“Where are we?” Natalia asked as they stopped at a set of black gates. Justin lowered his window, punching in a code on the keypad, the two of them watching as the gates opened slowly before them.
When the gates were open wide enough to accommodate the width of his car he pulled forward. “My house,” he said, glancing over at her too see her reaction.
“Your house?”
“Yep,” he confirmed as he stopped the car. “Is that okay with you?” he asked, turning to face her once again.
She looked up at the huge house and then back to him. He didn’t look too harmful and she knew how to pack a punch if he got any ideas. “I guess.”
She followed him as he opened the door and stepped into the house. She looked around in awe as he threw his keys next to the phone on a pine table. She knew he must have been earning a dollar or two but this…she had no idea. It was what dreams were made of.
“Just make yourself at home,” he said, breaking her out of her reverie.
She nodded even though she had no idea how that was going to happen. She was scared she was going to break something. “Is this all yours?” she asked as they stood in the living area.
He turned to her with a warm smile and nodded proudly. “Yeah, I’ve had it a couple of months now.”
“You have a beautiful house Justin.”
His grin widened. “Thank you, it’s nice to have some outside company, only the guys and my mom have seen it so far.”
“I feel honoured that I got the first show then,” she said sincerely.
There was an awkward silence, neither knowing what to say. Natalia was nervous beyond belief at being alone with him and Justin didn’t want to put a foot wrong.
He cleared his throat. “I um…I hope it’s okay that we’re here, I didn’t want to chance a scene…with fans you know.”
She nodded.
“And I didn’t think you’d want security following us either,” he continued. “They don’t always hang around but with the tour coming up and stuff everyone knows we’re here rehearsing.”
She waved his reasons away. “Really it’s okay.”
He let out a big breath. “Okay…good. I made dinner,” he proclaimed with enthusiasm.
She chuckled, thankful for his sudden eagerness. She followed him as he made his way out of the room. “You did? I thought this was to show how sorry you were not to get revenge,” she said playfully.
“Hey are you insulting my cooking skills?”
“Or lack thereof.”
“There’s just no pleasing some people,” he huffed. “Nothing for you then.”
Justin seemed to have slipped back into his relaxed, comical self and that put her at ease. The way he had been acting on the way over had amplified an already tense situation and heightened her nervous state.
“Okay I’ll play nice. What have you got for me Mr Chef?” she asked, as she made herself comfortable on the stool at the breakfast bar. She had to admit that whatever he had whipped up smelt good and she could feel her empty stomach rumble in anticipation.
He turned his back to her, picking up some oven mittens. After a few mumbled curses about it being impossible to pick anything up with them on he turned to her with his arms outstretched. “Voila!”
She looked from his delighted face to what was in his hands and then back again before bursting into fits of laughter.
Justin’s face dropped. “What’s so funny?”
Was he serious? They were dressed up to the nines and there he stood looking dumbfounded at her reaction. “You cooked a frozen pizza?” she asked, even though it was quite obvious.
Justin looked at her for a second before running to the fridge. “You’re right I forgot the salad!”
She bit her lip to try and stop her giggles, she didn’t know if he was being serious, if he was she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. This was priceless, bizarre, but priceless. “Justin?” She wiped carefully at her eyes, hoping the tears of joy hadn’t smudged her mascara.
“Yeah?” he asked, while trying to juggle the dishes in his hands.
“Thank you. This sure as hell beats the oysters and caviar laid out at that party.”
He returned her smile and turned back to the task at hand, his smile growing even bigger once his back was turned. Unknown to her she had just passed a test. True taking her out could have posed tricky if fans spotted them, but there were plenty of expensive restaurants he could have taken her to that the average person didn’t have a hope in hell of getting a table. They could have easily sat through a meal surrounded by people much older than themselves who didn’t have a clue who he was. If she had kicked up a fuss then he would have taken her out but by doing so his opinion of her would have lowered dramatically.
The pizza – well that was all he’d had in the freezer but he had remembered Chris pulling a similar stunt with burgers and fries a few years back. It was certainly a way to sift the losers from the keepers and he might just have a winner on his hands.
“Justin?”
“Hmm?”
