit," she whispered. "What do you want?" She asked Jamie bravely, though she was shaking down to her toes.

"Peaches!" He said, tossing his car keys onto her coffee table. "All alone, I see?"

"No, I’m not," she said firmly. "Jordan is just…"

"Jordan is on an airplane to somewhere," he finished for her. "You took him to the airport."

Lara opened her mouth and shut it again. She heard the water boiling over in the kitchen, but made no move to go get it. She then remembered that there were all kinds of weapons in the kitchen, like butcher knives and mallets and things. "Um, uh, the water," she stuttered, turning towards the kitchen. She made it three steps before a hand grabbed her arm and whirled her around. "Jamie, it’s boiling over!"

"It can wait," he growled, yanking her back by her hair.

"Oh, God," she whispered, feeling tears jump to her eyes. "What the hell do you want?"

"What you’ve been giving up to your pretty boy all this time," he said, his tone making it clear that he knew just what had been going on in her house. "I’ve called, Peaches, and he’s always been here, at all hours. What’s so great about him, anyway? His money? His fame?"

"How about the fact that he makes love to me and doesn’t just screw to get himself off," she snapped, adrenaline making her brave. Holding her out by her hair, Jamie backhanded her across the face. Her head reeled back, held in place by his hand on her hair. She gasped, reaching a hand up to her cheek.

"You think he loves you, you little slut? How much you wanna bet he has a girl in every city, waiting to take care of him, just like your sorry little ass?" He started dragging her by her hair towards the staircase. "Honey, I have news for you. You ain’t nothing he never saw before, and you won’t be the last. You could’ve stayed with me. I treated you right."

"Sure you did," she whispered, trying to keep up with him. He heard her, and kicked at the back of her legs with his cowboy boots. She yelped and fell to the ground. She was past crying and had graduated to sobbing.

"On your feet, bitch," he snarled, grabbing her arm so tightly it cut off the circulation to her hand and fingers. She stumbled to her feet and followed him up towards the bedroom.

"What do you want?" She mumbled through her already swollen mouth. He stopped to smile evilly.

"You know what I want, Peaches. I want what you never wanted to give me, but that you gave to Pretty Boy every time he asked you to spread your legs."

With her last ounce of strength, Lara broke away and tried to go down the steps. She lost her balance and tumbled down the six steps to the bottom. She scrambled to her feet, but couldn’t regain her balance before a punch to the side of her head knocked her back down.

"Okay, fine. I was gonna take you up to the bed so you would be comfortable, but here will do." He shoved her against the wall so hard that it made her gasp for air. "Take off your jeans."

"No, Jamie, wait, I…"

"Take them OFF, you little whore!" He yelled, smacking her across the backside. She yelped in pain, and slowly sat on the floor. Sobbing, she struggled with the button, and finally got it open. Jamie became impatient, and grabbed her legs, pulling her down so her head cracked on the floor. He yanked the jeans off of her long legs, and went for her blouse. Buttons flew as he ripped the material. The flimsy material of her undergarments soon followed the clothing. She grabbed wildly for the knickknacks on the coffee table, hoping to find something heavy enough to hit him with. He straddled her waist, grabbed her wrist, and smacked it against the table until she heard bones snap. She screamed, and he reached for other hand. "Gonna fight anymore?" She shook her head, hardly able to move. He stood and quickly pulled down his sweatpants.

She looked over to the side, and saw his car keys, which she had knocked off the table. He followed her gaze. "Don’t even think about it, Peaches." His tone was ice cold. She couldn’t resist trying to grab them, but he was too quick for her. She hardly got the scream out before the cold metal scratched the skin of her face. A hand grabbed her throat. "Stay still and you won’t be hurt again, understand?"

She opened her eyes, looking up into his face. He must have seen the defeat in her eyes, for he slowly released her throat. Her eyes moved down to his penis, which was large and erect. She swallowed deeply and closed her eyes again.

"Good, Peaches, just relax," he murmured as he thrust into her. She heard herself yell in pain before she fainted.

"Peaches? Peaches." A hand smacked her face again and again. Lara pulled herself out of the sweet blackness she had been in, and opened her eyes. "Peaches, wake the fuck up." Jamie smiled down at her as he pulled up his pants. "Good. Okay, now, here’s the rules. You tell anyone I was here, and I mean anyone, not only will I come back and visit, but I’ll have your Pretty Boy’s ass the next time he comes around, you hear me? And if you think I can’t beat the shit out of him, well, just remember how many friends I have, okay?" She just looked at him, unable to even summon the energy to nod. "Good." He bent down and kissed her cheek, smiling. "Later, Peaches."

Lara looked at the phone as it rang. With all her might she wanted to go answer it, but all she could do was cry. She sobbed louder as the machine picked up.

"Honey? It’s me." Jordan’s voice said softly. "I’m sorry it took me so long to call. What a day. Anyway, here’s the number, so call me when you get back in. I love you and miss you so much."

"Jordan," Lara whispered sadly, knowing that she could never call him. She made herself try to sit up, but pain racked her body. She lay back down, and began to crawl to the phone. She dialed, praying that Kat was using Call Forwarding.

As Kat and Joe let themselves in the house again, she heard the phone ringing and rushed to answer it. "Oh, don’t," Joe whined. "It’s probably my manager or that jerk of a director. I’m not home," he called as she checked the Caller ID.

"Wrong. It’s Lara." She picked up. "Hey, babe."

Lara opened her mouth but no sound would come out.

"Lara? Okay, enough with the prank phone calls. What do you want?"

"Kat," she finally got out. "Kat…help me."

Kat, who had lounged on a sofa, stood up so quickly that Joe turned to stare at her. "What, Lara? What happened?"

"Attack," Lara’s voice rasped. "Attack, Kat, help me."

"Attack? Someone attacked you?" Joe ran upstairs at Kat’s words, and she knew he was going to his cellphone to call the airport. "Where’s Jordan?"

"Jordan…no…gone. No Jordan," Lara said with some force. "Kat…police…call…can’t…"

"Okay, baby, I’ll call them. Don’t move, okay? I’ll be back as soon as possible." Kat hung up and flew upstairs, where Joe was packing some bags. "What are you doing?"

"Packing, what does it look like?" He asked. "We have about twenty minutes to get our asses in the car and to the airport. I got the first flight I could."

"You’re not going along, are you?" She asked incredulously. He zipped a bag shut.

"You bet your ass I am. You’re not going through this alone."

"But your video," she stammered, thinking this the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her.

"Fuck my video. Friends are more important." He tugged at her arm. "Come on. You can explain in the car."

Less than five hours later, Kat and Joe burst through the emergency room doors. Kat headed for the nurses’ station. "My friend, Lara Bruner, she’s here, isn’t she? She was attacked? I called the police for her."

"Yes, she’s here, but she’s still being examined. You can wait there." The nurse pointed to a sofa.

