Chapter Four
Lance couldn't stop grinning when he pulled out a key to unlock the door. For the past little while, the four of them had been dropping hints about Brooklyn, talking about how cute she was, and how nice she seemed. Chris kept mentioning how he wanted to meet her. By that day, JC was more than annoyed by the way that everyone kept whistling 'New York, New York' almost non-stop. Too bad he didn't realize what they were trying to tell him.
The door swung open, and he raised a finger to his lips, telling Brooklyn to be quiet. She hid her giggle and walked behind him, stopping before they got towards the sitting room of the hotel room. She pressed up against the wall and grinned to herself. Those butterflies that she had felt were gone by the time that she had walked inside. Now she was filled with a sense of anticipation. "Hey," Lance said as she listened to him walk in.
"You finished everything?" a smooth voice asked. Brooklyn immediately identified it as Justin's. She may have only heard it once over the phone (and a few times over her stereo system), but she could recognize it easily. She could just imagine Lance nodding.
There was a bit of silence before he cleared his throat. "Oh, Jace, I forgot to tell you. There was a delivery for you today. Just got here, actually. I went and picked it up for you. You want it?"
"I guess," he said in a bored tone.
He motioned to Brooklyn, who stepped into the doorway and leaned against the frame, covering her mouth as she yawned. "Well, don't sound too excited to see me. I mean, I finally got my ass out of my house and onto a plane to see you, and this is the thanks I get? I love you too, JC." All eyes turned towards her. For never seeing her in person before, the three remaining men loved the sight that they had.
They looked her over, admiring her denim clad legs and the tight top that she was wearing. A pair of sunglasses were raised onto her head, pushing back her shorter honey brown hair. Finally, JC looked over at her. He was in shock. There was no better way to describe it. His eyes practically devoured her as she grinned back at him, touching her necklace lightly.
It didn't take long for him to get out of the chair he was sitting in and make his way over to her. His arms went around her trim waist and he picked her up, listening to her delightful laugh. "What are you doing here?" he asked, putting her back down. His hands remained on her hips as he looked at her. "Did you cut your hair?"
She smirked at him. "No, JC. It happened when I was sleeping. I don't know how it happened. Of course, I cut my hair. That has to be one of the most ridiculous questions that I've ever heard, and why am I here? I was waken up this morning by my wonderful neighbor," she said, looking over at Lance who just smiled, "who told me that he had a flight and a hotel room booked for me and I had to get to the airport in a few hours. I think he planned it that way," she added in a stage whisper as she leaned towards him.
The two of them were busy staring at each other, so they missed the happy looks on his friend's faces. He let go of her reluctantly and she turned to look around the room. "Should I be running for my life yet, or am I safe for a little while?"
"A week with us? If I were you, I'd head back to the airport and hop on the first plane back to Nashville," Justin said, smiling up at her. "So, I FINALLY get to meet the gorgeous Brooke Turner," he added before he stood up and embraced her.
She laughed into his shoulder. "Would you like to come home with me? I'd like to keep you. You're better than those two for the ego. It's nice to finally meet you, too, cutie." When she was finally released by him, she was picked up again. "This is becoming a habit for you guys. Hey, Joe, I brought the leather pants with me," she said when she pulled back, raising her eyebrows at him. Her green eyes sparkled brightly at him.
"You're small, you can fit in my suitcase. Want to come on the tour with us?" he asked when he heard the word 'leather'. "Jace, how could you hide someone as cute as her from us? Next time you need a date for something, ignore those two and call me, okay?"
Brooklyn started to laugh, hard enough to wrap her arms around her stomach and dip her head. "Sure, but only if you want to face the wrath of Mia." Both Lance and JC shuddered when they heard her name. "She's not that bad, guys. Give her a break, would you? She's just a little...scary." She turned to look at the last person in the room, and put her hands on her hips. Her eyes caught his before she smiled. "And you have to be Chris. You also have to be the one that made the underwear comment all those months ago."
He smiled from where he was sitting. "That was probably me. How was your flight?"
"Boring as always, and the food sucked."
The two men that knew her the best both found something wrong with that, but Lance was the one to comment on it. JC was still shocked that she had come out to see him. "Brooke...I may be wrong, but I think you told me a long time ago that you don't eat airline food. You hate it."
Her shoulders moved in a shrug as she walked over to the chair that JC had been sitting in and swung her legs over the arm, resting her elbow on the other arm. "Just looking for something new to complain about. So, are you going to sit down or should I just watch you standing there, trying to figure out if I'm really here, and wondering how long I'm going to be here, even though it was already mentioned once."
That got JC in action. He moved so that he was sitting on the floor against her chair. He looked up at her with bright eyes. "I'll bite. How long as you here for?" he asked.
