Early the next afternoon Ellie took her mom to lunch—a quaint little bistro, quiet and far away from paparazzi land.  Then afterward they did a little shopping.  It was early evening by the time they got home.  She hadn’t stopped thinking about JC once the entire day.  She’d slept better than she had in weeks, or maybe even months.  She didn’t dare think about all the wonderful, sensual moments they’d shared, because it brought an instant smile to her face and probably made her look way too guilty.

Although, she didn’t feel guilty about it at all.  In fact, she was already thinking about when they might be able to sneak in a repeat.

When they finally pulled onto Ellie’s street, it was difficult NOT to realize the hefty SUV in JC’s driveway.  Her eyes seemed to gravitate towards his home whenever possible.  Nevertheless, the vehicle looked pretty manly.  For some reason that comforted her.  She wasn’t sure how she’d react if he were to be entertaining female guests this quickly after their night together.  Sure, they had absolutely no relationship whatsoever, but she didn’t want him to turn out to be a total scum bag either.

You just never know in this town.  Ellie had encountered all types of men and woman over the course of her time in La La Land, as she sometimes liked to call it.  Nothing surprised her anymore.  Definitely not celebrities thinking their right next to God or something.  Not that she was insinuating JC felt that way, but you just never know.

At this point, she was going to keep thinking the best of him, because so far that’s what he’d given her.

She had just stepped inside the door when her phone beeped.  Ellie hadn’t heard a word from JC all day.  Maybe she was telepathically signaling for him to contact her, with all the thoughts that had just ran through her mind.

Her hopes were confirmed as true, once she finally had a chance to set down her purse and check her phone.  It was him.  The message simply said, Hi.

Why did that make her stomach dip a little?  It was just one simple word.  Okay, maybe it was because it clearly meant he was thinking about her.  She’d been thinking about him all day.  Next thing she knew she was practically heading out the door. 

“Mom, I’m going to run across the street for a minute.  I’ll be right back.”  Even if she only got to see him for one minute, that would be enough.

Her mom just kind of looked at her funny.  “Okay,” she said.  Thankfully her mom had never been one to question things too much.

Ellie was quick-stepping it across the street.  She got up to his door and immediately rang the doorbell.  It didn’t take him long to answer, but when he did he was kind of a mess, in army green cargo pants and a plain—somewhat tight—white, t-shirt.  His feet were bare and his hair was flat against the top of his head, his jaw darkly stubbled. 

She just knew it spelled trouble when she found the whole look extremely appealing.

JC just kind of looked at her funny, making him only that much more irresistible.  Dammit.

“Hi,” he said sort of goofily, obviously surprised with her visit.

Of course, Ellie was suddenly at a loss for words, realizing she had absolutely no reason for showing up at his door unannounced.  “I—” was all she could seem to get out.

With a grin, he opened the door for her to step inside.  “Don’t tell me you locked yourself out again?” he remarked with an obvious tease, closing the door behind her and bringing a hand up to scratch the back of his head.

She shut her eyes briefly, subtly shaking her head, irritated with herself.  Then she forced herself to look at him.  “I don’t know why I’m here,” she admitted honestly.

JC leaned an elbow against the door and let the side of his head fall against his fist, crossing one foot in front of the other.  “I can think of a reason,” he remarked, his eyes full of suggestion.

Her eyes closed again, as she could feel the flush spread to her cheeks.  “Dammit,” she whispered.

“Oh, it’s the new neighbor!” she heard another distinctly and somewhat familiar male voice coming in from the other room and immediately opened her eyes to watch as Justin Timberlake slid down the hallway in his socks, almost like one of those silly cartoon characters that had stepped on a banana peel.  He was looking just as relaxed as JC in baggy gray sweats and an equally baggy t-shirt.  She’d never seen him so casual before.  His hair was super short, but his jaw was shaded with dark blond hair, like someone who hadn’t shaved in maybe a week.

Their eyes locked and his expression changed instantaneously.  “Hey, I know you…”

Ellie confirmed it with a slight nod.  They’d actually met more than once, although she hadn’t exactly said so when she’d met JC that first night.  “Hello Justin,” she grinned shyly. 

