Chapter 5

It was as if the past day and a half never happened.  Jordin walked in the offices on Monday morning all smiles, ready to joke around with Justin about the weekend and was confused when that didn't happen.

"So you ready to get back to work?" Justin said, not even looking up from the mixing board as she entered the studio room they'd been using. 

"Yeah, I picked up some Starbucks...extra sugar and one cream?" she said handing his beverage to him.

"How did you know?" Justin asked, looking up at her now.

"That's how you made it this weekend; I have a pretty good memory," she replied with a grin.

"About this weekend," Justin began, but was cut off by Jordin.

"I had fun, and I want to thank you for taking care of me," she said with the biggest smile on her face.

"No problem, I couldn't leave a fellow artist alone like that.  Don't want to mess up those vocal chords so early in your career," he responded with a slightly uneasy laugh.

"No," she replied with a slight chuckle, "I don't want to do that.  No more drinking red wine while on a date with a pop star at a jazz club."  The words came out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"Yeah, about that," he began with a sigh, scratching the back of his head nervously, "how about we keep that night between me and you.  I don't it getting out that you're going out getting drunk with you producer." 

There goes that nervous laugh again.

"Yeah, that might not look too good for my image, huh?" Now she was the one with the uneasy laugh. 

"I just don't want you to have to go down that same path as so many of these other girls in this industry Jor--".  She held up a hand, signaling for him to be quiet.

"I understand, you don't have to explain it to me," she said with a weak smile, "How about we start recording?"  Jordin placed her drink on the table in the room and took her lyric notepad out of her tote. 

This is gonna be hella awkward.

~*~

"Yeah man, I told her," Justin practically sighed into the Bluetooth earpiece.  He called a lunch break about an hour ago; the tension in the room was so thick in the room after their "conversation" that you could cut it with a knife.

"And how did she take it?  What happened?  Did she slap you?"

"No, but it would've been better if she did," Justin replied, "The entire mood of the room changed.  It was like all the camaraderie we'd built up last week was gone.  We were no longer ‘Justin and Jordin'; we were ‘Producer and Artist'."

"Wait," Trace began, "Are you saying that you want there to be a ‘Justin and Jordin'?"

"I...I...I hear something, hold on," Justin said before taking the Bluetooth out of his ear.  The music got louder as he got closer to the room.

I could say that I don't care,

But the truth is I'd follow you anywhere.

I've been waiting such a long, long time.

Don't you dare change...your mind

"Hey, let me call you back," Justin said into the Bluetooth mouthpiece, not even bothering to put it in his ear.  He ended the phone call and pressed his ear closer to the door.

It seems so close to me

But still beyond my reach

Calling me and playing hide and seek

Look behind that door

I'm the one you've been searching for

And I'm not a little girl anymore

  She couldn't be singing about...naw.  That just happened a couple of hours ago, there's no way she could have written something so...so beautifully heartbreaking so quickly.

BUZZ!

Stupid phone!  Justin forgot that he and his phone were leaned against the door, and there's no way anyone within a 3 block radius could have missed that loud vibration.  The piano playing stopped abruptly and Justin heard a chair scrape the wooden floor and footsteps before Jordin opened the door.

"How long have you been standing there?" she asked coldly.  Justin just stood there shocked and in silence.

"Were you spying on me?  And before you ask, no, that song wasn't about us...not that there is an ‘us' anyway."  Jordin turned on her heels and walked back into the room, resuming her previous position in front of the piano.

"We need to talk," Justin said, entering the room and closing and locking the door behind him.

"I really don't think I'm in the mood for another one of your ‘talks' Justin."

"Well this one's a bit different than the last one we had; this one involves more listening than talking, for you at least."  Jordin let out an audible sigh and slouched down in her chair. 

"Look, I know what I said hurt you..."

"Hurt me?" Jordin scoffed, "Please, I'd have to care for you to hurt me.  Aside from popular belief the entire world doesn't revolve around you Jus-" Jordin was cut off mid-sentence when Justin's lips crashed against hers.  She didn't even notice him getting closer to her and yet here he was, making her weak with his wonderful lips.  Thank goodness she was sitting down; she didn't think that she'd have been able to stand on her own two feet with a core rocking kiss like that.  His tongue danced along her bottom lip, silently asking for permission to enter her mouth; which she immediately granted, and in return she heard a guttural moan from Justin. 