"I'm here for a week, according to Lance. It was supposed to be my vacation week, but when I called Mia to warn her about the possible rumors that could come up, she booked me for the Late Show. Just my luck, too. It's only one day, so I guess I can deal." She shrugged again before yawning one more time. "So, what are you all up to today? Don't let me ruin any plans or anything," she said with a smile.
Chris grinned from the couch. "Actually, we were waiting for Lance to go and pick you up. We don't have anything planned for today, other than dinner."
She took her legs off of the chair and put them on the floor beside JC, looking at him with a grin. "You are my new best friend. You just mentioned food. I love you. Marry me? No, wait...I decided that I'm never getting married, so that's out of the question. Hm...how about a one night stand? I can deal with that."
"Oh, this is going to be a fun week," JC said with a groan as she was talking to Justin. She didn't break from what she was saying when she kicked him on the leg, breaking off to laugh with the younger singer.
Brooklyn suddenly stood up and stretched her arms above her head. Five collective breaths were taken in when they saw her trim and tanned stomach. "Well, if y'all excuse me for a little bit, I think I'm going to go change and everything. Sitting on a plane for a few hours ain't what it's all cracked up to be," she said, drawing out her accent to an extreme. Justin couldn't help grinning when he heard it; it reminded him of home.
JC looked up at her before moving to take her old place. "Really? So in other words, you'll be back in..." He checked his watch briefly. "An hour and a half, right?" he asked.
Slowly, she turned to him and raised her eyebrows as she put her hands on her hips. He mimicked the movement and held her gaze. "You know what? Twenty bucks says that Brooke'll be back in twenty minutes," Lance said quietly. He had already caught the scent of her freshly washed hair when he picked her up, so he had an advantage of JC. There was no way that she was going to take another shower.
Now, both of their attentions were towards the blonde singer. "You're on," he said with a grin.
Her shoulders moved in a shrug as she moved towards the door. "Whatever you guys say. Whatever you say," her voice echoed as she opened up the door and let herself out. Giggling as she made her way to her room, she unlocked the door, smiling at one of the men that was further down the hallway, no doubt a security guard. He smiled back as she disappeared into her room and made a beeline for her suitcase.
Unzipping it, she dug through her clothes, looking for something fresh to wear. She settled on a long black skirt and a peach country style blouse. She was still laughing to herself as she found a white tank top to wear underneath. She changed her clothes, taking her time before she opened up her backpack and from the bottom, took out her small black cowboy hat. She removed the piece of plastic that kept it in shape from inside and put it on the bed before she brushed out her hair, looking in the mirror.
Green eyes turned towards the silver watch she was wearing on her wrist before she smiled. She had another five minutes to kick back and relax, she noticed as she put on her hat, and fluffed her hair from underneath it. Since there was nothing to keep her attention in the room, she pulled on her cowboy boots and came out of her room, going to lean against the wall of whoever's room she had just been in. One ankle crossed over the other as she stared at her watch and counted off the minutes. When it came down to thirty seconds, she knocked on the door before trying to open it. It opened without a problem. Normally, she would have been concerned, but with the amount of security around, it didn't bother her as much. Her cowboy boots made a small muffled sound as she walked back to the sitting room. "So, who wants to move so that I can have a seat?" she asked, smiling from where she was standing.
Like last time, all eyes turned towards her. "One comment about the hat, Lance, and I will personally head down to one of the shops and buy you one," she added, as Chris moved over on one of the couches. She took the place beside him and smiled. "What are you, the only real gentleman in the room right now?" she asked him, laughing lightly.
"If you want to believe that," he shot back with a grin. "You look cute. No one can tell that you're a country singer at all."
"That's what I figured," she said as she tipped the brim of her hat towards him. "Believe me, I'm more comfortable in this than anything else that I own. I'm a country girl, born and raised."
From across the room, JC watched the two start a conversation, mainly Chris asking her about her hometown and her life. Brooklyn answered every question thrown at her, not even hesitating when he brought up her parents. He couldn't stop himself from thinking about how he didn't like the way that his friend was acting. Brooklyn, despite being as tough as she was, was incredibly innocent, and he could tell that Chris was very subtly flirting with her.
Not that it should bother him so much. He knew that the two of them flirted like it was going out of style. Hell, most of the time, they flirted with each other, but this was different. This was different because it wasn't him. He let his eyes darken slightly before smiling.
It wasn't something that he should have to worry about. He was glad that Brooklyn got along so well with his friends. It was nice to see her open up and actually take a liking to someone.
Sometimes, he wished that the liking was just a little stronger and directed towards him.
