It must have been two in the morning when Amanda rolled in her bed and was reminded, happily, that she wasn't alone. Had last night been a dream? Because it almost felt unreal. JC had come to her rescue. The memories of the FBI agents and the awful things her father was putting her through faded in comparison to the images she held of JC before she had fallen asleep.

And it wasn't just the memory of their incredible lovemaking, either. Although, those thoughts did linger very close to the front of her mind. Were all men as passionate as he? In a way she almost wished she had something to compare to so she would know just exactly how wonderful he was, because in her world he was absolutely unbelievable. He made her feel so many things, so many wonderful things.

Even more incredible was the way he had held her in his arms so tight. How he comforted her and told her that everything would be okay. How he kissed her so tenderly and touched her as if nothing in the world mattered except for her.
Her eyes somewhat focused to the darkness, she studied him as he slept. He laid restfully on his stomach, his face turned the opposite direction, his silky brown curls sticking to the back of his neck. Instinctively Amanda took her fingers and ran them underneath his hair, freeing the trapped strands from his skin.

Almost instantly he stirred, a low muted moan rumbling from his throat. Slowly his head twisted to face her, his eyes blinking several times before focusing in on her softly. After a quiet minute, he smiled. "Ready for round three?" he asked devilishly.

"Are all men like you?" Amanda asked in reply.

JC smiled with satisfaction. It was obvious that Amanda's remark pleased his ego to say the least. "I don't know about all men, just me," he answered.

"I don't know about them either," she remarked.

"Guess we'll just have to assume they are then - or not."

"I don't think they are," Amanda decided.

"Maybe I'm not normally like this either. Maybe I just really like you a lot," JC debated.

With that Amanda had to smile, because that fact made her just a little bit giddy no matter how hard she tried to fight it. "As much as I'd love to believe that's it, I kinda doubt it," she told him.

"So you think just any woman would have this kind of affect on me?" he asked, sliding in closer to her and crossing one of his legs over the side of hers. "You think I'm just a big horn dog, or what?"

His use of words made Amanda chuckle. "Pretty much, yeah," she said through a smirk.

"Really, sweetheart," he said as he scooted in even closer, "you should never underestimate the power of you."

"The power of me?" she asked curiously, wrapping an arm around his trim waist.

If there was one thing that hadn't faded, it was the excitement of touching his bare skin. It felt better against her than anything she had ever felt in her entire life. He was strong and masculine, yet his skin was soft and inviting. He was the ideal man, at least in her eyes anyway.

"Yes," he assured, tapping his finger across the tip of her nose, "you."

"Whatever," Amanda replied, shrugging off the entire concept and instead tangling her body up against his, reveling in his exuded warmth. The comfort she felt laying so close to him compared to nothing she had ever experienced. It was almost as if all of her troubles vanished when he was holding her so tight. She could easily have stayed in that position for as long as her body would allow.

AS AMANDA'S DELICATE frame curled up against him, JC felt an overwhelming need to protect her. Every part of her felt so completely right. He realized, that in the wee hours of the morning when no other part of the world seemed to exist except for theirs, it would be incredibly easy to spill all his guts and reveal all the crazy emotions he was feeling towards her.

But as much as he wanted to do that, he forced himself to hold back. The funny thing was, he wasn't even sure why he was holding back. Look at what that had cost him before. He'd almost lost her.

"JC?" Amanda whispered, her cheek pressed against his bare chest, her soft voice knocking him from his train of thought.

"Hmmm?" he sounded in reply, his chin resting on the top of her head as she softly stroked her fingertips down the middle of his back. A sensation that made him tingle from head to toe. He could have easily laid there with his eyes closed, basking in her touch, for hours on end.

"Thank you for rescuing me," she said quietly.

Amanda's words only made his desire to open up to her grow stronger. "You don't have to thank me," he said, pulling back enough to look at her sweet face,

"I'm just glad that I found you."

"Me too," she agreed softly, "me too."

SIX AM CAME way too early. When the alarm went off, JC had half a mind to throw it across the room. Then he remembered it wasn't his and it probably wasn't a good idea to treat Amanda's clock like a football. But then he remembered that technically it wasn't Amanda's, it was her fathers and with that thought he almost picked it up and tossed it off the table anyway, but something in his head decided it still probably wasn't a good idea.

