Part 2
The day of Kevin’s party, Kevin called Sarah to make sure everything for the night was set. Kevin was going to bring Nick with him to pick the girls up for their night and then they’d decide from there whether to take two cars or one.
Becca was so excited to finally be meeting Nick that she couldn’t concentrate all day. She started at noon trying to figure out just what to wear that night and all Sarah could do was laugh.
"What is so damn funny?"
"You! You’re acting like one of their teenage groupies."
"I want to make a good impression on him."
"Don’t worry! He’ll love you as long as you DO NOT ACT LIKE A TEENAGER!"
"That’s easy for you to say. You’ve been dating Howie for over a year and now AJ and Kevin."
"Hey, I didn’t know who the Backstreet Boys were until I moved to Orlando. God....that feels like forever too!"
Becca laughed, "You’ve come a long way since then too. I’ve never seen you so sure of yourself."
"Howie’s good for me."
"THEN WHY DON’T YOU GO BACK TO HIM?"
"Let’s not do this again!"
"Fine. Then tell me what to wear."
"Wear the black mini-skirt! Nick likes black!"
"Fine! It’s settled. What are you wearing?"
"Kevin likes my royal blue dress so I’ll wear that."
*********************
Seven-thirty sharp, the doorbell rang and Sarah ran to answer it. Kevin was nothing if not punctual. He stood there leaning against the door wearing his black jeans and black cowboy shirt along with the black cowboy hat. Sarah just about melted at the sight but before she could say anything, Nick popped up.
"Hey, Sarah!"
"Hi, Nick, how are you?"
"Perfect," he said, kissing her lightly on the cheek. "Now - where's my date?"
"Probably wondering why she ever agreed to this, " she countered.
"Come in, we're almost ready."
Kevin led the way, Nick close behind, and just as they walked into the large
family room, Becca made her entrance, fumbling with her wrap and oblivious as to
the others' presence.
"Ahem." Sarah cleared her throat as delicately as possible and,
startled, Becca looked up, right into the most gorgeous pair of blue eyes she'd
ever seen.
"Oh!" Taking an instinctive step back, her heel caught on the shag
carpeting. She would have toppled unceremoniously to the floor if it weren't for
Nick's quick reflexes.
"Whoa, you ok?" One arm around her waist, he caught her, pulling her
close and saving her from mortifying embarrassment.
Almost.
Becca flushed scarlet. Let me die now, she thought. At least she *meant* to
think it.
"Nope, can't have that. Who would be my date?" Nick grinned at her.
"Hi, I' m Nick."
Becca was mortified. This was NOT a good start to the evening. "I'm Becca .
" She tipped her head back to look up at him, as he still held her around
the waist. God he's tall .and good looking . and so ...
"Bec?"
Oh dear lord, he was talking to her and she'd gone teenie on him.
"Sorry.."
Blessedly, Sarah interrupted, saving her from herself. "As pleasant as this
is, we need to get going. Can't hold up a surprise party, now, can we?"
Wrapping her arm through Kevin's she led the way to the car, grinning as Nick
made a great show of opening Bec's door and doing all the gentlemanly things
that one should do on a first date. This was going to be good, she thought.
"So, you and Sarah were college roomies?" Nick asked, his arm draped
casually around her.
"Um hmm. . It feels like I've known her forever."
"So how come we've never met before this? I mean, we all know about you
but, damn, where've you been hiding?"
Becca laughed, a free, tinkling sound that wrapped itself around Nick's heart.
"My work calls me out of town a lot, and I usually work weekends."
"I can sure relate to that. So, what do you do?"
Here we go, she thought , any chances I might have had are about to go right
down the drain. "I'm a church musician, Nick."
"A what?" He knew the question was a mistake as soon as he asked,
because he could feel her tense against his side and her defenses dropped
squarely into place. "Damn. That was stupid, I'm sorry. I meant to ask what
exactly do you do?"
"Oh. Well, my degree is in choral directing, but right now I'm on an
apprenticeship with the local Methodist Church district. I do a little of
everything - I sing, mostly solos for special services, I substitute around town
when other directors are on vacation, I work with the inner city youth -"
She broke off quickly, embarrassed to have opened up so quickly to a complete
stranger.
"No don't stop! I can tell you really love what you do. So how did you get
into this field in the first place?"
"I don't know . I guess I've just always been involved in this kind of
music. I mean I've been singing ever since I was little .my mom has old movies
of me dancing on my bed."