The afternoon and dinner went by like a flash for the six people. Brooklyn didn't think that she had laughed so hard in her life, and she was really beginning to enjoy herself. She had reservations about going out to meet all of them when Lance informed her that he had booked a flight for her, but it was nice to meet new people, even if she had talked to all of them except Chris before.
She had immediately connected with each of them on different levels. Justin and her got along fine, talking about Tennessee most of the time. They both had fond memories of the state, and were more than happy to share them. Her and Joey had clicked almost immediately, and had spent some of the evening engaged in a deep conversation that no one else could understand. Chris...he was another story altogether. She liked him from the moment that she met him, and found that she could talk to him about anything, on any level. He seemed to understand where she was coming from, and he could tell that she was far older than her twenty five years.
After dinner, they had all moved into Brooklyn's room, kicking back and relaxing on the two beds. She was spinning her hat on one finger when a knock came at her door. With a weary sigh, she stood up and opened it, smiling at the young man. "I have a delivery for you, Miss Turner," he said with a smile before handing over a small box. She thanked him and tipped him with the last five dollar bill that she had in her pocket.
When the door shut and she came back to the bed, JC looked at her like she was crazy. "Uh...New York? I know that you like to be nice to everyone, but isn't five dollars a little much for delivering a small box?" he asked, scratching the side of his head.
She laughed at the age old gesture of confusion before shaking her head. "Of course not. I've learned that if you tip big, you get better service. I'm just smart that way," she said with a grin before looking down at the box. She rolled over so that she was on her stomach and looked for a return address. "Huh, that's funny. It doesn't say where it's from," she said to herself before shrugging. Her fingers worked at pulling off the white paper that covered it. In her hand laid a small silver box.
"What is it?" Chris asked from the other bed, looking at the box curiously.
"I don't know. Just a sec." She ran her thumbnail around the tape that kept the lid secure before taking it off. Moving the cotton pieces to the side, she screamed suddenly and tossed the box on the ground, sitting up. "I don't know who would think that's funny, but whoever it is, he's obviously a sick person," she said lowly, trying to control her breathing.
JC's brow furrowed and reached for the box hesitantly, wondering if something was going to come crawling out or jump at him. When nothing did, he pushed aside the cotton like she had, and swallowed thickly when he saw what was staring back at him.
Normally, something that beautiful wouldn't bother either of them, but the fact that they had it in their possession...it brought back too many memories. "They said that it was listed as evidence. It wasn't supposed to leave there," he said quietly.
"Well, what is it?"
From inside the box, JC picked out the item as Brooklyn hid her eyes, pulling her knees up to her chest to drop her forehead on them. "It was her engagement ring, or it looks very close to it," he whispered. It was very close to the same one. A platinum band, with gold accents on the side. The large diamond caught the light of the room and reflected it for them to see. "The police officers that we dealt with told us that the ring was listed as evidence, since it was at the scene-"
"My living room, not the scene, JC," Brooklyn said, her voice muffled from where her face was hidden.
"Sorry, it's easier to refer to it that way. Anyway, the ring was used in the...incident and was supposed to be logged in for evidence. Brooklyn and Tim weren't supposed to see it again." He was choosing his words carefully so that he wouldn't upset her. "I don't know, but it looks like it. It's probably just some idiot thinking that he's funny, New York," he said, reaching over to put his hand comfortingly on her back.
Her head finally raised and with a shaking hand, she reached out towards him. "Let me see it. I can tell if it's the same one. There was a small scratch on the inside when Tim got it resized to fit my finger. It was half a size too big for me, and he got it done before he gave it to me." He was reluctant, but finally let go of the ring to drop it in her palm. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes before she opened them and raised the ring. She spun it slowly, looking at the inside of the band before she threw it down again. It bounced underneath the other bed and stayed under there. "It's the same one," she said in a dull tone. "The scratch is on it. No one knew about it, so they couldn't recreate it like that. I didn't even notice until he told me about a week before...before it all happened. Excuse me for a moment," she said before raising and walking towards the bathroom.
The entire room was silent until JC pulled out his wallet curiously and flipped through it. With a nod, he moved towards the door and opened it, sticking his head out. "Hey, can you come here for a sec?" he asked, gesturing for one of the guards. "Uh...something's happened to Brooklyn and I was wondering if we could get one guard to stay by her door and follow her when she goes anywhere. She did the same favor for me countless times, so I'm sure that we can." From his wallet, he pulled out the folded picture that he had taken out of her old truck and handed it to the guard. "If that man comes anywhere near this door, or anyone who looks remotely close to him, DO NOT let them come near her, do you understand? That's her ex-fiancé and you've already heard the story about what happened between them. Thanks." He went back in and shut the door, putting his wallet back in his back pocket. It was hard for him to remember that Brooklyn did, indeed, have a first name, and that he would have to use it around other people.
