“She seems cool.”   JC tipped his head back, glancing Cassidy’s direction.  Justin had showed his friend to the kitchen after a brief introduction with his girl.  She must have read his mind, because after a bit of small talk, Cassidy had retreated into the family room, leaving Justin and JC alone to catch up.   Now, apparently, JC had the perfect view of her perched on the sofa in the other room.  Justin couldn’t see a thing, not that he needed to.  Her image was branded forever into his brain.  “What’s she reading?” JC asked quietly, returning his attention to his long-time friend.

Justin shrugged.  Last he’d noticed, it was a biography by Phil Jackson, famed basketball couch of the Chicago Bulls and L.A. Lakers, written some 12 years earlier.  He remembered specifically because of the conversation they’d had about it.  She had a serious dislike for the man, but, Justin learned, it was only after Jackson had left the Bulls.  “Probably sports biography.  You know she used to—”

“Sports media.  Yeah, I remember.  Plus Chris mentioned it.  She gonna go back?”

Once again, he shrugged.   There were so many questions that he had absolutely no answer for.  “That’s totally up to her,” he said.

JC nodded.  “So what do you think about this whole Macie situation?”

“You mean that she’s a stupid bitch and got herself arrested?  I’m hoping it will take some of the focus off me and that maybe I’ll have some freedom to leave the house without being hounded.”

“That’s wishful thinking,” JC remarked.  Unfortunately he was right, but Justin decided that denial was a good place to be in for at least a little while longer.  “She called me this morning.”

Now that was a shocker!   “What the fuck did she call you for?”  Suddenly he felt very much on the defense.  Was he only sitting across from one of his oldest and best friends because his ex-wife had had a part in it?   That was plain bullshit!

JC’s eyes rolled poignantly.  “I don’t know.  I didn’t fucking talk to her.  Do you think I’m stupid?”

That was a relief.  “I started to wonder for a minute,” Justin sighed, letting out the breath he’d subconsciously been holding.

“She’s obviously trying to put a wedge in whatever it is you’ve got going here.”

“What it is—” Is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.  He started to say, but Cassidy waltzed into the room with a big cheesy grin on her lips and the words remained in the hollow of his throat.  “Hi,” Justin grinned, knowing the look he gave off was just as sappy as hers.  She visibly caught JC’s eye as she came around from behind him, making her way toward Justin on the opposite side of the center island.

“Did I disturb serious boy talk?” she asked, raising her brow suggestively.

“Of course not.”   Justin answered, with a mockingly shy grin.

“Hey, when’s the last time you two got out of the house?” JC asked out of the blue.

The couple passed a blank stare between them.  Besides golfing earlier that morning, they’d hardly been anywhere together except for when they’d gone to Tennessee.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” JC answered all-knowingly.  “You should come to the club tonight.  We’ll bring you in the back, straight to VIP.  No one will ever know.  You could even come in separately just to be safe.”

Justin stared at Cassidy in waiting.  JC had taken a delve into the nightclub venture, partnering up with a couple other guys, more than six months ago.  Justin still hadn’t checked it out.  According to everyone else, it was a pretty hot spot.  “I’d have to get a sitter for Cody,” she finally said.

“He could stay with Trace and Lisa… I’m sure,” Justin offered up for suggestion.  He realized he was desperate for more time with her as adults—as a couple.  He loved spending time with his son and he loved the family that was growing between the three of them, but he needed something more from their relationship, as well.  “It would be like a,” he paused, grinning hopefully, “date night… sort of.”

Her grin was wide and evident.  She liked the idea.   “I’ll call my mom.  I’m sure they’d love to have him for the night.”

It was just after four when Cassidy dropped off Cody with her mom and dad.  Just as she figured, they were more than thrilled to have him.  He hadn’t spent the night their in quite some time, and he was pretty excited about it, as well.  Her dad was even going to drop him off at school the next morning.  That gave her and Justin a good twenty-two hours of alone time.

Cassidy was practically giddy thinking about it.  She envisioned an evening of drinking, dancing and fun, followed by an all-nighter—sex, sex and more sex.

She was able to force the dreamy gaze off her face when they arrived, meeting her mom at the front door.  It was when she was leaving that her emotion betrayed her.   The look was obviously back.  Either that or her mother had turned psychic—which wasn’t hard to believe either, when it came to Cassidy anyway.  “Hot date?” the woman asked with a suggestive grin, wriggling her eyebrows up and down. 

