~*~ The Heart Doesn’t Lie~*~
At her house, AJ made himself comfortable while Andi went to change. She showered quickly and then began searching her closet for the perfect outfit. Howie had told her yellow was his favorite color and she had this incredible urge to please him.
As she got ready, Andi thought about Alex…or AJ. Never in her life had she met a man quite like him. He’d been flashy and showy wearing lots of jewelry, dark glasses, and a funky hat when she’d first met him but last night at the club and tonight, he was a different man, not flashy. She knew from Howie that he had two sides. AJ was his stage persona…flashy, showy, a man who craved the attention. Alex was the side of him offstage…warm, caring, and craving love and affection. She craved both sides.
Stepping into the living room, she found AJ staring at pictures of her with her family. Moving to stand behind him, she placed her hands on his sides as she spoke softly, "That’s me just before I turned thirteen."
Her touch paralyzed him. He wanted to look at her but he couldn’t move for fear she would remove her hands. He was amazed that he could even speak. "What were you doing?"
"A ceremonial dance that all girls in the tribe must perform before their thirteenth birthday. It’s like a passage into adulthood."
She moved to stand beside him, her body close to his, her breath on his skin. She smelled of lavender and her black hair shown in the light. He watched as she pointed to another picture and marveled at the grace and beauty of her long, slender fingers; the same fingers that had just been on his sides. And her voice…a siren’s voice seducing him, rendering him powerless.
"This one is from the actual ceremony."
He had to touch her. With every ounce of strength he had, he forced his arms to take her in, pulling her close to his body. He was in heaven feeling her next to him and started to react.
"What about this picture?" he asked pointing to the one below. "Who’s the guy in the picture with you and why are your hands tied together?"
Andi’s voice dropped and he felt her try to pull away but he didn’t let go. He wanted her to stay where she was.
"That’s Seth and the ceremony is a ‘Promise Ceremony’. Our parents, well, my grandfather, ‘promised’ me to him…an arranged marriage."
"When is that?"
"Six months, after I graduate from college. Grandfather is already planning the ceremony."
AJ heard the sadness in her voice. "You don’t love him?"
"No. He’s a nice guy but he has no passion for life, no fire."
"Can you get out of this arrangement?"
"Not without breaking my grandfather’s heart and being banned from the
tribe."
AJ felt her trembling against his body as his mind raced. Six months. That’s all he had with her…and the group was headed back into the studio to do the next album with a tour to follow. He couldn’t lose her, not now. Gently he turned her to face him. Tenderly, with his thumb, he brushed her tears away and with his index finger, tilted her chin to look into her eyes.
"Don’t cry, please. Something will work out, Andi."
"My grandfather has always told me to follow my heart and until now, my heart told me to abide by his wishes."
Holding his breath and saying a silent prayer, AJ asked, "What does your heart tell you now?"
"Dreams are your heart’s way of expressing your desires and a man walks in my dreams; a passionate man with eyes of chocolate and a heart full of a passion for life. My heart tells me to follow this man, love him with every piece of my being, and hold on to him."
She stood on her toes moving closer until her lips met his. Rose petals soft on his lips, caressing his. Her hands on his sides holding him.
His hands cradled her face, holding her close. Their lips parted to allow their tongues to play and he deepened the kiss. She tasted sweet like honey and his mouth captured the whimper that escaped.
Breaking apart, he rasped, "I wanted to do that the first time I ever saw you."
"That would have been cute, us standing in the middle of the street, complete strangers, kissing."
"It would have been different," smiled AJ. He brushed her hair back and took a deep breath. He had to say this and he’d practiced it a hundred times. "Andrea, you did more than hit my car the other day. You hit my heart and soul like a runaway horse and I haven’t been able to get you out of my thoughts since that day. YOU are the one who walks in my dreams and I know we just met and this is all so sudden but I want a chance to love you, take care of you, spoil you. I want to feel your body next to mine, whisper all my desires to you, share my dreams with you…make love to you all night long. I want to be the passionate, wild, carefree, tender, attentive, and devoted man who walks I your dreams and I don’t care if we have six days, six weeks, six months or six years, I want to make the most of our time together."
His words brought tears to her eyes and looking into his eyes, she saw the emotions that flowed in his words. He’d given her his heart in that moment and she knew she wanted the same but she was speechless.
Mistaking her silence for not wanting the same thing, AJ begged, "Please, show me you want it too. Show me that I’m the man who walks in your dreams."