The slipping had stopped, as he’d now regained his footing, and was standing just a step away.  “Sorry to hear about—”  Then he stopped and looked at JC.  “This is—” but he didn’t finish that sentence either.  Of course Ellie was really starting to wonder what exactly JC had told him.  Well, that was pretty obvious.  No doubt, JC had confided in his friend what had happened between he and Ellie the night before.  “Never mind.  I’m going back in the other room.”  He turned quick on his heels and then turned to look over his shoulder.  “Nice seeing you, Ellie.”

“You too,” she remarked with a shy wave.

JC looked at her kind of curiously.  “I thought you said you’d only met one time at a charity event?”

“Once, twice, six or seven… I’ve lost track of how many different celebrities I’ve ran into at different social events.”

His expression softened.  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to drudge up bad memories.”

She pushed out a smile.  “You didn’t.”

“So your mom’s still here?” he asked.  He’d stopped leaning against the door when Justin had appeared.  Now he seemed to be inching closer.

Ellie nodded.  “Till Wednesday.”

“Where’s she live?”

“Up north,” Ellie answered.

“That narrows it down,” he remarked.

There sentences were short, and Ellie realized that was probably because they were both too busy staring at one another’s lips, no doubt thinking thoughts that had nothing to do with the conversation.  She knew she was, anyway.  “Just outside Sacramento,” Ellie finally explained.

“Oh, well that’s not far.”

“Yeah, I guess I better get back over there.”  She was thinking that her minute was probably up and, frankly, she had no honest reason to stay any longer.  Well, she had no real reason to have stopped by in the first place, but there was no point in back-tracking.

JC smirked, seemingly amused.  “So, that’s it?  You just came by to say hi?”

Ellie shrugged.

“You just needed to see my handsome face again? Make sure it’s real?”

Ellie rolled her eyes and let a quiet smirk sneak out of her voice.  “That must have been it,” she replied with sarcasm.

“It’s real,” he stated simply.  Then he leaned in and kissed her, just as smooth as every other time their lips had met.  There had not been one single awkward thing about it.  Kissing JC was probably one of the most natural things she’d every experienced.

Dammit!

When he pulled back, she opened her eyes just in time to see the grin across his handsome face.  It only made her want to kiss him again—and again, and again, and again.  But she didn’t.  “You better go before your mom starts to think you’re having an affair with your sexy neighbor,” he spouted off.

Ellie was smiling and shaking her head at the same time.  “You’re awful cocky today,” she told him.

“Oh, you have no idea,” he replied, suggestion laced in his tone once again, a thin smile across his face.

“Damn you,” Ellie whispered.  “I have to go.”

JC nodded.  “I know.  I told you.  You better go.”  But if anyone’s body language had ever said, I don’t want you to go, his was it. 

He was completely playing with her, and before she’d thought to stop herself, she’d grabbed the pocket of his pants and pulled him close again.  “Just kiss me one more time,” she said softly.

He did, grinning wide as his mouth took over her own. 

Dammit.  She loved kissing this man.  It was good.  He was good.

Shit.

After a moment not nearly long enough, he braced his hand at her jaw, his thumb trailing across her skin, and pulled back.  “You really better go, because if you stay much longer, I’ll be kicking Justin out and carrying you off to my bedroom.”  His voice had turned husky and deep and sexy and it was just about the best thing she’d yet to hear come out of his mouth.

But Ellie couldn’t control herself.  She desperately needed to touch him.  So, without much control, she slipped a hand to his waist, just underneath his shirt, and indulged in him one more time.

JC didn’t deny her, participating fully in the dance of their passionate lip-lock, his hands at the small of her back and his body pressed up against her.

Then, abruptly, he pulled back.  “Okay, I’m not fucking kidding.  You better go.”  Her expression must have looked a little hurt because he was immediately explaining himself.  “Because you’re making me fucking crazy,” he whispered.

Ellie nodded.  She understood, for sure.  Besides, her one minute had turned into ten, and even though her mom probably wouldn’t ask, she was more than likely getting curious.  “You’re right.  Sorry.”