Amanda barely stirred as he sat up and hung his feet over the edge of the bed. JC tiredly reached for his pants off the floor and grabbed his phone out of the pocket.

He needed a ride back and he was pretty positive that Mike was going to be just thrilled to come pick him up.

The thought was there, but he had to rub his eyes and let out a rather loud yawn before he was actually able to dial the number. He stared at the phone grumpily, grimacing at the tiny device the whole time.

Finally he summoned up enough energy to dial.

As it rang for the third time, he felt the soft touch of Amanda's hand across his bare back. She was awake. Now he really didn't want to leave.

Finally Mike answered the phone, JC explaining to him in a hurry that he needed a ride back to the hotel. All the while, Amanda's fingers were tracing down his back and making it very difficult for him to concentrate on his conversation.

After discovering it would be probably a half an hour before Mike would be there to pick him up, JC hung up the phone, took in a deep sigh and crawled back in bed with Amanda.

"Shouldn't you be getting up?" she asked as he hugged on to her snugly, his body engulfing her fit frame.

"He won't be here for half an hour," JC explained, wrapping all of his limbs around her in a hold that was impossible for her to get out of.

"Don't fall back asleep. You know Mike will be really mad if he drives all the way here and then you don't hear the door and plus you'd miss rehearsal and you'd be in really big trouble."

"I'm not, I promise."

And he didn't, instead he laid there contently holding on to Amanda for a good ten more minutes before finally getting out of bed and waiting for Mike.

"Uh, I can't wait to take a shower," JC sighed, beginning to get impatient as twenty five minutes had passed and still no sign of his bodyguard. If he had to go, he wanted to go. He hated just waiting around. He hated depending on someone else. He should have just called a cab. Although, he still would have been waiting on someone else, it would have just been someone that he didn't know.

"You could have used mine," Amanda told him.

"I know, but I didn't bring any clothes to change into. It would have been kind of pointless."

"That's true," she said, "sorry," and flashed him a sympathetic grin, realizing he was getting a little antsy.

"It's not your fault. Sorry I'm such a grouch in the mornings," he told her, reaching for her forearm and gently pulling her into his arms. "Don't take it personally, okay?"

"I'm not," Amanda said, her head pressed against his chest. The door bell rang and JC immediately breathed a big sigh.

"Okay," he said, planting a quick kiss on her forehead, "call me after you finish your lunch with your cousin or whatever."

"I will," Amanda assured as he rushed towards the door.

"Bye," he told her, reaching for the door handle.

"Have fun at rehearsal," she smiled at him as he opened the door to find a grumpy looking Mike. He flashed her a quick wave and was out the door.

He followed Mike down the hallway without saying a word. The image of Amanda standing in her baby blue pajama pants and cute little tank top, standing there with that puppy dog look on her face, lingered in his mind. Undoubtedly it would more than likely hang around for the rest of the morning. Or until he became too busy to think about it, which would probably be at rehearsal. How come already he couldn't wait to see her again?

When the two men were safely inside the car, Mike gave JC the most condescending look. "What?" the younger man asked his gargantuan of a bodyguard.

"How did you sneak out without me knowing?" Mike asked, his hands resting stiffly on the steering wheel while he concentrated on the road in front of him.

"Oh, that. Yeah, I just called a taxi." JC revealed casually about his departure the night before. He shuffled in his seat, pulling his hat down farther on his head as he noticed a car full of young girls and their mother staring in his direction.

"That's pretty sneaky. You're lucky you didn't get into some sort of situation."

"Now how would that happen? I was at Amanda's apartment the entire time. We didn't go anywhere." JC reasoned, feeling like the conversation shouldn't have even been brought up in the first place. Really, it wasn't any of Mike's business what JC did with his spare time. If he wanted to take chance of getting mobbed, that was his business. He was a grown man, not some little boy. He could take care of himself. "If you're worried that I'll suddenly decide I don't need you anymore just because I decided to go out by myself for once, well...that's just not necessary."

Thankfully Mike dropped the subject after that. JC didn't feel he needed to explain his relationship with Amanda, or anyone else for that fact, to his body guard. Granted, the two were fairly close because they spent a lot of time together, but lately Mike had been a little edgy and JC was getting tired of it.

