My Girl
JC stepped into the noisy club. Surely his mother was mistaken. Shauna wouldn’t be here. It wasn’t a “Shauna” kind of place – at least to his mind. Shauna was more of a sipping wine in a quiet piano bar sort of girl. He couldn’t imagine her tossing back mixed drinks and grinding to the throbbing music. The idea was an intriguing one, however. What would a “club Shauna” be like? Would a little alcohol loosen her up, let her naughty side come out and play? Would she come into his arms and move seductively against him? Oh, God, if only that would happen…
“Chasez?”
JC turned around and forgot to breathe. It was Shauna – Shauna like he’d never seen her before, like he never imagined her. Her hair was wildly mussed, spilling over her shoulders. Her eye make-up gave her a smoky, exotic look. Her lips were tinted the color of ripe berries. Dropping his gaze, he noted a baby tee baring her midriff. Her low slung jeans looked as if they had been spray painted on, and of course – she wore heels. This Shauna practically screamed ‘take me!’. “Damn, honey! You look hot,” was all he could think of to say.
Shauna’s husky laughter stirred something down south in him. “Thank you.”
“I – I didn’t know you enjoyed clubs.”
She took a sip from the glass in her hand. “Face it, Chasez. Whatever you know about me could probably be written on the head of a pin.”
He believed he knew a little more than that. “I want to know you.”
She merely shrugged.
“So…you’re here with friends?”
“They’re all around…somewhere.” She waved a hand to encompass the entire place. “I’m a big girl. I don’t need a keeper.”
JC didn’t know how to take that statement. Was Shauna cruising for guys?”
Tossing back the rest of her drink, she set the empty glass on the bar. She grabbed JC’s hand, towing him through the sea of bodies until they reached an empty spot on the dance floor. She put her arms around his neck and moved against him, one of her legs wedged between his. “What brings to Chicago?” she asked. Their heads were so close; her warm breath caressed his face.
“You mainly,” he confessed.
Shauna smiled slowly. “Not playing hard to get, are you, Chasez?”
“No, baby. All you have to do is snap your fingers.”
One of her fingers traced lazy patterns around his ear, making him shiver. “Good to know.” Her lips replaced her finger on his ear. “I don’t like games,” she breathed in his ear.
There was just no preventing it; his lower body hardened. “No game here. I want you.”
“To be your Chicago lay.”
Something vulnerable in her voice made him look deep into her eyes. “No, Shauna. I want you to be my girl – my only girl.”
She blinked as if she didn’t comprehend his words.
“It’s like this.” His hands moved from her hips. One arm went around her waist, the other her shoulder, holding her in an intimate cuddle – well, as close as one could get with a girl that tall on a crowded dance floor. His hand urged her head to rest on his shoulder. “I want to hold you, cherish you.” When she sighed and melted against him, he thought he’d finally gotten through to her. It didn’t matter that the music was crazy fast with a throbbing bass; he swayed slowly with her. The rest of the world melted away, leaving them alone on the planet.
Shauna lifted her head to gaze into his eyes. “Josh…”
“I mean it, honey. This is where you belong.”
JC wasn’t sure how it happened. He was about to kiss her when someone called her name and snatched her away. Shauna was swept away, disappearing into the crowd of gyrating bodies. “Fuck,” he muttered.
Throughout the night, JC would catch brief glimpses of Shauna, usually grinding with another guy. He attempted to make his way to her and she’d disappear again. Dammit! They’d been so close. They had nearly made that all-important connection. The gods were against him.
Shauna had lost track of all the drinks that had been pressed into her hand by eager partners. She was beginning to feel her control slip away. She only trusted one man in the entire club not to take advantage of the situation – JC Chasez. It seemed the more she tried to find him, the less successful she was. Just when she was ready to panic, believing he had already left, one strong arm came around her.
“I’m right here, Shauna,” JC assured her. For some reason, he had known she was seeking him. Proving him correct, she gave a little sob of relief and crumpled against him. “Shh…honey…” He soothed her with a calm voice and little nuzzles until she stopped shaking.
“Josh, I wanna go home,” she whispered.
“Your car?”
“I don’t drink and drive. I came in a cab.”
“It’s okay, honey. It’s cool. I’ll get you there.”
This is not how he envisioned the night ending, JC mused. Well, he’d gotten one part right; he was going to Shauna’s apartment. But she was so fragile absolutely nothing would happen. He was willing to bet that was exactly why she sought him out. Somewhere in her alcohol-muddled brain, she’d decided he was the one she could rely on. Even now, she was pressed tightly against him, her hand clutching the front of his shirt as the taxi weaved in and out of traffic.