As he sat back down, he reached for the ring and tossed it to Justin, who wanted to see what the whole deal was about. "Wow, now that's a rock," he said, turning it slightly. "She managed to hide this from the press? No way."
"She took it off when she wasn't at her house." Lance's quiet response hung in the air for a moment. They were all silent again before he stood up and walked over to the bathroom door. He knocked on it softly, praying that she wasn't doing something that he didn't want to know about. "Brooke, are you okay?"
The door opened, and she emerged, in a pair of track pants and a tank top. "Of course. I just went to go and change," she said, looking at him like he was crazy. "Oh, you meant about the ring? I'm fine about it. It's just a piece of crap, anyway. It's fake, Justin," she said with a small smile as she took her old place back.
He looked up from the ring with a shocked look. "You're kidding? You were wearing a fake diamond? That's got to suck."
"Not really. The band is real, but the diamond is actually the fake part. The ring was still expensive...if he didn't steal it off of an old lady or something," she added with a frown. "And I wouldn't put it past him. There's a lot that I didn't know about him, and now I do. I only wish that I knew sooner."
She was about to say something when the phone beside her bed rang. Everyone saw how cautious she was when she picked it up, but her face melted into a smile. "Hey, Mia," she said happily. Both JC and Lance got horrified looks on their faces. "What...I'm not saying that. I'm not doing that, either," she said, her face beginning to turn red. "Mia, you didn't!" She covered the mouthpiece and looked over at JC. "Did she pinch your ass?"
He nodded fearfully. "Three times. She's got a tight grip, too." The room exploded into laughter as Brooklyn turned back to the phone.
"Mia, you're horrible. I told you to keep your hands off of him. I thought that you were obsessed with my brother, anyway. No, I will not pinch his nor anyone else's ass for you. There's a lot I'll do for you, but sexual harassment isn't one of them, sweetie. So, what do you have for me for Letterman?" she asked, reaching for a piece of paper and a pen. As she nodded and "uh-huh"ed her way through the conversation, the five men in the room listened carefully. Everyone now and then, Brooklyn would burst into laughter or turn bright red. By the time she hung up, Chris was shaking his head.
Brooklyn raised her head to look at him with a questioning look at the movement as she put the paper off to the side. "Who was that?"
"Her? That was Mia Coltrain, my publicist/media specialist...whatever you want to call her. She does it all."
Now Joey spoke up. "I'd be scared to see the two of them together. THAT was your best friend? The one that...accosted Jace?' Brooklyn nodded her head with an evil grin. "Remind me that I never want to meet that chick in my life."
It was her head that shook this time. "She's a big sweetheart. She just...goes a little guy crazy most of the time. Lance got off easy, but JC? Obviously he got the short end of the stick. I think she has a thing for him." She reached for the ring from Justin and stared at it for a moment.
"Brooke?" Lance asked as he watched her. She looked up at him, and down at her hand when he nodded towards it. Forcing herself to laugh, she moved the ring from where she was trying to put it on her finger.
"It's a normal reaction, I guess." Without hesitation, she took the ring and aimed, letting it bounce on the edge of the trashcan before it hit the inside with a loud clang. "Don't have to look at that piece of crap anymore."
The conversation died down after a little while, and one by one, they started to drift out of her room, before it was only her and JC. She smiled hesitantly at him, moving so that she was sitting against the headboard, a pillow in her lap. "Are you sure you're going to be okay tonight? I'll stay with you if you want."
She wanted to say yes. Her mouth opened and almost sounded out the word before she stopped. That same wave of confusion covered her, and a frown appeared on her face. It was hard enough to make her way through her muddled thoughts when he wasn't there, but to have him staying in the same room as her? And she knew that it just wouldn't be the same room. It would be the same bed, too. He was concerned about her, and that was one way of voicing his concerns.
When she came to her answer, she knew that she was going to kick herself. "You'd better not. I know that there's no one around, but still, rumors get started somehow, and that's the last thing that either of us need. I'll be fine. Since when haven't I been able to take care of myself."
Even though it was a rhetorical question, his eyebrows raised in question. "Do I have to remind you? You say that you can take care of yourself, but the last time that you told me, you showed up at my room, covering in blood and crying so bad that you were shaking. I'm worried, New York. This should have more of an affect on you, and you're acting like it's nothing. This is something, New York, and it happens to be a big something."
