JC’s Declaration
Amelia pressed the doorbell of JC’s big house and was startled when he opened the door immediately.
“C’mon in, Amelia.”
She looked about as he lead her to the living room. The place still looked empty, like he hadn’t had the time to accumulate much clutter. It was sad when a beautiful house wasn’t a true home. She realized since its purchase, he probably spent little time actually ‘living’ there. Being in the business, too, she knew how that was.
JC settled his hands on her shoulders from behind and rested his chin on the top of her head. She had worn her hair down this time and he wanted to stroke every strand, bury his fingers in its silkiness. She was such a temptation – and tonight, he’d tell her he could no longer resist.
“So, what’s your favorite Chinese?” he asked her.
“My stir-fry.”
JC chuckled. “Let’s try this again. What is your favorite Chinese take-out dish?”
“I like shrimp-fried rice.” Did he have any hint how is being so close, his hands innocently on her, was making her feel all hot and shivery inside? She wanted to turn and press herself against him, lose herself in his feel, his scent, his taste.
“That’s it?”
That was all her desire-numbed brain could think of! “I’m not much of a take-out eater. I’m not into Chinese food.”
“We can order something else if you prefer,” he offered.
“Chinese is fine. I just haven’t ordered it a whole lot, so I don’t know what things are.”
“You sure? I can get something else.” He’d call for the moon and stars on a silver platter to have Amelia here with him.
“You order and I’ll pick off your plate.”
That sounded delightfully intimate. “It’ll be about twenty minutes or so.”
JC truly enjoyed sitting on the floor, sharing dinner with Amelia at the coffee table. He taught her to use chopsticks – which was a messy proposition until she got the hang of it. They laughed and teased and shared off each other’s plate. He couldn’t remember when he had felt so open and at ease with a woman – and Amelia opened like a flower in sunshine. She was sweet. She was sassy. She was bright and witty – and he fell in love that much deeper.
He was wonderful away from work, Amelia found herself thinking. She had suspected after their day at Disney World that JC took on the role of ultimate adult for the rest of the group, keeping them focused. He was the serious one who reminded them of the job they had to do. It made him quiet and less relaxed than the others. She also had a feeling he needed a playmate in his life to remind him life was not all work – he needed a pressure release valve. She had seen his eyes when they seemed to beg her to be the one. Could she?
“What?” JC asked when he saw Amelia shake her head.
“Nothing. Just getting rid of some mental cobwebs.” The fanciful ones she spun around him. She rose to her feet. “Let me help clean up this mess.”
“Then I want to listen to your demo. You did bring it, didn’t you?”
She saluted him teasingly. “Yes, sir! Mr. Chasez, sir!”
Getting to his feet, he laughed at her smart mouth. She was such a sassy delight!
JC listened intently to the demo Amelia had made of her music. The girl was an amazing talent. Even without the help of a producer, her music blew him away! When he had offered to give a listen, he hadn’t expected her to be this fantastic!
When it ended, Amelia looked to her serious-faced friend. She had been surprised when he had invited her over to his home studio to listen to her work. She had believed he was merely trying to indulge her whimsy of being a true artist. She respected him as a writer and singer, so despite her misgivings she had come. “Well?”
“Johnny’s managing you, right?”
She nodded.
“If our label doesn’t snatch you up, they’re crazy. You’ve got the potential to hit the top of the charts, if you’re shopped around right.”
She hadn’t expected this sort of high praise. “Thank you for listening.” She made to leave the studio, but his hand on her arm halted her.
“I want to help you. I’ll produce you.”
“You?” JC was a busy man. He didn’t have time to assist her dreams.
“Who better than a guy who believes in? A guy who thinks you’re wonderful?”
“You do?”
“Yeah, baby, I do,” he admitted.
Amelia looked up. JC had never called her anything but Amelia!
“Yeah, you’re my baby,” he told her softly, touching her cheek lingering. There he’d done it – he’d admitted it – and it felt great.
“I can’t be. You’re seeing—“
He shook his head. “No, I’m not. That ended completely the day you kissed me.”
“I’m sorry. I—“
“I’m not. I couldn’t get that kiss out of my head. How good you tasted—“
“I was only teasing.”
“Liar. We both wanted it. You were just braver than I was.”
