"Hello?" She asked, out of breath as she picked up the cordless phone in the kitchen.

"Uh..." the person on the other end of the line hesitated, clearly not expecting a winded female to answer the phone.  "Is JC there?"

"No, he's not home right now.  Can I take a message?" Rachel asked as she tried to calm her heart rate and bent down, stretching out her legs.  She'd woken up this morning and had decided to go for a run.  It had been a few weeks since she'd had a morning free and since it was Saturday and she had no big plans she hadn't been able to pass up the opportunity.

"Who is this?" The mystery caller asked.

"This is Rachel, who is this?" She asked, walking to the fridge and pulling out a bottle of water.  The cool air from the appliance felt good on her over-heated skin so she left the door open as her eyes scanned the shelves, making a mental note of what she needed to pick up at the grocery store later.  Milk, yogurt, bread...

"Rachel?" The guy on the other line sounded intrigued.  "As in Rachel, Jace's girlfriend?"

"The one and only." She answered in confused amusement.  "And you are..." She asked, wondering who exactly she was talking to.

"Oh, sorry.  Chris." He said, finally identifying himself. 

"Chris?" Rachel asked as she sat down at the kitchen table.

"Chris Kirkpatrick." He replied and Rachel almost dropped the phone in her surprise.  Chris Kirkpatrick!  No way! She wanted to exclaim, but held it in.  "I don't believe we've ever met." He continued.

"And you would be right." Rachel smiled.  "We haven't."  He chuckled on the other end of the line.  "What can I do for you, Chris?" She asked, taking a few swallows of water then setting the bottle down on the table.

"That's kind of a dangerous question to be asking, girl." He replied and Rachel chuckled as she rolled her eyes.

"Note to self." She said.  "Be careful of what I say around Jace's friends."  Chris laughed.  "You'd think I'd have learned by now, what with Justin hanging around all the time." 

"How is the baby?" Chris asked.

Rachel shrugged, though the man couldn't see her.  "As good as he can be, I guess.  He's been kind of mopey lately--with good reason--but he'll be alright."

"So how come C isn't home?" He asked.  "Where's he at this early on a Saturday?  He usually doesn't get his ass out of bed till at least noon on the weekends."

"Video shoot." Rachel replied.

"Ah."

"He's been in overdrive lately trying to get everything done." Rachel continued.  "They want to release the video next week so it'll have three weeks to play before the album comes out.  I'm going over to see him later... do you want me to tell him anything?" She asked.

"What?  Oh...no." Chris answered.  "I was...I was just calling to...talk.  I tried his cell, but he didn't answer.  I'll call back later...maybe."  Rachel furrowed her brows at the man's stuttering. 

"Alright." Rachel said.  "I'll let him know you called."

"Okay." Chris said.  "Hey, it was nice finally talking to you."

"You too." Rachel smiled.

"Maybe we can make it face to face next time."  He said.

"Yeah, maybe." She replied.  "Bye."