“I take it this isn’t something you do a lot,” he murmured.
“Hardly ever,” she whispered into his shoulder.
JC could almost guess the stages of inebriation for Shauna. The first couple of drinks took some of the starch out of her. The next few turned her into a sexy flirt. Then she would begin to panic because she no longer trusted her own judgment. She was most probably a light-weight, especially if she’d been mixing drinks.
“It’s okay,” he assured her. “I’ve got you.” He pressed his lips to her forehead as he stroked her hair. “I’ll take care of you.”
By the time they had climbed the stairs to her studio apartment, JC discovered another stage. Shauna got sick. He ended up holding her hair back as she tossed her cookies several times in her tiny bathroom. Between bouts, he wiped her face with a cool washcloth, holding her while she cried.
“This is terrible,” she sobbed. “I’m sorry. I’m such a mess…”
“Shh…baby, it’s okay,” he crooned, rocking her as she sat on his lap on the cool tile floor.
“Idiot…stupid idiot…for you of all people to see me…”
JC couldn’t prevent his smile. A little of the old Shauna still didn’t want him to see her vulnerable.
While waiting to see if she was finished being sick, he took a warm cloth and removed as much of her make-up mess as possible. Gone was the vixen. In her place was a vulnerable girl. He found the vixen sexually exciting, but he’d venture the girl was more like his Shauna without the prickly exterior.
“I think I’m done,” Shauna announced weakly, removing herself from his lap to crawl to her feet. “Gotta brush my teeth.” Seeing her pale, greenish reflection in the mirror, she shuddered. “Ick!”
JC rose to stand behind her. “I’ll go now.”
“No!” She sought his eyes in the mirror. “Not yet.”
He didn’t argue. “I’ll be in the other room.” Leaving her to her hygiene, he stepped out of the small bathroom and closed the door.
It was time he could take notice of her apartment. One large room basically. The living area was separated from the bedroom area by a step up. The plump sofa visually divided the space. The kitchenette off to one side completed the room. The place reminded him of a cozy nest. It could have easily looked cramped, but it didn’t, not even with the big sofa and queen-size bed.
JC’s eyes went to the bathroom door as it opened. Shauna stepped out in a t-shirt and boxers, which evidently served as pajamas. He watched as she climbed into bed, pulling up the covers.
“Would you turn the light off, please?” she asked.
Walking over to the bedside lamp, he snapped it off. “Night, Shauna.”
“You’re not going, are you?”
“I thought I might.”
“Please, no.” She patted the pillow next to hers. “Stay. I’ll share,” she said hopefully.
Well, he was gonna get Shauna into bed. Nothing like a night of torture. JC kicked off his shoes and stretched out on top of the covers. When she crowded against him, his arms went around her.
“You smell good,” she murmured.
“Thanks.”
“Josh?”
“Yeah, honey?”
“You’re a good guy.”
He smiled in the dark. Finally! He only hoped she felt the same way when she awakened with a doozy of a hangover.
“Josh?”
He sighed. “Yes, Shauna?”
“Night.”
“Night, baby.”
“Josh?”
“Now what?”
“Can I still be your girl?”
“You’re my girl,” he assured her.
“I like you.”
“I like you, too.”
With a happy sounding sigh, she rested one hand on his chest and drifted off to sleep.
Shauna woke late the next morning with the sun spilling over the bed. She had a pounding headache and she was alone. Not only was JC not in bed, he was gone from the apartment. She wondered if she’d said anything she’d regret…
The pillow he’d used was now cool but still smelled wonderfully of him. Pressing her face into it, she allowed herself to drift back to sleep, a smile on her lips.
JC Chasez was one of the good guys.
Now what?
He hadn’t seen her in more than a month, JC thought as he saw Shauna across the crowded room. He was running out of excuses to ‘run’ into her. Did she remember anything about the night she had become ‘his girl’? She never mentioned it in their brief, once more stilted phone conversations. The impossible female had taken over his dreams – and it wouldn’t be fair if he was the only one suffering from hot, erotic fantasies.