By the time they made it back to the hotel, JC had barely twenty minutes to shower and get dressed. He hurried up to his room and hopped in the shower immediately.

Of course the whole time he was in the shower he couldn't stop thinking about Amanda. Thoughts of her seemed to be sticking to him like glue. It wasn't normal for him to feel so distracted, but lately that's how he felt. Distracted with thoughts of her. The good part of it was, as soon as this benefit concert was finished he'd have quite a bit of time off and he wouldn't have to worry about being distracted. In fact, he'd be able to devote all his concentration on her and their relationship, wherever that might be headed. He wasn't exactly sure.

Just after seven, JC had left the hotel on time and was riding in the car with Lance - and company, of course - on their way to rehearsal. His younger friend spent nearly the entire ride on his cell phone, talking business of some sorts, which wasn't unusual. When Lance finally ended his call, he turned to JC with a curious glimpse. "So you found her. Did you find out why she was reported missing?"

But before JC could answer, Lance opened up his mouth again. "This is some situation you've gotten yourself into with this girl. I mean, what a mess. Her father is all over the news."

"He is?" JC asked curiously.

"Yes, something about fraud or embezzlement or something. I don't know, I was only half listening," Lance informed.

"Really?" JC asked with mild surprise, his brow crinkling into the center of his forehead after letting Lance's words sink in completely.

"Yes, really. So what's going on anyway?"

JC glanced up at the security staff in the front seats and decided he didn't want to air all of Amanda's business in front of the entire world. Lance was one thing, but the security staff was another. "I'm not sure exactly," JC told his friend quietly, "I'll tell you more later."

Lance nodded his head in agreement and didn't speak another word. If there was one thing that was true, after spending so much time with your four best friends, they could all pretty much read each others minds when it came right down to it.

AMANDA SAT ALONE in the restaurant Terra had designated for her cousin to meet her at. She didn't mind so much the fact that Terra was already fifteen minutes late. In fact, she kind of enjoyed the relaxing time alone, just people watching. Besides, Terra had been in the office all morning and Amanda was sure she'd probably gotten tied up, but would be walking through the door any minute.

For some reason, as she sat there waiting, a voice triggered her to turn around and glance back. Suddenly she realized that the voice belonged to a man she'd seen on more than one occasion over the past few weeks. Not just him, but the other man he was with, too. Quickly Amanda turned away, her heart rate kicking up several notches. It was obvious these two men had been following her. The question was, were they with the FBI or some shady organization her father had gotten involved with? She prayed to God it was just the FBI, that she could handle.

After another five minutes and no sign of Terra, Amanda began to grow even more nervous. All of the worst scenarios she could possibly imagine scrolled through her head over and over again. She couldn't just sit there wondering, she stood up and headed for the ladies room, knowing the two men couldn't possibly follow her in there.

She stomped inside the what-seemed-to-be empty room, casually checking all the stalls to double check. Then she stood in front of the mirror, braced both hands on the countertop and took in several deep breaths. "Calm down, Amanda," she told herself, "it's probably just the FBI. They just want to see if my father tries to contact me."

Amanda tried her best to believe her own convictions, but really she couldn't push aside the fact that she suddenly remembered seeing those two men in her hotel almost a month earlier. If they were FBI, why were they hanging around a month ago and why hadn't they talked to her sooner?

Her hands somewhat trembling, she dug for her cell phone in her purse. She stared at the numbers for a second debating on who to call, JC or Terra. She wanted to talk to JC, but she didn't want to bother him while he was rehearsing.

"Screw it," she said softly to herself, "he'll understand," and speed dialed his cell phone.

Unfortunately, all she got was his voice mail. "JC," she spoke nervously into the phone, "it's Amanda. Look, I'm sorry to bug you but I just realized that someone's following me. Not just today either, I think they've been following me for almost a month. I'm at the restaurant waiting for Terra. I'm sure she'll be here any minute so there's no need to worry. It's probably just the FBI, right? It's got to be. I mean, who else could it be? Okay, well, sorry again and call me when you get a chance. Bye."

Amanda hung up her phone and realized the message she'd just left was a little chaotic. She took in a few more deep breaths and tried her best to calm down before finally leaving the restroom and heading back to her table.

As soon as she got there, she realized Terra just walking through the front entrance and breathed an immediate sigh of relief.