Rachel sat looking at the phone in her hand after ending the call.  "Weird." She said out loud as she stood and replaced the receiver than jogged up the stairs to take a shower.  Between JC's cryptic remarks at dinner a few weeks ago, to the way he and Justin had suddenly become inseparable, to this random phone call from Chris...something was up.  She didn't know what, but something was definitely up.  "Mental note." She said as she stripped out of her running clothes.  "Ask Jace what the hell is going on."  Maybe they're getting back together as a group. She thought, stopping with one foot in the shower.  The teenage fan inside of her suddenly got really excited until the logical part of her brain took over.  If they were getting back together they would have done it by now.  Justin has been hanging around because of the breakup and Chris said he was just calling to talk.  Rachel sighed as she stepped fully into the shower.  And I'm just being ridiculous.

~~~~~~

"Hey you."

Rachel turned, her ponytail whipping around as JC came up behind her.  "Hey." She smiled putting her arms around him and kissed him.  "How's it going?" She asked, stepping back and looking at him. 

He shrugged.  "Alright I guess." He said as he put his arm around her shoulders and they started walking further into the soundstage he was currently filming the video for Satellite on. "It's been a while since I've done a video.  I forgot how much work it is, but you came at the perfect time." He said.  "We just stopped for lunch."

"I had a feeling." She said, holding up the plastic bag she was holding.  He took it from her excitedly then kissed her when he looked inside and found the sandwiches she'd just picked up from their favorite café. 

"You're the best." He said, giving her another kiss. 

"You sure are in a good mood." She laughed.  "I had no idea sandwiches excited you so much.  What's going on?"

"Nothing." He shrugged, leading her over to a couple of chairs set off to the side of the stage he'd been working on.  "I'm just glad to see you, that's all."

Rachel narrowed her eyes at him.  "Are you on something right now?" She asked with a laugh.  "You're acting kind of strange."

"No, I am not on something." He said, handing her one of the sandwiches then unwrapping his own.

"How much caffeine have you had today?" She asked, taking a bite of the turkey and cranberry.

He rolled his eyes as he took a bite.  "None." He replied. 

Again Rachel narrowed her eyes as she sat looking at him.  Since spending almost every spare second with him since Christmas, Rachel had begun to pick up on a lot more of his little personality quirks--like that fact that he tended to bounce off the walls and become very easily distracted when he'd had anything caffeinated.  "I got an interesting call this morning at the house." She told him, letting his bizarre behavior slide for the time being.

"Who was it?" He asked.

"Chris." She answered, watching his reaction closely.

"Hmmm." He replied nonchalantly.  "How is he?"

Rachel watched as his eyes darted around the enormous room, taking in all the activity going on instead of looking at her.  She took another bite as she sat observing him.  "What's going on, Jace?" She asked.

"What?" He asked, looking back at her his face the picture of innocence though she saw something behind his eyes that made her suspicious.

"What's going on?" She repeated.

"What do you mean?"

Rachel cocked her head to the side as she looked at him.  "Something's going on.  I'm not dumb."

"I never said you were." He answered.

"I'm going to figure it out." She promised him.

"I'm sure you will." He replied, concentrating once more on his sandwich.  Rachel blew out a frustrated breath as she leaned back in her chair and took another bite, refusing to look at him anymore.

~~~~~

JC smiled to himself as he looked over at his very frustrated, yet incredibly adorable girlfriend.  He knew this was driving her crazy--knowing something was going on but only being given vague answers to her questions.  He wondered what Chris had said to her and if he'd given anything away.  Nothing was for sure yet and until it was they had all agreed to keep everything to themselves, but Rachel was smart.  Sooner or later she'd figure it out and he prayed when she did she wouldn't be too mad at him for keeping it from her.  She'll understand.  He tried to reassure himself.  Finishing off his sandwich and brushing the crumbs from his lap he turned to look at her.  She turned and smiled at him.

"So, have you decided about New York yet?" He asked.  Marcus had booked him to make the talk show circuit back east all next week and he'd asked Rachel to come with him when he'd found out last night.  He had thought, after having her move in, it would help cure the addiction he had for her; but if anything, it was worse.  The more time he spent with her the more he wanted to spend.  It was getting to be a bit ridiculous--bordering on obsessive really-but he couldn't help it.  She was his heart and soul and being away from her even for a few hours was torture.

"I really don't think I can, Jace.  This project at work has me swamped and Megan's going to be having her baby any day now.  I want to stick around in case something happens."

"Nothing's going to happen." He assured her.  "And besides, that's Jackson's job--being there for his wife.  Can't you take a few sick days?" He asked, looking at her pleadingly. 

"It's tempting." She told him.  "But then what happens when I really am sick and I have no more sick time to take?"

"Come on." He begged.  "Everyone takes sick days when they're not really sick."

"And you would know this because..." She left the question hanging in the air with a chuckle.  "Remind me when your last office job was." She teased him.

He brushed her jab away with a wave of his hand.  "It'll be fun." He said.  "There's this great restaurant I found the last time I was there called The Garage.  Great food and they have live jazz every night." He took her hand, lacing their fingers together.

"I don't know..." Rachel drawled and he smiled.  He was winning.  

"Please?" He begged, lifting the back of her hand to his lips.  He looked at her, turning his full powers of persuasion on her.

"Damn you, Joshua!" She shook her head and he smirked.  "You know I can't say no when you look at me like that."  He smirked and Rachel sighed.  "I can't do the whole week, there's just too much going on right now at work.  However," she tacked on quickly when he sank down in his chair with a pout.  "I can probably get Friday off and meet up with you for the weekend.  You're coming back on Sunday right?"

"Yeah." He grinned.

"Alright." She sighed with a smile.  "I'll see what I can do."

"If you can fly out Thursday night you can come to the taping of Regis and Kelly Friday morning with me."

"Oh can I?" Rachel clapped her hands together and bounced in her seat in exaggerated excitement.  "That's what I've always wanted." She smiled sweetly at him.

"Alright, Sassy Pants." He said with a chuckle.  "I--"

"Let's go people!" A voice called out across the room.