“But, Josh—“ She had slipped. ‘Josh’ was what she called him in her head.
“It’s okay. I like the idea I’m Josh to you.”
“You do?”
“Mmm-hmm. Know what I call you?”
He had given her a nickname? “How bad is it?” she asked.
JC gave her a teasing smile. “Ami.”
“My daddy used to call me that.”
“Is it okay if I do?”
She nodded. What was she going to do now? Her sort of friend-slash-mentor was now saying he had romantic intentions. She’d never been very good at romance. Hadn’t Nick said her rules were too strict for any man to follow? That she was a boring girlfriend? “You’re the kind a girl a guy married when he’s done having fun,” Nick had told her once.
“It’s not a death sentence, Ami. I treat my girlfriends pretty good,” he told her to break the sudden silence.
“It’s not that.”
“Then what?”
“I—I’m not much fun to date.”
“I seriously doubt that. You just haven’t been with the right guy before.” He knew for a fact the last one had been all wrong for her. “And I wouldn’t hurt you for all the world, baby.” JC drew her close, allowing her to rest against him. “You aren’t battling alone anymore, Ami. You’ve got me to depend on.”
“That’s hard for me.”
“You’ll get used to it.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t.”
“Trust me, baby.”
“I—I don’t trust easily.”
“Then we got some work to do.”
“I’ve been told I’m high-maintenance.”
“You aren’t scaring me off,” he assured her. He tipped her chin up with a finger. “Can I kiss you, Ami? A real kiss?”
“I think I’d like that, Josh.”
JC took it slow, brushing her mouth with his until she reached for a more complete kiss. Still, he kept it soft and sweet. When her hand went to the back of his head to urge him closer, only then did he seek entrance. His tongue teased the seam of her lips until she parted them. Caressing inside her mouth, he stroked her tongue with his. He tasted the little sigh of pleasure coming up from her throat as she melted into his arms. Finally, he raised his head, leaning to rest his forehead against hers.
“Baby, you are so sweet. I knew you would be.”
“I—I didn’t know a kiss could be like that,” she confessed with wide eyes.
“’Cuz you never kissed the right man.”
Pulling her head back a little, she met his hot, blue eyes. “And you’re the right man?”
“You know I am, Ami.”
“This really isn’t a good time for this.”
“’This’ is falling in love – and it’s never scheduled.”
Was he saying he was falling in love with her?
Reading her mind, he told her, “I’m already there. I just have to wait for you to catch up.”
“Why?”
“Why am I in love with you? I got a million reasons for that. Or why do you have to catch up? It’s hard to be in love by yourself and it’s no fun alone.”
Amelia stared up at him. This was the last thing she had expected – and more than she’d dare hope! “Won’t this make things awkward for us, traveling on tour together?”
“Why? We aren’t sleeping together – and even if we were, we could be cool about it.”
At her furious blush, he assured her, “I know we aren’t even near that far, Ami.”
“How will the others feel?”
“Chris knew it before I did. Justin’s been after me to tell you. Joey won’t care. Lance has a crush on you, but he’ll get over it once he sees how happy we make each other.”
Amelia’s dark eyes went wide. “I make you happy?”
“I’m miserable when I don’t see you for days. Yeah, you make me happy. I hope I can make you feel that way, too.”
“You do,” she confessed. Hesitantly, she placed a hand on his cheek, “This isn’t going to be easy. Rumors will fly.”
JC turned his head to press his lips against her palm. “We’ll decide how to handle them together. I don’t want my loving you to interfere with the career moves you’ll have to make.”
“If anything happens for me, they’ll say it was all you.”
“I’ll do anything I can to help, but your talent will stand alone.”
He’d given her a lot to think about. This was not what she had expected when she had come over here tonight. “I’d better go.”
JC nodded. The last thing he wanted was to let her leave. “I want to re-do that demo before you give it to Johnny to shop it around.”
“When will we have time?”
“After rehearsals, I guess. Maybe we can get a track done a night.”
“That’s a lot extra for you to do.”
“I’m willing to help you, baby.”
“Would you be so willing if I wasn’t someone you cared about?”
“My being in love with you has nothing to do with your tremendous talent, Ami.”
