Nick had reserved a room for Allyson on the same floor as the guys, much to her amusement. When she told him she would be in Los Angeles for a math symposium while he was there, he had whooped loudly on the phone and told her he had been missing her. Chuckling, she told him the same thing and allowed him to reserve a room for her. She gave her credit card number, but he just laughed and told her they had the whole floor and there were plenty of rooms to spare. Sighing, she told him she was going to buy him dinner while she was there, which he agreed to.
Now, she felt nervous as the elevator rose to their floor. The car stopped and dinged to indicate they had arrived. The doors opened to reveal Leary standing guard.
“Ladies.”
“Hi, Leary.” Serenity smiled at him before heading down the hall. Knocking on a door, she waited for it open.
Leary and Allyson watched as she was quickly pulled into the room, chuckling at the sight.
“I’m glad you’re here, Allyson.” The bodyguard helped her with her luggage.
“What’s wrong?” She slid the card into the lock and waited for the signal to open the door.
They got her luggage into the room, and she dropped onto the bed with a sigh. Leary gave her a half smile as he remained in the doorway to watch the hall.
“Apparently Nick had a run-in with his mother last night. I wasn’t there, but Ramos told me she pretty much cut him off.”
Sitting up, she sighed again. “Where is he?”
“In his room, 3220.”
She nodded and stood up, taking off her blazer. Tucking her key into the back pocket of her jeans, she walked down the hall towards Nick’s room. Raising her hand, she knocked softly on the door. It opened, and Nick stared at her.
Seeing the sorrow in his eyes made her heart ache, and Allyson reached out to wrap him in a hug. He pulled her close, breathing in the scent of her shampoo as he buried his face in her hair. They stood in the entryway of his room for several minutes before he finally eased his grip and led her inside.
They sat down on the sofa, and she took both of his hands in hers. “Are you okay?”
He sighed and closed his eyes before he answered. “I’m getting there. I’m not sure if it would have been better if there’d been this huge fight or not. After all the yelling and screaming and throwing and breaking I’ve done over the past few months, the end was kind of anti-climactic. I hugged Aaron, told him I’d be there for him whenever he needed, and then I walked away. She never said a word.”
By the time he finished, Allyson had her arms wrapped around him. The conversations they had, or didn’t have, about his family had given her a good picture of what his life had been like. Every time she learned something new, she felt herself fall a little more in love with the man who had come through so much to be such a success. He continued to talk, and she continued to listen, knowing that he didn’t really need her to say anything. The important thing was that she loved him anyway.
Allyson climbed up on the bed, maneuvering some pillows so that she was propped up then opened her arms to him. Smiling, Nick climbed up onto the bed and settled against her, nestled between her thighs and resting his head on her chest. Sighing contentedly, he let his body relax. She brushed her hands over his head and down his back, then coming back up the same route in a slow, easy manner.
“I’m glad you’re here.” He breathed the words softly.
“Me, too.” She continued her stroking, feeling the effects as his body rested more and more heavily on hers. The two of them fell asleep.
Meredith knocked lightly on the door and didn’t get an answer. Pulling out the master key, she opened the door and walked inside to peer around the corner. Seeing the two blond heads curled up next to each other on a pillow made her smile. As she watched them for another moment, she felt a little catch in her heart. Turning around, she walked out and left them alone, nodding at Leary before walking back to her room.
Standing in front of the dresser, she looked in the mirror as she pulled her hair up and pinned it out of her face. As she stared at her reflection, she suddenly realized that she had the same look in her eyes that her mother had when she had actually left home to be on her own. Sitting down on the bed, she tapped her mouth with her fingers as she realized she was going through a version of empty nest syndrome. The realization made her chuckle, and she shook her head as she stood up and finished getting ready for dinner that night.
Merry, girlfriend, you’ve got it so bad for these boys. That thought made her laugh.