"Dammit, I don’t WANT to wait!" Kat yelled. "She needs me, you…"

"We’ll wait over here," Joe said to the nurse, clamping a hand over Kat’s mouth and dragging her away. "Kat, stop. If they’re still examining her, we would be in the way anyway." He pulled out his cellphone. "I’m gonna page Jordan."

"No," Kat said, placing her hand over his. "She doesn’t want him here."

"What?" He said.

"When I mentioned his name, she said no Jordan. She doesn’t want him here." Kat stared at him. "I mean it, Joe. Don’t call him."

"Okay, if you say so," Joe said, putting his phone away.

About an hour later, a doctor came out and conversed with the nurse, who pointed in Kat’s direction. Kat jumped to her feet.

"You’re Lara’s friend?" The doctor asked. Kat nodded, grabbing Joe’s hand. "Your friend was attacked, as you obviously know. There is no permanent physical damage, and…"

"Please, Doctor, not to be rude, but spit it out," Kat interrupted. "What happened?"

The female doctor looked Kat in the eye. "Your friend was raped. Her right wrist is broken, and there are bruises on her face, neck, and the backs of her legs. She has a concussion, and there are deep scratches on her face, probably caused by a short, sharp object, perhaps a key." Kat’s legs began to give out, and Joe supported her. "Do you have any idea who might have done this? Does she have a boyfriend?"

"Yes, but he would never do this," Joe began. The doctor turned to him.

"And how do you know that?"

"He’s right…Jordan would never do this," Kat said quietly. "But her ex-boyfriend would."

"There’s a police officer waiting down the hall. Would you be able to give the information to him?" The doctor asked Kat. Kat nodded.

"Can I see her?"

"Yes, but you’d better talk to the officer first."

The doctor led them down the hall. Joe stayed back as Kat spoke with the police officer, since he really had no information to give. He peeked into the room closest to where the officer was, and gasped. If it weren’t for the red highlights in Lara’s hair, he totally wouldn’t have known her. He quickly turned away, steeling himself to go into the room with Kat. He knew she would need every ounce of support that he could give her.

About fifteen minutes later, Kat slowly walked towards him with the doctor. "Now, you must realize that she was badly beaten," the doctor warned. "She’s conscious, but not really responding to anyone. She’s drawn inside herself, which is very common in this sort of situation." Kat nodded, grabbing for Joe’s hand. The doctor stepped back and allowed the couple to move into the room.

Kat took one look at her friend, and leaned back against Joe. She closed her eyes for a moment, then took a deep breath.

"Honey, we can come back if you want," Joe murmured. She shook her head.

"No!" She snapped. "She’s gonna need me." Kat advanced towards the bed, taking Lara’s unhurt hand. "Lara, honey, it’s Kat. Look at me. Just look at me so I know you hear me."

Lara’s blue eyes, which had been staring at the wall, slowly moved until they found Kat’s face. Her hand ever so slightly squeezed Kat’s. Tears streamed from Lara’s eyes, while Kat tried to hold back her own tears.

"Honey, you need to tell us something," Kat said as the doctor moved into the room. "Who did this to you?"

Lara’s eyes returned to the wall. The doctor frowned. "We can’t just go after this guy if she doesn’t tell us," she whispered to Kat.

"Okay, Lara, you stubborn pain in the ass, we’ll do it your way," Kat said, squeezing Lara’s hand so she’d look at her again. "We’ll play the game. Just gimme a minute, okay?"

Kat led Joe and the doctor out of the room. "If it is Jamie, he has more than likely scared the living shit out of her, and threatened her if she tells anyone. I can get her to tell me, but don’t we need like an officer or something? But he can’t look like an officer, because it will freak her out."

"I’ll get him, and put him in a lab coat or scrubs or something, okay?" The doctor immediately sprang into action.

Joe pulled Kat into his arms. "Honey, what can I do for you?"

"Just be here for me, if you can stay," Kat said softly, beginning to sob against his shoulder. "I’m sorry you had to get drawn into all of this."

"Don’t apologize. If I could find that guy, I’d kick his ass."

The doctor brought the officer back, dressed in green surgical scrubs. Kat sighed and pulled away from Joe.

The group reentered the room, and Kat pulled the chair up to the bed. "Since you’re gonna be a pain, girl, we’ll play the game." She turned back to Joe and the others. "We used to do this thing when we were younger where we couldn’t talk about something but the other one would ask questions and get the answers. That way you didn’t really tell, but the other person found out. Kinda like twenty questions." She looked at Lara again. "And since you don’t seem to wanna open your big mouth, we’ll have to do the blink once for yes twice for no, okay?" Lara slowly blinked once. "Good." Kat took a deep breath. "Lara, was it Jordan that did this to you?" Two blinks. "Did he leave earlier today?" One blink. "Do you know the person who did this to you?" One blink. "Was it Jamie?" Lara paused, then slowly blinked once, tears streaming down her face once more. The officer and doctor quickly left the room. "Honey, one more question," Kat said softly, stroking Lara’s hair. "Do you want me to call Jordan?" Lara began to blink violently as her chest heaved with sobs. Joe eyes met Kat’s, confusion written all over his face. "Okay, okay, Lara, calm down," Kat said in a soothing voice, smoothing Lara’s hair. When Lara’s sobs finally subsided, Kat stood, telling Lara she’d be back later. She and Joe left the room.

"Kat, why the hell doesn’t she want him here? He’ll be devastated when he hears what happened!" Joe exclaimed.

"Joe, are you so oblivious to what’s going on?" Kat snapped. "Not only has another man raped her and beat the shit out of her, but I’m willing to bet that he didn’t just threaten her if she told who he was. I bet he threatened Jordan as well."

"So, J could take him," Joe protested.

"That’s not the point, Joe," Kat replied. "Just don’t call him, okay?"

"Fine, whatever," Joe said, totally disagreeing with her. He’d wait and see how things went, but he was still planning on calling Jordan sometime soon.

The next few days were agony for both Kat and Joe. Kat still couldn’t get Lara to talk, and she even had stopped eating. Joe was drawn between the woman he loved and one of his oldest friends. He tried to understand why Lara wouldn’t want Jordan there, and finally came up with the reason that she was ashamed. He attempted to discuss it with Kat, but she would hear none of it.

"For fuck’s sake, Joe, no! She doesn’t want him here!" She had shouted. "He would probably take one look at her and leave, anyway. A famous radio star can’t have a girlfriend whose face is all scarred!" Kat’s worry made her say things she didn’t mean, and she wished she could take it back the second she said it. Joe frowned.

"Kat, you’re talking about one of my best friends," he said. "You’d better watch it."

"Joe, you’re doing nothing here. Why don’t you leave?" She yelled.

"Because you need me," he had said softly, and put his arms around her.

Joe stood out in the parking lot of the hospital, talking on his cell phone to his manager. "A few more days, honestly. She needs me." He hung up quickly. He stared up at the windows of Lara’s room, where he knew Kat was sitting by the bed chattering to her, even though Lara didn’t respond anymore.

