Tori McKenzie was beautiful, rich, and way out of his league, JC decided the moment he laid eyes on her. Joey had invited him along to the girl’s birthday party. The more the merrier, his friend had said. JC had come along for the heck of it that day. A pool party held at the McKenzie family estate – in an area of Orlando he never knew existed. Once the guest of honor was pointed out, JC was drawn to the girl. The first thing he noticed was her large luminous eyes of emerald green. Laughing eyes with a little bit of an upward slant at the corner. Her hair was a riot of black curls tumbling down her back. Unlike so many girls, she had not made an attempt to tame them. She left them to their natural style. And the sweet, feminine curves of her body were shown to their best advantage in her fuchsia bikini.
“How did you get into this crowd?” JC asked Joey.
“Tori isn’t a snob. We met at the park.” Joey waved to the girl and she started towards them. JC could only hope he didn’t disgrace himself. “Happy Birthday, Tori!” Joey called as she moved closer.
“Thank you, Joey,” the girl said. “I see you brought a friend.”
“Tori, this is JC.”
She extended her hand. “Nice to meet you, JC.”
“H-happy birthday.” JC managed as he shook her hand.
“Why thank you. Please, feel free to go in and change. Enjoy the pool and the refreshments.” She looked around the pool. “I need to mingle.”
JC didn’t get to talk to Tori until the evening. Torches had been set up around the pool, bathing the area in soft light. She came out of the house dressed in a pretty summer dress, looking cool and feminine. When he looked up to see her eyes on him, he gave her a shy smile.
“Soooo…JC…how did you come to be with Joey today?
The boy shrugged. “I didn’t have anything going on. Joey was coming and he said I should come. I am not really much of a partier.”
“Me either. But my parents say I should learn to network while I am young.”
“Network?”
“Make friends I can use later in life.”
“What are you planning to be?”
“I’ll probably go into the family business.”
“Which is?”
“Philanthropy.” She slid her arm through his. “Enough about me. Who is JC?”
JC had pretty much told her his life story that night. She listened intently and asked questions as if she were sincerely interested. She drew him out and he felt he could trust her with his dreams.
When the party finally wound down and few people were left, JC found he didn’t want to leave her. With uncharacteristic boldness, he asked if he could see her again.
“I’d like that,” she answered with a smile.
“You would?”
“I like you, Joshua Chasez.”
“I’m already crazy for you Tori McKenzie,” he confessed. “Would tomorrow night be too soon?”
“I do have class the next morning…”
“We can have an early dinner…”
“That sounds lovely.” Standing on tiptoe, Tori pressed her lips to his. “Tomorrow then.”
All of the young couple's free time belonged to the other. JC’s fascination with Tori bordered on obsession, but he couldn’t seem to help himself where she was concerned. He wanted to be with her, needed to have her as his own. Tori was completely in love with the struggling, young performer. Her friends didn’t seem to understand why she spent all her time with the skinny boy with no money.
JC slipped a hand beneath Tori’s top as they kissed hungrily in the front seat of his jeep. He loved the silky feel of her flesh. He wanted to be able to touch all of her, to possess her completely…Each time they were together, it was the sweetest torture…”Tori…” he groaned against her ear. “Please, baby, I need you…”
Tori sobered quickly. She pushed him away a little, dislodging his hand. “You know that isn’t happening, Josh,” she said firmly. “We’ve been through this. Not in a car. Not until I am married.”
“Then let’s get married,” he suggested quickly.
Her big green eyes went wide. “Josh, I—“
“We love each other, right? Why not now? Why wait?”
“But college…your career…”
“Sweetheart, we’ll work it out.” She still looked unconvinced and JC was liking the idea more and more. “C’mon, Tori. We can drive to a place where we can get married, no waiting period or questions asked.”
“Like where?”
“I don’t know exactly…” He shrugged. “South Carolina has no waiting period…”
“Our parents—“
“Sure, they’ll be mad at first, but they’ll come around. They know we love each other.”
“Are you – are you really sure this is what you want?”
He wanted her, so it had to be what he wanted. He stroked her hair. “I want us to be together.”
Tori smiled bravely. “All right.”
Tori was his! JC thought as he carried her over the threshold of their cabin at the little motor inn they had found. The ceremony had been brief. The chapel had been plastic and fake. But the marriage license in his pocket was no less binding than if they’d had a lavish wedding. Tori had made a beautiful, innocent bride in an eyelet dress trimmed in baby pink ribbon. He set her next to the big bed and consumed her in a hot kiss.