But for some reason Cassidy felt the need to defend the circumstances.  “We haven’t really been anywhere without—”

“I know, sweetheart,” her mother interrupted.  “I’m glad you two are actually going out on a real date.”

At that Cassidy’s grin grew wide and nonconforming.  Nothing was stopping the giddiness now.  “Yeah, me too,” she agreed whimsically.

The entire hour and fifteen minute drive—it took longer than usual thanks to traffic—Cassidy’s mind was racing with thoughts of her and Justin out and having an amazing time.  She realized it wasn’t just the alone time with him that brought on excitement.  Truth was, she hadn’t actually been out in a social environment, like a nightclub, in so long she could barely remember. 

Unfortunately she did remember it somewhat.  She’d been with Jason, and he’d been secretly flirting with about 5 other women behind her back.

She was positive that was the last type of behavior she could expect from Justin.  He was way too into her to be ogling any of the femme fatale.  Besides, she planned on looking super duper hot.  There was just enough time to stop at m. fredric’s and pick up something sexy yet sheik.

When she returned home—just after 6:00 p.m.—Justin, JC, Trace, Dre and T were all sprawled out in the family room, in front of the TV, playing a video game and making a huge amount of noise.  Instead of interrupting, she managed her way upstairs without ever being noticed and hopped in the shower.

It was nearly seven o’clock when Justin realized that it had been quite some time since Cassidy had left the house to drop off Cody.  “You guys should go,” he said, as he put down his Xbox 360 controller and reached for his cell phone. 

They all stood, stretching after the amount of time they’d all been stationed in one position.  “We’ll be back at ten to pick you up,” JC remarked.

Justin nodded, Cassidy’s number the first in his call log and letting it automatically dial.  “You guys can see your way out?”

They agreed and were quickly gone as Justin waited for her to pick up.  Just as her voice mail came on, Dre was shouting from the front door.  “Hey J, her car’s here.”

His head tilted with curiosity even though no one was watching him.  “K, thanks!” he shouted in reply.  Then he scratched his head, figuring she must be upstairs.  The front door slammed shut making it known that his friends were out.

“Damn woman, why the hell didn’t she tell me she was home?” he questioned quietly to himself as he made way up the curvy flight of stairs.  He was so involved in hanging out with the guys—something he hadn’t done in awhile—he hadn’t even heard her come in.  God, what an idiot he was.  Now all he could think about was how excited he was to have her all to himself for a whole night.

Entering the oversized master suite, he found her peacefully asleep on her partially unmade bed.  A pang of contentment mixed with brazen dire hit him straight in the chest.  His breathing stopped for just a brief second as he took in the sight of her—all of her.  Her red-polished toes, always perfectly manicured.  Her long, lean legs, shimmering with the glitzy moisturizer she used.  The tiny pair of shorts she wore—the type she wore around the house so often—that didn’t hide much of her amazing figure, as they sat both low and loose on her hips.  The tank that covered the top of her didn’t hide much either, a patch of taught, tan tummy not missing his eye.  Unthinkingly he let out a deep breath of air as his gaze sloped up her chest, finding her arms sprawled out on either side of her.  Beneath her head and covering the pillow, her dark chestnut locks formed waves of silk, dampened and full of sheen.  Her breathing was slow and rhythmic, completely relaxed.

Part of him wanted to pounce on her.  The other part of him decided it would be better to wake her more slowly—seductively.

Carefully he climbed up beside her and started from the bottom, delicately placing a kiss to the top of her foot.   She smelled incredible—vanilla and brown sugar.  He wanted to just eat her right up.  Damn those cosmetic companies for making lotions smell so good you could almost taste them.

When she didn’t stir from the first kiss, he worked on the second.  This one just on the inside of her ankle.  Then he decided that the inside of her leg was a good place to continue, both sensitive and soft.  He’d made it one kiss above her knee when the “mmmm” sound from her throat made it known that she was awake.  His eyes roamed up the length of her, locking with hers as she tilted up enough to get a look at him.  He smiled wide and proud before returning his mouth to her flesh.  Only this time he felt playful enough to involve his teeth—although, more gently than rough.

“You don’t want to wait till later?” she asked.  “After you’re all hot and bothered from grinding on the dance floor?”