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Brian called Nick, waking up the couple from their nap. He told them they were going out to dinner and to get ready for some fun. Nick hung up the phone and turned to look at Allyson, who was rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
Leaning over, he kissed her softly. “Thank you.”
Smiling back at him, she stroked his cheek with the back of her fingers. “My pleasure.”
“Now, go get ready for dinner. I don’t know what we’re doing afterwards, but dress for fun.”
She nodded and got off the bed, heading for the door. Stopping, she turned to look at him. “It’ll be okay.”
He nodded at her. “I know.”
Thirty minutes later, he stopped by her room to get her. When she opened the door, his eyes widened in appreciation.
“You look stunning.”
“Thank you. You look exceptionally handsome yourself.” Allyson grabbed her purse and slipped her hand into his as they walked down the hall towards the living room of one of the suites they had commandeered for their stay. When they walked in, she was glad she had chosen something a little flashy. The cream chemise clung to her body, while the pale green chiffon overdress swirled around her legs. Nick’s black suit and green t-shirt were a nice contrast.
Serenity was wearing black leather pants and a blue sequined tank top, complimenting Brian’s black leather pants and black t-shirt. Irene was dressed in a white, cashmere sweater set and white slacks. Kevin was wearing a green sweater and black slacks. Howie was wearing brown slacks and a long-sleeved suede shirt. Lumien, still a little nervous about being with Howie in a more personal setting, was wearing simple black slacks and a teal silk blouse over a sparkly black tank top on loan from Irene.
AJ was on the phone making arrangements for the limos to be brought around. When he turned around, he almost dropped the receiver. Meredith had walked into the room, smoothing the material of her dress. She had put on her version of the little black dress, wanting to appear more dressy than usual. The sweetheart neckline accentuated the swell of her breasts created by the push-up bra she was wearing. It was sleeveless and ended in the middle of her thighs. His eyes followed the long line of smooth flesh down to her ankle to see the ever-present anklet. He grinned when he saw the three-inch stilettos.
“Whoa.” Kevin looked at Meredith, and Irene chuckled.
He heard her and looked down, kissing her quickly. “Sorry, baby.”
“She does look hot, doesn’t she?” She patted his chest.
“Great. Now I really feel like a member of the Lollipop Guild.” Lumien shook her head as she looked around the room.
“Does this mean I get to lick you later?” The soft voice whispering in her ear made her close her eyes and shudder.
Turning her head, she looked up at Howie and slowly licked her lips, surprising herself with her boldness. He groaned softly as he stared at her wet mouth. Leaning closer, he was about to kiss her when she stepped back just out of reach. Smiling, she wagged her finger at him. Sighing, he let his shoulders slump and his lips form a pout.
“Everyone ready?” Meredith’s voice broke their stare, and they turned back to face the group.
“Limos will be downstairs in a few minutes.” AJ slipped up to his girlfriend and let his hand trail down her back to rest on her ass.
He moved close and whispered in her ear. “May I say that you look absolutely breathtaking and if we didn’t have everyone waiting, I would drag you back into the bedroom and make love to you until you lost all sense?”
Turning to stare at him, she smiled wickedly. “May I say that you’d better be prepared to live up to that when we get back?”
“Count on it.” He winked at her.
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The others watched as Howie stalked off the elevator, slowly followed by Lumien. The bodyguard had started to withdraw during the evening, shifting into protection mode as more and more people approached. He tried to pull her closer, but she resisted. By the end of the evening, he was in a foul mood.
Opening the door, he didn’t even bother to hold it for her. “What was that all about?”
Turning, he stood there with his hands on his hips and watched as she closed the door behind her.
“That was me doing my job.” She adopted his stance, staring back at him.
“I wanted to take my girlfriend out to dinner and dancing, not have some bodyguard hovering over me.”
Although her heart quickened at the thought of being his girlfriend, she sighed. “I was hired to protect you, Howie. I have to try and keep things somewhat separate.”
“How can you compartmentalize us?” Howie stalked to the window and threw open the curtains.