“Josh, I need my bag from the car,” she insisted quietly when he let her up for air.
“Tomorrow morning—“
“No. I need it now…so I can get ready.”
“Ready?” What did she need to prepare for? Ready was getting naked!
“I-I got something just for tonight.” She bit her lips together nervously when he merely looked at her. “A girl only does this once – I mean has a wedding night and…you know…”
Reining in his lust, JC began to finally hear her. She was his bride and she was a virgin. She was nervous and she was looking for more than just a hormonal groom. He had to slow down. He bussed her forehead tenderly. “I’ll go get it, baby. This is your night.”
When Tori stepped out of the small bathroom in her nightgown, she saw JC was bare-chested and sat against the headboard of the bed. It didn’t take much imagination to guess he was naked beneath the sheet covering him from the waist down. She swallowed hard and hesitated.
JC took in his bride. The gown was virginal white silk with thin straps. Simply cut, it clung to her gentle curves. Soon his hands, mouth and body would replace the fabric. Blood rushed to his loins and he was throbbing with a second heartbeat, the heartbeat of lust. He held out a hand to her. “C’mere, Tori,” he commanded huskily. The way he looked at her excited and scared her at the same time. He looked as if he was ready to pounce, like a hungry animal. “It’s okay, baby. I want to make it so good for you, you’ll never stop wanting my love.”
“I won’t,” she stated bravely and climbed onto the bed. “I love you, Joshua Chasez.”
“Sometimes the first time isn’t the greatest…”
“Have you done it a lot?”
“No…I’ve only…Well, with one other girl.”
“Did you love her?”
“I thought I did, but it felt nothing like this, honey. The way I feel about you…it claws at my gut, like I need you to even exist.”
It must have been what she needed to hear. Tori reached for him, letting him bear her to the mattress.
The next morning, the couple called their parents to tell them the news. JC’s parents were shocked but supportive. Tori’s parents were rather blasé, saying the newlyweds could use the guesthouse on the estate until they decided where to live.
“That was rather painless,” JC commented as he took the phone from Tori and replaced the receiver.
“I don’t think either of us were afraid of our parents’ reaction,” Tori said, her eyes clouded with worry.
No. No, it was the backer of JC’s as yet unnamed group he realized would object. JC was sure the other guys would understand. They knew how he felt about Tori. Lou was bound to be furious. He shoved that thought away. JC pulled Tori beneath him and nuzzled her neck. “That is why I’m not going to call anyone else today. Today is just for us.” It was a done deal – and he’d face Lou’s wrath head-on when they returned to Orlando.
As predicted, Lou did object to his protégé’s marriage. The big man reminded JC of his debt to him and the young performer’s ‘duty’ to the rest of the group. He reminded JC a married man was a harder sell to teens. To appeal to the ‘pop’ audience, JC needed to be single. JC took all the arguments stoically then went home to his bride.
A week later, JC returned to the guesthouse after a long day of training and rehearsals. He was frowning and clearly upset. “Lou says if I want to stay in the group, I have to stay at the house,” he told Tori as he held her close, as if her nearness could hold their troubles at bay.
Tori knew she couldn’t ask JC to give up his dreams. “It’ll be okay, Josh. I start classes full-time soon. We’ll just be together when we can,” she assured him bravely.
The following week, Lou made another demand on JC. “He is imposing a ridiculous curfew,” JC announced to Tori over the telephone. “I won’t be able to see you at all this week.”
On the fourth week of their marriage, Lou dealt the final blow to the young couple. “He said if I didn’t ‘get rid’ of you, he’s scrapping the whole group,” JC relayed to Tori on the final call. “Damn! We’re so close now…I can’t let the other guys down…Oh, God, Tori, it wasn’t supposed to be like this! Baby, I don’t know what to do…”
But Tori knew what she had to do. “I’ll talk to Daddy in the morning. His lawyers will handle it.”
“Tori…Baby…God, I am so sorry…”
“So am I, Josh. So am I.”
In her lonely bed that night, Tori wept softly for an innocent love betrayed. Never once had JC said he loved her since they had married…
JC stared at the ceiling of the room he shared with Justin. Dry-eyed, he realized marrying Tori had been a mistake from the start. He hadn’t had the right to someone like her…
A no-fault, quickie divorce was the ticket. Both parties had no claim on the others’ assets. JC didn’t touch Tori’s trust fund. Tori didn’t sue for any of JC’s future earnings. It was all supposed to be clear-cut, neat and painless…