He stared down at his phone, then slowly dialed Jordan’s cellphone number. "J? Listen…there’s something you need to know."

"Okay, ladies, I have to go for a while," Joe said a few days later, kissing Lara’s forehead and then Kat’s upturned lips. "Gotta do the rock star thing…. send some emails…make some calls." He turned to Kat. "I’ll come back and pick you up. Love you."

He jumped into his car and drove to the airport.

"Okay, you have me here, haul our asses to the hospital and tell me what the hell’s going on, Joe!" Jordan yelled as soon as he got off the plane.

"Calm down, Jordan. If nothing else, you have to remain calm. She’s gonna need you to be calm." Joe led the way to the car.

"What happened? What kind of friend says, J, your girl’s in the hospital, get down here ASAP?" Jordan snapped as he threw on his seat belt.

"I couldn’t tell you on the phone. I can’t even tell you while I’m driving." Joe turned off the engine and took a deep breath. "Jordan, Lara was attacked. It’s…it’s pretty bad."

"What, like a robber or something?" Jordan said, not letting himself think the worst.

"We don’t know who it was, but we think it was Jamie." Joe couldn’t look Jordan in the eye. "He, uh, beat her up some, and, uh, keyed her face, we think, and, uh, he, uh, he raped her."

Jordan slammed a fist against the dashboard, staring out the window. "Go, Joe. Drive."

His friend shifted the car into gear, trying to ignore the tears that fell down his old friend’s face.

"God, Kat is gonna be so fucking pissed at me," Joe murmured as they ignored the elevator and ran up the steps. "Lara totally doesn’t want you here."

Jordan froze on a step. "What?"

"Yeah, uh, she was talking through blinks for a while, but doesn’t do even that anymore. When Kat asked if she wanted you here, she blinked a million times."

Jordan felt as if someone had stabbed him in the heart. He couldn’t remember ever being so hurt. "Why wouldn’t she…" He shook his head. "I don’t care. I’m seeing her anyway. She needs me."

They vaulted up the rest of the steps and out to the ward. Kat was walking down the hallway to get coffee. She stopped short when she saw Joe and Jordan.

"What the…" she almost shouted, glaring at Joe.

"Kat, please, I need to see her. Don’t be mad at Joe," Jordan pleaded. "What room is it?" Kat remained silent. "What fucking room, Kat?"

"Five fifteen," Joe said softly, staring at Kat. Jordan took off.

"Why?" Kat said sadly

"Because he may be the only thing that snaps her out of it," Joe said, moving to put his arms around her. She put out her hand.

"No. Don’t touch me, Joe. I totally can’t trust you. I told you not to call him, but you did anyway. Please get out of here."

He grabbed her arm. "You can’t help her, Kat. Maybe Jordan can. I’m not leaving. I need to wait for him anyway, and you need to give them time alone."

Jordan slowly approached room five fifteen, steeling himself for the worst. As he pushed the door open, he realized that what he had figured to be the worst didn’t even come close.

The woman he loved was not apparent in the figure on the bed. She had lost a great deal of weight, and he saw the feeding tubes stuck in her arms. Her face was bruised, and horrible gashes covered her cheeks. Her eyes were open and staring at the opposite wall. He choked back tears, determined to be strong for her.

"Lara," he whispered. He said it again, louder, but there was still no response. He slowly approached the bed. "Honey, it’s me." He sat in Kat’s usual spot, and took Lara’s hand. He brought it to his face, kissing each finger. "Joe called me. He was so worried about you. Everyone is." He brushed some hair off of her forehead. "But I’m here now, to take care of you, and make everything all…"

"Go away," she finally whispered, her voice rough from disuse.

"What?" He asked, happy to hear her voice.

"I said, go away, Jordan. I don’t want you here, and you don’t wanna be here. Go away."

"Lara, I do wanna be here, or I wouldn’t have come!" He said in astonishment.

"Go away," she said with more force. "If you don’t go away I will scream. I..I…I’ll tell everyone that you did this to me." She finally moved her head to look him in the eye, tears streaming from her eyes.

"What?" He whispered, shocked.

"Go the fuck away, Jordan. I don’t want you and I…I don’t love you. Go away!" She said, her voice rising. He backed towards the door, his own eyes full of tears.

"Okay, I’ll go. But I’m coming back." He opened the door and quickly left the room.

Jordan barreled into Kat and Joe, who had been standing outside the room. Joe stared at the tears streaming down Jordan’s face. "What? What happened?"

Jordan leaned against the wall. "She told me to go away. She said…she said she didn’t want me, and that she didn’t love me."

"You mean she talked?" Joe said.

"Duh," Kat said, glaring at him. "Obviously."

"She said if I didn’t leave, she’d scream and tell everyone that I did that to her." Jordan closed his eyes, and sobbed.

Kat took pity on him, putting her arms around him. "Jordan, I think Jamie threatened you. I bet he told her that if she even hinted that he did this to her, he’d find you after he found her again. She’s protecting you."

"But I don’t need her to." Jordan pulled away. "That’s it. I’m gonna kick his ass."

"No, Jordan, wait!" Kat grabbed him. "It won’t solve anything. She needs you here, not sitting in jail somewhere cuz Jamie pressed charges against you. And he would." She looked from Jordan to Joe. "Go. Just go for a while. Let me talk to her." She glared at Joe. "Keep him from beating the shit out of Jamie, okay?"

He nodded, and started towards her. An evil look from her made him step back. She turned on her heel and went back to Lara’s room. She took a deep breath and strode into the room.

"You were pretty harsh, threatening to cry wolf on Jordan like that," she told the body on the bed. Lara’s eyes met hers.

"I had to," Lara whispered. "I would die if anything happened to him. I love him so much, Kat." She began to sob and Kat rushed over to hold her hand. "Why did you call him?"

"I didn’t, honey. Joe did. I told him not to," Kat said angrily. Lara smiled through her tears.

"He must be brave, to go against you like that," she said, almost teasing.

Kat glared at her playfully but said nothing. They sat in silence for a while, and then Kat finally said, "Will you please eat something? Don’t let that bastard win."

"Yes, I will. I will eat and I’ll get out of here. But you have to promise me something."

"Anything."

"Get Jordan out of here. Get his ass on a plane to anywhere, just out of this town, okay?" Lara stared out the window. "I can’t get well if I have to worry about him."

"I’ll see what I can do," Kat said, knowing full well that there would be no way Jordan would possibly leave now.

Jordan barreled into Kat and Joe, who had been standing outside the room. Joe stared at the tears streaming down Jordan’s face. "What? What happened?"

Jordan leaned against the wall. "She told me to go away. She said…she said she didn’t want me, and that she didn’t love me."

"You mean she talked?" Joe said.

"Duh," Kat said, glaring at him. "Obviously."

"She said if I didn’t leave, she’d scream and tell everyone that I did that to her." Jordan closed his eyes, and sobbed.

