Chapter Nine
Lara bounced down her steps and out to Nick's car. "Hi!" She said with a
smile, throwing her bag into the backseat. Her stomach was doing flip-flops
but she was determined not to act nervous.
"You coulda waited...I woulda come up to the door for you," Nick said with a
smile.
"It's okay, I've been ready for a while," Lara admitted.
"You mind the wind in your hair?" Nick asked as he pulled out onto the
highway.
"No," Lara replied, then squealed with delight as Nick pushed a button and
the top of his car started to retract. "I didn't even know this was a
convertible!"
"Yeah, it's hidden pretty well." Nick turned on the CD player, then reached
over and held Lara's hand. "So...did you tell Lucky you were going for a
drive with me today?"
"Uh...no..." Lara said slowly, wondering why he asked. "I haven't talked to
her hardly at all since the party. She's had a lot of free time lately, and
she's been spending it all with Kevin."
"Now THAT'S a big surprised," Nick said teasingly and she laughed. "I just
want us to keep this on the lowdown, ya know? I don't want photographers and
reporters jumping all over us. I want us to have special us time." He
picked up her hand and kissed it.
"Well, Lucky wouldn't tell anyone," she replied. His blue eyes sparkled at
her.
"But it would be so romantic, don't you think? Just like Romeo and
Juliet..." he reminded her. He stopped at a red light and kissed her cheek.
"Please?"
"Sure, Nick, if it's what you want," she replied, unable to say no to him.
"Great!" His gorgeous smile spread over his face as he hit the accelerator.
"I love you, too," Lisa called as Kevin sped out of her driveway. She threw
him one more kiss, then finally went back into the house. He had spent the
two days since the party holed up at her house, and they had been together
constantly, swimming in the pool, snuggling on the sofa watching TV, or
making love for hours.
Lisa sighed as she went up the steps to take a shower. The house seemed so
empty without Kevin there. She had given Anna a few days off, wanting to
show Kevin that she really was a "normal" person who could take care of
herself as well as him. As she started the water, she wondered how Lara was
doing. She hadn't heard from her friend since the party, and she felt kind
of guilty, since they normally talked every day, even when there were no
appointments or things to do. As usual, Lisa had been so caught up in Kevin
that she didn't even notice what else was going on. When she walked back
into the bedroom to undress, she looked at the nightstand, remembering what
was in it. With a deep sigh she sat on the edge of the bed and pulled the
envelope out of the drawer. As usual, there was no return address, and the
postal address on it was smudged.
"Lucky...guess you really are lucky now, aren't ya? Ya caught yourself a
big rich hunk in that Backdoor Boy, Kevin Richardson. What he sees in you I
don't hardly understand...just like I don't know what I see in you either.
If you was my woman, you'd be home where you belong, taking care of me and
my house, not off gallivanting and spending all your money. Sooner or later
he'll realize what a no-talent waste you are, and you'll be all mine. I'm
just biding my time, waiting for my moment. While I wait, though, it's
getting kinda expensive. I lost my job again, and I have no savings. Maybe
you could help me out? What do ya think about that? I'll be in touch."
Lisa sighed as she folded the letter and shoved it back to the envelope.
Walking over to the closet, she shoved aside some blouses and ran her
fingers over the wall. She found the notch in the paneling and opened the
hidden door. She quickly turned the numbers of the combination and opened
the safe. She pulled out a stack of envelopes about two inches thick and
placed the new envelope on the top. She had been receiving this letters for
about two months and they were always the same. This person insulted her
beyond belief, and yet continued to profess their love and yearning for her.
This was the third time money had been mentioned, but no request had yet
been made. There was no name, no signature, no way of tracing the letters.
Lisa was sure that the police or postal service could find them, but she was
too ashamed to call. The letters embarrassed her beyond belief, but they
also frightened her. She'd wait and ignore them...maybe they would stop.
Just as she was about to step into the shower, the phone rang. She picked
up the bathroom cordless. "Hello?"
"Hey, Lucky, it's Brian."