"Sorry I'm late," her cousin apologized as she hurried to sit down, not even bothering to look at Amanda. But as soon as she did, her expression totally changed. "Manda, what's wrong? Why do you look like you just saw a ghost?"

Carefully Amanda leaned across the table and whispered, "I just realized that someone's been following me for like the past three weeks."

Terra's expression remained completely still and her head didn't move an inch, but her eyes were searching. Searching the restaurant and all the people in her view. "They're here now?" she asked equally as quiet, her mouth barely moving.

"Yes."

Amanda watched as her cousin sat back in her chair and casually picked up her menu, confusion clouding Amanda's thoughts. What the heck was she doing? Didn't she care?

With an exaggerated gasp, Terra set her menu back on the table and spoke rather loudly, "I thought they had clam chowder today and it was yesterday, let's go somewhere else," and scooted away from the table.

"Okay," Amanda agreed, understanding immediately.

Of course, as soon as they were in the car, Terra's mood immediately changed.

"Do you think it's the FBI?" she asked curiously, sitting behind the wheel of the car Amanda had rented for her stay. It was good Terra had instinctively hopped in the driver side because Amanda was way too worked up to drive.

"I don't know," Amanda answered, each word shaking from her lips, "it's not the men who visited me last night, so I don't know."

"Wait! The FBI visited you last night?" Terra asked with surprise.

"Oh God, I didn't tell you," Amanda sighed.

"No, you didn't." Terra remarked.

Amanda heard her phone chirping from her purse and quickly reached down to get it, hoping with all her might that it was JC. She had a hard time grasping onto the miniature device because her hands were trembling so badly.

"Hello?" she finally answered somewhat frantically.

"Amanda, are you okay? What's this about someone following you? Where are you?"

"JC, thank God it's you," she sighed into the phone, noticing her cousin's eyes bulging out of her head as the words fell from Amanda's lips. "I'm okay, I'm with Terra now."

"Please, tell me what's going on. How do you know someone's following you?"

Amanda explained to JC how she had recognized the two men in the restaurant and how it suddenly all just fit in to place. She also told him how she wasn't sure if they were FBI or not. She was beginning to realize what an utter mess her life had become. In just a short time it had went from complete normalcy to complete chaos, and now she was getting him all wrapped up in it, too.

"Okay, listen to me," he told her. "You have a number for the men that you talked to last night?"

"Yes," she answered, her voice a little calmer now since she was talking to him.

"Call them and talk to them. Tell them exactly what you told me."

"Okay," she agreed.

"And then get your butt here, okay? Don't argue. In fact, why don't you ask your cousin if she can drop you off because I don't want you driving. You're too worked up."

"JC, I don't even know how to get to where you are," Amanda told him, her voice teetering on the edge of a whine.

"I'm going to tell you how," he explained, his voice calm and soothing to her ears. Even over the phone he made her feel ten times better. Never in her entire life had Amanda depended on a man and suddenly she found herself needing him more than anything.

The line fell silent for more than a few seconds, Amanda still trying to regain her composure and calm down her heart rate by taking in deep breaths. "Hey," he said softly after their silent pause, "it's gonna be okay. Don't worry. I'm sure it's probably just the FBI. They're just waiting to see if your father tries to make contact with you."

"You really think so?" she asked.

"Why would anyone else be watching you?" he asked her. "It's gotta be them."

"You're right," she sighed with hope.

"Did you want me to give you the directions or did you want me to give them to your cousin?" he asked.

"You better give ‘em to her. Hold on a sec," Amanda told him, taking the phone from her ear and covering the little microphone with her palm. "Terr," she called to her cousin, "I know I have a lot to explain, but he wants to talk to you. I mean, if you could give me a ride to where he's rehearsing, he wants to give you directions."

"He's here? In Manhattan?" Terra asked somewhat disbelievingly. Obviously she had just been thrown for a major loop. A lot had happened in the time since she had seen Amanda the day before.

"Yes, and everything's fine now," Amanda assured.

"Okay, I'll drop you off but only because you're going to promise to tell me everything on the way to wherever he is. Oh, and we will stop for food on the way because I'm starving."

"Okay," Amanda agreed. She put the phone back up to her ear and said, "JC?"

"Yes?" he asked.

