Tina sat at the table, trying hard not to stare at the man sitting in front of her, devouring his Egg McMuffin. She tentatively sipped her coffee, and grimaced. What was it about McDonald's coffee that made it taste like rocket fuel? She set the cup back on the table, and contemplated going to the counter and buying a small orange juice. She looked up and AJ was licking his fingers. She picked up the coffee cup again, and took another sip, swallowing the bitter brew. There was no way she was going to leave this table right now. She watched as he bit into his hash brown.
"What do you do, inhale your food?" Brian asked from beside Tina. She choked on her coffee, and Brian patted her on the back. "You okay?"
"Fine," she replied, casting a sideways glance at AJ, who was scarfing down another Egg McMuffin. "It's just that it seemed like you were reading my mind."
AJ swallowed a mouthful of food. "Why aren't you eating?" he asked, popping the rest of his hash brown in his mouth.
"I don't eat breakfast," she said, taking another sip of coffee.
"Let me make YOU breakfast. Let me make YOU lunch. Let me make you dinner, baby. And after that, just make you happy," Chrissie said, then nonchalantly took a sip of her orange juice.
Tina nearly sprayed coffee across the table. She choked on it instead. "Having trouble with your coffee this morning?" Brian asked, grinning.
"No," she said, sneezing into a tissue. Coffee had come up her nose.
"Just with my daughter. Want to borrow her for the tour?"
It was Brian's turn to choke on his coffee.
"Having trouble with your coffee?" Tina asked. Brian didn't comment.
Nick grinned. "You wouldn't mind coming with us, would you, Chrissie?" Nick asked her.
Chrissie's blonde head cocked to one side. Oh, Lord, Tina thought, seeing THAT look in Chrissie's hazel eyes. She closed her eyes, and waited.
She didn't have to wait long. "Well, you know, I'd love to go, but...only if my mom can come, too. It wouldn't be fair." Tina looked at her, surprised. "I mean," Chrissie added, "we need to keep her amused."
"Keep me amused?" Tina asked, not believing her ears.
Brian choked on his coffee, and AJ nearly spewed his food out his mouth. Milk dribbled from Nick's mouth as he tried not to laugh.
Chrissie actually blushed. "You know what I mean, Mom."
Tina looked at her, one dark brow raised. "Not really, but I'm sure you'll tell me...later," she added when Chrissie opened her mouth. "Now eat." Chrissie obediently popped a forkful of pancakes into her mouth.
"So, how long have you been a fan?" AJ asked, gathering up his trash and setting it on the tray.
Chrissie opened her mouth, but Tina just looked at her, and Chrissie kept on eating. "Well, I started listening to your music last fall, after this guy and I broke up." She took a sip of her coffee, grimaced, then set it back down, determined not to touch it again. "He always listened to country music, and I used to, too. When we broke up, I started listening to pop music again. I was driving to work this one day, and this song came on the radio. I cried all the way to work."
AJ watched her intently. "What song was it?"
She looked into his eyes, and said, "I'll Never Break Your Heart." She smiled as his eyebrows rose. "I cried, I guess, because it was what I really needed to hear...that there would be someone who WOULDN'T break my heart." She sighed, and added softly, "It gave me hope again." Shaking off her melancholy, she said, "I went out that day and bought the CD, took one look at the picture, and thought, 'oh, my God, they look so young.'" She laughed, then added. "So, I just put the picture away, and concentrated on the music...which I love."
Brian asked, "So when did your obsession with AJ start?"
Tina blushed again, but Chrissie said, "It's all my fault."
"Your fault?" Nick asked. "How?"
Chrissie beamed at him. "Well, I used to like N'Stink and Mom taped their Disney concert for me, then heard that your Orlando concert was gonna be on, so she taped that, too." She grinned at Tina. "That's when she fell in 'love'," she said, batting her lashes.
Chrissie would fit real well in the trunk, Tina decided. Now all she needed was some duct tape to keep Chrissie's mouth shut.
All three men laughed, and Tina's blush deepened. AJ reached across the table and took her hand. "So what song did it? Hey Mr. DJ?"
Tina shook her head. "Just to Be Close to You."
"Hey, Chrissie, want to go play in the playground?" Nick asked.
"Only if you go with me," she said, grinning at him. Nick looked over at Tina, and waited until she nodded her head before taking Chrissie by the hand and walking with her to the empty play area. Brian chuckled as Chrissie dragged Nick after her. "You're going to have your hands full with her as she gets older. She's going to be a heartbreaker."
"She looks just like her mom," AJ said, giving her hand a little squeeze.
