By the time Ellie and her mom returned home it was just after one in the afternoon.  They’d picked up fast food on the way back—something Ellie rarely did—and sat down in the kitchen to eat and talk.  If there was one thing Ellie cherished about her mom, it was being able to talk to the woman about anything.  Nancy McCray was one of the most open-minded individuals Ellie knew.  She liked to think that her mom’s candor and honesty had instilled the same traits in her.  As far as Ellie could tell, she’d turned out pretty good, so whatever her mom had done, it must’ve worked.

Two bites into her cheeseburger and the woman was already putting the greasy thing down and giving her daughter input.  “Well, sweetheart, I know you’re upset, thinking about how things MIGHT turn out, but I think it’s pretty simple.  If your attorney says that you need to keep a low profile, then that’s what you need to do… just wait this whole thing out.”

Ellie’s lip instantly curled into a snarl.  “Mom, I’m going through a divorce.  The last thing I want to do is lay low and stay home all the time.  You’ve been through it.  You know that.”

“Yes, but you don’t want to look like Britney Spears after her divorce either,” Nancy shot back, picking up the burger and biting into it again.

Ellie shook her head at the thought.  “Well, no, of course not.”  Britney was a sweet girl who’d been through terrible press.  That was the last thing Ellie needed or wanted.  Of course, she had a lot more sense than that!  Besides, it was only Ellie’s marriage that had caused the media interest.  The marriage was ending so hopefully the media interest would too. 

Although, Kevin Federline still seemed to draw media attention and he and Britney had been divorced for quite a while now.  But they did have children together.  Thank God she and James didn’t have kids!  Oh, shit… Why was she comparing her relationship to Britney and Kevin!  Ridiculous.  Her mind was going haywire!

“Well, the other option would be to just settle for whatever he wants to give you and end it quickly.  I mean, do you really need twenty-five million dollars?”

Ellie’s brow scrunched between her eyes.  “Well, no, I don’t necessarily NEED it… But, mom, it’s the point.  Do you know how many opportunities came my way while I was married?—That James insisted I did not take because he did not a wife that worked.  How egotistical and controlling and selfish is that?  I could have made more than 25 million over the past five years.  I think it’s only fair that he pay up.”  Her mom opened her mouth to speak, but Ellie just kept going.  “Besides, you know all the other crap he put me through.  I, at least, deserve something!  That’s nothing for him.  He’s worth billions.”  Her mom’s brown eyes were unyielding, as she was clearly waiting for the chance to speak.  Realizing this, Ellie finally gave her the chance.

“Funny, when you first separated you were so set on working things out with him.  What made you change your mind?  Besides the fact that he filed for divorce?”

Ellie opened her mouth, but the sound that came out was sort of a sputter.  Finally she managed,  “Well, yeah, that was the biggest factor.  Obviously James has no plans to work things out.” 

Her mom was just nodding, like she knew there was something else that had helped Ellie move her feelings along.  It was true.  Before she’d met JC, all she could think about was trying to work things out with her ex.  Of course, she’d also been delusional, but that was beside the point.

Ellie finally picked up her crispy chicken sandwich and took a bite.  It was near cold and she didn’t really have much of an appetite, but she knew she needed to eat anyway.  She was forcing down a third bite just as the doorbell rang. 

Her mom popped up before Ellie could get out of her seat.  “I’ll get it.  You eat,” the woman insisted.

“Okay,” Ellie conceded quietly, her mouth half-full. 

She sat there, stewing over the feelings her mom had brought on, and then wondering what the heck was taking so long at the door.  The thought of it being JC flashed inside of her head just two seconds before she heard the sound of his voice.

Damn.  She wasn’t really ready for him to meet her mother.  Too late now!

He came into the kitchen behind her mom, looking as handsome as ever of course, and carrying a zippered, black, leather portfolio.  When their eyes met it made her stomach dip.  Another descriptive word shot to her mind—charming.  It was obviously by the grin on her mother’s face that he’d already charmed the pants off her.  Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made it two steps inside the door.

Trying to look unaffected, Ellie brought her straw to her lips and took a drink of her Cherry Coke.

“Ellie, you didn’t tell me one of the *NSYNC guys lived across the street,” her mom remarked.

The reaction that followed was one that almost caused Ellie’s soda to come out of her nose.  Luckily she stopped the action before it was irreversible. 

JC was setting the leather binder down on the counter and trying not to look amused as he slid onto the stool beside her.