"--gotta go, apparently." He said standing and stretching his arms above his head.  "Are you staying?" He asked, turning to take her hands and pull her up from her chair.

"For a minute." Rachel said. "If you want me to."

"Of course I want you to stay." He smiled in answer and pulled her along as he walked back over to the stage.

~~~~~~

"We're here with JC Chasez, best known for being one-fifth of the mega-group N SYNC." Kelly Ripa's introduction sent the audience around Rachel into a frenzy.  "And as a judge on Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew for the past two seasons," more enthusiastic cheers from the girls in the audience, "And he's here today to share some exciting news with us." 

Rachel smiled as she sat and watched JC sitting up on stage with the hosts of the popular morning talk show.  She'd worked her tail off this week to make sure things were more or less under control so she'd be able to take the day off to come support him.  She stifled a yawn.  Her flight had gotten in late last night and they'd had to be here at the studio at an ungodly hour this morning.  Luckily this was it though--this was the last show he had to do and he had promised her after they were done they could go back to the hotel and take a nap before heading out to see the sights.

"So, first off." Kelly said.  "How are you?"

"I'm good." JC said, his trademark grin lighting his face.

"You've been on the show several times before." Regis pointed out.  "Welcome back."

"Thank you.  It's good to be back." JC remarked.

"Life is good?" Kelly asked.

"Life is good."  He nodded.  "Life is really good." He said, rubbing his hands on his thighs. 

"You're a busy guy these days." Regis said.

"Yeah, I'm keeping pretty busy." JC answered.  "You know, I've been blessed.  A lot of things have happened recently that I wasn't expecting--wasn't planning on--and I'm just really happy with the ways things have turned out."

"Now, the reason you're here, as some of you may know," Kelly said turning to the audience.  "Is because you have another album coming out--finally!"

Again the audience erupted and this time Rachel joined in. 

JC laughed where he sat.  "Yep.  Finally." He lifted a hand and scratched the side of his face.  "You know I always said when the right mix of music came together that I'd release something and it finally did."

"I really like the tracks I've been able to listen too so far." Kelly said. 

"Thank you." JC replied, laughing again when the girls in the audience got a little loud. 

"You've got some loyal fans." Regis pointed out.

"Yes I do." JC answered humbly.  "Thank you." He nodded at the audience.  "You know, I've got great fans.  They've stuck with me through a lot.  I just hope this CD lives up to their expectations."

"Oh, I'm sure it will.  But this new CD isn't all that's been keeping you busy recently." Kelly said with a grin.  Rachel watched as the co-host held up a magazine from last month that had a picture of her and JC walking along the Santa Monica Pier--an insert photo showing an enlarged picture of her ring.  Rachel felt her cheeks warm.  JC chuckled self-consciously and Rachel watched as he rubbed the back of his neck.  "Rachel, right?"

"Yeah." JC nodded.  "Her name's Rachel."

"Now, how did you two meet?" Kelly asked.

"Well," JC bobbed his head back and forth.  "She, uh...we actually met about a year and a half ago through some friends but then lost contact with each other for a little while." He said, his eyes straying to Rachel in the audience quickly, then back to the hosts. 

"Is it true she was the interior designer helping you remodel your house last year?" Regis asked.

"Yeah." JC nodded and Rachel could see his cheeks redden slightly from where she sat.  She knew he hated talking about his personal life, but times like this couldn't be avoided.  "Yeah, she walked back into my life one day and nothing's been the same since."

"Awww!" The audience voiced in unison, making Rachel laugh quietly to herself. 

"And you brought her with you today, right?" Kelly asked.

"Yeah." JC looked out into the audience and smiled at Rachel.  "She's here."

Rachel's heart began pounding as one of the cameramen turned his camera towards her.  She smiled and waved, feeling as if her face were on fire.  She was relieved when the camera only stayed on her a few seconds, and fought the urge to sink down into her chair and cover her face with her hands.  She was still getting used to her sudden popularity and the fact that her picture could now be found in several magazines and across the internet. 

"Alright, when we come back JC's going to perform Satellite, the single from his new album Kate due out on..." Regis looked to JC.

"March twentieth." JC supplied the release date.

"March twentieth.  Don't go away." Regis finished, and the audience clapped as the show cut to commercial.

 ~~~~~

"So, how was I?" JC asked after the show was over and he came out to where Rachel had been seated in the front row of the audience. 

"You were great." She said with a smile as she stood.  "I wish you would have warned me they were going to put me on TV, though." She teased as he joined her.

"Sorry." He said with a twinkle in his eye.  "Good thing you're so beautiful." He leaned down and placed a quick kiss to her lips. 