Tina was sure the blush on her cheeks was permanent. "Thanks," she whispered, lost in the dark depths of AJ's eyes.
Brian stood up. "I think Nick needs some help. He's got this look of terror in his eyes, so I'd better go save him from your daughter," he said, leaving AJ and Tina alone.
"How long have you been married?" AJ asked.
Tina cleared her throat, and gave herself a mental shake. "My marriage broke up in '96."
He blinked. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. He said, "Just to Be Close to You, huh?" She nodded. "Is there someone you want to get close to?"
Only you, she thought, forgetting all about her life in Virginia as AJ's fingers lightly massaged her knuckles. "There's really no one in my life," she said. "Nothing serious."
"Ah, so there is someone, but it's not serious?"
She looked down at their joined hands. She shivered everytime he traced her hand. "No, he's...we're friends, and, well, more than friends, but...he's got other girlfriends."
"How can he look at anyone else when he has you? Doesn't he know how lucky he is?"
Tina looked up and met his dark eyes. No longer entranced, she pulled her hand back. "That's not a very good line, Alex," she said.
He blinked, then grinned. "That's the first time you said my name. You didn't call me AJ or Bone, but Alex."
"It IS your name, isn't it?" She picked up the cup, then set it back down again, this time placing it on the tray with AJ's trash.
"I didn't mean to upset you," he apologized. "I'm just a big flirt, and my mouth runs on and on."
She shook her head, and laid her hand on his. "It's just...it's never easy having feelings for someone then not having them returned." She sighed, then changed the subject. "Will you all be leaving soon?" she asked.
He nodded. "Probably in a couple of hours." He watched her lips Tilt up in a grin. "What?"
She cleared her throat, and fought down a giggle. "Just thinking of what Chrissie had meant to say earlier."
One dark brow rose in question. "Which was...."
Tina shook her head. "Uh-uh, nope, not going to tell you."
"Why not?"
"Because."
"Because why?" AJ asked, grinning.
"Because," Tina insisted.
"What's going on here?" Brian asked, Nick and Chrissie in tow.
"I just asked her what she thought Chrissie was going to say earlier."
Chrissie piped up, "I was going to say..."
"Christina Joyce!" Tina said, staring hard at her daughter.
Chrissie grinned at her, but only said, "Never mind."
"Can we go back to the hotel now?" Nick asked.
Tina stood up. "Good idea." Still staring hard at Chrissie, she extended a hand. Dragging her feet, Chrissie reluctantly took it.
AJ took her other hand. "Can we talk some more?" "You could come to our room and look at Mom's scrapbooks," Chrissie said hopefully.
"Scrapbooks, as in plural?" Brian asked.
Tina sighed, then looked down at Chrissie's blonde head. Forget the trunk, Chrissie was riding home tied to the roof!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BACK AT THE HOTEL
Chrissie slid past AJ and Tina to be the first in the room. She picked up Tina's black tote bag with effort, and walked it over to the bed. "Here it is!" she announced.
Brian followed Tina and AJ into the room. Tina looked over his shoulder, so Brian said, "He just went to go get Howie and Kevin." With that, he walked past her and sat beside Chrissie on the bed where she had one of the white notebooks open.
All five Backstreet Boys. In her hotel room. At once. And Chrissie was there.
Damn.
"This is Mom's favorite," Chrissie said.
Tina took a step toward her, but someone knocked on the door. She opened it, and nearly fell over. She was looking straight into Kevin's emerald eyes. He smiled at her, and she grinned back at him. Kat was going to kill her, she thought. Unless... "Hey, you guys are going to Canada, right? Toronto?"
"Hey, Cuz, you've got to see this," Brian said.
"This is pretty cool," AJ said. Tina stepped back, and smiled. Kevin then Nick passed her. Howie stopped in front of her. "So you're the one Alex was talking about last night."
Tina's head swung to look at AJ, but he was absorbed in the book, and what Chrissie was pointing out to him. She turned back to Howie. "He mentioned me?"
Howie grinned, and said, "Over and over."
"Mom?"
Tina looked over at Chrissie, who was grinning. Tina's stomach plummeted to her feet. That grin did not bode well. "Yes?" she said carefully.
"Did you mean it when you said about me going on tour with them?"
"No," she said. "I was just kidding, honey."
"Well, then, can we take them home with us?"
Tina pinched the bridge of her nose as laughter erupted around her. Her gaze locked with AJ's. "It's not funny," she said.
"Yes, it is," he replied, still grinning.
Kevin cleared his throat, and she turned to him. "Did you collect all this?" he asked.
"Mom?"
