“Damn!” JC muttered as Abbie waved shyly at him when he and Lance tried to get through the airport. She’d never make it through the crowd or security. What was she doing here? He said he’d see her later. She was just too little – they’d trample her!

“What?” Lance asked. Seeing JC frown, he followed his gaze. “Abbie,” he surmised when he saw the petite brunet.

“Yeah – and it looks like she needs a rescue.” Glancing back at Lonnie, JC said, “This way.” When they drew closer, he indicated the girl in the pretty summer dress should be allowed to join them.

Abbie blinked as the large security man gently took her arm and guided her through the throng of people. Eventually, she was taken to JC’s side.

“Why in the hell did you come out here?” JC barked at her. “You could be knocked down and—“

A big fat tear slid down Abbie’s cheek.

“Never mind JC,” Lance told her as he put his arm around the girl. “He gets cranky when he gets the crap scared outa him.”

“I only wanted to say ‘hi’,” Abbie mumbled as she buried her tearful face against Lance’s shoulder.

“Hi! I’m Lance and you must be Abbie.”

Lifting her eyes to his, she gave him a timid smile. “I must be.”

Lance commandeered Abbie as the entourage moved forward once more. Glancing back at the stunned JC, he cocked an eyebrow. “You comin’?”

“Uh…yeah…Hell yeah!” JC moved beside Abbie.

“Uh-uh.” Lance refused to relinquish the girl. “You have some apologizing to do or Abbie comes with me.”

“Man, I—“

“Say you’re sorry for snapping at her,” Lance commanded, “or your girlfriend is gonna be my date tomorrow night.” He grinned down at Abbie. Yeah, she was the type he could see JC falling for – actually, she was an improvement over his usual fare. Since when did JC go for the sweet, innocent-looking type?

“Since when are you the boss of me, Bass boy?” JC demanded.

The eloquent arch of a blonde brow and the flash of jade eyes told JC exactly who was in charge at the moment.

JC took Abbie’s hand. “I’m sorry, baby. Lance is right. When I saw you in the crowd, I freaked. I could see someone hurting you.” He shrugged. “My only excuse is being afraid for you.”

Abbie kissed Lance’s cheek. “Thank you, Mr. Bass.”

“You’re welcome, Miss Abbie. If he gives you anymore trouble, give me a call.” Lance liked JC’s girlfriend. She seemed polite and adoring.

JC’s arm went around Abbie’s slender waist as he pulled her to his side. Oh, God! Her feel. Her scent. The heat of her body. All the reasons he desired her came back full-force. Despite telling himself he could live without her, he still wanted her – badly!

JC didn’t even bother bringing his luggage into the house when he arrived. He lifted Abbie into his arms and carried her upstairs to his bedroom.

“God, baby, I forgot how much I love you while I was gone,” he muttered as he lay her on the bed. His clothes went flying as he stripped completely.

“That’s not very complimentary. First you yell at me, then you dump me on the bed, saying you forgot you loved me while you get naked,” she reminded him.

He stretched out beside her. “Abbie, I’d have to forget or I’d make myself crazy when we aren’t together.” His deep blue eyes begged for understanding. “I kept telling myself I couldn’t possibly remember right, that you couldn’t be as sweet, soft and beautiful as I remembered.” His lips skated along her jaw. “Then seeing you in that crush…I nearly had a heart attack.” He traced the outline of her body with caressing hands. “Then I touch you.” Burying his nose in her hair, he inhaled the fragrance of her. “Then I smell you.” He took an all too brief kiss, making her lips follow to cling again. “And I taste you. It all comes back to me in a rush. You aren’t a figment of my imagination. You’re very real and so is my love.”

Abbie brought his mouth back to hers. Their tongues twisted around each other hungrily, fighting to fuse together. Finally, tearing apart, she was panting. “I guess I can understand that. I didn’t want to believe I could crave someone as much I crave you.” She had never thought being in love would be this wonderful, this desperate. “I’m sorry I teased you.”