"So I called Megan a second ago." She told him as she looped her arm through his and they began walking towards the guest exit.

"Oh yeah?" JC asked.

"She was flipping out!" Rachel giggled. 

"About the album?" He asked.  "I thought you already told her about it."

"No, about me being on TV." She said.  "I told her you were going to be on the show today but I didn't tell her I was going to be here with you.  She--"

"Great job, JC." Kelly said walking towards them.  "I'm really looking forward to the album."

"Thanks." JC smiled.

"And it was nice to meet you, Rachel." Kelly said, holding her hand out to Rachel. 

"You too." Rachel said taking the woman's hand--smiling and feeling a little star struck.

"Good luck with everything." Kelly said then continued walking down the hall.

"You're hilarious, you know?" JC said, bringing Rachel back down to Earth.

"Huh, what?" She asked turning to look at him.

"When is it going to wear off?" He asked, chuckling.

"What?" Rachel asked.

"You being star struck all the time?"

"Oh, come on.  Cut me a break.  I'm still a newbie when it comes to all of this.  Besides, I don't think you have room to talk, Mr. I Still Get Flustered When I Do Interviews." She poked her finger at his chest.  "How long have you been in the business?"

"That's beside the point." He said brushing off her jab.  "Ready?" He asked as they reached the back door and he buttoned the heavy black jacket he was wearing. 

"No." Rachel shivered.  "There's a very good reason why I stayed in Arizona until I graduated and then where did I move?  Southern California.  I don't do winter."

"We need to toughen you up, Sass." He said, opening the door.  Rachel shivered as she was hit with a blast of icy air.  February in New York was not pleasant for someone with thin blood who was used to sunshine and heat year round.  "What's going to happen when I take you home to Maryland?" He asked, holding the door to the limo the record company had sent to take him back and forth from his hotel to the show.

"It better be in the summer time," she said choosing to ignore the butterflies that came at his talking about taking her home.  As much as she loved him, she wasn't sure she was ready for that just yet.  "Otherwise, I'm going to die." Rachel said dramatically as she slid into the car.  She shivered as he climbed in right behind her and shut the door.  JC laughed as he put his arms around her and pulled her close to his side, rubbing his hand up and down her arm. 

"Guess I'm just going to have to work on warming you up when we get back to the hotel, huh?" He asked wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, a teasing glint in his eyes.  Rachel rolled her eyes. 

"You know, to hear you talk someone would think that's all our relationship is about-sex."

"You mean it's not?" He asked, pulling back and looking at her in mock surprise.

"No." She laughed.  "Punk." Rachel slapped his chest playfully then laid her head on his shoulder as the heat from the vents finally started seeping through her frozen layers of clothing.  "So..." she drawled as they made their way across town to the hotel.

"So...?" He questioned.

"Valentine's Day is coming up." She said.

"Mmm-hmm." He hummed.  Rachel sat up causing his arm to drop away from her.

"What do you want to do?" She asked.

He slowly raised one brow at her, his eyes leveling with hers.  "I'd answer that, but you just told me our relationship is about more than just sex."

"Oh brother." Rachel rolled her eyes.  "Be serious."

"Okay." He folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against the door of the limo and looked at her.  "What do I want?" He looked thoughtful for a second.

"I didn't ask what you want." Rachel said.  "I asked what do you want to do?"

"You." He replied without hesitation.

"Oh my word!" She threw up her hands in aggravation.  "Okay, you know what." She pointed a finger at him.  "Forget it.  I'm going to come up with something and just surprise you, how's that?" She asked raising her chin stubbornly.   

"That's fine, but it won't beat what I've got planned." He winked at her.

"What you've got..." She trailed off, in shock.  "Seriously?  You already have something planned?"  He nodded once.  "Damn it!" She swore and he giggled, his eyes sparkling as he reached out and took her hand, tugging her back against him.

"Relax." He said.  "It's no big deal.  You don't have to get me anything."

"Yes I do." Rachel whined. 

"Why?" He questioned, looking down at her.

"Because," she sat up and tucked her hair behind her ear.  "Look at all the stuff you've given me and I...what have I given you?  Nothing.  I--"

"Rachel, stop." He placed his finger against her lips, silencing her, then leaned forward and replaced his finger with his lips.  "This isn't a contest to see who can give the other one more stuff, okay?" He reached up and ran his hand over her hair, then cupped her cheek.  "And besides," his eyes locked with hers.  "You've given me more than you'll ever know." He said.  She frowned and he laughed softly then leaned forward and kissed her pout away.  "I love you."