Ellie’s mom returned to her chair across the counter and continued.  “I have two granddaughters,” she explained.  “I took the oldest to two of your concerts.  She’s a freshman in college now.  That was a long time ago.  Great show, though,” Nancy finished with a quirky grin.

God, even her own mother was smitten by the man!

He looked almost bashful as his eyes diverted to the counter, his head dropped as he smoothed a hand down the back of his head.  Then he grinned and looked back over at her mom.  “Thanks,” he said.  Then he turned his attention to Ellie.  “I have a lot of contacts,” he said.  “I brought over some information for you.”

JC realized that he’d surprised her with his visit.  He hadn’t meant to interrupt their lunch.  If her mom wouldn’t have invited him in, he would have just dropped the stuff and left.  Of course, he’d NEVER expected for her mother to recognize him.  It shouldn’t have surprised him.  It happened all the time.  But considering Ellie hadn’t known who he was until he’d told her, he just assumed the same would be true with her mom.  Not! 

“She needs all the information she can get right now,” Nancy continued.  She’d, of course, introduced herself at the door.  “JC, you must know a lot about the media spotlight.”

“I do,” he remarked.  “I’m pretty lucky in that I don’t have it too bad compared to, well, others in this business.  I try to avoid that madness as much as possible.”  It was true.  The gossip surrounding celebrities and being in the business of entertaining people was the worst part of his job.  He really just wanted people to focus on his talent, but unfortunately it didn’t always work out like that. 

Getting involved with Ellie at this time in her life could really turn out to get ugly for not just her, but for him too.  He was all for keeping things as quiet as possible. 

“Well, I’m sure Ellie appreciates your help,” the woman remarked, scooting out of her chair and scooping what was left of her food into a brown Carl’s Jr. bag.  “I’ve got to go check in.  If you’ll excuse me.”

“It was nice meeting you,” JC said.

“You too,” she replied and vanished from the kitchen.

JC’s eyes immediately slid over to Ellie, who was sitting not even an arm’s length away.  It was way too tempting to reach for her.  He didn’t succumb to the urge, though.  He decided it would probably be best to keep control.

She looked tired.  He realized he’d kept her up late two nights in a row and she didn’t have the advantage of sleeping in like he did.  The exhaustion in her face didn’t take away from her beauty.  Today her brown hair was sort of wind-blown and wavy—sexy, if you asked him.  She didn’t wear a lot of make-up, but he really liked that about her.  Sure, she’d been pretty “made up” that night at the club, but what girl didn’t get all dressed up to go out?  She just seemed so natural.  So real… Why did that word just keep popping in his head whenever he thought about her?  With all the shit surrounding her, it would be easy to think of her as the exact opposite, but he just didn’t.

“Sorry,” she whispered, tossing what was left of her sandwich onto the wrapper that was spread out in front of her.  Then she sighed and sort of curled her lip.  “I’m not hungry.  I tried, but I just have no appetite.”

“It’ll get better,” he said softly.

Her eyes met his then.  She pushed out the best smile she could probably manage—thin and tight lipped.  Then she smirked softly, through her nose.  “My mom was quite smitten with you.”

JC kind of got that.  He wasn’t going to bring it up though.  Fortunately, he realized it was definitely NOT the time to be cocky or arrogant.  “That happens sometimes,” he replied instead.

Ellie was just shaking her head, something he realized she did a lot, like she just couldn’t believe all the things that were happening to her—good or otherwise. 

“She seems very nice,” JC continued.

Ellie nodded, her stare meeting his once again.  “Aren’t you afraid to be seen with me?  If the press got a hold of it, it wouldn’t just be me in the tabloids, it’d be you too.”

JC kept as straight a face as possible.  “I checked the street in both directions.  There were no suspicious looking vehicles or photographers hanging out in trees, as far as I could tell.”

The look she gave him showed that she wasn’t exactly in the mood for his playfulness.  All he’d wanted was a smile. Unfortunately, this time, it didn’t work. 

“Look,” he said, turning his tone to one a little more serious.  “I am good at keeping my private life private.  I can teach you how to do the same.”

Her eyes squinted with uncertainty.  “You think so?”

JC nodded.

“I think I’ll take you up on that offer.”

He grinned.  “You won’t be disappointed,” he said.  Taking one quick glance behind him, he scanned the room to make sure it was clear and then pressed a quick kiss to her cheek.  Then he stood up.  “I better go.  Call me later if you want.  I promise I won’t keep you up so late tonight.”

