Part
5
Alex peeked out the door into the room. She walked
out wearing Nick's huge shirt and was glad he wasn't there at the moment. Hanging from the headboard was one of the
most beautiful dresses she'd ever seen.
"Oh, Nick," she whispered to herself.
"Lobby at seven is it, Mr. Lachey?" Alex asked the empty room.
Alex exited the elevator and looked for Nick or
Drew. Neither of them was in sight.
"Miss Devereaux?" a man asked, walking up
to her. "Mr. Lachey has asked for me to escort you to his table. If you'll
follow me," the British man said. Without waiting for an answer, the man
started walking away briskly. Alex followed the host and noticed how the eyes
of all the men followed her until Nick rose to greet her. Besides Nick and
Drew, the other two members of 98 Degrees were there. Alex pretended she'd
never seen or heard of either of them.
"Alex, I'd like you to meet Jeff and Justin.
Guys, this is Alexandria du Pres," Nick made the introductions.
"Nice to meet you both," Alex murmured to
Justin and Jeff, who both smiled.
"You look beautiful," Nick said quietly
so only she could hear.
"Alex, did you make a doctors
appointment?" Drew asked, making conversation.
"No. Nick made one for me."
"Good. I doubt anything will be wrong. But
it's a good idea to get checked out anyway."
"Yeah, it is," Alex agreed, not looking
at Nick.
"Where are you from?" Justin asked,
looking up from the menu he was holding.
"Well, I was born in Minneapolis, but I've
lived all over, most recently here. I'm only here to get some things I left
behind when I moved last week."
"Army brat?" Jeff asked.
"No. My family just moved around a lot. Liked
the change."
"That must have been hard for you growing
up," Nick remarked.
"A little. On the bright side, I have friends
all over the world and I was always instantly popular at every school I went
to."
"If you don't mind my asking," Jeff
started, "how old are you?"
"How old do I look?"
"Eighteen?" the four of them asked in
unison.
"Plus four and you'll be right."
"Twenty-two," Drew said. "We were
close." Their waiter interrupted their conversation
"What can I get you miss?"
"I'll have a cheeseburger and fries if you
serve them here," Alex said.
"We do miss," the waiter said with a
smile.
"Good."
"And to drink?"
"Um. Coke."
"Cherry, classic, or diet."
"Uh, classic?" Alex guessed, not caring
what she got.
"And you sir?" he asked Nick.
"The same." Alex didn't notice what the
others ordered; she was too busy smiling shyly at Nick, who simply grinned
back.
Dinner was basically polite conversation, and a lot
of questions Alex had to answer. At the first yawn, which came from Drew,
Justin suggested everyone go to their rooms.
"I'll sleep on the couch," Nick said
after he'd closed the door.
"No, it's your room. I wouldn't want to
impose."
"You're not. That's part of my taking car of
you . . . I always keep my promises, Alex."
"But-"
"No `but's! If it makes you feel better, we'll
switch off. Now go to sleep. Everything will be fine," Nick said, hanging
his coat and tie on the back of a chair.
"Okay," Alex said. She had neatly folded
the clothes he'd given her earlier to wear and had sat them in a neat pile on a
chair. Nick had taken the top blanket off the huge bed and a pillow. "Uh,
is it okay if I wear the clothes I had on earlier?"
"Yeah, of course. Tomorrow before we go to the
doctor we'll go downstairs to get you a normal outfit. Then we'll go shopping
to get you some things after the doctor."
"I'll pay you back," Alex said.
"You don't have to," Nick replied.
"Yes, I do. I can't just let you foot the bill
for everything. It just wouldn't be right."
"Look, I promised I'd take care of you and I
will. You can stay with me and the guys as long as you like."
"Thank you, but I couldn't. Like I said
before, I wouldn't want to impose."
"You're not. Now where was it you wanted to
go? Minnesota?" Alex simply nodded. "Now you can stay with us and go
on the road with us, or you can have me buy you a plane ticket to
Minneapolis."
Alexandria stood there, not sure if she should pick
the road trip or the plane ticket. She knew she wanted to spend more time with
Nick and the others, but she didn't want to be a burden.
"If I were you," Nick whispered, walking
over to her, "I'd choose the road trip." Still, Alex knew if she took
the airline ticket offered, she'd regret it for the rest of her life.
"Okay, fine. Road trip it is." Alex was
grinning the biggest grin she'd ever grinned before.
"Good. Now go change. We have a busy day ahead
of us tomorrow." Alex nodded, grabbed the pile of clothes and once in the
bathroom, changed slowly into the baggy clothes.
When Alex walked out of the bathroom, she found
Nick lying on the couch trying to sleep.
"Don't worry. I'm not asleep yet."
"Oh, well good night then," Alex, said.
"Are you sure you don't want the bed? I mean after all, this is your hotel
room."
"I'm sure. Just go to sleep. Like I said,
you'll need your sleep."
"Good night, Nick," Alex said quietly as
she climbed onto the huge bed.
"Good night Alex."