Kat took pity on him, putting her arms around him. "Jordan, I think Jamie threatened you. I bet he told her that if she even hinted that he did this to her, he’d find you after he found her again. She’s protecting you."

"But I don’t need her to." Jordan pulled away. "That’s it. I’m gonna kick his ass."

"No, Jordan, wait!" Kat grabbed him. "It won’t solve anything. She needs you here, not sitting in jail somewhere cuz Jamie pressed charges against you. And he would." She looked from Jordan to Joe. "Go. Just go for a while. Let me talk to her." She glared at Joe. "Keep him from beating the shit out of Jamie, okay?"

He nodded, and started towards her. An evil look from her made him step back. She turned on her heel and went back to Lara’s room. She took a deep breath and strode into the room.

"You were pretty harsh, threatening to cry wolf on Jordan like that," she told the body on the bed. Lara’s eyes met hers.

"I had to," Lara whispered. "I would die if anything happened to him. I love him so much, Kat." She began to sob and Kat rushed over to hold her hand. "Why did you call him?"

"I didn’t, honey. Joe did. I told him not to," Kat said angrily. Lara smiled through her tears.

"He must be brave, to go against you like that," she said, almost teasing.

Kat glared at her playfully but said nothing. They sat in silence for a while, and then Kat finally said, "Will you please eat something? Don’t let that bastard win."

"Yes, I will. I will eat and I’ll get out of here. But you have to promise me something."

"Anything."

"Get Jordan out of here. Get his ass on a plane to anywhere, just out of this town, okay?" Lara stared out the window. "I can’t get well if I have to worry about him."

"I’ll see what I can do," Kat said, knowing full well that there would be no way Jordan would possibly leave now.

After many arguments, Kat finally got Jordan to stay away from the hospital. He still snuck in when she wasn’t there, however, mainly at night. He charmed the nurses, and got them to allow him to peek in on Lara while she was sleeping. He would stand in the corner by the door, just watching her. He made sure her room was filled with white roses, and was thankful that she didn’t throw them away.

After another week or so, the doctor finally released her, ordering Kat to make sure she ate. "I hold you fully responsible," the doctor teased. Kat smiled as she wheeled Lara out to the car.

"I will shove the food down her throat if I have to."

Lara looked around as she carefully settled into the car. "Where’s Joe?"

Kat frowned. "Gone. And good riddance. I ask him to keep his word about one thing, and he breaks it and calls Jordan. No, thank you."

Lara gasped in horror. She thought Joe had gone out on tour or something. "Kat, are you crazy? That man loves you to death! Why…"

Kat turned to her. "I don’t want to talk about him, okay? He is gone…history…we don’t need them, okay?" She squealed out of the parking lot.

Lara turned the key and walked into the house. Kat had come and taken care of things while she was in the hospital. "Oh, Kat!" She shouted, turning to hug her friend.

"What? Now what, you weirdo?" Kat asked. She stared over Lara’s shoulder and her mouth dropped open. Lara looked at her and realized Kat knew nothing.

Lara’s living room was entirely filled with balloons. You could not walk without brushing them aside. Vases of blue tipped white roses sat on ever flat surface, and a gorgeous comforter set with zebra stripes on it sat in a bag on the steps.

"How did he…?" Lara said in astonishment, a tear sliding down her cheek.

"I don’t know…Lara, why don’t you call him?" Kat asked.

"You’re one to talk," Lara retorted. Kat sighed but said nothing.

A few hours later, Kat got ready to leave. "Are you sure you will be okay here? I mean, you’ll feel safe?"

"I can’t let him ruin my life, Kat. I’ll be fine, and I’ll call if I need you."

They hugged, and Kat left, anxiously looking over her shoulder one last time.

Lara sighed and went up to run a bath. As she dug through her dresser for her favorite pajamas, she found a small bag. Inside was a pair of Precious Moments zebras, with a little love note from Jordan. It was one of the gifts he had left hidden for her. She willed back the tears and went to soak in the tub.

An hour later she pulled herself out of the tub, feeling refreshed. She put on her pajamas, even though it was barely dinnertime. She padded downstairs and sat on the sofa, staring at the zebras Jordan had given her. She stood with a sigh, walking towards the kitchen. The phone rang, scaring her to death.

"Did you eat?" The voice said before she even said hello. Lara laughed.

"Yes, Kat, I was just on my way to the kitchen to make a sandwich. You don’t have to check up on me."

"Yes, I do. The doctor made it my job, remember?" Lara laughed again. "Maybe I could make this my job…harassing people to make sure they do what they’re told."

"And you would be very good at it, Kat," Lara said, laughing so hard she could hardly breathe. Kat smiled. This is what she had missed…hearing her friend laugh. "Now, can I go so I can feed?"

"Yes, go go go. And I want a written account of everything you eat this week and when you eat it."

"Yeah, right. Nice try." Lara hung up and went for the peanut butter and jelly.

Just as she was pushing the pieces of toast together (I only like TOASTED pbjs!) the doorbell rang. She swallowed nervously, and started towards the living room. She turned back and grabbed her sharpest butcher knife.

She slowly walked to the door. She looked through the peephole, her eyes opening wide as she saw the man standing there. She slowly opened the door.

"What the hell do you want?"

"Boy, Kat sure has rubbed off on you," Joe remarked, smiling. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," Lara said, smiling apologetically.

"You look a lot better," he said as he sat on the sofa.

"Thanks," she said, sitting next to him. "What are you doing here?"

"I am coming to beg…for Jordan’s sake. He is miserable, Lara. He loves you so much. All he wants is to be with you."

Lara’s eyes filled with tears. "I can’t, Joe. I can’t be with him. Jamie threatened to all but kill him. I can’t let him take the chance on being hurt." She looked away. "And I doubt he wants me now…after what happened."

"Can’t you let him decide that, Lara?" Joe asked gently, taking her hand. "He is miserable. He performs, but it’s like he’s just going through the motions."

"I don’t know," Lara murmured, her heart breaking.

"Are you gonna press charges against this guy?" Joe asked. She violently shook her head. "Lara, come on. He has harassed you since day one. Jordan told me about that night when he was here and the guy hit you. You have all kinds of proof, including Jordan’s testimony. Call the police. Tell them who it was."

"I’ll think about it," was all she would say. She smiled at him. "What about you and Kat? What will you do about that?"

"I don’t know," he said, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I love her so much. I want to be with her all the time. But now she thinks she can’t trust me. She hates me."

"She doesn’t hate you, Joe. I’ll work on her." She stood. "Do you want me to set you up in the guest room?"

"No, I gotta run." He kissed her cheek. "Call him, Lara."

After Joe left, Lara sat and stared at the telephone. After a long moment, she picked it up and dialed Jordan’s cellphone.

"This is J." She started to cry at the sound of his voice. "Hello?"

"Jordan," she whispered.

"Lara? Oh my God," he said, shock evident in his voice. "How are you? Are you okay? Do you need something?"