He bit down on his bottom lip, stewing over the idea.  Deciding his answer was no, he shook his head and returned to his work area—smoothing his tongue all the way up her inner thigh.  She hummed again and sat up, retracting away from him.

Feigning a look of displeasure, he moved toward her.  Just a breath away from her lips, he let her intoxicating scent overwhelm him.  Then he kissed her quietly and seductively, keeping his mouth against her when he finally spoke.  “First I wanna make you come really hard,” he revealed softly.  “Then we’ll have dinner.  Then I plan on dancing with you until our feet hurt so bad neither of us can stand up any longer.”

Her hands gripped the back of his head as her mouth pummeled into his, her tongue the driving force behind it.  It was like she just couldn’t have him enough, and he knew exactly how that felt.  As he reached for her flimsy shirt, his hand finding it's way underneath and seeking out her bare flesh, she breathed heavily as she spoke.  “Why are you so amazingly hot?”

The praise she bestowed on him felt better than any he’d ever received and he knew it was because she didn’t readily just give it out.  “Why are you so incredibly sexy?” he asked in return.

“Because you make me feel sexy,” she answered, swooping a hand underneath his shirt and up his abdomen.

“God, I am so fucking in love with you.”  He was and he had no problems admitting it.

Her beaming smile only added to the feeling as she tore his t-shirt over his head.  “I don’t think sex would ever get old with you,” she mused.

“I don’t think anything would ever get old with you,” he responded, tenderly nibbling on the place where her shoulder smoothed into her neck.  “You have the sweetest tasting skin,” he voiced.

A quiet chuckle rumbled in her chest.  “I think I’m really enjoying all this alone-time we’ve had today,” she told him just before her words turned into a whimper, his lips moving up towards her hairline.

“Me too.”  It came out as more of a groan than anything, probably because of the huge ache he was feeling for her at the moment.  He was convinced that this woman could make him hard any time, any place.  He could be at the fucking dentist’s office and take one look at Cassidy and be hard as a fucking rock.   She made him crazy with desire.  More so than anyone ever had.

It was as if she’d read his mind just then, her hand smoothing over his crotch.  “And you have the most beautiful dick I’ve ever seen.”  He realized then that she had him completely exposed.  He also realized that she was the only woman that had ever spoken to him in such a bold manner—and he liked it.

“But of course you haven’t seen that many,” he heard himself saying, wishing already he could take it back.  Wrong conversation.   Definitely at the wrong time.

“There have been a few,” she said.  “You know that, I’m sure.”  Her hands met his cheeks as she directed his eyesight towards hers.  Then she kissed him again, harder than the time before.

He was supposed to be seducing her.  Why did he feel like the situation had completely gotten away from him all the sudden?

And just like clockwork, it was at that moment the home phone started ringing.  Pulling back, Cassidy said, “I’d ignore it, but with Cody gone it could be important.”

Justin nodded in agreement and re-adjusted his shorts as Cassidy hopped off the bed and grabbed the cordless that was sitting on her vanity across the room.  “Hello?” she answered it.  Justin watched as her complexion went from its normal creaminess to ghastly white in two seconds flat.   She pulled the phone away from her ear and stuck her arm out towards him.  Then she was whispering, “What the fuck, Justin?  What the fuck?”

“What?  Who is it?” He asked, as he strode towards her.  Cassidy didn’t answer.  She just shoved the thing at his chest.  He put it to his ear, completely put off by the whole situation.  He had no idea who could’ve upset her to such an extent.   “Hello?” The voice on the other end was sobbing uncontrollably, but was still, unfortunately, incredibly recognizable—to anyone who had ever seen one of her movies anyway, which was pretty much 90 percent of the movie-going population.  What the fuck was right!  “No,” he told Macie forcefully, as she whined about her life being over and her career being ruined.  Thing was, he didn’t give a damn if his ex-wife was having an emotional breakdown or what-the-fuck-ever else.  “Do not ever call here again.  What the fuck is wrong with you?”

She started to answer, but he wasn’t about to listen.  He hung up the phone. 

He shrugged unknowingly as his eyes met with Cassidy’s.  “I don’t know,” he said, because he was sure she was about to ask at least a handful of questions that he didn’t have answers for.

“How did she get my number?  How does she even know who I am or that you’re here?  If she knows, that means other people know too.”

Justin nodded.  “I’m sorry.  I’m really sorry.”