It was two in the afternoon the following day when Ellie dropped her mom at the airport.  She had enjoyed the visit, but no doubt the woman was a realist and had pretty much made Ellie deal with all of the emotions she’d been trying to shelve.  That being said, Ellie would definitely be happy to have her space again—to be free to live in her own thoughts, whether those thoughts entail wallowing about her divorce or daydreaming about JC, she wouldn’t know exactly until they occurred.  Obviously she preferred the latter.

At this point, she was beginning to feel like maybe just daydreaming about JC was the safest option.  She didn’t want to drag his name through the mud, even if he was convinced that they could see each other “privately.” 

That’s mainly what their brief phone conversation the night before had been about.  He made it very clear that he had no problems keeping whatever it was happening between them on the “down-low.”  Ellie had shared an extremely public relationship with James. Something more private sounded much more enjoyable.  Honestly, she still didn’t understand the media fascination with her and James to begin with.  As soon as the buzz had started—just shortly before the wedding—James constantly threw it in her face how this had never happened with any of his previous relationships.  He had undoubtedly hated the press probably more than anyone.  Made no sense, considering that’s how he made all his money.  He owned one of the biggest mainstream television networks and a handful of extremely successful cable networks.  Funny how he didn’t like to be put in front of the camera himself.

Of course, there were other things that had helped him in his rise to money and power.  She’d rather not get into all of that.

It was after three o’clock when she finally got home.  She debated calling JC to let him know that she was home and alone, but that would have been too desperate, she decided.  So instead she laid down on the couch, turned on the Ellen DeGeneres show—making it just past the part where the comedian dances during her intro—and fell asleep.

Ellie woke up to find that aside from the light spilling out of the TV, her house was completely dark.  She was also twisted uncomfortably with an arm trapped underneath her and, if she wasn’t mistaken, she had a little drool sneaking out of the corner of her mouth.

Rolling on to her back, she laid motionless for just a moment.  Her exhaustion wasn’t quite gone.  She was still tired.  Letting out a deep breath, she flung her arm over to the nearby table and reached for her cell.  She had one missed call.  She’d been so out of it, the phone hadn’t even woke her.  That reminded her, she needed to call and make sure her mom had made it home safely.

The missed call was from JC.  She wondered why he hadn’t left a message.  But, first, she had to call her mom.  Thankfully that only took about 60 seconds.  Her mom had never been one for long, drawn-out phone conversations.

Next Ellie returned the call to her intriguing neighbor.  He answered with a “Hey…” after just two rings.  It was done in a way that told her he’d definitely known it was her.

“Sorry,” she told him, her voice still a little groggy.  “I’ve been asleep on the couch for like 5 hours.”

“Ooh, that doesn’t sound too comfortable.”

“It wasn’t.  What are you doing?”

He hummed a “Hmmm…” and said, “I’ve been messing around in the studio.  You wanna come over?”

She did, but she felt kind of sweaty and gross.  “Do you think it’s safe?” she asked instead.

“If you’d like I can do a sweep down both sides of the street to check.”

She realized he was being partly cute and partly serious.  It made her smile just a little.  “I think it’ll be okay.  I’m going to take a quick shower first, though.”

“Okay.  Call me as you’re leaving and I’ll meet you at the door.  I don’t usually hear the doorbell when I’m in here.”

“Okay.  See you soon.”

“K.  Bye.”

Ellie took the quickest yet hottest and most satisfying shower possible.  It helped.  She felt a little better.  Instead of just being tired, she felt relaxed.  She didn’t bother getting ready much.  Maybe she should have felt like she needed to impress the man who fascinated her so much, but she honestly didn’t have the energy.  She threw on a  pair of black capri sweat pants with a snug black tee and a matching black hoodie.  You could say that she wanted to make it across the street as discreetly as possible.  She didn’t even bother to blow dry her hair, instead she just sopped up most of the excess moisture with a towel.  She quickly brushed her teeth, slipped on a pair of black flip-flops, grabbed her cell phone and her keys and headed out the door.

He was right.  She didn’t see anything suspicious looking.  After only two strides, she dialed his number and quickly marched across the street.  It was after nine p.m. and their neighborhood seemed dead, just how she liked it.  No signs of Gabby, even, which was always a good thing.