He shook his head. “No, baby, you’ve got nothing to apologize for. You have been wonderful and attentive. I’ve been the ass.”

She reached down and ran her fingernails lightly up and down his butt cheeks, making him shiver with delight. “I happen to like this ass – a lot.”

JC chuckled. “And I adore yours. Let’s get it naked.” His hands reached beneath her dress and found the waistband of her panties. Stripping them down her legs, he tossed them to the floor with his clothes.

“Josh…” she called softly as he made to remove her dress.

Meeting her gaze, he smiled. “What?”

“I just had your comforter dry-cleaned from the last visit. Let’s not mess it up again. There are perfectly nice, washable sheets—“

“I get the picture.” Rolling off the bed to his feet, he reached back to help her stand. He whipped the comforter from the bed and tossed it into a corner chair, then yanked the light covers to the foot of the bed. New, fresh sheets greeted him. “Somebody went shopping,” he said of the sky blue sheets he had never seen before.

“I thought you might like them,” Abbie murmured.

“Baby, I’d sleep with you on gunny sacks as long as we could be together.”

“Not with me on the bottom!” she laughed. “I just spent a fortune on Egyptian cotton sheets with the highest thread-count known to man – You mean I could have gone to the dollar store?”

JC lifted her dress over her head to find her completely naked underneath. “Mmm…you were ready for me.”

“I didn’t know if you’d be able to make it all the way home…”

Making love to Abbie in front of Lance wouldn’t have been a good thing. Lance would be nice to Abbie, but JC was smart enough to realize it still hurt him to see his lover with someone else – and Lance couldn’t possibly know how much JC truly, madly, deeply loved Abbie. “I didn’t want to, believe me. But I don’t think Lance would have enjoyed the show. Now, you lay back on your expensive sheets and I’ll show you how much I missed you,” he told her huskily.

“Hello.”

“Mr. Bass? It’s Abbie Williams.”

“I know who you are. Hi, Abbie ” Lance stretched out on his big hotel bed and wondered why JC’s little cutie was calling him. “What can I do for you?”

“Well, it’s more what I hope I can do for you. Do you have any dinner plans?”

“Not really.”

“Would you like to join us?”

“Us?”

“Josh and I. Nothing fancy or anything. Steaks on the grill…”

Lance sat up, not quite believing what he was hearing. JC was inviting his male lover over to dinner with his LA girl? Was the man nuts?

“Um…this is my invitation…Sort of a ‘hello’ type thing.”

That explained it. JC couldn’t possibly be that stupid!

“Sure, Abbie. What time?”

“I’ll be firing up the grill about 6:30, but feel free to come over whenever you like. It must be terrible to travel so much and sleep in hotels. I don’t know why JC didn’t invite you to stay here. There’s plenty of room.”

Lance wanted to laugh. She was the reason he had been relegated to a hotel. She was taking his spot in the master bedroom! “That’s very sweet of you, Abbie. Thank you.”

“Oh, and bring your swimsuit. He has a pool.”

That statement was telling. Abbie was comfortable in JC’s house and she played the hostess, but she didn’t live there.”

“Would you like me to pick you up?”

“You?”

“Well, Josh is in his studio. He gets kind of single minded…”

“Yeah, that’s how he is. Sure, Abbie, thanks. How about an hour or so?”

“That’s wonderful! I’ll see you then – oh, and one more thing…”

“That would be?…”

“Is it all right if I call you Lance?”

He chuckled warmly. “Of course, call me Lance.”

“Oh…okay! See ya!”

Hanging up, Lance flopped back to the bed. The evening would be interesting – or a complete disaster.