God, she looked good! The strapless coral dress clung in all the right place before falling to mid-thigh. With her feet shod in high heels, her legs went on forever. Her luxurious hair tumbled over one shoulder. One creamy shoulder was completely bare, making his mouth water. Just to run his lips along her flesh…
Shauna felt a steady gaze on her and glanced up. In that unguarded moment, her eyes revealed her hunger and brightened with delight in seeing JC. Then it was too late to retrieve her mask of indifference. He had seen the truth. Before she could blink, he started towards her, their eyes locked.
“Hi,” she whispered when he stopped before her. In heels, they were eye to eye.
“Hey, beautiful,” he murmured huskily.
“Joshua…” His name barely left her lips before his mouth moved over hers.
“Shauna…honey…” He breathed in her ear as their arms found their way around each other. When had this really happened? Not that it mattered. She was in his arms now and he was grateful.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Looking for you.”
“Here I am.”
“Yeah.” Cupping one cheek, he tilted her face to accept a more intimate kiss.
He did kiss like a dream, she decided hazily as he took total control of the caress. His mobile exploration left no corner of her mouth unexplored. She shivered as he lured her tongue in a sexy dance with his.
“Joshua, please…” Escaping his lips, she dropped her forehead to his shoulder.
“Please what, honey? I want to please you.”
She merely shook her head.
Not knowing what else to do, he stroked her back soothingly. “I’ve missed you.”
“How could you?”
“Even though we haven’t been together, I missed being in the same room, seeing your face.”
Raising her head, she met his eyes. “I don’t want to be mad at you anymore.”
“I’m glad. I know I acted like a jackass…”
Shauna laid a finger against his lips to stop him. “Can we start from now?”
“I’d like that.” They weren’t starting from the beginning – they were already half-way or more in love. There was no denying that.
“Josh, take me home,” she commanded quietly.
“Wherever you wanna go, I’ll take you.”
“Home. Just home.”
During the taxi ride home, the couple merely held hands. Once in a while, JC would nuzzle the top of her head where it rested on his shoulder. Words would have broken the magic spell that held them.
Paying the cab driver, JC turned to Shauna. “Now what?”
“Come in.” They walked up to her apartment, their arms about each other’s waist.
He waited for a cue from her.
She sat down on the sofa and patted the cushion next to her. “I don’t want to talk. I just want to feel it.”
“What does that mean?” he asked as he settled next to her.
Immediately her arms came around him. “Feel each other, not ruin it with small talk.”
His arms went around her. “Sounds good to me,” he murmured.
JC woke slowly. He’d slept in an odd position and his muscles were protesting. A soft weight rested atop of him. Opening his eyes, he realized he was not in his hotel room and the weight was Shauna. The last thing he remembered was sitting with her on the sofa. They must’ve fallen asleep in each other’s arms. He lay awkwardly on the cushions with Shauna. They were both fully dressed, save for the fact she was missing a shoe.
“Shauna,” he murmured, stroking her hair tenderly. “Honey, wake up.”
Hazel eyes opened and focused on his face. “Josh…” She smiled drowsily.
“We fell asleep on the sofa.”
Looking around, she said, “I guess we did. What time is it?”
He checked his watch. “It’s close to seven.”
“Holy crap!” Levering up, she escaped his arms and got to her feet. “I’ve got to get ready for work!”
Propping himself up, he watched as she frantically pulled clothes from her closet and bureau drawers. “Baby, you have two hours.”
“This is Chicago, Josh. Traffic,” she lamented.
She dashed through the bathroom door. Well, this certainly wasn’t the scenario he’d imagined for their parting. He was heading to Great Britain and he wouldn’t be back for weeks. He wished he could ask her to spend the day with him, but that would be presuming too much of their fledging relationship.
Twenty minutes later, Shauna emerged from the bathroom, ready for the day. She looked at the bemused man sitting on her sofa. “I’m sorry, Josh.”
“Shauna, I won’t be back in the country for weeks.” JC rose to take her hands. “I wanted to have more time…”
“I guess my surrender was poorly timed. I should have waited for your return.”
“No, baby, I’m glad we got it straightened out.”
She brushed a soft kiss on his mouth. “You take care of yourself. Maybe we’ll get together when you get back.”
“There is no maybe. Count on it.”
She nodded. “Make yourself at home. Take a shower. Make coffee. Just remember to lock the door when you leave.” She blew him a breezy kiss just before the door closed between them.
“Bye,” he said belatedly to the door.
Looking around, JC thought the bed looked inviting. Removing all his clothes except his shorts, he climbed into the comfortable bed. He’d catch some sleep and then go back to the hotel. Burying his face in a pillow smelling like Shauna, he sighed and closed his eyes.