"I love you, too." She answered.

"That's all I need." He said. 

~~~~~~

JC walked into the lobby of Adams & Richards Tuesday morning and was greeted by Aubrey.  After his many visits over the last couple months they'd become sort of friends.  She smiled at him.

"Is she here?" He asked.

"She's in a meeting." Aubrey looked at the clock on the wall behind her.  "But she should be out any minute."

"Is it alright if I go back and wait for her?" JC asked pointing down the hallway that he knew led to Rachel's desk.

"Sure." Aubrey smiled.

"Thanks." He patted the top of the reception desk as he walked past it.  Shoving his hands into the pockets of the jeans he wore JC walked towards Rachel's cubicle.  He smiled, anticipating the look on her face when she returned from her meeting and found him waiting for her.  He loved surprising her--loved seeing her face light up in excitement.  The way her eyes sparkled when she was happy was something he'd never get tired of seeing. 

His progress was halted however, when he passed the conference room that was across from her desk--his eyes zeroing in on Rachel and the fact that she was in the room, alone, with another man and he was standing way too close to her for it to be professional.  He watched as the guy reached his arm out across Rachel, pointing to something that was laid out on the table in front of them.  He saw Rachel step back slightly, but then the guy put his hand at the small of her back and JC's fists clenched but he didn't have much time to process the anger coursing through him before she turned and opened the door.  She looked up as she left the room.  Her eyes met his and she smiled-breathing what seemed to be a sigh of relief.  She walked quickly towards him and put her arms around his neck. As he put his arms around Rachel, hugging her tightly to him, his blue eyes connected with a pair of steel grey ones over her shoulder as the man she'd been in the meeting with paused in the doorway.  The two men silently sized each other up. 

"What are you doing here?" Rachel asked looking up at him with a smile and drawing his attention back to where it should be--on her.  He lifted a hand to her face as he kissed her quickly. 

"Just wanted to surprise you." He said with a forced smile.  "Have you had lunch?" He asked.

"Nope." She replied, her eyes sparkling happily. 

"Let's go then." He said the hair at the back of his neck almost standing up as the guy she'd been in the meeting with approached them.  Rachel kept her arms around him and he fought the urge to kiss her, long and hard, right in front of the guy--publicly staking his claim on her; either that or shoving her behind him to protect her.  She was his, damn it!  What right did this guy have, putting his hand on her?  Let alone breathing anywhere near her?  The other man cleared his throat and Rachel turned to look at him.  JC was too busy trying to talk himself out of punching the guy to see the roll her eyes and the disgust on her face that she tried to hide. 

"JC, this is Rob.  Rob, this is my boyfriend, JC.  Rob is the new Vice President and I'm working with him on the Cooper building downtown." Rachel introduced the two men.  Rob smiled and held out his hand. 

"Nice to meet you, JC." He said with a smile, though his eyes remained stony.  JC looked at the guy's outstretched hand but didn't take it.  Rachel looked up at him in question but said nothing. 

"Well, if you'll excuse me." Rob said, turning and walking away down the hall. 

"What the hell was that all about?" Rachel hissed as she turned and set the papers she'd been holding onto on her desk.

He shrugged as he watched her grabbed her purse then draped his arm around her shoulders as he led her outside, all the while trying to come up with some excuse as to why he'd just been so rude to her boss--he knew she wasn't going to let the matter drop.  He'd never been this territorial with a woman before but there was something about the guy that put him on guard. 

"Jace." Rachel turned to look at him as they reached his car.  "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, looking down at her.

"I've never seen you be so rude to someone.  Something's going on.  Are you mad about something?  Did I do something--"

"Why didn't you tell me about Rob?" He asked.  Rachel pulled back and looked at him in surprise.

"I did." She replied her brows furrowed.  "Remember?  The night I met you for dinner when you were signing the contract with TennMan.  I told you about the new Vice President."

"Yet somehow you forgot to mention his age." He said, looking down at her as he folded his arms across his chest.

"His age?  What the hell does his age have to do with anything?" Rachel paused as she looked at him, her lips turning up in a small smile.  "Joshua," She shook her head in amusement as she reached her hands out and unfolded his arms--stepping up against him.  "Although a part of me loves it when your blue eyes turn green I can assure you, you don't need to be jealous.  You don't need to worry about me." She told him, reaching up and running her fingers through his hair. 

"It's not you I'm worried about." He told her as he pressed her back against the Mercedes. 

"You don't need to worry about anyone." She said, pulling his head down and pressing her lips against his.  "I promise."