He pressed a kiss to her cheek and stepped back.  “Call me later.  I’ll be up late,” he said.

With another nod, she agreed, said a soft “bye” and was out the door.

JC didn’t immediately join Justin in the living room.  Instead he went into the bathroom to splash some cool water on his face, hoping that might calm his hormones.

Did she have any idea what she did to him?  Obviously not.

He was still a little worked up when he sat down in his favorite leather chair in front of the TV.  Justin was playing Xbox Live without him.  “You do realize just exactly who you’re getting involved with, right?” the man asked, not bothering to look over at JC.

JC nodded first, even though Justin wasn’t looking.  “Yeah.”

“The divorce is going to be messy.  That’s not something you want to get caught up in.” 

“Why?  You know details?”

Justin did look over at JC then, just for a minute.  It was a look of warning—for sure.  “Just what I’ve heard, which is probably all bullshit, but the guy is worth billions.  You know she’s going after a chunk of that.”

“I guess.  Who wouldn’t?”

“A saint, maybe,” Justin remarked. 

“What?  Is she a gold digger or something?”

Justin shook his head and then shrugged.  “She doesn’t seem like it.  Honestly, every time I’ve seen her she was always very, very nice… like nicer than someone you’d think is married to such a rich asshole.”

JC smirked, “Some people might call you a rich asshole.”

Justin stopped his game for that, shooting JC the most irritated look.  “Minus the asshole part,” Justin remarked, and his eyes went back to the TV.

It was after eleven when Ellie finally settled down in bed.  The evening had turned out a little crazy.  First off, when she left JC’s house she’d been met by Gabby in the middle of the street.  The woman had refrained from asking Ellie why she was obviously coming from JC’s house, but it was obvious that she wasn’t pleased—as if she’d staked her claim on him or something.  Please!  Instead Gabby had asked some idiotic question about what to look for when hiring security, like Ellie would know anything about that!  Of course, when Gabby didn’t get any of the “dirt” she was really looking for, she—thankfully—let Ellie finish her return home.

Ellie had only been in the door maybe twenty minutes when her attorney called.  Did lawyers ever take time off?  She didn’t think so.  Apparently there were some new developments and they needed to meet tomorrow.  Not something Ellie was looking forward to.  She wondered how much it had cost her just for him to call her and tell her that they needed to meet.

Nothing else major had happened, but Ellie’s mood just wasn’t all that great.  Even now, as she was looking for JC’s number on her cell phone, she wasn’t all that happy.  She wanted to talk to him, but she just felt kind of down.

Hopefully his conversation would change that.

It rang three times before it picked up, but she was immediately disappointed as she found out it was only his answering machine.  “Hello.  You have reached JC Chasez.  Please leave a message and I will try and call you back.”  Then there was a sort of strange sounding “Beeeep.”

“JC.  It’s Ellie.  I guess you aren’t home.  I’ll just talk to you another time.”

She was two seconds from hanging up when she heard laughter—his laughter.  Damn him.  “I’m here,” he chuckled.  “I honestly didn’t think you’d fall for that.”

Ellie wasn’t really in the laughing mood though.  “Oh, aren’t you the funny one.”

“Well, I thought it was kinda funny.”

“Yeah, I get that.”

“Okay, did I do something to piss you off?  Are you mad because I had to kick you out of my house earlier?” 

Ellie sank deeper into her pillow.  “No, I’m just not in a very good mood.”

“Oh.  Well, do you need me to come crawl through your window and cheer you up?” he asked.

Now that made Ellie smile.  “Oh, that is so tempting.”

“Just say the word.  I’ll hop right over.”

Ellie had to smirk at his efforts.  So far, they were working.  “I ran into Gabby after I left your house,” she told him.

He was immediately groaning and she could practically see the look of disgust on his face through the phone.  “So, how bad was it?  Did she have enough decency to cover up her watermelon tits? Or have you been scarred for life…  You know, maybe if they’d been done right, but, clearly, as I’ve seen the woman in clothes that I’d rather not have to see ANYONE in… Okay, well, maybe they’d be okay on a select few, but regardless, she’s let me know without me ever asking, just how bad a boob job she has.”