"No, Jordan, I’m fine, I swear." She took a deep breath. "Joe stopped by and begged me to call you."

"He WHAT? I swear, Lara, I had nothing to do with it," Jordan said earnestly. Lara smiled.

"I know, honey."

Jordan’s heart leapt at the sound of the endearment. "Lara, can’t I please come see you? I want to talk to you."

"Jordan, I don’t know…I don’t think…"

"Please," he begged. "I am not afraid of him…and if he comes anywhere near me while I am with you I will beat the living shit out of him. I would do that anyway, but Kat talked me out of it."

"Okay," she finally said. "You can come see me. But I am not saying that I want you back."

"You don’t have to. I know you do," he said. "I love you, baby. Don’t forget that."

On his way back to the airport, Joe drove by Kat’s house. He sat in front of it for a long time, looking up at the windows. It was agony being without her. He loved her so much. He wanted to be with her forever.

Kat looked out the window at the strange car in front of her house. She had one hand on the phone to call the police when it slowly drove away.

The next few days were agony for Lara. She expected Jordan to walk in her

door any minute, to be soon followed by Jamie coming to kill one or the both of

them. Kat continued where Joe had left off, trying to convince her to press

charges.

"That fucking prick deserves to be behind bars," Kat argued.

"Can’t you find that slut Sonia? I mean, she knows what an asshole he

is…she could help you out."

"Who says she wants to?" Lara protested.

"Just try, okay? Call their work. And if you won’t, I

will."

The next morning, Lara got up and made breakfast. As she ate her Cocoa

Krispies, she stared at the phone. She slowly walked to her address book and dug

out the number for the office where Jamie and Sonia worked. As she dialed, she

realized that she had no idea what Sonia’s last name was. She simply asked

the receptionist for Sonia, and prayed that there was only one in that

office.

"This is Sonia," a voice said.

Lara paused. "Uh, Sonia? This is Lara."

"Yes?" Sonia said almost coldly.

"I am sorry to bother you at work, but…I…I need your

help."

"And I know how much it pains you to ask," Sonia snapped.

"Look, Sonia, quit being a bitch for five minutes, okay? I helped you

when you needed it, so just listen to me, okay?" Lara yelled, sick of being

walked all over.

"All right," Sonia said, her voice softening.

"I need you to go to the police with me about Jamie."

"What? Are you crazy? He’d kill us both!" Sonia screamed in a

whisper.

"Not if we get him arrested," Lara pointed out.

"Why do you want him arrested? Because he slept around on you?"

"Sonia, you’re not still with him, are you?"

"No…I don’t live with him anymore, but we still go out

every now and then," Sonia said quietly, as if she was ashamed.

"Sonia, listen to me. Stop right now. Do NOT see him again," Lara

said firmly.

"Who are you to tell…"

"Sonia, he raped me. He beat the shit out of me and raped me. And he

threatened that if I told anyone, he’d come after me…and

Jordan."

"Oh my God," Sonia whispered.

"So this is why I need your help. If we can get him behind bars, he

won’t be able to do this to you or me or anyone else," Lara begged.

"Please, Sonia."

Sonia sighed. "Okay. I’ll meet you downtown after work."

Lara met Sonia at the police station, and they went in and asked for the

officer that had brought Lara into the hospital. They sat and talked with him

for over two hours.

"So you are telling me that this Jordan Knight saw the man hit you, and

would be willing to testify to that?" The officer asked Lara. She nodded

slowly.

"I am almost one hundred percent positive," she replied.

They were finally allowed to go. As they walked to their cars, Lara put a

hand on Sonia’s arm.

"Thank you, Sonia. Thank you so much. I need to get Jamie out of my

life. I cannot live my life if I have to look over my shoulder every five

minutes, wondering if he’s following me."

"You’re welcome," she said softly before getting into her

car.

As Lara walked into her house, she wondered if she ever would see

Jordan again. It had been a few days since their conversation, and though she

knew he was very busy, she had expected to see him by now. She sighed to

herself. She knew he didn’t want her. He was just trying to be nice about

it.

She was upstairs changing clothes when she heard her doorbell. She grabbed a

pair of scissors and slowly descended the stairs. She had a weapon handy in

every room; in the bedroom, it happened to be a pair of her sewing scissors.

She peeped through the hole, and saw Kat.

"Why did you ring the bell? You know you can just walk in," Lara

told her.

"Yeah, like that wouldn’t give you a heart attack," Kat

remarked, walking in. "So?"

"Sonia and I went downtown and gave our stories. They’re gonna

call Jordan to ask about that night," Lara said, her heart sinking at the

mere mention of his name.

"Well, he won’t be able to tell them anything."

"Why not?" Lara asked in amazement.

"He and Joe are on their way here now. They should be landing any minute

now. He called to tell me they were coming, and to ask me to make sure you were

home."

"Coming? Here? Now?" Lara gasped, looking around her living room.

"Kat, this place is a mess! I am a mess!" She jumped up.

"Lara, calm down. It’s not like he’s never been here before.

Go up and unmess yourself while I tidy up around here."

Lara ran upstairs and quickly pulled on a nicer outfit. She studied herself

in the mirror. The key scars were still very evident on her face, and she wished

she could go downstairs with a bag over her head. She heard people at the door,

and drew in a ragged breath.

She slowly went down the stairs, and she saw Joe and Jordan at the door.

Jordan looked so handsome, even though he wore a simple white T-shirt and jeans.

Joe smiled at her.

"You look good," he said. She hugged him.

"Thanks, Joe." But her eyes were only for Jordan.

"Um, Kat, can I talk to you outside?" Joe asked, his eyes begging

her to leave their friends inside alone.

"Yeah, sure," she said, smiling at Jordan before following Joe

out.

Lara sat on the edge of the sofa farthest from the door. Jordan sat near

her.

"How are you," he said softly, taking her hand.

"Fine," she said, unable to meet his gaze.

"Joe was right. You look great."

"You don’t have to lie to try to get on my good side," she

snapped. "I know I look awful."

"Honey, the last time I saw you you weren’t eating, and you were

hooked up to all kind of tubes and things, laying on a hospital bed." He

reached up and lightly caressed her cheek. "I don’t think I’ve

ever seen you more beautiful than right now."

She pulled away. "Jordan, what do you want? I know you don’t love

me anymore, so what could you possibly want with me?" Jamie’s words

floated back to her: You ain’t nothing he never saw before, and you

won’t be the last. "You could get some anywhere you want, is that why

you’re here?"

Jordan drew back as if he had been slapped. "Lara, I am here because I

love you, dammit. I have missed you so much, and been so worried."

"Yeah, okay," she said, standing up. "Why don’t you just

go? There are hundred of girls out there who could give you what you need, girl

who aren’t all beat up and used."

Jordan stared at her, realizations washing over him. "You think I

don’t want you because your face is scarred a little? You think I

don’t want you because you were…because…because Jamie raped

you?" He stood quickly and took her in his arms. "The only thing that

could make me turn around and leave you forever is if you said you didn’t

love me. Can you tell me that?"