Groaning, she slipped down on the bed so that she was laying against the other pillow. Her brilliant eyes turned towards the ceiling. "JC, you may think that I didn't take care of myself that day, but you have to remember, I did kick a little ass that day, and kicking that little bit of ass was what kept me alive. If I hadn't knocked him unconscious, there would be a good chance that I wouldn't be here, talking to you right now." She took a deep breath and cursed her for her next action. She put her hand over his, and felt even more confused at the onslaught of emotions that came to her in a wave. "I'll be fine, JC. You should know that by now. Yes, seeing that ring bothers me, and yes, whoever did that is an ass, but there's nothing that I can do about it, and there's nothing that you can do about it. I know that you already arranged for security for me, and I thank you for that, but I don't need it. I really don't."
"New York."
"Please, just understand what I'm trying to say, all right? Now go get some sleep. You look like you need it." She watched as he walked out of the room before her head slammed back into the pillow. Her arms went up to put the other pillow back in its place before she took a deep, shuddery breath.
There was no way that what she was thinking could have happened. Her hand reached out for the phone before she could stop herself, and she dialed Mia's telephone number, waiting for her to pick up. "Mia, I'm sorry to wake you up, but I have sort of a weird question for you."
"Shoot, and you owe me big time."
Brooklyn laughed softly. "I'll name my first born after you. Listen, you get all the news on Tim, right?"
On the other end, Mia grumbled for a few moments before she heard a lamp switch on. "Oh, you mean Tim, rat bastard, asshole of the century, stupid idiot, chauvinistic pig, sexist freak, gonna kick his ass if I see him again, Croft? That was his middle name, wasn't it? Why do you want to know, Brooke. You said that you didn't want to hear anything about him."
She moved on the bed so that she could look towards the window, the curtains still open. "Well, it was close enough to his middle name, I suppose. I was wondering...did you hear anything about him getting out of jail or anything? I mean, I know that he's supposed to be in there for a life sentence, with no parole, but...I was just wondering if someone got him a deal or something."
Mia's response was slow and calculated. "No," she said, drawing out the word. "I haven't heard anything like that. Is something going on, Brooke, because if there is, you need to tell me."
"No, no, nothing's wrong. I was just wondering, that's all. Thanks, Mia."
"No problem. Good night."
She hung up the phone and sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. He wasn't out of jail as far as they could tell, and he was going to stay there for a long time. Twenty five years was a life sentence, wasn't it, she asked herself before rolling over. That sounded right, and with no chance at parole...she was safe for quite awhile.
That didn't explain how the ring got to her room, she thought as a tear slipped down her cheek. It hurt to lie to all of them, even if she had just met them. She was worried, and she was scared. Who wouldn't be? A large piece of her pass that she wasn't supposed to have or that she was trying not to remember had showed up without warning. A package had been delivered for her, the boy had said.
Brooklyn never liked doing detective work, and she wasn't about to call down to the front desk, even if it would make her sleep better at night. It was enough to know that there was a large security guard standing outside her door, and wouldn't let her out of his sight. It helped a little. Not enough to count.
In the morning, she woke up when she felt someone pick up her hand. Trying to hide her smile, she pretended to be asleep as her hand was pulled over towards something or other. Whoever it was tried to be careful with her, but the contact had immediately woken her up. She mumbled in her sleep for effect and rolled over a little, giving the person a better chance at what they were doing.
It was hard not to laugh when the person stopped for a moment. She could tell that someone was looking down at her. Sighing, a small smile filtered onto her face like she was having a good dream. She tried not to let the smile get any bigger as her finger hit the edge of a glass bowl softly. The person cursed and she recognized the curse immediately. She still didn't open her eyes or show Chris that she was awake. She couldn't believe that he was going to even attempt to do this to her, she thought as he started again.
Even without her eyes open, she knew what he was trying to do. Hiding her snicker, she grasped the bowl when he tried to put her hand in it and tossed the warm water in his general direction. Her eyes opened and she smirked at him. "Nice try, but you can't best the master at this trick," she said in a tired voice, yawning as she stretched her arms above her head.
Chris looked down at her dejectedly, covered in water before he sat down on the edge of her bed. "I thought you were asleep."
"Woke up the minute that you touched my hand. Really, that's an old trick. Out of all the pranks I've heard you pulling, this is pretty amateur, don't you think?" She took his dry hand and pulled herself up into a sitting position. "The old hand in the bowl of warm water to see if you can make the other person wet the bed...please. I've pulled that far too many times on my brother."
He looked interested when she said that. "Really? Does it actually work? I've never been able to pull it off yet. The person always wakes up and I almost always end up being covered with water, like this morning," he added, pouting.