By the time JC answered his phone, Ellie was standing on his doorstep.  He gave her the code to get in and told her to meet him inside the studio.  He was just wrapping up.

She did just as he instructed, locking the front door behind her and making way to the room she’d sought him out in that night she’d got locked out of her house and couldn’t figure out how to work the TV.  She smirked at the thought.  It hadn’t been but a couple weeks.  Here she was already sleeping with the guy…. Something so totally unlike her.

She liked that.

Without knocking, she opened the door and stepped inside.  JC was sitting at the board with huge headphones on his ears.  He must have caught a glimpse of her from the corner of his eye because he was immediately turning around.  Slipping the huge things off, he grinned and said, “Wanna listen?”

“Is it you?”

He nodded.

“Of course.”  She sat down in the chair next to him and took the headphones from him.  The noise in the room instantly muffled.  She watched as he pressed a key on his Apple MacBook and then instantly the song started.  It was a ballad, the tune kind of slow and sexy.  As soon as his voice came in, she was in absolute heaven.  She obviously knew the man could sing, but there was something different about it when he was sitting right beside her.  Closing her eyes, she absorbed the music, knowing that a smile had spread to her face.

Not even a minute into it the whole thing stopped abruptly.  Her eyes popped open and she realized he’d turned it off, just as he was reaching to take the headphones off her ears.  “Just a sneak peek,” he said.  “It’s not done yet.”

“I like it,” she grinned.  “You’re voice is—”

“What?” he asked, a curious smile across face.

“Sexy,” she finally finished.

“That’s one way it’s been described,” he remarked, still smiling.  He placed the earphones on a rack and scooted his chair back.  She got the feeling he didn’t want her in there much longer.

“I don’t get it,” she said, following his lead and standing up.  “Why aren’t you everywhere like Justin is?  I mean, his voice is nice too, but I think yours is much better.”

He’d started his way to the door, but at her words he stopped and turned back around.  She’d been right behind him.  Now she was just in front of him.  “Do you think that you’re a little biased because you know me better than you know him?”

That was an interesting response.  She shrugged and said, “No, I don’t think so.  I think I have a pretty good ear.” 

JC was full-on grinning, probably amused with what she’d said or maybe he was still trying to absorb the compliment she’d just given him.  He leaned in towards her neck and she thought maybe he was going to kiss her, but he didn’t.  “Yeah, it looks pretty good,” he remarked, straightening his posture.  Apparently he’d been examining her ear, not making a move.  “Not too big.  Not too small.  Just average.”

Ellie shook her head and rolled her eyes.  “I’m being serious.”

“I know,” he replied and turned back towards the door.  She followed.  They were almost to the living room when he continued.  “Justin is just more mainstream then I am, and that’s fine with me.  He’s the whole package.  I’d rather march to the beat of my own drum and do what makes me happy.”

She would have never thought it possible to be even more attracted to the man than she had been before, but suddenly she was.  His answer revealed so much about him, something she respected tremendously.

He moved through the living room and into his kitchen, to the fridge.  She was still following behind him.  “Not that Justin doesn’t do what he wants to do.  He does.  And he is ridiculously talented, obviously.”  He pulled out two bottles of water and offered one to her.  She shook her head no and he put it back, keeping the one for himself.  “He just has it… You know?  He has the it.”

He’d finally stopped moving and was just a touch in front  of her, staring down at her intently.  She’d never meant to start a huge comparison conversation.   As far as she was concerned, they were both very different.  There was no comparison.  “I think you have the it,” she told him.

Grinning, he hooked an arm over her shoulders and behind her neck before pulling her around and guiding her back to the living room.  They sat down on the couch, close enough that their legs were touching, and JC set his bottle of water down on a table. 

Ellie had never really spent any time in his living room.  Like the rest of the house, it was fairly masculine.  She couldn’t figure out why he had two plasma TVs though, one right above the other.  JC reached for the remote and turned on the bottom one.  It was the news—CNN.

Then he twisted sort of towards her and said, “Thank you.”

It had been a couple minutes since they’d spoke.  “For what?”

“For all the nice compliments you just gave me.”

She grinned sort of silly-like.  “Oh.  You’re welcome.  It’s the truth.”

He leaned into her, his forehead almost knocking against hers.  “You’re kind of good for my ego,” he said with a smirk.

“For some reason, I think your ego was just fine before I came along.”