Lumien stepped up behind him, gently laying her hand on his back. She slid her palm up over the suede, feeling the muscles bunch at her touch.
“If I don’t, then I’ll get sloppy. If I get sloppy, something could happen to you. And I will *never* let that happen.”
He heard the determination in her voice, the undercurrent of love wrapping around the words to give them a strength he could almost feel. Turning, he wrapped his arms around her.
“I know you won’t. I just want to be able to hold your hand and walk with you and kiss you and…”
She pressed a finger to his lips. “You can, just not when we’re on duty.”
He thought about her words for a moment then smiled. She had said “we”, and that made his heart jump.
“Okay.”
“Look. We’ve got to figure this out. I don’t want to hurt you. I like being with you, and I’d like to be able to hold your hand, too. It’s just…it’s just a little hard for me right now to mesh it together, and I need to figure out how to overlap my lives.”
“Maybe you could talk to Meredith. She seems to have it figured out pretty well.” He tentatively reached out to hold her, sighing as she stepped into his embrace.
“You’ll notice that AJ doesn’t try to do anything when we’re working, either.” Closing her eyes, she breathed in the spicy scent of his cologne.
“I know, and I’m sorry. Now that I’ve got you, I want to be able to do things with Lumien the girlfriend, not Lumien the bodyguard.”
Looking up into his eyes, she reached out and touched his cheek. “It’s gonna take some work, and I don’t just mean the whole bodyguard thing. I need to go slow, Howie. I’ve never been with someone who treats me like you do, and I’m a little scared.”
He nodded and held her close again, swaying his body a little.
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The next day, it was back to work as usual. The five men headed for rehearsal, Allyson headed for her symposium, and Irene and Serenity went shopping. When the group got together that evening for dinner, Irene gave Brian a curious glance and a smile before turning back to her conversation with Nick.
Kevin popped Black & Blue into the stereo and let it play softly so they could talk about the order of songs that would be sung on the tour. By the time the twelfth song rolled around, they had made their decision and just sat back to talk.
“I hate that line.” Meredith leaned back against AJ as the group listened to the CD.
“What line?”
“Whatever happened, I know that I was wrong.” She sat up and looked around the room. “I mean, how do you know you’re wrong if you don’t know what happened? Maybe she’s PMSing, maybe she screwed up and she’s feeling guilty and taking it out on you. I just hate that blanket apology.”
“I’m sorry.”
Meredith threw a pillow at Brian as he laughed. “Bite me, B-Rok.”
Serenity walked in and sat down in front of Brian, handing him a brush. He took it and began to pull the brush through the long strands as he talked to Nick. Brian smiled as he heard the low growl in her throat, and she tipped her head back. He varied the strokes, some firm as they brushed against her scalp; some soft as they drifted through the silkiness of her hair.
Serenity braced herself on her hands, leaning against his legs as he continued to brush her hair. Her eyes closed, and she sighed. The door to the living room opened, and Allyson practically floated in.
“Hey.” Nick stood up and smiled at her, and she threw her arms around him, kissing him soundly.
“Good day?” He was slightly dazed from the kiss.
She stood in the middle of the room and threw up her arms, posing in victory. “I so rock!”
“Guess that’s a yes.” He chuckled.
Allyson looked around the room. “It was an awesome day. I presented my paper on The Elements, and I got lots of good questions, which I answered brilliantly, I might add.”
Sighing happily, she dropped onto the sofa and pulled Nick down beside her.
“Huh?” AJ just looked at Allyson.
Nick looked over at his friend. “It’s a book written by Euclid about the five postulates that were the basis for all of his theorems.”
AJ looked over at Howie, who just grinned and shrugged. The younger man just nodded politely. “Ooookay, whatever you say, Nick.”
Kevin leaned back against Irene, playing with the hands she rested on his chest. He looked around the room and sighed contentedly. His life was going so well—he had a job he loved, friends who supported, family who believed, and the love of one incredible woman. He sighed again.