Her eyes rolled as she yawned again. "It works, but not all the time. Usually, Austin just woke up with a wet hand, not a wet bed. I've got some that are far better than that, and they are so simple," she said before throwing off the covers and standing up to stretch her back. They both winced when it popped three times. "That's what I needed," she said before reaching for the robe she had thrown across the other bed the night before. "So, how has your morning been, besides this?"
"Besides finding out that I have to change clothes AGAIN?" he asked. "Right, you weren't there. I was bugging Justin, and somehow, I ended up with toothpaste all over my shirt. This is not my morning. It wasn't all bad, and I'm starving, but this bites."
Her head nodded. "Is anyone else up yet, or was I the only one to be tortured by you this early?"
"You're the FIRST one. There's a big difference. Hey, why don't you get dressed, I'll get change, and you and I will go down for breakfast. There's nothing else to do until everyone wakes up, and I'm bored. Very bored, Brooke. Can't we please do something?" he asked, pouting again.
"The pout does nothing for you, cutie. You're irresistible enough as it is," she teased him. "Yeah, we can do that. Give me a half hour, and I'll be ready. I'll just jump in for a quick shower." He nodded and stood up, thinking about something before he reached for her and wrapped his arms around her, soaking her quickly. "Thanks, Chris," she said sarcastically before she picked out some clothes and went into the bathroom.
It was one of the quickest showers that she had taken in a long time, about five minutes. She was in and out at the snap of her fingers. Getting into her jeans and a tank top didn't take very long, and by the time that she walked back into the main part of her room, Chris was waiting for her, sitting on the bed. "You ready?" he asked, looking her up and down.
She smiled and reached for her wallet, throwing it into her purse. "The age old elevator stare. I feel special. Thanks. We can go now." He hurried to open the door for her, and two bodyguard immediately appeared behind them, keeping closer to Brooklyn than they were to Chris. "Wow, this is a little unnerving. I feel like I'm Charles Manson or something."
Chris turned to smile at her. "Not used to this? I thought that you went on tour all the time," he said.
"I normally do big tours, but security is really lax. Fans don't really follow me anywhere. I'm pretty lucky, I guess," she said, as they stepped into the elevator. "I don't know how you could survive like this. The only time I have a security guard with me is to help me get in and out of a venue. I can go shopping with one and without a disguise and no one really bothers me. I guess our genres really are different."
He shrugged and pressed the button for the lobby when security joined them. "No, not really. Think of it this way. We're both singing, we're both performing, we're both making money and doing something we love. It's just that the lifestyles are different, that's all. You don't have screaming girls in your face twenty four seven."
Brooklyn started to laugh, thinking about something that JC had said to her a long time ago. "Nah, mainly forty year old guys that like to fantasize about putting their cowboy boots under my bed." She started to hum 'Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under' with a slight chuckle. "It's more fun that you'd think."
"What about Jace putting his boots under your bed?" he asked innocently. Brooklyn looked back at him, confused. "I just thought that there was something going on with you two. You seem pretty close."
elevator came to a stop, and they waited for the doors to open before walking out. One person gawked at the two of them. They smiled and continued on their way before someone could ask for an autograph from either one of them. They were seated in the downstairs restaurant and given their menus as Brooklyn thought of a proper answer. "We're close, yes. We're friends, but that's it. It's not like we're dating or anything. I'm not even ready for a relationship yet. Truth be told, I'm swearing off love AND lust. It's just too much trouble for me."
"You can't live that way for the rest of your life," he warned her, taking a sip of his water.
Brooklyn rolled her eyes and looked towards him. "Chris, answer me honestly here. Do you have a girlfriend right now?" He shook his head. "When was your last actual relationship? One that counted, not a one night stand."
She expected that he was going to have to think about, but the answer came quickly. "A year and a half ago, why?"
"You've been doing fine without another woman in your life. I can do just as well without a man in my life. It's...it's hard being alone, I'll admit to that. Maybe because I was with someone for so long, it's weird to wake up and not have someone's arms around me, or someone calling to see how my day was. I deal, though, and I'm fine with it. I'm happier without a relationship."
He chuckled lowly when the waiter came, breaking off their conversation. They both ordered breakfast, and coffee, having it poured for them instantly. The waiter left the two of them alone. "Brooke, I've known you for less than twenty four hours. I don't really know you, but there's something that I see about you that makes me wonder." She motioned for him to go on. "I can see the confusion and hesitance in your eyes when you say that you don't want a relationship. I saw that look when you were talking about JC. You can't hide your feelings as well as you think."
Groaning, she resisted the urge to drop her head into her hands. "Please. I don't have any feelings for him."
