~A Month and A Half Later~
Ashley felt as if a deep crimson blush were permanently attached to her cheeks. Laurel had thrown her a bridal shower at the beach house and it seemed as if all of her friends from high school and nursing school had banned together in an effort to buy the most sexually embarrassing presents that they could find. She folded a black lace teddy and placed it and the box it came in behind her as another present was passed along to be opened.
“Wait ‘til you open this one, Ash. It’ll really knock Preston’s socks off,” her friend Megan called from across the room.
Ashley tore the wrapping paper off and opened the box. Quickly shutting it, as the blush rose to her cheeks again, she joked, “Did you guys check the gift registry? I don’t remember putting crotch less panties anywhere on the list.”
Just then, Ashley’s doorbell rang. She began to stand up to answer it, but Laurel motioned for her to stay seated.
“I’ll get it. I wonder who that could be,” Laurel winked as she walked past the other girls.
She swung open the door expecting to find the male stripper that they had hired, but got an even bigger surprise. “You’re not a stripper,” she hissed quietly.
Ashley rose from the couch when she heard a familiar voice resoundingly call, “No, I’m not!”
She made her way through the wrapping paper and to the front door. Her heart almost stopped when she saw Nick standing on the threshold. Slowly, his mouth curved up in a half smile and that ever-present piece of stray blonde hair fell into his eyes. Their gazes locked and Ashley found herself instantly closing the distance between them and wrapping her arms around him. She breathed in his clean scent and felt her whole body warm as his arms encircled her waist tightly.
“I missed you,” she breathed softly against his neck.
“I missed you, too,” Nick whispered into her hair and he really had. More than he had wanted to admit to anybody. He didn’t ever want to let go of her.
Much to Nick’s dismay, she pulled back slightly, “Your hair’s shorter.”
“So is yours,” Nick reached out and tugged on a piece of her hair that now softly grazed her shoulders.
They remained that way, taking in each other, as if making up for the three months that they had been apart, oblivious to the twenty women in the room with them.
Finally, Laurel cleared her throat, “Uh, Nick? We’re kind of in the middle of a bridal shower.”
Nick broke his eyes away from Ashley and glanced to his left to meet twenty pairs of inquisitive eyes, “Oh right. I guess that’s why there were so many cars out front.”
“Right. That would be why,” Laurel conceded.
“Maybe I should get going,” Nick offered, squeezing Ashley’s hand gently.
“Yeah. It might get a little awkward here for you with twenty women.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Ashley offered.
Nick followed her to the door, but paused before he stepped out, “Maybe we could get together tomorrow and talk?”
Ashley nodded, “I think that would be nice. It’s good to have you home.”
“It’s good to be home. Bye, Brown Eyes,” Nick started out the door.
“Nicky?” Ashley called causing him to stop on the walk.
“Yeah?”
“I was really happy to hear about you and Emily. I can’t wait to meet her,” Ashley forced the words out.
“Thanks. I can’t wait for you to meet her either,” Nick smiled, trying to conceal the pain that he was feeling.
Ashley smiled and as she closed the door softly called goodbye.
Nick turned to walk away and met up with a man in a police uniform in the driveway, “Is there a problem, officer?”
“Not unless you’re the bride,” the guy grinned and Nick immediately felt stupid. The ‘policemen’ was a stripper.
Nick cleared his throat and used his most masculine tone, “Right. Well, uh, knock ‘em dead.”
Without waiting for a response Nick hurried down the driveway, shaking his head at his own stupidity.
“ ‘Knock ‘em dead?’ Could I have sounded anymore like a moron?” Nick asked himself. Nick fought the urge to run back up and stop the guy, to tell him that he had the wrong house, but decided to continue down to the Durango. He wondered if Ashley really would spend time with him. He had lied to her about Emily. At first it had been the truth. Nick had sent e-mails about the girl he had met in London, but on the last stop of the tour, they had decided to call it quits. Emily wasn’t willing to be away from her family anymore and Nick necessarily didn’t look forward to the idea of having her as his housemate back in Florida. Now he was alone again. Alone and his heart was breaking once again for the girl that he would probably never have.
*****
The next day Nick pulled the Durango into Ashley’s driveway and from where she was watching, Ashley thought he would drive straight through the house. She exhaled slowly as she saw that he would make a complete stop and pulled open the front door. Nick paused for a moment before he stepped out of the car. He wasn’t sure if what they were doing today was the right thing. Ashley had forgotten that she had an appointment for a fitting on her wedding dress at 12:30. She had insisted that Nick accompany her to that and then they would go to lunch.
Finally, Nick pulled himself from the Durango and started up towards the house. Ashley met him halfway up the walk and continued past him, “Let’s go. We’re almost late as it is. I’ll give you directions.”
“Okay. How ‘bout you just drive?” Nick replied sarcastically, but realized he wasn’t talking to anyone else. Ashley was already in strapped in his SUV.
Most of the drive to the bridal shop was spent with Ashley giving Nick directions. They finally pulled into the lot of the quaint little shop that was located in an older town with a ‘Main Street’ setting. From the moment they walked into the door, Nick immediately felt out of place surrounded by dress upon dress of white material, garters, and veils.