"Hey, Cuz," she replied, using Kevin's nickname for him. "What's up?"
"I wanted to talk to Kevin."
"He's not here," she told him.
"SURE he isn't. No one has been able to find him for days, his cellphone is
off, he won't answer his pages and YOU don't know where he is? Yeah,
right," Brian said with a laugh.
"No, seriously, Bri..."
"Come on, Lucky, I need to talk to him. It's important business stuff,"
Brian said seriously. Lisa frowned. She really liked Brian and was getting
to be pretty good friends with him, but at this moment he was pissing her
off.
"Littrell, will you shut the fuck up for a second?" She finally yelled.
Silence filled the airwaves. "Good. Thank you. God, what is it with your
family? You cannot shut up sometimes," she said with a sigh. "Kevin WAS
here, but he's not NOW. He left about fifteen minutes ago and should be
home any minute now, okay?"
"Okay. Sorry." She could almost see Brian pouting like a little boy who had
just been scolded.
"It's okay. And stop pouting."
"I'm not pouting," he pouted, and she laughed.
"Is everything okay? Businesswise, I mean."
"Everything's great, but I'm gonna have to give him some news he might not
like. I'm sure you'll hear all about it. Hey, wanna have lunch with me and
Amanda sometime next week?"
"I'm not sure of my schedule; I haven't talked to Lara in days. I'll get
back to you, okay?"
They chatted for a moment and then hung up. Lisa finally got in the shower
and tried to wash away the memory of the hateful letter.
"Oh, Nick, this is fabulous!" Lara took a deep breath and sighed. "I can
never EVER get used to living this close to the ocean."
Nick spread out a blanket and flopped down. "I love the ocean, too."
"No, it's not like that. I lived three hours from the closest beach back at
home. This is like a dream come true." Lara sat down next to him and looked
out at the water. Nick scooted over to lay his head on her lap. His blue
eyes smiled up at her and she sighed, unable to resist the urge to run her
fingers through his hair.
"Mmmm...I'll give you about twenty years to stop that," he murmured, almost
purring like a cat. Lara continued to play with his soft hair as she
glanced around the deserted beach.
"Where in the world did you find a beach this secluded?"
"I have my ways," he said devilishly and she laughed.
"And I'm sure I don't want to know any of them." They sat in silence for a
while until Nick's stomach started to grumble. "It's only ten-thirty!"
Lara protested.
"I'm a growing boy...I get hungry early." He reached over for his bag and
pulled out some cookies. He took one, then reached up to feed her one. She
sighed again. She couldn't help it. She would never have believed that she
would ever be laying around on a beach being fed by someone as wonderful as
Nick Carter.
"Something wrong?" He asked her.
"Absolutely not. Everything is so right," she told him.
"Did you bring along a nice dress like I told you to?" Nick asked.
She nodded. "I wasn't sure why I'd need it, but I did."
"We are going out to dinner. There is this gorgeous old hotel up the road a
bit with a wonderful dining room. I wanted to take you somewhere nice,
Jules."
Lara smiled. On the way up in the car Nick had started calling her Juliet,
which he quickly abbreviated to Jules. "That sounds perfect."
"Good. I want this to be a perfect day for you. No people, no
photographers, no nosy fans, just us."
"You run a good game, Carter," Lara said. Nick stared up at her.
"Wh...what do you mean?"
"If you are trying to seduce me, it's working," she teased. His eyes grew
stormy but quickly cleared.
"I don't have to TRY to seduce anyone," he said cockily, and she laughed.
He sat up and tugged at her tshirt until she lay down next to him. He
leaned up on one arm and began to lightly caress her cheek. "You're so
beautiful," he said quietly.
"No, I'm not," she replied. He started to say something, but she continued.
"You hear people say you're ugly enough times, Nick, and you start believing
it," she said softly. She saw something strange pass through his eyes.
"I don't believe it, and I would never say it," he told her. He lay back
down and pulled her over to snuggle against his chest.
Home
By: Lara
© 2000
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Chapter Eight
Chapter Ten