"Here she is," Amanda told him before handing over the phone to Terra. She half listened, hoping Terra didn't rip him to shreds after she'd seen Amanda so down over the past few days. Amanda knew now that it wasn't his fault she'd been so miserable, but Terra didn't and Amanda knew that her cousin could be a little overbearing when she wanted to be.

Her main concentration was out the side view mirror. She was trying her best to focus in on the two people in the car behind them and trying to figure out if it was the men in the restaurant or not.

"Manda, it's two old ladies, it's not them," Terra finally said, interrupting her conversation after realizing Amanda's paranoia.

"I knew that," she shrugged, still glimpsing out the mirror.

JC ENDED HIS call with Amanda and knew he was going to have a heck of a time finishing up with rehearsal. He had assured her that the men must have been the FBI. But what if they weren't? What if her father was involved with some big organized crime group or something? What if Amanda was in danger? What if he was in danger? Lord, he hadn't even thought about that. If that was the case he was putting everyone in danger. This was suddenly turning out to be a very bad situation.

With a bit of luck, she'd talk to the FBI Agents and they would be able to tell her what was going on.

It'd probably be a good twenty minutes before the girls got there, depending on traffic. JC had told Amanda to call as soon as they pulled into the parking lot and that way he could meet her at the door so she wouldn't have any problems with security.

Calmly he stood in the hallway just outside where the group was rehearsing and tried to wipe all of the despair from his face. Hopefully he wouldn't have to reveal all of the sketchy details to his friends. Why did all of these things have to be happening to her now of all times? As if there relationship hadn't gotten off to a rickety start as it was. Now this?

When the call finally came through some thirty minutes later, JC had just finished eating his lunch and they were going over their wardrobe for the show. He was thankful that Amanda sounded quite a bit more like herself this time.

"We're out front," she told him.

"Okay, give me two minutes."

"She here?" Justin asked as JC hopped up from his seat. He had told the guys his new girl was coming to visit, he hadn't informed them on all of her troubles.

"Yeah, I'll be right back," JC answered.

Taking the minute walk to the entrance, JC found himself more anxious then ever to see Amanda's sweet face. Something inside of him just had to physically witness that she was okay. He hated all the crap she was going through. It angered him more than anything. Amanda didn't deserve any of the nonsense her father was putting her through. God forbid JC ever run into the man face to face again. He might have a hard time holding back his feelings.

As he peeked around Big John, another one of their mighty security guards, he saw the two women walking up the concrete sidewalk. Immediately he smirked softly to himself at the image. Amanda and her cousin looked strikingly alike. Except for the different colors of their hair, it was obvious they were related. In fact, if JC wasn't positive Amanda had referred to Terra as her cousin several times, he could've sworn that they were sisters. They even had the same bouncy walk.

Just as they were a few feet away, JC popped out from behind Big John, who covered him completely, and then some, and smiled widely. "Hey," he said cheerfully, "you made it."

"We did," Amanda grinned in reply. He could sense that little bit of tension in her features as she neared. He hated to see that in her.

"Come on in," he told them as Big John stepped aside and let the ladies through.

"Don't mind Big John here," he said patting the hefty man on his shoulder, "he's all about intimidation but really he's as soft as a teddy bear."

Big John sneered with disagreement, "am not."

Amanda introduced her cousin to JC and vice versa before he led them to an empty corridor where he would feel safe asking her how her talk had went with the Agents. But first, he scooped her into his arms and hugged her like there was no tomorrow.

"Well?" he asked, letting her take a step out of his embrace, "did you talk to them?"

"They said I don't have anything to worry about and that I'm not in any danger," Amanda explained.

"So it was them?" he asked curiously.

"They wouldn't tell me."

"It was them," Terra interjected, "they just didn't want to say - yes, we're following you."

"I think so, too," JC agreed, looking at them both and having a hard time wiping the smile off his face. "Are you sure you two aren't sisters instead of cousins?" He just had to ask, he couldn't believe how much they looked alike. "You guys look a lot alike."

Both women glanced at each other for a second and then looked back at him with curious smirks across their faces. "My mom was her dad's sister," Amanda explained, "I mean, her dad's my uncle."

"I guess we do look a little bit alike," Terra remarked, studying her cousin curiously. "I never really thought about it."

"Well we haven't seen each other in awhile," Amanda added, looking over Terra and then returning her gaze to JC. "I don't know, I guess."

