At eleven in the morning, I left Cassie a message on her phone telling her that I had made plans for us tonight and she needed to be ready by seven. It isn’t until two thirty in the afternoon that I hear back from her.

“What are we doing tonight?” is the first thing she asks me when I pick up my phone.

I push away from the soundboard in front of me, my chair rolling back across the floor. “Do you realize that we’ve known each other for over a month and you’ve never let me take you out on a proper date?”

I don’t even have to ask that question. She knows it because I’ve been bugging her about it the past couple weeks. At first it wasn’t a big deal but then it started to stand out to me. Whenever we were together we were at my house or her place. The only time we had really been out in public together was the night after I met her in New York when we went for dinner. But we weren’t dating then and it’s not the same.

Anytime I suggest we go out and do something, she always has a reason not to. Usually it’s that she’s tired or just doesn’t feel like it. And I don’t really care where we are as long as we get to spend time together. Lately though…I just want to take her out on an actual date. I want to go somewhere out in public and you know…maybe I want to show her off just a bit.

“That’s what you’ve been telling me.”

“So tonight I’m changing that.”

“What are we doing?” she asks again.

“Going out,” I say simply.

“But where?”

She sounds like she’s getting exasperated but I’m not going to give in. Surprising her will be fun. “Out.”

An annoyed sigh is carried over the line but it doesn’t bother me too much. I highly doubt she’s really irritated. She just likes to have all the answers.

“Well how am I going to know what to wear?” she counters.

“Something casual.”

“I hate surprises.”

No she doesn’t. “Hm.”

“I’m hanging up.”

“I’ll be at your house at seven.”

All I get is a click in my ear as she hangs up and it makes me laugh out loud. I’ve never met a person who likes to get their way more than Cassie. On her though, it doesn’t bother me. It’s kind of endearing. Of course, when you’re completely infatuated with a person, everything they do is endearing.

“Are you ready to get back to it?”

I look back to my producer, Scott, who had come into the room when I had been on the phone. “Yeah. I’m thinking we need to change some of the lyrics in the second verse. It’s not sounding right.”

“I was thinking that too,” he says. “We can play around with it.”

“Sure.” I check my watch and see it’s close to three. “I need to be out of here by six thirty.”

“Sure.”

Pulling my chair back to the soundboard, I slip my headphones back over my ears and force myself to concentrate on the task at hand rather than my upcoming date with Cassie.

* * *

“Mom, once I get the store open and running I’ll have more time. All I’m saying is if you come up now I won’t have any time to even see you.”

“I only said it would be nice to see you again.”

My eyes close in exasperation. This is my mother and I love her but sometimes, well often, she’s just too much to handle. She can be so passive aggressive with the things she says and usually when I get off the phone with her, I need an hour to simply collect myself.

“Yes, I know you only said that. And I’m just saying that I’m incredibly busy right now and if you come up now I won’t be able to spend any time with you. I don’t want you to come here for nothing.”

“That’s fine, Cassandra. You’ll just have to let me know when it’s a more convenient time to see your mother and I’ll come then.”

I fight back a growl of frustration and instead force a tight smile onto my lips even thought she’s not there to witness my efforts. “I’ll make sure to do that, Mom,” I say in the most pleasant voice I can muster. “Look, I have to go get ready. Justin’s going to be here in a few minutes.”

“Are things getting serious between you and him?”

That’s her way of asking if I’m sleeping with him. “Well, it’s been a month,” I say and leave it at that. Like it’s any of her business. For the time being, I’d like to keep my relationship with Justin private from my mother. “But I really have to go.”

“Fine. I’ll talk to you another time.”

“Sure. Bye.” I hang up the phone and drop it onto the counter. I’m in the process of taking some deep, calming breaths when my doorbell rings. Cracking open an eye, I check my watch and see it’s a bit before seven. I need more time to chill out before I see Justin and he’s definitely early.

I move towards the door before he can ring the doorbell again. He is the most impatient guy I know.

“Hey,” he greets when I open the door and usher him in. “You look…uh, a little stressed.”

I give him a small smile. “Do I?”

“What’s up?”

I usually try not to talk about my family because it’s such a complicated situation. He doesn’t understand my mother. “I was just on the phone with my mom,” I say.

His eyebrows rise. “Did you get in a fight with her?”

“No. Just usual conversation.”

“Usual conversation has you looking like this?” he asks.

“You don’t know my mother,” I reply.

“You’re right. Actually, I realized that I don’t know much about any of your family.”

“And it’s best to keep it that way,” I say, grabbing a coat from the front closet.

He gets a weird look on his face but it disappears quickly when I step up to him and rise on my toes so my lips meet his.

It’s been two weeks since our first kiss and it’s like since that point, I can’t get enough of him. There’s something about his kisses that are completely intoxicating. I start kissing him and it feels like I can’t get enough. I just want to soak him up entirely and never let go.

His lips are soft as he kisses me and he wraps his arms around me, his fingers splayed across my back. I love when he holds me. His grip is so secure and I feel so safe with his arms around me.

I pull my mouth away from his and hug him tightly. Burying my face in his neck, I breathe in deeply, my lips turning up as the smell of his cologne fills my nose. I’ve grown completely in love with his cologne over the weeks I’ve known him. It’s subtle, but always there and purely masculine. One day I’m going to steal one of his shirts just so I can have that smell around me all the time.

Justin’s hands run in soothing circles on my back and I let my eyes drift shut. There’s nothing I’d rather do than stay here with him all night but he’s been so insistent on going out for an “actual date” as he keeps calling it that I know there’s no convincing him to stay in.

“Feel less stressed?” his voice murmurs in my ear and I smile and pull my head back.

“Much. Can you be here every time she calls?”

He laughs. “What exactly is so horrible about her?”