Looks like I'm doing something right.

Jordin wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.  Justin had a track record of taking back kisses with her so she was going to be sure to make the most of this one.  They finally pulled apart for some much needed oxygen and Justin rested his forehead against hers. 

"You're so sexy when you're feisty," he said with the widest grin.

"Me?  Sexy?  No," she replied casting her glance downward.

"Yes, I find you incredibly sexy, and your fiery personality is something else."  Jordin could feel the heat rise in her face.  Justin grinned and kissed her lips gently.

"So why did you say it?" she voiced, her tone wavering a bit.  Now it was his turn to look down.

"Justin, I know you feel it.  There's this...this spark between us.  This pull that-"

"I know," he said with a soft smile.

"What are you afraid of?  I'm not asking for a lifetime, just a chance," she said in almost a whisper.

"It's just...you're so much younger..."

"Than you?" she asked, finishing his statement, "So I wasn't the only one hesitant about that.  Why did you say all that stuff about age only being a number if you feel the same way I do?" she asked, her eyes boring into his.

"Because I don't...but other people might."

"So you're gonna let ‘other people' dictate whatever we have before it even begins?" she scoffed.

"No.  Well I don't want to, but I don't want you or your career in this business to be at risk.  I want people to like you because of your talent and not because there's a magazine cover with your face and the words ‘Justin Timberlake's New Girl' plastered on it."

"And you think I don't?  People are already pretty skeptical because I got this deal because I was on the show...for some reason they still think it's rigged," she laughed with that last statement.

"I want to be respected for my music and not for who I'm with...wow, I can't believe we're having this conversation and all we've done is kiss once, not that it wasn't a good kiss," she said, lightening the mood in the room. 

"I do believe we've done more that that darling," he said, his southern accent coming out, "If I remember correctly we've kissed twice, had 2 dates and even slept together, literally."  Jordin chuckled softly.

"Wow, are you sure you're the guy in this situation?" she joked, "But then again you are a self-proclaimed ‘Oprah' and ‘Sex in the City' fan.  And that was only one date; it was just a really long one.  Plus, I don't even remember that entire night I slept with you so that either means that I doesn't count as well or you need to step your game up," she finished with a laugh.

"It wasn't like I was gonna take advantage of you, but please know that you'll remember everything the next time it happens," he replied with his classic Timberlake smirk, squeezing her sides gently.

"Is that a threat?" she asked, her voice seductively low.

"No, it's a promise," he answered, capturing her lips for another passionate kiss.

~*~

"I still say it that that was just one date-"

"Just a really long one," Justin finished for her.

"Yes," she said in agreement.

"Well you were doing better than most because I usually don't invite girls back to the house for dinner, let alone to spend the night until at least the third date."

"So you've never had a one night stand?" Jordin asked bluntly.  Justin's mouth dropped at her question and she took that opportunity to throw a cheese cube at him.  The two of them were currently in his kitchen eating the remnants of the deli tray that Trace brought back from his William Rast meeting earlier.

"What do you know about one night stands, missy?"

"Enough," she answered in a matter-of-fact tone, "And don't say it like that, you sound like my dad."

"He's damn near old enough to be," Trace said, walking in and grabbing a few pieces of deli meat before going to the refrigerator and grabbing a bottle of water.

"Hush!  He is not!" Jordin exclaimed, throwing a cube of cheddar at him.  It had been a couple of weeks since that ‘talk' in the studio and she and Justin decided that they were gonna take things slow.  They hadn't been photographed in any questionable pictures and yet they were already having to deny rumors about them being more than just artist and producer...but they couldn't deny anything to Trace.  It wasn't that he didn't like her, because he did, he was just worried about her image...and he still felt that she was a bit young for his best friend who was eight years her senior.

"Yeah man, I wasn't even having wet dreams when she was born," Justin said with a laugh.

"Sick, Justin," Jordin said, throwing another cheese cube at him, "No one needed to know that," she added, swinging her legs back and forth while she hopped on the island.

"Besides, I don't even have those anymore," he began as he made his way over to where Jordin was, "and if I do you're the star of them."  He nudged her legs apart so he could fit between them and cupped her face in his hands before kissing her squarely on the lips.  Jordin giggled like a school girl and Trace gagged.

"Gross!  I'm leaving; you two need to get a room...better yet, get a life!" he joked as he exited the kitchen.