His eyes rolled back and forth a couple times, that goofy grin still spread across his cheeks.  “Yeah, you’re probably right,” he agreed, his face still incredibly close to hers.

It was kind of amazing how comfortable she felt with him.  It was something she tried not to think about too much, because it sort of scared her.  She couldn’t ever remember feeling so comfortable with a man. 

Finally, he leaned in just enough to touch his lips to hers for a only brief moment.  “You know,” he said, still close, “I think I kind of like you.”

“Really?” Ellie remarked playfully.  “I thought you couldn’t stand me.”  The sarcasm had been laid on pretty thick with her words.

His hands smoothed to her waist, almost tickling, but only enough to barely make her body jump.  “You should know that I don’t usually admit that kind of stuff.”  He was sort of talking through his teeth and leaning into her even more, at the same time she kept leaning back.  His hands were still braced at her waist.  It didn’t take much to realize that their position was about to change from sitting up to lying down, and at this rate he’d be right smack on top of her.

She wasn’t complaining.  Instead, she caught herself with her elbows before her back smashed into the cushion.  “You just have sex with a girl and usually she figures that part out on her own?”

“Or she just assumes,” he replied quickly, probably without thinking since that wasn’t really the most politically correct thing to say, no doubt.

Ellie just smirked, finally letting her body sink into the couch and not fighting it when his weight rested against her.  He brought a hand up to her face and brushed her hair from her eyes.

“That really made me kind of sound like an asshole, didn’t it?” he said after a moment.

Her response was simply a nod.

JC rolled his eyes at himself.  Honestly, after what he’d just said, she probably should have been running for the door, but his body felt way too nice all pressed up against her.  She couldn’t have left even if he hadn’t been weighing her down.  “I’m not going to try and pretend like I’ve always been the nicest guy, because I haven’t.”

She decided to stop him there.  “JC, you don’t owe me any explanations.  Please.  We’re just two neighbors who’ve had sex and like being around each other.”

He pressed his lips to the top of her cheek bone.  “Neighbors who’ve had sex, and plan on having more sex because they’re kind of good at it together, and who like being around each other.”

“Yes,” she agreed with a smirk.  She shifted the leg that had been trapped underneath him until she’d managed to free it, allowing her to open up to him even more.  Why did his body just have to feel so damn good?  He could probably tell her that he’d fucked the entire block at that moment and she still wouldn’t be able to leave.  She’d just accept that she was another notch in his belt and get on with it.

But she couldn’t think about it any longer, as their shift in positions had led to him instantly kissing her, and her instantly being on fire for him.  “You do something crazy to me,” he was saying as he finally broke free for just a second.  “This so isn’t like me.”

Ellie smoothed a hand up his cheek bone and then over his ear, to the back of his head.  “I really think you should stop talking now,” she told him.

“Am I saying too much?” he asked, before touching the side of her neck with his lips.

“Yes,” she managed, one hand slipping through his arm and around to his back.  She just couldn’t stop thinking about how good he felt, how much she enjoyed touching him.  Next thing she knew she’d slipped both of her hands up the back of his shirt and was thoroughly enjoying the feel of his strong frame against her fingertips.

JC was too busy planting moist kisses to her neck to stop her, not like she thought he would anyway.  In fact, as his mouth skidded down closer to the neckline of her sweatshirt, he was sort of humming—a sound of definite pleasure, for sure.  He lifted up just enough to grasp the zipper of her hoodie.  “You’re wearing too much,” he said simply, opening up her most outer layer.  Of course, he only found a fairly high-neck tee underneath, probably not what he was hoping for.  Lightly he bit at the hollow of her throat and then pressed a kiss to the same spot.  “I think you’ve spent too much time on the couch today,” he remarked.

Ellie figured he was probably right, but it was at that same exact time that her stomach rumbled—loudly.  She hadn’t eaten much all day.  Of course, now was a bad time to be reminded of that. 

JC paused and looked at her kind of funny.  “Everything okay in there?” he asked, the right side of his brow raised slightly higher than the left.

“I haven’t eaten much today.”

He huffed loudly.  “Well, shit… I better feed you then.”

“I can wait,” she told him with a hopeful grin.

The look he gave her didn’t hold much belief in what she’d just said.  He sat up, his legs still kind of situated over hers, then he held a hand out to help her up.  She took it.  She’d meant that she could wait for food.  Looked like she’d be waiting for other things instead.
  

© BrandyRae 2008