She looked up into his chocolate eyes and swallowed deeply. Her brain told

her mouth to say the words, but her heart got in the way. "No," she

whispered. "I can’t."

"Okay. So just sit down and shut up for five minutes, okay?" He

ordered. She sat down, and it was then that she noticed the guitar case sitting

by the front door.

"What is that for?"

"That’s why I didn’t come immediately. I have been learning

a song for you." He opened the case and pulled out a beautiful acoustic

guitar. "I’m not very good, and the song is simple, so bear with me,

okay?"

She just stared at him, too surprised to do anything but nod.

He situated himself on the sofa, placed his hands on the right frets and

strings, and began to sing to her.

To hear you say my name

To see you search my eyes

To feel you touch my hand

It more than satisfies

If I was not the first

Just say I’ll be the last

It’s too much to expect

But not too much to ask

Now I can only dream

Of being all you need

And I can only try

To be the reason why

You think about today

And forget about the past

It’s too much to expect

But not too much to ask

Now I can only dream

Of being all you need

And I can only try

To be the reason why

You think about today

‘Cause the past is just the past

It’s too much to expect

But it doesn’t hurt to ask

It’s too much to expect

But it’s not too much to ask.

By the end of the song, Lara was sobbing. She threw herself into

Jordan’s arms, almost impaling herself on the guitar. "Oh,

Jordan!" She wailed. "I love you so much!"

"I love you, too, honey. And I will always love you no matter what

happens, or what has happened, okay?" He pulled back to look at her.

"I want you to marry me."

"M-marry me?" Lara stuttered, sinking back against the sofa in

shock.

"Yes…marry me. Is that such an awful idea?" Jordan asked,

staring at her sadly. He had begun to reach into his pocket, but soon pulled his

hand back out again.

"Oh, no! Of course not!" She said quickly. "I was just a little surprised, that’s all." Tears filled her blue eyes again.

"I would love to marry you. But are you sure? I mean…"Jordan knelt before her, taking her hands in his. "Lara, I never want to lose you again. I want you where I can love you and take care of you, and protect you. I never want you alone again, where someone like that asshole can hurt you so badly." He reached into his pocket once more and pulled out a sparkling diamond surrounded by blue topaz. "Will you marry me?"

"Of course," she whispered, before throwing herself into his arms so violently they toppled onto the floor.

Joe stood on tiptoe, trying to see in the living room windows. Kat sighed and rolled her eyes, sitting down on the top step. "Will you knock it off? You look like a Peeping Tom or something!"

"Well, they’re rolling around on the floor," he observed. Kat jumped to her feet.

"Really?" She squealed, leaning on him as she jumped up to try to see better. She saw Jordan and Lara finally stop kissing, and smiled broadly as Jordan slipped a dazzling ring on her friend’s finger.

"YES!" She shouted, jumping into Joe’s open arms. She hugged him fiercely, then remembered that she hated him. She pulled away. "PLEASE don’t touch me," she snapped. He smiled slyly.

"YOU’RE the one that hugged ME, Princess."

"Stop calling me that!" She said rudely, returning to her seat on the steps. He sat beside her.

"Kat, can’t we stop this fighting? I love you. I miss you so much."

"I don’t love you. I don’t miss you," she lied, her heart breaking so hard she swore he could hear it. "I also don’t trust you."

"Fine!" He yelled, standing up. "I don’t fucking love you either! I was just saying it!" Joe realized he was making no sense whatsoever but refused to give in.

Kat jumped up also. "You know, nothing would make me happier right now than watching you haul your ass out of my town!"

"Nothing would MAKE me happier than hauling it out, and never seeing you again!" Joe replied angrily.

They both froze as the door opened. "And here they are, our best man and maid of honor," Jordan said happily. Lara smiled up at him.

"Won’t they look great strolling down the aisle together?"

The next months seemed to fly by for Lara. She was busy planning her wedding, which would be held in her church there in town. A second ceremony would be held in Boston in Jordan’s childhood church after they returned from their honeymoon in Europe. In between calling caterers and her dressmaker, she was trying her damndest to get Joe and Kat back together. Before, Joe had been a willing participant, but now he was adamant.

"Lara, for the last time, knock it off!" He yelled one day when she called. "I don’t love Kat, she doesn’t love me. We had a great fling but it’s over now. You’re lucky you’re even getting us to walk down the aisle together."

"Joe…if you’d just…" Lara was rewarded with a dial tone in her ear as he slammed the phone down. She sighed and rubbed her temples. She had thought there was no one in this world that was as stubborn as Kat. She had been sorely mistaken.

And to make things worse…she picked up the latest copy of People magazine. There, on the cover, was Ricky Martin, with her best friend on his arm. She sighed again and flipped open to the cover story. Everyone in LA was wondering who this red-haired stranger was that seemed to appear with Ricky Martin wherever he went. Lara was wondering the same thing herself. Who was this Kat?

Kat rolled over, looked at the clock, and groaned. She HAD to get up if she was gonna catch her flight back east. Jordan and Lara’s wedding was the next day. She groaned again, and slowly sat up. She grumbled to herself as she wandered to the shower and turned on the hot water. She had been out late yet again with Ricky Martin, and yet again she had refused to invite him up to her hotel room. Not that she didn’t want him…not that she didn’t think he was hot as hell. But she just couldn’t bring herself to sleep with him. Something seemed to hold her back. She refused to admit it had anything to do with Joe McIntyre, though.

Just as she was about to step into the shower stall, the phone rang. She hurried out to the bedroom to answer it, wrapping a towel around her. "Hello?"

"Carida."

Kat smiled, as she always did when she heard Ricky’s voice at the other end of her phone. "Ricky, I was just about to step into the shower!"

"Wonderful. I’ll be right over."

Kat laughed and sat down on the bed. "So, you’re all packed right? Our flight leaves in like ninety minutes or something."

She heard a sigh at the other end of the phone. "Kat, that is why I am calling. I will not be joining you."

"WHAT?" Kat shrieked, jumping to her feet. The towel piled at her feet, forgotten. "Ricky, you’re supposed to be my date!"

"I know, carida, but I cannot make it. Something has come up."

Kat knew Ricky well enough by now to sense the strange tone in his voice. "Ricky, tell me the truth. Why aren’t you going?"

"I am telling the truth, carida. Something…"

"RICKY!" Kat yelled. "Tell me the fucking TRUTH!"

"Lara called and asked me not to come."

"She WHAT?" Kat shrieked. "That little bitch!"

"No, no, Kat, she is not! She cares about you. She knows, as I do, that you belong with Joe McIntyre."

"Joe McIntyre?" Kat asked, her voice raising five octaves at the name. "I SO do not. I care about you!"

"Kat, I care about you, too. But I have known since we met that your place is with him. Why else would you never sleep with me? You love him, still."

"But…" Kat stammered, feeling her life unravel around her.