Ellie chuckled softly.  She liked the silly side of JC.  He was totally rambling and it was adorable.  Who would have ever thought he could have so much knowledge on their neighbor’s botched boobs?  “I had no idea," she replied, and then found herself asking, "Did you have a lot of sugar today?”

“Um, I don’t think so,” he replied.  “I don’t know.  Is there sugar in Kool-Aid?”

Ellie was chuckling even more.  “Okay, okay.  I get it,” she told him.  “It’s working.  You cheered me up.”

“Good, and just for the record, I swear I have not done a whole thesis on Gabby’s boobs or anything.  I think I just made myself sound pretty pathetic with all that I just said.”

“Well, I'm glad that you haven't been studying for the test or anything,” Ellie replied with a giggle.  “You know, I would’ve never expected this side of you, after meeting such a serious guy that first night I got locked out of my house.”

“Oh…” he was already defending himself, she could tell just by his tone.  “You can’t be too cautious these days.  I don’t know if you know this, but I used to be a part of this insanely huge pop group called *NSYNC.  I still get hounded by crazy fans.  No joke." 

Their conversation compared to a well-played ping pong match—words kept bouncing back and forth and back and forth, with absolutely no effort.  “Did you worry that’s what I was?  Some crazy fan trying to stake you out?”

“Yes,” JC replied mock-seriously.  “I thought you had moved into that house just so you could try and get a peek at me in my underwear.” 

“That doesn’t sound like too bad an idea.”

“I know.  I have to be careful of that stuff,” he continued.

"Although, I think if I really wanted to sneak a peek, I'd rather it be sans underwear."

"Oh.  Oh...  I see..."  If she was guessing right, she'd kind of shocked him with that one.  "You're just gonna go for it like that. Okay.  I can handle that."

His playfulness made her giggle, but finally she managed to control herself, letting out a lengthy sigh instead.  “Oh… Why did I fly my mom out for a visit?”

“Because you’re going through a rough time in your life and you probably need her?” he answered immediately.

He was just on tonight—sharp and quick-witted.  “Pretty much,” Ellie answered.  “So were you hung over this morning?”  She decided it was time for a change in subject.

“This morning?  I didn’t wake up until noon, but, um, no…  I was not hung over.  Did I seem severely intoxicated when we were—umm—enjoying each other?”

Ellie was smiling so big she felt like her lips were going to jump off her face.  That was a nice way to put it, to say the least.  Just the reminder of what they’d shared made her warm all over.  She’d had no idea that talking on the phone with JC could be so confusing to her insides—she felt both fulfilled and wanting, all at the same.  “No, not really.”

“Okay, good.  So, Ellie, there is a reason that I wanted you to call me tonight.”

 “Okay…”  She responded, just a bit unsure.

“Um, I really don’t know much about you, other than the fact that you’re a great kisser and you’re not too bad between the sheets.”

If she’d been drinking at that moment, she probably would have spit the contents across the room.  Luckily that wasn’t the case, but his words were just as shocking, nevertheless.  “Just not too bad?” she asked.

“I plea the fifth.”

“Are you afraid you might hurt my feelings?” she asked, knowing full-well that was not the case.  She had a good enough read on him to know he’d definitely enjoyed all of their intimate time spent together.

“Um, no… I’m afraid I might embarrass myself.  Anyway… so, on to Ellie.  Tell me something, please…  Oh, and make it something that does not involve your soon-to-be ex-husband.”

Did he not like hearing about that?  Hmmm… “Well, in my former life I actually had a career.”

“That’s a good start,” JC remarked.  “Keep going, I need more detail.”

Ellie chuckled softly and let the conversation fall into place.  She had no problems talking about herself or her former life.  She’d developed one of the hottest dating websites on the Internet, and then sold it for millions.  Now she had absolutely nothing to do with it and it had sort of turned into a monster, but that was all part of her past.  She had no regrets. 

She’d met James through that deal.  It was the deal that had brought her to L.A. some five-plus years ago.  Oh, how her entire world had changed since then.  She tried not to go into that with JC, though.  For some reason, he didn’t want to talk about it.  She was okay with that.  She didn’t want to talk about it either.