"Anyway, I've gotta get back. We're you gonna stay Terra?" JC asked.

He noticed the corners of Terra's mouth turn up just a little as she looked at him and then looked at her cousin. "Can I meet Justin?" she finally asked.

JC was used to that kind of attention, but Amanda's jaw nearly dropped in surprise. "Terra!" she gasped at her cousins outright boldness.

"What?" her cousin asked naively, "I'm only human."

JC let out a soft chuckle and reached for Amanda's hand. "Come on, I'll introduce you," he said, glancing over at Terra's overly-happy face. He could tell she was really trying to disguise her excitement, but he was used to those types of reactions and could spot them a mile away.

BEING IN A ROOM with so many people she didn't know was a little bit uncomfortable for Amanda. Of course, everyone was very cordial and nice, but still, the only two other people she had come in contact with were Justin and Chris and those were both very quick instances at the hotel. Oh, and of course Mike, but he didn't count because Amanda was sure that he hated her.

Terra was, of course, her normally cheerful self and Amanda was thankful that she decided to stick around. Even if it wasn't very long, because she was sure her cousin would have to get back to work sometime before too long.

When the guys finally made way to the stage to rehearse, Amanda was in complete awe. She'd had no idea. They were absolutely incredible. And this was just rehearsal! No wonder why so many girls went crazy for them. Now she understood.

And she definitely understood what Marcy had meant about him being able to move. He grinded and swayed like he was born to be on that stage. And his voice, his voice was just beautiful and melodic. Up until that point, it had never fully hit her who she was becoming involved with. Yes, she knew he was famous and she knew he was very busy, but now she knew why and she completely understood.

JC was absolutely amazing.

As soon as JC had a little bit of a break, while the choreographer was going over some of the moves with Lance and Joey, he headed straight for Amanda and her cousin.

"Manda, wipe that silly grin off your face. What's wrong with you. You look like you're in love with the guy or something," her cousin whispered in her ear.

Instantly Amanda did as Terra said. Was it that obvious? Boy, she really was in trouble if that was the case. She had just never expected to be so captivated by him when he was on stage. He really did know how to move.

As soon as JC sat down beside Amanda, taking a giant swig of his bottled water, Terra made the announcement that she had to get going.

"I should walk you out," Amanda said.

"No, I can get out myself. What about your car?"

"Oh crap, I didn't even think about that." Amanda sighed.

"Your car?" JC asked curiously before gulping down the rest of his water.

"My rental," Amanda explained.

"We can pick it up later," JC decided.

Amanda scratched the back of her head and glanced at JC beside her. He was completely taking control and as unusual as it felt to her, it also felt really good. No one had taken care of her that way in a very long time. It felt very comforting to know that she wasn't alone.

Looking back at Terra, Amanda realized the satisfaction in her cousins green eyes. Huh, green... The same color as hers. Okay, so maybe they did look a lot alike. But that was beside the point. The point was, she could see that Terra was pleased with JC's efforts and the way he seemed to care so deeply about her.
Terra smiled and stood, "that'll work," she said and extended her hand to properly say goodbye. "It was nice meeting you, JC," she said. "You're lucky you turned out the way you did or you might have gotten one hell of an earful from me."

"Terra..." Amanda gasped for the second time since they'd arrived.

"Manda, you know it's true. Don't give me that look."

"It's okay," JC remarked. "I would've probably given me an earful too if I were you."

"So," Terra pointed at her cousin, "you call me later to let me know when you want to pick up the car."

"Okay," Amanda agreed.

"I'll see you guys later." Terra waved a quick goodbye and hurried on her way.
Amanda turned to JC and he casually rested his hand on her knee. "You okay?" he asked her softly.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"We'll be outta here soon and then I'll make you feel better," he said with a suggestive wink right before brushing his thumb over her cheek.

"I think I feel better already," she smiled.

"I do tend to have that affect on women," he grinned proudly.

"Yeah, I bet," Amanda rolled her eyes in response.

One of the guys whistled at him from the stage and JC pecked her on the cheek in a hurry, "I'll be done soon. Promise," he said as he stood and jogged back towards the others. Amanda didn't mind waiting. She was enjoying the entertainment thoroughly.

(c) 2001 BrandyRae