Once more, she placed her lips on his, whispering, "You are, Alex. You’re the man who walks in my dreams and I want it too. I want it all." Her fingers slid around to the curls at the back of his head tangling in them as she gave her heart to him in a kiss.
This was the answer he’d prayed for. Wrapping his arms around her to pull her close, he could feel her. Her heart was racing with his and her body was on fire. He feasted on her desire, fueling his own. He was falling, spiraling out of control, and he didn’t want to stop.
Breathless, Andi asked, "What now?"
"Let’s get out of here. If we stay, I’m not sure I can control myself."
"That wouldn’t be such a bad thing," she smiled stepping away from him.
AJ finally got a good look at what she was wearing; a yellow tank top with a matching peasant skirt that fell to her ankles and sandals; and he felt himself harden, as if he weren’t already hard enough.
"DAYUM! You look HOT!"
"You like?" she quizzed, tilting her head to the side.
"MOST DEFINITELY!"
Grabbing her purse and keys, she said, "Howie told me yellow was your favorite color."
"What else did my best friend tell you about me?" questioned AJ as he followed her out the door.
"Nuh uh! You have to tell ME one thing Howie told YOU about me," she teased as she handed him the key to lock the door.
"Okay, let’s see. One thing he told me about you," mused AJ as he turned the key. "He told me you have a hot temper."
"Ohhhhhh, you already KNEW that!" Andi playfully punched him in the stomach.
AJ laughed as he put his arm around her to pull her close. "He told me that you were without a car for a week and that you’ll need someone to take you where you need to go."
"I suppose you’re gonna be my personal chauffeur?"
"When I can be. My schedule this week is full but I want to do something to help you out. Let me pay for a rental or you can use my car."
"I thought yours was being fixed."
"It is but I have two cars."
"Thanks for the offer but I don’t want to start our relationship off taking your money. It’s bad enough that you won’t let me pay for the damage to your car."
"But I want to do this," answered AJ as he opened the car door for her.
She gave him a peck on the lips. "I’ll think about it."
The ride to the coast started out quiet, both wrapped up in their own thoughts. AJ held her hand in his though, his thumb caressing the back of her hand.
Andi broke the silence. "What did you hear at ‘Tabu’ tonight that had Amy so scared?"
He gave a soft chuckle. "Nothing, but she obviously did something she doesn’t want Howie to know about."
"What are you gonna tell Howie?"
"That Star and Kim need to go. They were out to sink you and with ‘D’ gone, it wasn’t hard."
"They really hate me."
"That’s because you’ve got what they had and can’t get back."
"But I’m NOT dating Howie."
"No, but he’s made it plan that you’re his friend and you ARE dating me."
"Let me guess, Star has a thing for you."
"Yeah, and we dated a couple times. Mostly double dates with Kim and Howie. Kim and Star were fans who came to Orlando to be closer to us and got jobs at ‘Tabu’ shortly after it hit the press that Howie had bought it. They tried to use our names all over Orlando to get special favors and so forth and we called them on it…well, I did."
"But Howie got hurt, didn’t he?"
"Yeah, he fell hard for Kim and it wasn’t until he caught her using his name to get into a show free that he believed it. She begged him to take her back, promised not to do it again, and he gave her another chance."
"What happened?"
"He caught her coming on to Nick."
"WOW! That was stupid on her part. Do y’all have a lot of problems with that kind of stuff?"
"Sometimes. We’ve learned to be more careful."
Andi grew silent, thinking. "You tried to impress me with the fact that you’re famous though. Why?"
"I knew you weren’t a fan the minute you saw me."
"How?"
"A fan would have fallen all over herself realizing she’d hit me, her chance to get close to me. You didn’t even bat an eye."
Andi smirked, "I had heard of you but I was so mad that I had wrecked my car, I wasn’t about to give in but your eyes…and you were so sweet offering me your cell phone to call my grandfather. You know, I was actually listening to a song of yours when we wrecked."
Andi tried to fight back a yawn but AJ saw it. "Why don’t you put your head on my shoulder and get some sleep? I’ll wake you when we get there."
Andi actually laid down putting her head in AJ’s lap and got comfortable. Sleepily, she said, "You need to meet my grandfather."
"No thank you! He’s gonna hate me."
"No, he’s not. Besides, I love you and that’s all that matters," she mumbled.
AJ looked down to see that she had fallen asleep. Carefully, he caressed her cheek, tracing the line of her hair as he whispered, "I love you too."