By the time she finally hung up the phone, they’d talked for nearly two hours.  It was one a.m. again and Ellie was tired.  It didn’t take much effort to drift off to sleep.  It was the second night in a row that she was able to relax…. all thanks to JC.  There seemed to be a pattern forming.  She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

The next morning Ellie dropped her mom off at the spa for a little pampering and then headed off to Stephen Blake’s office.  They had a ten a.m. meeting and, frankly, she was a little nervous about it.  What if James’ attorneys had already made some sort of an offer to tie this thing up quickly?  Or what if they were contesting what had been filed?  She didn’t want much.  Just what the prenup had stated she would get.  Okay, so it was about 25 million, but figuring he was worth billions, that was a drop in the bucket for him.

She figured the 25, plus the five she already had tucked away, would be plenty to live off of, and also enough to invest in some new business ventures that would keep her comfortable for the rest of her life.

Of course she already had the 3.5 million dollar home he’d purchased in her name.  It was small—3.5 million in the Hollywood Hills doesn’t buy you a whole lot—but it was plenty of space for just her.  Besides, she wouldn’t dare think of moving now.  Not since she’d started conveniently rendezvousing with JC.  She really didn’t know what else to call it.  Clearly, it was far from being called a relationship—other than one of friendship.  Okay, friendship with a few perks here and there.  But really that’s all she could give at the moment anyway.

When she finally sat down across from Stephen, her nervousness must have been written across her face.

“Ellie…” She’d asked him during their first meeting to please call her by her first name.  “Thanks for coming in on such short notice.”

“No problem.”  She sat across from the young J. Crew looking attorney (although she was sure his suit was much more pricey than that).  His dark hair laid perfectly styled and his suit was pressed precisely.  Of course, she expected no less considering the price she was paying. 

“We found out yesterday that James fired his team at Hadley, Williams and Blaine.”

She wasn’t quite sure what that meant.  “Okay…” she remarked, waiting for him to continue as she perched her body stiffly in the leather chair, her legs crossed and her arms folded neatly but nervously in her lap.

“We think he’s going to replace them with probably the most cut-throat firm in town.”  The look across his face was stoic to say the least. 

Ellie immediately frowned.  “He’s going to fight what he agreed to in the prenup?” she asked, her nerves sneaking out through her tone.  “That’s all I want.  I’m not trying to break the bank or anything.”  That would have been pretty tough to do, considering.

Stephen leaned in and tried to look as comforting as possible, but it didn’t work very well.  “At this point, we really don’t know what he’s trying to do.  What’s important is that you be very careful with your actions.  This new firm, I’m sure, will be hiring private investigators and probably having you followed.  My guess is that he’s afraid you’re going to start talking about things he doesn’t want to be talked about.  This is his way to try and scare you in to being quiet.”

Ellie’s posture visibly fell.  “I wasn’t going to talk about any of that.  That’s just not me,” she defended.

“I know that and you know that, and deep down I’m sure he knows that.  But he’s scared.  You could really damage his credibility with just some of the things you’ve already shared with me.  So I can only imagine what’s going through his mind right now.  Just be aware that even a quick conversation with the wrong person could turn into an entire smear campaign on his part… and we both know the fascination the media has had in regards to your relationship.  This is going to hit and it’s going to hit hard.  You might want to consider hiring someone in public relations.  If you want me to refer you, I can.”

“Are you serious?”  She was no one special.  She didn’t need to hire a PR specialist!

He nodded.  “Prepare yourself.  It’s going to get ugly… but I assure you, we will win in the end.  I always win.”

By the time Ellie sat down in the driver’s seat of her luxury sedan, she was completely and utterly depressed.  For a moment she just sat there in the warmth of her leather seat with the windows up and the sun shining brightly through the windshield.  The car wasn’t on and the chaos outside was muffled.  She was back in the bubble and for a second she wanted to stay that way.  “God, why is this happening to me?” she muttered softly to herself.