They were sitting in his family room, toasting marshmallows with a mini-kit he had received as a gift, while they watched ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?’ and drank hot chocolate. “Man some people are so stupid, even I knew that question, it was D dammit!” he shouted at the television. “Sorry you were saying?”
This was so not how she expected an evening with Justin Timberlake to turn out but it was a welcome interruption from everyday life. Something had been bugging her all evening though. “Why are we dressed up?” She motioned to their attire.
Justin looked at their apparel and began to laugh. “I dunno, thought I’d throw you off guard.”
“Well you certainly did that!”
He blushed a little and grinned sheepishly. “You sure you didn’t mind about tonight? It probably wasn’t what you were expecting.”
“Well you’re right about that but no, I had a lot of fun. You’re not so bad after all Timberlake.”
That little statement meant a lot to him. She may not have known what to expect from the evening but he was even more clueless. Things had run hot and cold between the two of them since the day they met and he was satisfied, hell delirious, at the progress they had made that night. Putting their somewhat short history and differences behind them was crucial at that point and even if nothing more came of this than friendship Justin thought he had snagged himself a pretty cool buddy.
Once you got past the cool exterior, which he had now discovered was a defence that she put up when you tried to pry, she was a lot of fun. She was very accepting and although he could tell she was amazed by his surroundings, she didn’t dwell on it.
“Wanna know a secret?” she asked before popping a freshly toasted marshmallow into her mouth.
“Sure. Shoot!”
“You’ve got to promise not to laugh,” she warned.
“Promise,” Justin said, growing curious.
“Okay, I had no idea what to expect from tonight. I was so clueless I didn’t even get dressed until you arrived at my house,” she admitted.
Justin looked up at her obviously confused. She was dressed when he’d first seen her and although he had been impressed with what he saw he definitely would’ve appreciated her greeting him undressed. He tried not to smirk. His mind was definitely running on overtime. “What do you mean?”
“Me and Alexei,” she shook her head laughing, “we were peeking out the window to see what you were wearing. I was standing there in a freaking robe as you walked up the path!”
Justin chuckled at the image. “You’re kidding right?”
She shook her head in disbelief at her own actions. “No lie. We had an outfit picked out for each scenario. I think I broke the record for fastest outfit change tonight.”
“You’re totally nuts,” he said in disbelief.
“Well it’s all your fault, you were no help at all when I asked you what to wear!”
“Oh I knew this would turn out to be my fault.”
She laughed and rubbed his knee comfortingly. “Of course it is, you’re a man but I’ll forgive you…this time.”
Justin glanced down at the hand that covered his knee. He could feel the warmth through the fabric of his pants and almost protested out loud when she removed it. He looked up and caught her staring at him strangely. He cleared his throat. “Sorry.”
“No problem, but next time warn me so I can dress appropriately.”
He raised his eyebrows. “So there is going to be a next time huh?”
She rolled her eyes and laughed. “If you’re lucky.”
“Cool. In the meantime though do you want to come show me and the guys how you change so quick, we definitely need the practice for the tour,” he said wriggling his eyebrows suggestively.
Her jaw dropped and she swatted his arm. “In your dreams mister!”
That night, as she settled in bed she had a genuine smile on her face. She had discovered that evening that Justin could be a complete and utter dork and that had comforted her a great deal. No longer was he grouped under obnoxious popstars, he now seemed incredibly normal and she found it easy to talk to him. Never had she held her opinions back in front of him but most of that had been her blasting off.
She had ended the night promising him that they would indeed repeat the evening another time. Justin had walked her to her door and squeezed her hand before saying goodnight and leaving. Where as she had begun the night cautiously waiting for him to pounce she now found herself disappointed that nothing had happened. Just a little kiss wouldn’t of hurt. She realised the position Justin was in though. If he felt anything towards her, which she still wasn’t sure about, but if he did, he would be apprehensive about making any move after her reactions towards him in the past.
Even now, with her wanting to have something more with him, she wasn’t sure if she should. She was going to forget about what she should do for a while though and go with the flow. She needed a bit of excitement in her life and Justin might just be the remedy for that.
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Chapter 13
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