"You're lying to yourself and you know it." A half smile appeared on his face. "You can deny it all you want to yourself, but I can see the truth. I've always been good at reading people. You're pretty easy to read. I'm not calling you transparent. It's taken me a lot of years to perfect the craft of reading people, and it's almost like another job. You're lying. You have feelings for him, but you're confused."
She stuck her chin out defiantly and stared at him with cold eyes. "And hypothetically, what if I am? What do you suggest I do?"
His head shook slowly. "There's nothing hypothetical about this."
"Hypothetically."
"Fine, hypothetically speaking, if you have feelings for him, act on them. How do you know that he doesn't have the same feelings for you? How do you know that he hasn't had them for a long time? You don't know these things, and that's the problem. You THINK you do, but you don't. I don't know the whole story, either. All I know is the way that you two act around each other. I've seen how comfortable you are with each other."
She shrugged. She seemed to have been doing a lot of that lately. "Yeah, we're comfortable with each other, but that's nothing. I'm comfortable around him, that's true. I'm also comfortable around Mia, around Joe, my manager, around Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. I'm comfortable around my brother, around Molly at the diner, around my next door neighbor, Gina. I'm comfortable around you, because you haven't given me any reason not to be. So? Does that mean that I'm interested in you?"
He waited for her to put a little sugar in her coffee and stir it for a moment before putting the spoon back down with a small clatter. He noticed that she had drawn the spoon along the edge, rather than tap it like most people. Chris knew proper etiquette when he saw it, and she was showing it. She raised the mug to her lips and took a small sip, her eyes never leaving his. "No, that doesn't mean that you're interested in me," he said as she put her mug back down on the saucer. "Thank you, though. I appreciate the fact that you trust me."
Her hand raised quickly. "Whoa, slow down, cowboy. I said that I was comfortable around you. Being comfortable and trusting someone are two entirely different things. I trust you to a certain degree, but I haven't known you long enough to trust you that well. Like you said, we haven't even known each other for twenty four hours. Wait until then. Maybe I'll trust you more."
For some reason, he couldn't help laughing. It was just the look in her eyes, the pure laughter and mischief that danced in them that made him laugh. "Okay, I'll back track a little. Wait, did you call me cowboy?" She grinned and nodded, biting her lip adorably. "That's fine. I can deal with that. You're comfortable around me. You have to admit, though, not as comfortable as you are around Jace." She nodded again, this time a little slower. He could practically see the wheel turning as she thought about what he was saying. "You said that it's weird for you to wake up and not have someone's arms around you, that you miss having someone call you just to see how your day went. How many times have you woken up beside JC, or more importantly, in his arms?" One eyebrow shot up as he looked at her. She couldn't help smiling when she saw his movement. It was so similar to hers, yet so different. "How many times has JC called you before a concert to wish you luck, or called when you were planning and recording your album to see how it was going?"
"That's exactly it, Chris. Shop talk. Nothing else, just how my day in the studio went, or 'have a good show'. Those are the sort of things that I hear from my brother, too."
"You're missing my point entirely, or you're ignoring it. I'm going for the latter." He broke off to sip his coffee before sighing. "Brooke, you're saying that it's all shop talk, but it's not. I know that you guys can spend hours on the phone at a time talking. I've seen it happen. I've been annoyed by the one sided conversations. The two phone bills between you are bigger than that of all of the state of Washington. You guys never shut up, and I rarely hear shop talk then. I always hear you guys talking about what's happened to you, funny stories, learning about each other's childhoods."
Her eyes lowered to her coffee cup, and her finger went around the rim of it. "Chris, you know nothing about me," she said sadly. "If you did, then maybe you would understand."
He spread out his hands and looked at her. "So, tell me."
"Tell you?"
"It's as simple as that, Brooklyn. Just tell me. I know a little bit about you. Your dad died when you were seventeen, and your mom died...what, four days later on your birthday? I know that you and your brother are very close. I know that you're a kind, caring person. I also know that you're better at pranks than I am."
She laughed at that. "I...I don't know what to tell you. I've never actually just sat somewhere and told someone about my life, especially someone that I just met. What do you want to know, specifically? That might help me. I'm sorry, I don't do this. I've never done this."
Chris nodded his head slowly and looked around the restaurant for a moment before back at Brooklyn. "No problem. I'll just shoot questions at you, and you can answer them, all right? It's like playing Truth or Dare, without the dares." She smiled and nodded, putting her elbows on the table to rest her face in her hands. Normally, the action would look uncouth in a fancy hotel restaurant like that, but for Brooklyn, it only added to her charm. "I'll start out easy with you. Favorite color?"
"Without a doubt, midnight blue. It's the color of my new jeep."
A smile covered his face when he saw hers. "That's cool. How about...all-time favorite song?"