It was obvious that Cassidy was having a difficult time controlling her anger.  She turned sharp on her heels, away from him, her hands tangling in her hair.   Then she dropped her arms and turned back towards him.  “God Dammit,” she huffed.  “You do not know how hard it was not to cuss her out.  Fuck!”  Turning away again, she marched towards the white upholstered vanity chair that was already pulled halfway from the counter and plopped down.  When her dark brown eyes focused on him again they were filled with a mix of anger and frustration.   “I want to be mad at you,” she told him.  “I really want to be mad at you.”

And if it were Jason standing in front of her, she would be.  She’d be temper-tantrum mad if Justin were her ex-husband.  But he wasn’t and she couldn’t.  Every single bone in her body told her that Justin honestly had no idea why his ex-wife had just called her house, crying for him. 

God, how pathetic!

“But?” he asked, slow and cautious-like. 

Cassidy didn’t want him to be wary of her temper, but she felt like he was.  Like he was trying not to set her off.  Was that the way he saw her—a bomb about to explode at any given moment, given the right combination of circumstances?  She really needed to get her anger in check.  She hated feeling this way.  “I’m not mad at you,” she finally said.  “I’m just mad.”

He came to her then, kneeling down in front of her and looking up with puppy-dog blue eyes.  “Please don’t let this ruin your night,” he said.

She shook her head.  “It won’t.  Just give me a minute.”

He nodded, still gazing up at her as he rested both arms on her knees.

“I know I have a tendency to get really angry really fast and I’m sorry.  I’m trying to work on that.”

A tiny grin teased his lips.   “You do,” he agreed.  “But I forgive you.”

Letting her neck tilt forward, she rested her cheek against his head.  His short, dark-blond hair felt soft and fuzzy against her skin.  His hands found her hips as he hugged onto her.  “Why, Justin?” she asked softly.  “Why on Earth is she calling you?  Now?”

“I have no fucking idea, but I don’t like it anymore than you do.”  He answered in a soft and tender tone and in her heart she felt his absolute sincerity.  That was all that mattered to her at that moment.

“If you want to really stir things up, Cassidy can go in with me,” JC suggested as they pulled up to the back of his nightclub, simply named Out.  Even at the back entrance there were paparazzi staked out.  True, their distance was farther then if passing through the street entrance, but the camera-hounds were there nevertheless.  And with the high-tech lenses out nowadays distance didn’t matter much.  They were unavoidable.

“Works for me,” Cassidy said.  Truth was, she didn’t really want to walk in alone.  She wanted to walk in with Justin.  She wanted to be proud to be seen with him, but the longer they could put off the news, the better.  For Cody’s sake.  And that’s what Justin seemed to want.

“That’s fine,” Justin remarked, but he didn’t exactly seem thrilled with the idea. 

Honestly, they were all getting out of the same vehicle, so what difference did it make?

But just as Dre started to open the door, Justin grabbed Cassidy’s wrist.  “Wait.  Fuck that,” he spoke up, rather adamantly.  “You’re walking in with me.”  She looked back at him, semi-smirk across her face.  His expression was stone-cold serious.  She’d be lying if she said that his need to take charge all the sudden didn’t turn her on just a little bit.  “Macie fuckin’ knows.  Everyone’s gonna fucking know tomorrow anyway.”

Cassidy didn’t have a problem with that.  Justin scooted in front of her, took her hand and stepped out.  She followed, JC behind her and security all around, as she braced herself for the flash of photography that would come from just a short distance away.  It was over before she even realized if it had happened.

The hallway they stepped into was completely empty.  The walls were painted flat black, making it not only empty, but dark.  JC took the lead and showed them to the private VIP room.  Loud music thumped and based, one of the local DJ’s the cause of it, no doubt.

There were maybe a dozen people situated in the upstairs area, all high-profile guests.  Half of them easily recognizable.  Red and black couches and chairs were placed in a sleek and modern fashion, with mirrors and twinkling lights as accents.  Small, flickering white candles were placed strategically in the center of the tables.  Along the back wall was a long narrow bar, high-glossed in a black finish with simple black stools along the front of it.  Behind the counter were two very attractive bartenders—one man and one woman.  “Whatever you guys want’s on me,” JC announced.  “I’ve gotta make a quick stop in the office and then I’ll be back.”

Justin nodded as he and Cassidy sat side by side at a small corner table.  “What do you want?” he asked her.  “Trace and Lisa should be here any minute.”  She was glad more people were meeting them.  The bigger the crowd, the better.  Although she wasn’t sure why she felt that way.