“You okay, baby?” Irene whispered in his ear.
He nodded. “Yeah, just appreciating all the wonderful things in my life.”
“That’s always a good thing.” She squeezed him a little tighter and went back to daydreaming.
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JANUARY
AJ rolled over and stretched, letting his body just rest in the sunshine that streamed through the windows. The door creaked open, and Meredith walked in with a breakfast tray laden with toast, fresh fruit, orange juice, and coffee. A red rose lay next to the plate, and she quietly sang “Happy Birthday” as she walked towards him. The dogs followed close behind.
Smiling, he sat up and moved the pillows around so he could be comfortable. After setting the tray over his lap, she climbed up on the bed with him, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth.
“Happy birthday, mine.”
“Thank you, love.”
She settled down next to him as he dug into the breakfast she had prepared. When he finished, they cuddled together as the dogs lounged on the floor next to the bed. The phone rang, and AJ leaned over to pick it up.
“Hello?”
[Happy birthday, Alex.]
“Thanks, Mom. So, what’d you get me?” He nestled in the pillows, playing with Meredith’s fingers.
[What makes you think I got you anything?] Even Meredith could hear Denise’s laughter.
AJ rolled his eyes. “C’mon, Mom.”
[You’ll get it later. I just wanted to call you and wish you a happy birthday before dinner tonight.]
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
[I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing.]
“Eeuuwww, Mom. Stop.” He shuddered at the direction his mother was taking.
[I love you, baby. Give my love to Meredith. I’ll see you tonight. Bye, Alex.]
“Love you, too. Bye, Mom.” He hung up the phone and wrapped his free arm around Meredith. “Mom sends her love.”
She smiled at the sentiment.
“So, what did *you* get me for my birthday?”
“Besides me?” She gently bit his jaw as he chuckled.
“Best present I ever got.”
“I know what you mean.”
They were nestled together in the big bed, just enjoying the peace and quiet. The alarm clock finally went off, and Meredith reached over to turn it off.
“Is there anything special you want to do today?”
He stretched out on the bed then tucked his hands beneath his head. “We’ve got the day free?”
“Until the party tonight, yeah.” She rested her head on his bicep, looking into his face.
“I want to go shopping, have some lunch, come back here and make love to you before the party tonight, go to the party, then come back and make love to you all over again.”
Meredith chuckled, turning her head to nip his skin. “I think that can be arranged.”
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True to her word, they went shopping and had lunch at a small bistro in downtown Orlando. When they got home, they didn’t even make it out of the living room before AJ was pulling Meredith down onto the sofa and running his hands all over her body. They managed to move clothing out of the way enough for her to straddle him and sink down onto his cock.
Fast, slow, morning, night—it didn’t matter to AJ when they made love. Every time, his heart and mind and body were overwhelmed by her. He loved the way her skin felt as he moved against her, the sounds she made when he touched her. He loved the fact it felt new every time, and he cherished that feeling. She was *indeed* the best present he had ever received. The swift rush of his orgasm took him by surprise as she arched against him.
Smoothing the curls from her face, AJ looked in Meredith’s eyes and smiled. “I love you.”
She grinned back, brushing her fingers across his cheek. “I love you, too.”
Sated for the moment, they pulled off the rest of their clothes and lounged on the sofa, a tangle of arms and legs.
“What time do we have to be at Tabu?” AJ licked the valley between her breasts.
“Around eight. Everyone should be there by then.” Shifting, she lifted her leg and stroked her calf along his thigh before wrapping it over his hip.
“Then we still have plenty of time.” He smiled at her before sliding a little farther up her body to press against her.
“I think we’ll always have plenty of time for that.” She tilted her hips and felt him slide inside with one smooth stroke.
AJ buried his hands in her hair, holding on to her and kissing her as he buried himself in her body. Meredith gasped against his mouth as he took her, his movements hard and deep as they made love.