"Oh god .. Don't talk about moms and home movies." He winced, leaning
his head back and closing his eyes.
Kevin spoke up from the driver's seat, "So tell us, Becca, do you still
dance on your bed? Who do you like to listen to?"
Sarah spoke up. "No, but she DOES dance in the kitchen, but I guess that's
only when she listens to-"
"Never mind!" Becca interrupted. "Are we almost there yet?"
Kevin and Sarah smiled. They both knew she liked to crank up the BSB cd's while
she cleaned house and would be mortified if Nick ever found out that Sarah had
once caught her doing a soul rending rendition of 'I Need You Tonight'.
Nick leaned closer and whispered in her ear, "Ignore him, I usually
do." Then he laughed softly, his breath tickling her ear and sending
shivers over her body.
Becca finally began to relax, but before she knew it they were pulling up to the
club and her nervousness began anew. Her eyes were wide as she stepped out of
the car and she looked as if she would bolt any second.
"Relax, Bec, you're mine for the night. Nothing to worry about." Nick
squeezed her hand in his, tucked her close to his side and kissed her gently on
the top of her head.
Becca floated into the club, there was no other word for it. 'Mine for the
night.' God, how wonderful did THAT sound? If only . She'd never seen anything
quite like Tabu, and she envied Sarah her worldliness and experience. She had no
clue how to even begin to fit in with these people. Howie was the only one she'd
ever met before, and he was too preoccupied with party details and the situation
with Sarah to even spend time with her. But, true to his word, Nick never left
her side and she was on cloud nine. It had been a long time since anyone had
taken the time to truly make her feel special, worthy of attention.
"Hey, girl." Sarah leaned against the balcony railing, looking out
over the crowd.
"This is so amazing. How can I thank you enough for bringing me along tonight?"
"Just have a good time and be kind to Nick, ok? He needs someone stable
in his life right now."
"Uh-oh. Something I should know?" Becca turned to Sarah, genuine
concern and maybe even a touch of fright on her face.
"No, not really! Just semi-normal ex-relationship stuff." Sarah
dismissed the subject with a wave of her hand. "It's just nice to see him
with you, Bec. He needs someone who's not in the business for a change. Maybe he
can relax, let loose."
"Let loose???"
Sarah laughed. "Just an expression, Bec. You know how Howie has been with
me, trying to keep me out of the spotlight ." She stopped suddenly, her
face clouding with memories. "Well, anyway, how he used to be. There are
times they just need to be themselves, not pop idols, and not have to worry that
everyone they date will show up in the morning paper. "
"I guess." She sighed, and then Nick was back, taking her hand and
pulling her back down the stairs to the dance floor.
"You know, you really are good at this for a church lady," he grinned,
spinning her under his arm to the driving beat of the music.
"EXCUSE me? Them's fighting words where I come from, mister."
"Oh yeah?" he smiled again, pulling her back against his chest.
"Just because I work for the church, everyone automatically assumes the
worst. They assume I never do anything remotely secular." She stopped
abruptly and began counting off things on her fingers. "I never dance, I
never drink, I don't have fun, I have no life -- You have no idea the things
they say."
Nick tipped back his head and laughed loud and long. "I have no idea? *I*
have no idea?! Bec, the last time I had sex it was worthy of a headline in the
local paper."
Becca was mortified. "Oh God, really?"
"Bec, you're so cute." Nick gathered her in a big hug, laughing softly
into her hair. "No, not really, but that's the way it feels sometimes. It's
hard to be yourself when there are millions of people watching. It amazes me
that you have to put up with that kind of stereotyping too. I thought it was
just a cross that pop stars had to bear. No pun intended."
She pulled away from him, starting intently into his eyes. "You're teasing
me, aren't you?" she asked accusingly.
"Yep," he grinned, "guilty as charged."
"You're bad, Nick Carter."
"Guilty again, what's my punishment?" he asked raising his eyebrows
naughtily.
Becca only blushed in reply, and was thoroughly unprepared for what he did next.
Nick took her face in his large hands, leaned forward and kissed her. Softly,
tenderly, a first-kiss kind of kiss. He moved his mouth over hers slowly,
marveling at her innocence and the sweet taste of her lips. He was blown away.
He felt light-headed, nauseous and giddy all at once. He was just beginning to
put a name to his thoughts when he heard raised voices upstairs in Howie's VIP
section.