Words like perky, sweet, and warm came to Lance’s mind as he watched Abbie set the patio table for dinner. He’d spent most of the afternoon and evening in her company while JC holed up in his studio. They had made a quick stop at a market for some last minute items for dinner, then proceeded to JC’s house. They chatted about the music and film industries – how they different and how they were alike. They talked about families and growing up in small towns. She thought it had to have been rough on JC and Justin growing up in front of the camera – and for Lance to be pulled from a sane home life at sixteen into the craziness that had become *NSYNC.

When they decided to take a swim, he was surprised at Abbie’s unremarkable tank suit – made for swimming, not for show. Was this girl for real? She wasn’t coy. She didn’t flirt. It was as almost everything about her was genuine. How could a girl making a living in Hollywood remain so untouched, not jaded?

“Lance, do you like sweet tea?” Abbie asked as they dried off.

“I’m a southern boy born and raised, Miss Abbie.”

She laughed. “I take that as an affirmative.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Would you like a glass?”

“Genuine, southern sweet tea?”

“Uh-huh."

"Lead the way!”

It was perfect. Just the way he liked it. “Abbie, if JC wasn’t so sweet on you, I’d propose,” Lance announced teasingly as he drank the beverage down, standing in JC’s kitchen. “How does a Yankee girl know how to make sweet tea?”

“I spent summers as a nanny in North Carolina, near the South Carolina border, when I was in high school and college. Mr. Tim liked his sweet tea, so his mama taught me how.”

Well, that explained her gracious manners -- that along with her small town Midwestern upbringing.

JC watched the two together. They didn’t look antagonistic. They appeared pleasant – even friendly. Maybe this wasn’t going to be the disaster after all. When Abbie had suggested it to him, he hadn’t known how to refuse her without tipping his hand. Lance was supposed to be his best friend and not wanting to invite your best friend to dinner would seem odd.

Abbie glanced up to see JC watching them. “Hello, Mr. Chasez. Decide to join the party?”

Walking over to them, he looped a casual arm around Abbie’s waist. “I though I’d better before Lance decided to steal you away.”

“It’s a thought.” Lance raised his glass. “I don’t get anything this good unless I’m home.”

“Sweet tea? Dude, that stuff is nasty.” JC wrinkled his nose.

“Different strokes, Mr. Chasez,” Abbie reminded him.

“Would you stop with the ‘Mr. Chasez’ shit? Lance is gonna think that’s what you call me in bed.”

Abbie turned crimson. “Josh!” she admonished.

Lance tossed an irritated glare in JC’s direction. That barb was meant to remind everyone whom JC was sleeping with that night – and he saw it upset Abbie. “Believe it or not, Mister Chasez, some people don’t like to broadcast their bedroom activities.” He took her hand and led her out to the patio door. “Let’s go for another swim.”

“I’m sorry, Lance,” Abbie murmured once outside. “I guess I—“

“What in the world are you apologizing for? JC is the one who stuck his foot in it again.”

“This is LA. I guess I shouldn’t be so sensitive, but…well, I don’t want you to think I sleep around. She looked into gentle jade eyes. “You’re Josh’s best friend and I don’t want you to think badly of me.”

Lance bent forward to kiss the tip of her nose. “I do like you, little Abbie. I think maybe you’re too good for JC.”

“He doesn’t treat me badly—“

“You don’t need to defend him to me, baby. I’ve known him a long time.”

“Lance?”

“Yeah?”

“I think you’re an awfully nice guy.”

Lance managed to keep his smile pleasant when he really wanted to grit his teeth. Abbie Williams was too nice to be caught in their triangle.

“Well?” Abbie bit her lip uncertainly. The two men just looked at her when she entered wearing her gown for the awards presentation she was attending with them. She realized she was no movie star, but she cleaned up nicely. Her upswept hair gave her a more polished appearance – and she thought the simple, black, strapless sheath looked okay…

“You look like goddess,” JC finally murmured in awe. This was his little Abbie, looking so gorgeous and sexy?

“One word says it all – WOW.” Lance grinned. “A woman like you deserves two dates.”