She had to think about that one. Her head cocked to the side slightly, and her lips pursed in thought. "Probably the Queen song, We Are The Champions. I love that song. It's timeless."
He had to agree with that one. "I'm starting to like you more and more. You have some pretty good choices." She smiled brightly, and tucked her hair behind her ears. "If there was one place in the world that you could go, where would you be at this very moment?"
"Right now? I'm enjoying myself. I wouldn't want to go anywhere else. However, if you say after this week...any place that has good skiing. I haven't been skiing for a long time, and I miss it."
"A Tennessee girl that likes to ski. Scary thought. Okay, if you were on a deserted island, what three things would you take with you, and why?"
This was another hard question for her. She had been asked this countless times, and her answer always seemed to be different. "Well...I would say my laptop, but there's no point, since I couldn't hook up to the Internet. I'd say my brother, because he can cook anything out of anything, I swear. Um..."
The waiter came and put their food down in front of them. Chris nodded towards her. "Go ahead and eat. We can talk at the same time. Now, you came up with one thing, but about the other? I'm asking what you would take, not what you wouldn't or couldn't."
Picking up her fork and knife, she nodded with a smirk. "Okay, fine. Be that way. I would also take a television, solar powered of course, unless they haven't invented them, because there is no way that I would ever miss Days of Our Lives for more than three days. That's only because if you miss three days, it's still the same night of the last day that you watched it." He chuckled under his breath at her explanation. "Well, it's true! I'd need a telephone, too. Not to call for help, but so that I could still keep in touch with all my friends, because that's one thing that I would miss the most, I guess. I always need to keep in contact with the people that are closest to me."
Her head bowed for a moment, and he let her eat while the food was warm, before shooting another question at her. "What was your true reaction to what happened last night? I know that if it was me, I'd have a big problem with it, but you seemed to take it like nothing happened after you saw that it was the same ring that you used to wear."
She sighed deeply and finally raised her eyes to look at him. "I was terrified, and I still am. The only reason that I didn't say anything is because I know what JC is like, and he would have flipped out. I called Mia last night and asked if there was any news on Tim. He's not supposed to have a chance at parole for another twenty five years, but I couldn't help thinking what would happen if he really got out." She shrugged with an embarrassed smile. "I can't get it out of my head, but I know that it couldn't be Tim, so I can at least put that out of my mind. It helps me sleep a little better at nights."
There was a moment of silence after that. Chris didn't know what to say, because he wasn't sure that he knew the entire story. JC had told them a lot, and Brooklyn had cleared quite a bit up in the interview (which he had seen), but there was a few things that he was curious about. That didn't mean that he was going to ask. It really was none of his business, no matter how curious he was. Which happened to be very. "You're doing pretty good so far," he said when they had finished breakfast, practically inhaling it, and pushed their plates to the side. "You've been incredibly honest with me, and this could result in me getting hit or seriously damaged by you, but I'll ask anyway. What are your true feelings for JC?"
"I don't know," she said quietly, looking away for a moment. "Really, I don't. It's...you were right. I'm confused and I'm trying to tell myself that there's nothing there. I want to believe that there's nothing there...you won't tell anyone about this, will you?" He shook his head quickly. "All right, I trust you enough for you to keep your word. Like I said, I want to believe that there's nothing there, because I don't want there to be any feelings. JC has been a great friend to me. The best that I've ever had, and I owe him so much. He's helped me more than he knows. I don't want to ruin that, Chris. I don't want to act on whatever feelings I may think I'm having to find out they were false and ruin whatever we have right now. That's what I'm scared most of."
"You don't know that it could ruin your friendship. It could make it stronger. You never know, Brooke. Like I said, he could be having the same feelings for you, and denying them at the same time. Yeah, it could make things messy, but both of you are strong people. You would make it through this. I'm not trying to tell you what to do or what not to do. It's not my style, but I wish that you would just think on it for a little while."
Nodding, she stood up. "Thank you, for breakfast, but I have to go and make some calls about my appearance on Thursday. Sorry to just eat and run on you," she said with a hesitant smile, reaching into her bag for her wallet.
He waved her hand away. "Don't worry about it. You had breakfast with me, and I enjoyed talking to you. I'm sure that I can cover the bill." She thanked him quickly, and on a whim, bent down to kiss his cheek. He smiled as she left the room. "JC is one lucky guy," he said to himself, motioning to the waiter to pour him another cup of coffee. He knew that soon enough, someone would come down for food, and he wouldn't be alone anymore. With a small grin, he took his hand out from underneath the table cloth and uncrossed his fingers. "Guess I don't have to worry about that anymore."
Click here for a picture of Brooklyn's engagement ring
Chapter Five
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