Looping an arm around her waist, he led her to the foyer. “Will you be okay going home at this hour?”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Call me when you get home.”
“Josh! I’m a big girl.”
“No, you’re a little girl,” he taunted softly. “Just humor me, okay? Just call.”
“Okay.” His voice being the last thing she heard before she went to sleep would be nice.
After walking her out to her car, his hands went to her waist to draw her close. “Sweet dreams, Ami.” JC didn’t hesitate to deepen the kiss quickly. Amelia’s response was open and eager. Her arms went around his neck to pull him down, so she could participate fully.
“Good-night, Ami.” His voice was husky with unspent passion. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I’ll call,” she whispered. “Good-night.”
He opened her car door, then made one last-ditch effort to get her to stay. “You could stay. I’ve got plenty of room.”
“I don’t have any clothes here, but thanks for the offer.”
Amelia got into her car. When she started the engine, he stepped back. Why was it so damned hard to let her drive away?
Things had changed between Amelia and JC. Everyone knew it the very next morning. It wasn’t the same as when they had declared a truce and became friends. JC couldn’t keep his eyes off her. If Amelia left the room, he craned his neck to see where she had gone – and was restless until she returned.
“Put a freakin’ leash on her already!” Justin suggested.
“What’re you talking about?” JC asked.
“Amelia. You don’t want her out of your sight.”
JC shrugged. What could he say? That he felt a sort of panic when he didn’t know where she’d gone? That he had sort of a caveman mentality about her since he knew she wanted him, too?
“So, you finally got to really kiss her, huh?”
JC said nothing but couldn’t prevent a small smile.
“You did!” Justin crowed with glee. “That good?”
“Better.”
“Poor Lance. He didn’t stand a chance.”
“He could’ve tried harder.”
“I don’t see how. He was trying his damnedest. Amelia is nice to him and all, but you two…You disliked each other so much, it had to be love.” Justin became serious. “What about what Carter did to her? How’re you gonna deal with that?”
“Go very slowly. She’s skittish. There’s no denying that—“ JC stopped when the subject of their discussion walked towards them. He smiled at her and received a shy smile in return. Once she was within arms length, he took her hand and pulled her close. “Hey, baby.” When her eyes skidded to Justin, JC said, “He knows. They all know.”
“You can’t miss the way, ‘C looks at you, Amelia. And we’re cool with it.”
She ducked her head against JC’s shoulder, effectively hiding her face. “Everybody knows?” she squeaked.
“Oh, there might be someone around here who hasn’t figured it out. The groundskeeper maybe,” Justin kidded her.
JC tossed Justin an irritate glance, then nuzzled the top of Amelia’s head. “You can’t hide there forever,” he teased gently. “I’ve got no complaints, mind you, but people’d get real suspicious then.” He stroked her back soothingly. I want the whole world to know you're my girl."
Amelia raised her head, gazing up wonderingly. “You do?”
No one had heard of her relationship with Carter, so obviously he hadn’t wanted it to be common knowledge outside the BSB camp. That had probably done some major damage to her feminine ego.
“Are you kidding, girl?” Justin demanded. “A girl so fine? If you were mine, I’d take out a PSA!”
JC laughed. “That might be over-kill.” Looking down into large, dark eyes, he murmured, “You’re mine, Amelia. I’m not going to pretend you aren’t. I’m not even gonna try to hide the fact I’m crazy for you.”
“Okay,” she whispered, then gave him a big, bright smile. The kind he adored. She was like sunshine when she did that.
“C’mon! Let’s get going!” Wade yelled.
Surprising JC, Amelia reached up and pressed a quick kiss on his mouth. “Tonight, right?”
“It’s a date.” He watched as she joined the other dancers.
“You aren’t wasting any time, are you?” Justin taunted.
“I’m helping her re-do her demo. The girl can dance, she can sing – and she writes soulful songs. I’m beginning to think she’s too damn good for anybody. She really shouldn’t be wasting her time doing back-up for us.”
“You know the story about the butterfly? A man saw it struggling to get out of the cocoon, so he tore the cocoon away. The butterfly could never fly, because it takes time and struggle to develop the wings. I think our baby girl needs us for a while until she’s ready to fly.”
And when Amelia was ready to fly, would she still feel the need for JC?