She felt the muscles under her hands as they moved along his body, and she felt the heat of his skin as he moved between her thighs. She never got enough of him, never tired of being with him even when they were just being. Meredith gasped again as he played with her, bringing her to another orgasm as he strained towards his own.
Afterplay was as much fun as foreplay to AJ, and they touched and kissed and lazed on the sofa. So caught up in each other, they didn’t hear the door open or the footsteps in the hall until they heard the voices.
AJ popped up over the back of the sofa. “Stop.”
Kevin and Irene stopped at the threshold, looking at AJ. Meredith slowly rose, making sure she stayed low enough not to flash anyone. Kevin blushed softly, and Irene quirked an eyebrow at her sister.
“We’ll wait in the kitchen.” Kevin grabbed his girlfriend’s hand and turned away.
“No one else is coming, are they?” AJ stared at his friends as he leaned against the sofa back.
“No. We just wanted to give you your present early so that you didn’t have to worry about it this evening.” Irene smiled before they disappeared back into the hall.
AJ looked down at Meredith, who was lying back down on the sofa and chuckling.
“This isn’t funny.”
“Yes, it is.” She winked at him before reaching out to grab her underwear.
Standing, she slipped on her panties and then pulled on her bra. He stopped to watch her, and she smiled at him, knowing that he loved watching her dress almost as much as watching her undress. They finished putting on their clothes, making sure everything was buttoned and zipped.
“I swear. I’m changing the security code and the locks, and I’m not giving out keys or codes to anyone.” He released a frustrated sigh as they headed for the kitchen.
Meredith stopped in the hallway and grabbed a box, ignoring AJ’s attempts to take it from her. She set it down on the table before grabbing some tea. Kevin and Irene tried to look apologetic, but their smiles weakened the effect. Sitting down herself, she pushed the box towards him.
“Happy birthday.”
AJ winked at her then looked at the other couple. “I want to open yours first.”
Kevin handed the box over and waited while his friend opened it. AJ carefully unwrapped the tissue paper to find a photograph of himself and Meredith as they danced at the record company party after their return from Sierra Ramon. The next photograph was taken some place while they had been on the promo tour, the couple lounging together on a sofa. The last photograph was just Meredith, standing on the deck of Nick’s house. The sun was setting, and the breeze was blowing her curls away from her face.
He looked at each photograph, stroking the glass as he remembered. Smiling he looked up at his friends. “Thank you.”
Irene smiled, leaning over to kiss him. He continued to look at the pictures until Kevin nudged him and nodded towards Meredith’s gift. Reaching out, he pulled the box towards himself and carefully opened it. Pulling the books out, his eyes opened wide as he flipped open the cover. Staring at her, he was speechless.
Irene looked at him. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him speechless before. What is it?”
“First or signed editions from Dylan Thomas, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Maya Angelou, and C.S. Lewis.” AJ lovingly stroked the pages as he opened the book of Dylan Thomas poetry.
And death shall have no dominion.
Dead men naked they shall be one
With the man in the wind and the west moon;
When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.
Standing, he walked over to Meredith and wrapped his arms around her. “Thank you, love.”
“You’re so very welcome, mine.” She kissed him softly, brushing her thumb across his lips when they parted.
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Tabu was closed to the public that night as the guys threw a party to rival all other parties. People danced and laughed and drank and ate until the wee hours of the morning. A huge French vanilla cake was brought out, with 23 candles lighting the surface. Pulling Meredith to his side, AJ blew them out to the cheers of the partygoers. The table of presents was stacked high, and he smiled at her when he saw it.
“Guess you were right about bringing the Expedition.”
Meredith just smiled and kissed him before heading off to the dance floor with Brian while he took his mother out onto the floor.
By the time they made it home, AJ wanted nothing more than to fall into bed and sleep through the next day. Meredith climbed into bed with him, cuddling up behind him.
“Thank you for an incredible birthday.”
She nuzzled the back of his neck. “You’re welcome. I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Moments later, they were both asleep.
Table of Contents
Chapter Thirty-Three