They hadn’t even ordered their drinks when a few guys from across the room came and joined them.  Cassidy had seen a couple of their faces, but she didn’t know names until Justin introduced them.  Soon their table was full and when Trace and Lisa arrived, they took over the next table and it filled too.

An hour into their night, the couple decided to let off a little steam on the small, private dance floor.  A two-way mirror overlooked the rest of the club, a jam-packed dance floor directly below.  Bodies swayed and grinded to the beat—a club remix of classic Michael, “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough”.  Down below a giant wave of body parts and sweat.  It was quite an interesting view.

When the couple decided it was time to take a break, they both noticed JC, Trace and T standing towards the door, trying to be discreet, but not accomplishing the attempt in the slightest.  Justin turned to Cassidy with an inquisitive look and took her hand, leading her that direction.  “What’s going on?” he asked them.

All three men’s faces went instantly blank.  Trace tipped the dark, iced beverage he was gripping and nearly spilled on T.  “Shit.  Sorry,” he said.  Shaking his head, T took a step back. JC was the one that came forward.  “Macie’s in the other room.”  Then he looked at Cassidy.  “With your ex-husband.”

Without thinking, she dropped Justin’s hand.  She was completely flabbergasted.  “Well,” she said with disgust, focusing her attention on Justin.  “That explains a lot.  Doesn’t it?”

He just shook his head.   “You wanna go?”  Then he looked at JC.  “Are you keeping them over there?  Do they know we’re here?”

JC shook his head no.  “They have no idea you’re here and, yes, security has been instructed to keep them in the other lounge.  But… well, the bathroom is sort of a common area for both rooms.  You could run into one of them there.”

“I’ll hold it all fuckin’ night if I have to,” Cassidy blurted without thinking.  “No wait, if I punched her in the face, would I be escorted out?”

“Babe…” Justin was calling her softly.  But it brought her no comfort and the fact that Trace and T were trying not to laugh at her remark only egged her on. 

“As much joy as that might bring all of us,” JC remarked.  “I can tell you from a media perspective that is the last thing you want to do, which I’m sure you know given your background.”  No one ever brought that up and it was a nice reminder of the career she almost had.  That being said, of course she knew decking Justin’s ex-wife was a bad idea, but it didn’t change how badly she wanted to.

Shaking her head, she let out a deep gush of air.  “I need another drink.”

“I’ll get that,” JC said and stepped away.  

“You guys go sit down,” T instructed.  “Don’t worry about anything.  I’ve got it taken care of.”

Justin nodded and led them back to their table.  When they sat down, their bodies were close and even though there were others all around them, he made it feel like it was only the two of them.  Bringing his face in close to hers, he brought a hand to her cheek.  “It’s obvious they’re doing this to try and get a reaction out of us,” he spoke at a low level, his breath warm against her ear.  It brought on a new kind of warmness, one that didn’t have anything to do with her frustration, the alcohol, or the temperature inside the room.

“I know.”  She inched even closer, her nose side-by-side with his.  “I don’t really care.”

“Good.”  He brushed his lips over hers just once—moist and warm.   His grip fell to her thigh as he brought her knees in towards him and slipped his hand towards her denim-clad behind.  “You are so fine.  You know that?"

She was smiling when he kissed her again.  She hadn’t forgot what had just happened, but it was nice that he could distract her from it so easily.  “I love you,” she told him, her lips moving against his as she barely vocalized the words.  

“I love that you love me,” he said.  Feeling his grin, she wasn’t expecting that response, but she liked it nevertheless.  And before she could think of anything else, his tongue was practically down her throat as their kiss turned deep and somewhat passionate, his hand slipping in between her thighs.  Thank God she was wearing jeans, because anything thinner and the feeling would be way too much!  She was already hot from head to toe for him!

It donned on her, somewhere in the back of her mind, that she’d never been big on PDA’s before.  With Justin, her whole outlook was different.  She didn’t give a damn who was watching or what they might be saying.  By tomorrow, the whole L.A. club scene would know about their relationship.  Give it a day after that, and the rest of the country would know too.  Macie and Jason would make sure of that.  But Cassidy didn’t give a damn at the moment.  As long as Justin’s body stayed close to hers, she felt just fine.

© BrandyRae 2006