A lady rushed forward from behind a rich mahogany desk and clasped Ashley’s hands in her own, “Hello, darling. How are you today?”
Ashley smiled and received the kisses that the owner of the shop planted on each of her cheeks, “I’m doing fine, and you, Charlotte?”
“Wonderful, darling, just wonderful,” her gaze fell on Nick, who looked even more detached than he had before, “You didn’t bring your groom with you to see the dress, did you? You know as well as anyone that it’s bad luck for him to see it before the wedding?”
Ashley wasn’t sure who blushed more at that comment, her or Nick. She cleared her throat, “This isn’t the groom. This is my best friend, Nick.” Charlotte smiled, “Well, then, it’s wonderful to meet you. Why don’t you take a seat over here while Ashley goes and gets fitted. We’ll let her come out and show you the dress.”
The older woman turned away from them and started towards the back of the shop. Ashley began to follow her but Nick grabbed her arm, “You cannot leave me alone in here.”
“Nick, you’ll be fine. It’ll just be a couple of minutes. It’s not like you can go into the dressing room with me. Just be patient and look at a magazine,” Ashley pointed to a stack of periodicals sitting next to the wing chair that was placed in front of the dressing rooms. She turned and walked away from him.
Nick stood there for a moment dejectedly staring at his choice of magazines. He sat down and picked a couple up. His nose wrinkled up when he read the titles, Modern Bride and Bride Magazine. Out of curiosity he opened one up and began reading.
“Wedding night jitters. How to cure them before the big night,” Nick read aloud without realizing it. He glanced up a few minutes later to catch two salesgirls staring at him with their mouths hanging wide open. They recognized him. He pulled the Oakland A’s baseball cap he was wearing a little lower over his eyes and smiled at them, “Hi, girls.”
One of them finally spoke, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look just like someone really famous.”
The other one nodded vigorously in agreement. Nick’s grin widened. He might have a little fun with this, “Really? Who would that be?”
“If I didn’t know better I would swear you were Nick Carter, one of the Backstreet Boys,” the only girl of the two that seemed to be able to talk spoke again.
“Well, my name is Nick, but it’s hardly Nick Carter and I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of the, what did you call them, Backdoor Boys?”
Both girls’ faces fell, “Really? They’re a vocal group. Some people call them a boy band. They’re all really cute though and have great voices.”
“Oh yeah? Well, I do sing, but it’s with the Tabernacle Choir. Mainly blue grass gospel,” Nick answered combing two musical things that he had heard Brian talk about. Leave it to the Kentuckian to talk about blue grass, “Want to hear some?”
The girl that hadn’t spoken yet, finally found her voice, “Uh, that’s okay. We’ll pass. But it was nice meeting you.”
“Same here,” Nick smiled and went back to the magazine that he was reading. He’d forgotten it was a bridal magazine. Absorbed once again in an article about how to politely not ask someone to be an attendant in your wedding, Nick didn’t hear Ashley step out of the dressing room. She cleared her throat softly and Nick looked up, thinking that someone else had recognized him. When he caught sight of her, the breath caught in his throat and Nick thought that he might not be able to speak.
Ashley stood before him in a simple, off the shoulder dress, its full a-line skirt pooling around her feet and the train falling softly behind her. Her hair and face were covered in a delicate veil that fell gently against her shoulders. She blushed lightly underneath the sheer white material. Nick placed the magazine on the table next to him and slowly stood, not taking his eyes off of her for one moment.
Nick made his way to stand in front of her. He wasn’t sure he would ever be able to find the words to tell her how beautiful she looked to him at that moment or how much Nick envied the man that she would be wearing this dress for.
“Say something,” Ashley smiled softly underneath the veil.
Nick finally found his voice, “You look beautiful. Even more beautiful than I ever dreamed you would.”
Blush crept to Ashley’s cheeks again and she looked down at her hands.
“Hey,” Nick whispered softly. He gingerly pulled back her veil and placed it over her head, “Don’t be embarrassed.”
It was then that Nick saw the tears in her eyes, “This is so hard, Nicky.”
“Shhh,” Nick placed a finger against her lips and slowly moved his head towards hers, unable to fight the urge any longer.
Just as their lips were about to touch, Ashley suddenly jerked back and looked towards the back of the store where she first heard, but now saw Charlotte and Mrs. Vanderbilt heading towards them. They were carrying the dress that she would be wearing in the wedding. Ashley met Nick’s eyes again and smoothed her hands over the satin of the dress that she had on,
“That’s the dress for the wedding. This is just the dress that I like. That’s the dress that Mrs. Vanderbilt likes. I didn’t know she was coming. Maybe you should go. She’ll take me home.”
Nick’s eyes searched hers and saw that she really wanted him to leave. Against his better judgment, Nick agreed, “All right. I’ll call you tonight.”
Before Ashley knew it, Nick was gone and she was facing Mrs. Vanderbilt who
was demanding to know why she was in that dress. Ashley sighed. This woman
was going to be her children’s grandmother.
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