Then she sat up, let out a deep breath, and turned the key, ready to face whatever happened next.  She could not live in a bubble any longer, especially a bubble inside of her car.  That was just ridiculous. 

As soon as the motor of her car came to life, the radio poured out of the speakers.  She’d left it on, like she so often does, but it was the song that got her attention.  Only because for once she actually soaked in part of the lyrics.

It was Mariah Carey’s new song, “Touch My Body” and it was the words “secret rendezvous” that caught her attention.  She sat there and listened to the entire song.  She couldn’t stop shaking her head because it seemed to be written specifically for her and her feelings toward JC.  Damn.

How the hell was she going to tell him what her attorney had just told her? She was already counting down the hours till her mom left the next day so they could have a replay of what had happened two nights before.  They’d already discussed having dinner the following evening.

This was terrible.  He was the one thing that made her feel better and now her attorney was telling her that, basically, she shouldn’t be seen with ANYONE, because it could be twisted and misprinted in the press.

Dammit.  Dammit.  Dammit. 

Irritated, she smacked the top of the steering wheel with her open palm and then finally decided it was time to leave, pulling out of her parking space and cautiously maneuvering out of the lot.

She had more than an hour to kill before her mom would be ready so she made a detour to the grocery store to pick up a few items, but before she got out of her car she reached for her cell phone to call JC.  The thought occurred that maybe they weren’t really close enough for her to be able to call and tell him what had just happened, but honestly she didn’t care.  She wanted to tell him anyway.

When he finally answered after four rings, with a groggy “hello?”, she realized instantly it was still kind of early for him.  He’d been asleep.

“Sorry to wake you,” she said.  “It’s Ellie.”

“I know.”  His voice was extra deep—and sexy.  Damn—again.  “Did you manage to free up some time to come see me?”

Oh, did she wish.  “No, actually, it’s the opposite.”

“Huh?”

She imagined those words had woke him up.  “I can’t see you, JC.  I can’t see anyone.  I just got finished with my attorney and I’m probably being followed.”  Her level of unhappiness was climbing, clearly coming through in her tone, because the more she spoke about it, the worse she felt.  “If I make one wrong move I’ll probably be all over the tabloids, being made to look like the whore of the century.  I am just so upset right now… I can’t even begin to tell you how mad I am.”

JC sat up in bed.  He was wide awake now.  Of course, his first instinct was to tell her to calm down and then for her to come over and talk.  He was good at listening.  Too bad that was exactly what she was telling him she couldn’t do.  “Just take a deep breath,” he told her instead.  “Where are you?”

“In my car.  In the parking lot at Whole Foods.”

“Probably not the safest place if you’re looking to stay out of the tabloids,” he told her.  “Paparazzi stake out that place on a regular basis hoping they’ll get pictures of Jessica Alba carrying her groceries to the car, or some shit.”

Audibly she groaned.  “I wasn’t exactly thinking about that when I pulled in.  I was thinking about getting some fresh vegetables for dinner.”

“Look,” he said, “Just turn your car back on and come home.  We’ll figure this out.  I know a lot about this kind of stuff.”

“I can’t.  I have to pick up my mom at the salon.”

In JC’s mind Ellie didn’t need to be running all over town, upset.  It occurred to him that he was probably more concerned than he would normally be, considering they really were just starting to get to know each other, but it didn’t matter.  His feelings were his feelings.  There was no denying them. 

Unfortunately, he also realized that the direction his feelings were guiding him was the exact direction her attorney had just told her not to go.  But there had to be a way for them to see each other, at least a little bit?  “You sure you’re okay to be driving?” he asked in the midst of all the crazy thoughts racing through his head.  It pissed him off just a little that he cared so damn much, but he really liked whatever it was that was happening between them.  He really didn’t want it to end already.

“Yeah.  I’m fine.  I’ll be fine,” she said, not exactly the most convincingly.

“Okay.  Call me later.  At this point, I think that’s still safe.”

“Thanks for listening,” she told him.  “I’ll call you tonight.”

“It’ll be alright.  Everything’s going to be fine.”  He’d tried his best to sound confident, but it was tough considering he didn't really believe it himself.

© BrandyRae 2008