After driving down several wrong streets and dead-ends, we finally reach the small Italian restaurant and head inside. It’s pretty small and intimate and there are no patrons except for a large family group clustered round several tables pushed together. We start to head back out, thinking we’d interrupted a private party when a small round woman comes over to us with a big smile.
“Ciao!” she kisses us on both cheeks and grins. “Come in, come in!”
“Oh, we didn’t realise it was a private dinner. Sorry,” Brian smiles at her and she shakes her head.
“Oh no. Mi familia come every night to eat for free. Ignore them.”
As if on cue, the entire family waves at us, shouting their greetings in Italian and English. We smile back and exchange amused glances.
“Come, come,” the woman leads us towards a table in an alcove, which gives us quite a lot of privacy. As she passes her family she looks me up and down. “You have a beautiful girl,” she tells Brian.
The family all turn to inspect me and shout their agreement. Again, Brian and I get into a blushing competition. We sit down and she hands us the menus. I hide my face behind mine gratefully as she disappears to get our drinks.
Brian puts his hand over my menu and lowers it with a smile. “She’s got good taste.”
I laugh. “That’s debatable.”
“Well, then I guess my taste is debatable too.”
I blush again and busy myself in the menu. “So, what you having?”
After leaving the restaurant we decide to go to the beach. It’s deserted, and for that I’m very thankful.
“It’s so beautiful,” I whisper, taking a deep breath of the salty sea air.
“Yeah, it sure is,” he says, making it obvious he’s checking me out.
“Will you stop giving me compliments?” I laugh, blushing again.
“No, you deserve them,” he smiles, and takes my hand as we walk along the shoreline. “You cold?” he asks, noticing me shivering.
“Well, take a look at this dress. What do you think?”
He laughs and pulls me into his arms. He leans down and starts planting small kisses my neck. He turns me around so that I face him, and gives me a more passionate kiss on my lips.
Pausing for a moment, I pull away and whisper in his ear. “Let’s go back to my house.”
He nods, and begins to pull me towards the car, but stops suddenly. “Well, since we are leaving, I can do this.” He picks me up swiftly and throws me into the freezing water.
“You creep!” I yell, sputtering up water. “This isn’t even my dress!”
“Oh, Ali! I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” he runs in after me.
I burst out laughing. “You coming in after me isn’t going to save the dress, it’s just going to ruin your suit!”
He looks down at himself and blushes. “Uh, I knew that. Come on, let’s go. It’s way too cold in here.” He picks me up and carries me to the car.
“You can put me down now!” I command, but he makes no move to obey me. “Oh, you are actually going to let us in your precious car being wet?” I ask, incredulously.
He puts me down and thinks about it. “I guess I’m going to have to, we ain’t walking all the way to your house!”
“Heaven forbid Nick Carter have to walk!” I say over-dramatically, putting my hand to my hand as I faint into the sand.
“All right, drama queen,” he pulls me up and opens the door for me.
“Sorry to disappoint you, Nick, but I don’t wear guy clothes so I don’t know what you are going to wear,” I say, thirty minutes later when we are back at my apartment trying to get dry. “I got an idea. Why don’t you go take a shower while I dry your clothes? Well, just boxers I guess. I mean, you can’t put a suit in the dryer. So go take a hot shower while I dry it, and if they ain’t done by the time you get out then you can just wear a towel or something,” I say, smirking. The thought of him in nothing but a towel was enough to drive me crazy.
“All right. I’ll be back in a few,” he gives me a quick kiss and heads off to the bathroom.
“I’m back,” a wet Nick says, coming back into my room.
I’m lying on my bed in nothing but a nightshirt, reading a magazine. “They aren’t done yet. Give it another ten minutes.”
“That’s okay. Can we watch a movie or something while we wait?”
“Okay, wh…” I’m interrupted by the dryer’s buzzer. “Oh, I guess they are ready.”
We leave my room and walk through the living room. Nick turns to glance at the couch.
“That thing scares me,” he says, shivering. “I’m going to call it ‘the pink monster’ from now on.” I laugh and grab his waist pulling him into the washroom. “Nice and warm,” he smiles, pulling a face.
“Oh God. Warm boxers turn you on? Now THAT scares me,” I laugh.
“That’s not what’s turning me on,” he says, advancing toward me.
I giggle and quickly pull him into my room. He pushes me down on my bed and covers me with his kisses. His lips travel down my neck to my collar bone, and eventually all the way across my shoulders. He moves from one shoulder, then across my chest to the other. Slowly removing my shirt, he kisses down my chest and continues his path down my stomach. I moan as he hits my ticklish spot. He smiles up at me as I pull him back up to meet my own lips. All of a sudden the phone rings.
“Damnit!” Nick yells, and I look at him apologetically.
“Hello?” I ask.
“Hey, it’s me,” replies Ashton, a good friend of mine from Rolling Stone magazine.
“Hey! What’s up?” I ask him, hoping it’s what I think it is.
“Remember how you said I could always come to you with a favour? Well, I’m here.”
I laugh. “What is it?”
“Well, Joshua Jackson and James Van Der Beek are coming in tomorrow for a ‘Dawson’s Duo’ interview thing, and our last photographer bailed. I could TOTALLY use the help. Please, please, please…”
“No problem. Anything to keep your skinny ass from getting fired. What time do you need me?”
“About 11:00, is that alright?”
“Sure, I’ll be there.”
“You are a lifesaver!” he says, as he hangs up.
I laugh and look over at Nick who’s sitting against the headboard of the bed. “Kind of ruined the moment, didn’t it?” I ask, frowning.
“Yeah,” he yawns.
“I’m really sorry. But it was good news, I got a job for tomorrow!”
He smiles and pulls me into his arms. “It’s okay, really. And I’m happy for you.” He yawns again.
“You tired?” I ask, looking up into his dark blue eyes. His pupils are dilated and he has bags under his eyes.
“Yeah, I was rudely awakened this morning,” he smiles, rolling his eyes.
“Me too. AJ.” He laughs and I smile, wrapping my arms tightly around him.
“Same here. You want to go to sleep?”
I nod yawning, the exhaustion finally taking its toll. He gets up to turn out the lights. Coming back to bed, he pulls the covers over us and softly kisses me goodnight.
“Good night,” he whispers in my ear as he pulls my body into his.
“Sweet dreams,” I say, closing my eyes.
“They will be, they definitely will be.”