“The two most handsome men in the world.”

“Well, I don’t know about that…” JC shook his head.

“I do.” She reached up to kiss JC softly, then turned to kiss Lance. “Ready, gentlemen?”

“As ever,” JC sighed.

Lance had never enjoyed one of JC’s dates more. Abbie’s quiet chatter in the limousine relaxed everyone. She didn’t balk at being left off camera for the interviews on the red carpet; she waited patiently. When they talked to other performers, Abbie didn’t sulk if the guys neglected to introduce her.

The only time she seemed unsure of herself was during the after party. JC had gotten sloshed – and got a little free with his hands and mouth. The inappropriate displays of affection embarrassed her. Subtly, she had tried to dissuade him without making a scene. Exasperated, she lifted her helpless gaze to Lance.

Lance placed himself between JC and Abbie. The other man cast an irritated glare his way but said nothing. When the blonde man put his arm around the girl to comfort her, JC took exception.

“Quit pawing Abbie,” JC growled at Lance.

“No, pawing was what you were doing,” Lance announced evenly. “I have more respect for Abbie than that.”

“C’mere, baby,” JC commanded of Abbie.

“Uh-uh,” Lance ground out. “Don’t go power trippin’ on me, Chasez.”

“She’s my girl dammit,” JC hissed.

Lance ignored him as Abbie leaned against him. He realized after working all day, partying all night was tiring for her. “Wanna go home, baby?”

Her dark eyes rose to his gratefully. “Please?”

“C’mon then.”

JC frowned when Lance moved away with Abbie on his arm. “Where in the hell do you think you’re goin’?”

“Abbie’s tired. I’m gonna put her in a cab so she can go home,” Lance answered as he kept moving. “And I do mean her home.”

“But…” JC stopped when he saw the hurt in Abbie’s eyes as she silently watched the two men. He’d planned to take those pins from her hair one by one and let her silky hair fall over her shoulders. And that sexy dress…he was going to remove it slowly until she begged for him to come to her… “I’m so sorry, babe…”

Released from Lance’s protection, Abbie allowed herself to be pressed against JC. “The limo can take you home and come back for us.”

“You could come too?”

JC shook his head. “No. Lance is right. You do deserve better than what I’d give you tonight.” His blue eyes were turbulent. He had so little time to actually be with Abbie…How he could have possibly screwed up this royally? That sobered him like a pot of strong, black coffee.

“I think it would be a good idea if we all left,” Lance suggested solemnly.

Me, too,” JC agreed.

They stopped at Lance’s hotel first.

“Come with me a sec,” Lance said to Abbie as he climbed out of the limousine, pulling her along. Once on the sidewalk, he cupped her face in gentle hands. He looked into her dark eyes. She was so innocent and so adoring…Damn JC for complicating her life! “Abbie, if you do go with JC tonight…Well, you know where to call me.”

“He wouldn’t hurt me, Lance. Surely you know that.”

“Just take care of yourself and call if you need me. I don’t care what the hell time it is.”

“I won’t need to, but thank you for caring?” She gave him a big, grateful smile and a soft kiss. “I really like you a lot, Mr. Bass.” Once back in the car, Abbie settled on the seat across from JC.

“Did you give the driver your address?” JC asked as he stared at the beautiful picture she made in the dim glow of streetlights. How he could he have been so stupid as to get wasted and embarrass her?

“No.”

“Abbie—“

“If you don’t want me sleeping with you—“

“Hell! Of course, I want you with me, baby!” JC sighed unhappily. “I’ll make a pot of coffee when we get home.”

She said nothing and looked out the window.

“You're my angel, Abbie,” he said quietly. “I love the hell out of you. When I do this stupid shit to hurt you…Well, I don’t know…Maybe it’s because…” He shook his head. “I don’t honestly know why.”

“Would you like me to sit over there?”

“Oh, yeah. I’d like.”

