Two:

Two:

 

The VIP room attendant returned with two bottles of water and left again.  The music and voices hummed in the walls, but it was actually quiet enough in the room to speak in normal tones.  They talked for a few minutes and he stopped, leaning in close.  “I’d really like to kiss you right now, Sarah.  In fact, I think I’ll do just that.”  Before she had time to react his lips were on hers.  Tiny sparks shot through her and it seemed the temperature in the room must have risen ten degrees.  She found herself kissing him back and she couldn’t believe it.  She didn’t do things like this.  Even though she knew nearly everything about him, she didn’t actually know him.  But it felt so nice . . .

 

They broke apart only moments before the door opened and his friends trailed in, accompanied by bodyguards and several girls.  Someone propped the door open and the attendants came in with a tray of drinks.  The spell was broken, and Sarah didn’t like it.  Apparently JC didn’t either because he took her hand and surreptitiously slipped out of the room.

 

He led her down the back staircase and outside, stopping in the alley and turning to face her.  He seemed to get suddenly nervous.  “I don’t do this much.  Actually, I never do this, and I don't want you to take it the wrong way, but I really want to be alone with you.  The only place I can think of where I’d be safe is my hotel, and it’s not that close.”

 

Sarah thought a moment, understanding what he was saying . . . and what he wasn’t.  “My apartment’s two blocks away.  I don’t have a roommate and my car’s right there,” she said, pointing before continuing.  “And for some strange reason I trust you.”

 

“Can you unlock it from here?”

 

“Yeah,” she said, pulling out the keyless entry remote and pressing the button.  The interior light came on and he reached for her hand.  After a lingering look, they ran to the car, miraculously not spotted by the girls still crowded around the door, trying to get inside.  They were in her apartment in five minutes and an awkward silence hung between them.

 

“Maybe I should just go,” he said.

 

“NO!  I mean . . . ugh!  I don’t know what I mean.  I’ve never done anything like this before,” she said, turning and walking into the apartment.  She shrugged out of her jacket and dropped it over the couch, nervously running her hands through her hair.

 

“Never done anything like what?” he asked quietly, watching her carefully as he leaned against the wall.

 

“I . . . um . . . never mind.”

 

He bit back his grin as her eyes got as wide as saucers.  She sat on the sofa, head in her hands and mumbled.  He couldn’t make out most of the words, but he knew she was berating herself for bringing him here, and for thinking he would actually want to be there with her.  She sat straight up when he sat beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder.  “Sarah . . . Sarah look at me.  I don’t usually do things like this either.  What I was really hoping for was the chance to talk to you alone, maybe eventually kiss you, and then if you weren’t okay with more, we’d just deal with it then.  And you have no idea how utterly intoxicating you are, do you?”  The last words were a whisper; he didn’t even realize he had voiced that thought.  Not until her head shot up in surprise.  He didn’t give her a chance to comment, instead covering her lips with his own.  His kiss was gentle but persistent.  He gradually increased the pressure of his lips on hers until she recovered from her shock and kissed him back.  One of his hands crept into her hair, fingers getting tangled in the silken locks.  The other rested lightly in the middle of her back, unsure of whether to move away entirely or creep down to rest on her hip.  They broke apart and simply stared at each other.

 

“Wow . . .” he breathed.  Sarah said nothing, just kept staring.  He noticed her glazed expression and something inside him leapt in joy.  Somehow he knew that this effect he was having . . . it wasn’t as JC the pop star.  It was as a man.  It was in that moment that he realized no matter what, he could always be himself with Sarah.  He didn’t want to lose that so he made the hardest decision of his life.  “Sarah?  Can you drive me back to the hotel?”

 

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