Tina crossed the room, and pulled up a chair. Nick and Brian sat with one book between them while Howie and AJ looked at another. Kevin kept glancing from one book to the other. "I've picked up what I could, and friends of mine have given me stuff, too."
"Mom?" she asked again, a bit louder.
"No, we can't take them home with us. They have a tour to finish."
Chrissie pouted, and Nick ruffled her hair. She grinned up at him.
"Did you write this?" AJ asked.
Tina looked over, and saw him holding up her current story. Her mouth went dry. Oh, dear. She nodded. "Uhm, yeah. It's just a little something I'm working on," she said, blushing furiously as she remembered the sex scene she'd written the night before. She groaned softly.
AJ bent his head to the paper again. "This is good," he said. "Is that your email address?"
She got up, and looked at what he was reading. She sighed, relieved that he was looking at her last printed chapter. "Yup, that's me."
"Harleytas?"
She grinned. "Long story," she said. Chrissie opened her mouth, but Tina's glare kept her silent.
AJ nodded absently, intent on reading the chapter.
A knock sounded at the door, and Tina got up to answer it. "Can I help you?" she cautiously asked the burly man at her door.
He smiled, and Tina relaxed a little. "Can you let the guys know that it's time to go?"
Hearing his words, the guys all came up to her. One by one they filed past her.
"Love the book," Brian said, giving her a peck on the cheek.
Howie kissed her other cheek. "Some cool pics in there."
Kevin gave her a hug. "What was that about Toronto?"
Tina's eyes widened. Turning, she grabbed the notepad and pen off the desk, and scribbled something on the paper. "This," Tina said, ripping the paper off the pad, "is the email address of a friend of mine. She would love it if you dropped her a line."
"Is she a fan like you?"
Tina laughed, "We're both Backstreet freaks, and proud of it."
Kevin hugged her again, and left the room, mumbling, "Kat, hmmm?"
Tina looked into the room to see Chrissie with her arms around Nick's neck, hugging him tight. "Let the man breathe, Chris," she said.
Nick chuckled, and gently set Chrissie away from him. "Listen to your mom, 'kay? And don't give her a hard time 'bout AJ."
"Oh, I won't," Chrissie promised.
"Yeah, right," Tina said, then grinned when Nick gave Chrissie a peck on the cheek. Chrissie blushed rosily, and watched Nick walk over to Tina.
"Your books are pretty cool," he said, kissing her on the cheek before leaving the room. She watched him go, then turned back.
Only AJ was left. He stood in the center of the room, staring at her, her story in one hand. "Would you mind if I emailed you?" he asked. "I'd love to keep in touch with you."
"Would she mind?" Chrissie asked. "Duh!"
AJ came to stand in front of her, biting his lip to keep from laughing. "I really need to keep that child on a leash," Tina said.
He laughed, then grinned down into her eyes. "Mind if I keep this?" he asked. She shook her head. "Good. I'll email you tomorrow, so you know where to send the rest of the story." She nodded again, still lost in his eyes. He cupped her cheek in the palm of his hand, and drew her face to his. Softly, his lips pressed to hers. She trembled, and slid her arms around his neck.
"Oh, yuck," Chrissie said. "Mommy and AJ sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then.."
"Enough," Tina said, laughing, letting go of AJ and taking a step back. She grinned up at AJ. His dark eyes captured her. "Thanks, Alex, for noticing me. This has been one trip I'll never forget."
"As if I'd let you," Chrissie piped up.
"Sometimes," Tina said, staring daggers at her daughter, "CHILDREN should be SEEN and not HEARD. Okay?" Chrissie mumbled something under her breath. "What was that?" Tina asked.
"Nothing," Chrissie said, grin back in place.
AJ's chuckle drew her gaze back to him. "I don't I'll forget you anytime soon." He pulled her into his arms, and whispered, "And I read some of that sex scene you'd started. Send that to me too." He kissed her cheek and walked out the door, grinning at her before shutting the door behind him.
"We met the Backstreet Boys!" Chrissie shrieked.
Tina raised a shaking hand to her lips, and then to her cheek. She swallowed hard.
"Mom, didn't you hear me?"
Tina turned to Chrissie who was bouncing up and down in her enthusiasm. "I think Kat heard you up in Canada."
"But it was the Backstreet Boys!"
"Yup," Tina said, setting the chair back under the desk. "It was the Backstreet Boys." She turned to face Chrissie. "And you are riding in the trunk on the way home."
Chrissie's hazel eyes widened. "The trunk? Why?"
"Because I don't have enough rope to tie you to the roof."
THE END