"Carida, you will always be special to me, but you belong with him. I must go now. Adios." He hung up.

Kat sat and stared at the phone in her hand. Ricky Martin had just broken up with her. Not because he didn’t care, but because he thought she loved Joe McIntyre. She shook her head and headed back to the shower. Lara was gonna get one hell of an earful when she got back!

Lara squealed as she saw Kat walk through the gate into the airport. She had missed her. "I’m SO glad you’re here!" Lara gave her friend a big hug. "Can you believe that tomorrow I’ll be Mrs. Jordan Knight?"

Kat smiled but said nothing, unwilling to make a scene in the middle of the airport. She held her tongue until they retrieved her luggage and were safely out onto the highway.

"Lara, why the FUCK did you call Ricky? You had no right interfering in my private life!" Kat all but screamed. Lara jumped at the anger in her friend’s voice. She had heard Kat angry, but never directed at her.

"Kat, I’m sorry. I just thought…"

"DON’T think, okay, not when it comes to me. Just don’t think anything." Kat buried her head in her hands. "He dumped me, Lara."

"Oh, Kat, I’m so sorry," Lara said sympathetically, but without feeling one drop of guilt. "Maybe it’s for the best."

"Maybe," Kat agreed as they pulled up in front of Lara’s home. They went inside to an almost empty living room.

"Almost all the furniture is already sold or packed up," Lara said. "Of course, Jordan’s place is fully furnished but he said I could bring along anything I’m attached to, which isn’t all that much. Hope you don’t mind sleeping on air mattresses tonight."

"No, of course not," Kat said, dumping her stuff in a corner. "As long as the shower still works."

Kat went up to take a shower, and Lara quickly dialed a number on the cellphone Jordan had given her. "Okay, sweetie, she’s here. Is he in yet?" She sighed. "Baby, she was really mad at me…I don’t know if this is a good idea. Of COURSE I trust you, but I don’t…okay…okay…we’ll be there. I love you, Jordan. Bye."

Lara walked upstairs and sat in the bathroom as Kat showered. "How ‘bout we go out to Malley’s tonight, for old time’s sake," Lara suggested.

"Ooh that sounds GREAT. I could eat some of Jim’s cooking!" Kat shouted enthusiastically over the sound of the running water. "Will Jordan be there?"

"Um…yeah, I think so. Hey, I’m leaving to get dressed so don’t talk to yourself," Lara said as she left the bathroom. She prayed that her best friend wouldn’t hate her after tonight.

Kat found herself smothered in a huge hug from Jordan almost as soon as she entered the restaurant. "It is SO good to see you, Kat!" He said as he held her tight. "This is just like the first day we all met, huh?"

"Except that Joe’s not here," Lara stated. Kat glared at her but saw only innocence in her friend’s blue eyes.

"So, Kat, what the hell is all this about you and Ricky Martin?" Jordan asked as they sat down. "He’s such a playa."

"No, he’s not," Kat argued. "He’s a really nice guy. But we aren’t really seeing each other anymore," she finished, glaring at Lara again. Lara looked away towards the door. She suddenly jumped to her feet and ran towards the door, jumping into someone’s arms.

"Who’s that?" Kat asked, trying to see the person’s face. Her face grew stormy as she recognized who it was. "Okay. What the fuck is going on?" She asked bluntly.

"What?" Jordan asked innocently as Lara and Joe approached their table.

"Jordan, look who it is! Joe, back in town hours earlier than expected!" Lara said excitedly, taking a seat next to Jordan so Joe would HAVE to sit next to Kat.

"What is all this?" Joe said, standing by the empty chair.

"I just thought it would be nice if we could recreate the night Lara and I first met. Is that such a bad thing?" Jordan said.

"You TOLD me it was an emergency, that you thought Lara wanted to stop the wedding," Joe said angrily.

"You told him THAT?" Lara whispered to Jordan as Kat and Joe looked everywhere but at each other.

"I had to get him here SOMEHOW," he replied.

"Sit down, Joe, please? How can we all sit through a wedding if you two can’t even sit through dinner?" Lara asked, sorrow filling her big blue eyes. The guilt trip worked, and Joe sat down with a sigh.

Throughout the meal, Lara and Jordan tried to carry on a four-way conversation, but ended up doing most of the talking. Finally Lara could take no more. She threw down her napkin and jumped to her feet.

"You are two of the most stubborn people I have ever met! Why can’t you quit being such assholes and realize that you are meant for each other?" She began to cry as the other three stared at her sudden outburst. "I love you both, and I want you to be happy. The only person who could EVER make you happy is the other person! Why can’t you just accept that? And with this baby coming, I need all the support I can get, not my two best friends at each other’s throats all the time!" Lara gasped as she realized what she had said. She turned and ran out of the restaurant, and the other three were too stunned to follow her.

"Baby?" Jordan said in shock.

"I can’t believe she didn’t tell me," Kat said.

"You probably never gave her a chance," Joe said rudely. Kat kicked him under the table.

"A baby," Jordan said again. "Why didn’t she…" a thought crossed his mind. "Oh my God," he said quietly. "She thinks it might not be mine."

"What do you mean?" Joe asked, confused.

"The rape. She was afraid to tell me because she knows there is a chance that the baby is Jamie’s," Jordan said. He stood. "I have to find her."

"We’ll come with you," Kat said, standing also.

"No. You guys go back to Lara’s, in case she would show up there or call. You still have a key, right?" Jordan asked Kat, who nodded. "Okay. I’ll catch up with you later. Call my cellphone or pager if she comes home."

Jordan drove all over the city he knew so well now after months of dating Lara. Well, at least she was still planning on marrying me, he thought as he slowly crawled up and down the streets. His mind was spinning. Would he be willing to raise a child that might not be his own? He decided that he would. After all, that child would be half Lara’s, and that’s all that mattered. A sign advertising riverboat tours caught his eye, and he suddenly knew where she was.

He parked as close to the river as he could get, and began walking, keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of movement. Jordan was about to give up when he saw a flash of white under one of the bridges. Lara had been wearing a white shirt. He slowly approached the dark area, and saw her sitting on the bank. He carefully walked up and sat a few feet behind her.

"We were worried sick, you know," he said finally. She jumped a mile in the air but refused to turn around.

"No reason to be. I can take care of myself."

"There are crazies out here," he reminded her, inching a bit closer.

"I haven’t seen any."

He inched closer. "Lara, when were you going to bring up the fact that you’re pregnant? When you finally started to show? This should be a happy occasion, one that you are happy to share."

She whirled around. "Jordan, this baby could be Jamie’s! I’m sorry if the thought of that isn’t cause for celebration for me."

"Oh, honey…" Jordan moved to sit closer to her, and pulled her into his arms. At first she resisted, but then she sobbed against his shoulder.

"Jordan, what if it is? I want nothing to do with him ever again!"