I shake my head and grab my purse. “She’s just a lot to handle,” I say, not wanting to get into it.

He opens the front door and we leave my house. After I’ve locked the door, he grabs my hand and leads me to his car.

“She lives in San Francisco right?”

“Yeah.”

He opens my door for me and waits until I’m in and then shuts it. His mother did a fine job in raising him.

“So where are we going?” I ask when he opens the drivers door and gets in. “Or are you still keeping that on the down low?”

He grins over at me and starts the car. “Patience, Cassie.”

I scoff and buckle up my seatbelt. “You’re hardly one to be talking about patience.”

He pretends to be offended. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

I playfully roll my eyes at him. “How many times have I not answered the door quick enough for you and you’ve rung the bell like ten times?”

He begins to smile and then tries to cover it. “Make fun of me now but you’re going to be thanking me for that the day that you’re lying on the floor dying and I save your life cause I’m persistant.”

I begin to laugh. “Which sounds like something that’s going to happen.”

“It could,” he replies and then flips on the radio and settles himself in his seat. I turn to look out the window, trying to figure out where exactly we’re going. But let’s be honest, I’m still not overly familiar with LA and he could be taking me anywhere and I wouldn’t have the slightest clue. After a few minutes of watching passing scenery, I turn to him.

“Did I dress casually enough?”

He pulls his eyes from the road and they run up and down my body. “Perfectly casual. You have it down to an art.”

“Casual for…maybe…bowling?” my words are drawn out and unsure. I have no idea what he has planned. He smiles but doesn’t look away from the road this time. “We’ll be there in ten minutes. You’re just going to have to wait.”

I give him a frustrated sigh. I hate not knowing what’s happening around me.

He merely smiles at my annoyance and reaches across the console for my hand. He gives it a squeeze and rubs his thumb over my knuckles.

“You make it sound like I’m taking you somewhere horrible.”

I lean my head against the back of the seat and turn it to look at his profile. “Maybe you are.”

He quickly smiles over at me. “Doubtful.”

“But-”

“Just shut up for five minutes and then we’ll be there, okay?”

If any other person were to tell me to shut up, I’d probably jump down their throat. But with the smile on his face, I can’t be mad at Justin when he says it. Instead, I sink down into the leather seat and look back out the window.

True to his word, five minutes later we arrive at the destination. I’m at first unsure about the slightly run down pool hall but after Justin reassures me that they have the ‘best damn burgers in the city’ and that ‘nothing beats a good old fashioned pool hall’, I decide to just go with it.

I’m actually pleasantly surprised at the date destination. Going out to a fancy dinner is always nice but it gets predictable and almost tedious after a while. I’ve gone out with too many guys where to them a date is dinner and a movie and there’s no creativity at all in it. With someone as famous as Justin, I almost expected a big expensive dinner and this is completely unexpected and welcome. This is the kind of place I grew up in and it’s refreshing to know places like this still exist.

There’s not a huge amount of people in the hall and we’re left pretty much to ourselves in a table in the back. After ordering and getting some drinks, we’re left alone. Only a short moment of silence hangs between us before I ask the question I had been wondering all night.

“So why was it so important for you to go on this date?”

Justin leans back in the booth seat and rubs his hands down his jean covered thighs. “Don’t you think it’s a little odd that we’ve been dating for a couple weeks now and whenever we spend time together it’s never around people?”

“I’d never really thought about it,” I shrug.

“Even with me bugging you about it?”

“Okay that made me wonder what the big deal was.”

“Don’t you think it’s a bit strange that this is the first time we’ve really been out in public together since dating?”

I shrug again. “No. We’re still getting to know each other. We don’t need to rush things.”

He gives me a strange look. “How is going out together in public rushing things?”

I’m starting to feel a bit like I’m being cross examined here. “It’s not. But…paparazzi follow you around and if they see you and me together, they’re automatically going to rush to the conclusion that we’re dating.”

“Which is true.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean the whole world has to know about it.”

“You don’t want anyone to know that we’re dating?”

“Not the entire world.” I frown a bit. “Why? Do you?”

He shrugs and looks towards the bar. “I hadn’t really thought too much about that. You can hide it for so long but eventually people figure out what’s going on. Why prolong that?”

I follow his gaze and then return my eyes back to his face. “Honestly? I’m not sure I’m ready to be attached publicly to some massive star.”

He turns his eyes back to me and a small smile forms over his lips. “It’s awkward when you refer to me as a massive star.”

I begin to smile as well. It’s the truth but it did feel weird coming out of my mouth. “I know.”

His head tilts to one side slightly and he regards me silently for a moment. When his question finally comes, it surprises me a bit. “You’ve never mentioned your dad. Is he in your life at all?”

Justin tends to switch topics a bit abruptly at times but this is sudden, even for him. I thought we were off the topic of my family. Why the sudden interest in my father? “My dad?”

He nods.

Getting into my messy family history isn’t exactly the way I wanted to spend our first “official date” so I decide to be blunt, to the point, and leave it at that. “He walked out on my mom when I was four. I don’t know him.”

Justin doesn’t say anything and I can tell he’s thinking about something and I wish I could read his mind and figure out what exactly that is. But I can’t and before he can ask any more questions about my family, I decide to change the subject.

“So are we just going to sit here while we wait for food or are you going to let me kick your ass at pool?”

His breaks into a smile. “Kick my ass?” he repeats. “I highly doubt that.”

Poor guy. He has no idea that I was the champion at pool when I was in university. “Are you scared, Justin?”

He scoffs and slides to the edge of the booth. “No. Let’s go.” He stands. When I don’t immediately moves he raises an eyebrow. “Come on, Cassie. I’m expecting that ass kicking now.”

He’s teasing me and I grin as I get up. This is going to be fun.