She moved to his seat only to have him tip her chin up with a gentle finger.

“I love you,” he whispered before he brushed a soft, brief kiss on her lips. “I need you.” Kiss. “You are my beautiful…” Kiss “Sweet…” Kiss “Sexy…” “Baby girl.” This kiss was longer and more seductive than the others.

Abbie whimpered and pressed closer. Her tongue slipped between his lips and he opened for her, stroking it with his own. A moan escaped her when he captured it between his teeth and sucked gently. She clutched at his shirtfront to steady her wildly spinning world.

JC slanted his mouth over hers, thrusting his tongue into her mouth. Hungrily, he tasted every crevice and corner. He pulled her tighter against him, forcing her head back to receive his ravishment. He lowered the zipper at the back of her dress, so he could pull the bodice down to bare her breasts. His hands cupped them tenderly as his lips slashed across her cheek to her ear. “When I get you home, I’m gonna remove all the pins from your hair, one by one,” he growled seductively in her ear, then traced the shell with his tongue. “Then I’m gonna peel that hot little dress off this sweet, sexy body of yours.” He tugged at the vulnerable lobe with his teeth. “I’m gonna take off my pants and I want you to ride me, baby. You do that so good,” he purred.

Abbie was helplessly and thoroughly seduced. Whatever JC wanted, she was willing to do for him. “Oh, Josh…”

“You’ll like that, won’t you, baby?”

“Oh, yes!”

He closed his mouth over the delicate skin of her throat and sucked – hard. Pleasure and pain mixed in the aggressive touch, then he licked it soothingly.

“Josh!”

The car came to a stop and JC hurriedly zipped Abbie’s dress – but she was only keeping it on until the door of his house was closed between them and the rest of the world.

Abbie slipped carefully from JC’s arms as he slept and went to the master bath. In the huge vanity mirrors she saw a tousled, satisfied woman with slightly swollen lips and horribly mussed hair. JC had been true to his word. It had all happened just the way he had described – except more! They had been insatiable, knowing they had only this one night together before he returned to the tour. They had taken turns making the other insane with desire – then satisfied both of them.

She put her hand to her throat – JC had left his mark. A well-defined purplish ring marred her pale flesh. Her first hickey, she mused.

“Ah, damn, baby! I’m sorry.” JC stood behind Abbie, seeing what his impatient hunger had done.

“I…it’s okay, Josh.”

“I hurt you.” He bent his head to soothe the bruised flesh with his tongue until she trembled. “I want to make it up to you. Name it – it’s yours.”

“Josh—“

“A new car? A house? Diamonds? Anything you want, baby.”

“Josh!”

“Please, Abbie. Let me make it up to you.”

“You don’t need to buy my forgiveness. I forgive you.”

“Wrong answer.” He licked her ear. “Tell me, sweetness. I need to know.”

“Well,,,”

“Don’t be shy with JC, baby,” he coaxed.

“I would like to go with you,” she stated softly.

“With me?”

“On tour. Only for a few days. I—“

“That’s it? That’s all you want?” He was incredulous.

“I am certain other guys don’t have to pay when they give their girlfriends hickeys,” she giggled.

“But, Abbie, I’ve asked you to come with me before.”

“I can do it right now. We have nothing in immediate production. Money’ll be a little tight---“

“Give up your apartment.”

“What?”

“Move in here.”

“Don’t be silly—“

“I’m not being silly. I don’t live here all the time, so it’d be nice to have someone in residence. And when I am here – I want you here anyway.”

It made an odd sort of sense…

“Just think about it. You have the keys and the security codes – and the security company knows you have clearance. Move in at your leisure.”

“Josh—“

“So…when are you coming with me?”

“Could I come now?”

“Now?” He grinned. “I can call the guys, but I don’t see a problem.” JC turned her into his arms and hugged her warmly, happily. Not only had she not asked for anything, she was giving him something as well!