"Honey, I thought a lot about this while I was driving around looking for you. It would be hard knowing that it WAS his, but that baby is a part of you, too. That’s what we have to remember." He sighed. "When the baby is born, we’ll have paternity tests done. Then we’ll know for sure." He pulled back to look into her face. "Just know that no matter what, I love you, and I’ll love that baby, whether it is physically mine or not."

Kat was pacing in front of the phone at Lara’s while Joe flipped through magazines that were sitting on top of a box that was serving as a coffee table. He picked up a People magazine and froze. There was Ricky Martin, with his arm around Kat, who looked gorgeous in a little black dress that reminded him of the one that he had bought for her.

"Well…doesn’t take you long, does it?" He said, glaring up at her even as his heart was breaking.

"What are you talking about?" She snapped. She saw the magazine in his hands and froze for a split second. "Oh…that."

"Is he as good as I am?" Joe couldn’t help but ask.

"That’s none of your business," she retorted. "Dammit, why doesn’t Jordan call?" The words were barely out of her mouth when the phone rang. She pounced on it. "Hello!" She exhaled a huge sigh of relief. "Oh, thank GOD. Bring her back her immediately so I can beat the shit out of her, please." She hung up. "He found her down by the river."

"Oh, thank goodness," Joe replied, leaning back on his chair with a sigh.

"I’m getting something to drink. Want anything?" Kat asked almost rudely.

"Um, no thanks," Joe said, picking up the People magazine again. As Kat went into the kitchen, Joe just stared at her picture on the cover of the magazine. He missed her so much, and life had been agony without her. He wondered if she had any kind of feelings for him anymore, or if she truly did hate him.

Kat got a pitcher of iced tea out of the refrigerator, and just stood and stared at it. Damn, if Joe didn’t look good. It wouldn’t have been so bad if he didn’t look so freaking FINE!

She poured herself a glass of tea and returned to the living room. Joe had turned on the TV and was aimlessly flipping channels. Kat said nothing, but flopped onto the floor across from the chair where Joe was sitting. About twenty minutes later they heard a car in the driveway and they both jumped to their feet. Lara was the first one in the door.

"Well, we expected to come home and find you two at each other’s throats," she said. Kat ignored her.

"Dammit, Lara, why the hell did you run off like that? You scared me to death!" She yelled.

"I’m sorry, okay? I was just a little upset."

"Obviously," Kat replied, hugging her friend.

Lara looked at the clock. "Okay, Joe, Jordan, I’m gonna have to ask you two to leave."

"What?" Jordan asked.

"It’s eleven-twenty. I refuse to see you the day of my wedding. I don’t need any kind of bad luck. And I know if I don’t kick you out now, we’ll all lose track of time and it will be one-thirty before you’re out of here." She kissed Joe on the cheek and gave Jordan a big hug and kiss. "See you tomorrow. I’ll be the one in white."

Jordan rolled his eyes, smiled at Kat, and then he and Joe left.

"So, did you guys make up?" Lara asked as she and Kat made their way up the steps.

"Hardly. He didn’t even talk to me," Kat said as she began to brush her hair. "He DID, however, see the copy of People."

Lara smiled to herself. She had figured that Joe would be over to help them move if nothing else, and she had left the magazine out, hoping he would see it. "Oh," was all she said.

Lara and Kat hardly slept that night. They were up late talking and laughing, and then Lara was just so nervous that she slept fitfully when she DID finally sleep. Finally dawn came, and she got out of bed.

Lara made a pot of coffee, and went out to sit on the front steps. She wanted to be alone for a while, this last morning of her single life. She stared off into the clouds, thinking about Jordan, about Jamie, about the baby. About ninety minutes later, Kat opened the door and stepped out.

"How long have you been out here?"

"About an hour and a half," Lara replied. Kat groaned.

"You are sick."

Lara followed Kat back in and they took their showers, then went to the hairdresser to get their hair done. They arrived at the church about 35 minutes before the ceremony was to start, and Kat helped Lara into her simple wedding dress. Lara began to pace.

"Kat, what if I’m not wife material?" She asked anxiously.

Kat, who was sitting in front of a small mirror applying makeup, sighed. "Lara, I know NO ONE who is more wife material then you. All you have wanted since I’ve known you is to meet someone wonderful, and set up a home for them. You are SO ready to get married."

"You think so? I mean, I don’t cook real well, I hate to clean…" Lara began ticking off faults on her fingers.

"Um, Lara? This is Jordan Knight. You will probably have a cook and a maid, even a nanny."

"No," Lara said quickly. "No nanny. This baby will be cared for by me and me alone."

Finally it was time for them to make their way down the aisle. Kat gave Lara one last hug and began to slowly walk towards the altar.

Joe swallowed deeply as he watched Kat approach. She wore a long emerald green dress that brought out the beauty of her eyes. Her eyes met his and then quickly looked away.

As Jordan watched Lara follow Kat down the aisle, his heart seemed to stop. She looked so gorgeous in the simple tea-length white dress, with a few baby white roses woven through her hair. She took her place beside her, and he looked down into her blue eyes and smiled.

The pastor began the service and it went smoothly, until he reached the point where he asked if anyone had a reason why Jordan and Lara shouldn’t be joined together. There was silence for a moment, and then Lara said,

"I do."

"WHAT?" Jordan said, turning to look at her in amazement.

"WHAT?" Joe and Kat said together. Lara turned to face them.

"Yes, I do. If you two don’t make up right this second, I’m not going to get married."

Kat and Joe gaped at her. Jordan said, "Now, honey, I understand you are going through a lot of physical changes right now, and…"

"That has nothing to do with it!" Lara snapped. She turned back to Joe and Kat. "Well?"

Joe opened his mouth and closed it again, and for once Kat was speechless. "Lara…um…uh…" she stammered.

"Oh, for God’s sake," Lara sighed, rolling her eyes. "Joe, you know you shoulda listened when Kat asked you not to call Jordan, though I am grateful you did, right?"

"Yeah," Joe said.

"And you really love her right?"

"Yeah," Joe replied softly, stealing glances at Kat.

"Kat, you know you shouldn’t have jumped all over Joe’s shit…excuse me, Reverend…when he called Jordan. You shoulda talked it over with him instead of blowing up. You know that, right?"

"Um, yeah…" Kat said, blushing.

"And you love him, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Kat said, looking into his baby blues and melting inside.

"Okay, then. Is this settled now?" They both nodded. "Okay. Continue." She turned back to the preacher. Jordan closed his mouth, which had dropped open when she had first spoken, and turned back also.

The service continued, and when the preacher gave the command to kiss the bride, Jordan took his wife in his arms and kissed her, as the best man put his arms around the maid of honor.

"Forgive me?" Joe said to Kat.

"Oh, yes, if you forgive me. Joe, I was only dating Ricky Martin. Nothing ever happened between us, you gotta believe me."

"Oh, I do. No one could ever do you like me."

"Joseph McIntyre, of all…" Kat began angrily, but was silenced by a kiss from the only man who was right for her.

The End

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