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Nick and Annie kept stealing glances at each other throughout the onboard concert that evening. She was well aware that there were three other Backstreet Boys on stage, but Nick could have been doing a solo show as far as she was concerned. She recalled the Backstreet Boys concerts she’d attended as a teenager and remembered the feeling of excitement when one of them seemed as if they were singing right to her. It didn’t matter that she was probably one of fifty girls in his direct line of sight-- she would always carry with her the belief that at that particular moment, he’d been singing to her. This time, though, there was no question. As far as Nick was concerned, she could have been the only woman in the room.

During the final number, Annie snuck out of her seat and found Mike in the darkness on the side of the stage. “Ah! Miss Morgan! Nick told me to watch for you. He’ll be glad you showed.” Annie found the last statement a little odd. Did he really think she wouldn’t show up? She said she was going to, didn’t she? She followed Mike down a narrow hallway and into a green room that was actually painted light blue, reminiscent of the ocean on a clear day. Shortly thereafter, the final notes of “Drowning” resounded throughout the small auditorium and the audience erupted in cheers. Annie took advantage of the moment and allowed herself to go a little “fangirl,” suddenly feeling butterflies in her stomach with the anticipation of waiting backstage for none other than the Backstreet Boys themselves.

She recalled a similar scene in her first and only attempt at writing fan fiction as a teenager. The only difference was that the Backstreet Boy she was waiting for was Kevin (or was it Howie?), and she was seventeen instead of thirty. Nick was the first one off stage, and when he saw her, he stopped dead in his tracks and grinned widely. “Nick!” Brian grumbled from behind him as he nearly ran face first into his back. “What are you----oh.” He looked around Nick’s shoulder and spotted Annie. Leighanne breezed into the room from out of nowhere and yanked him by the collar into a nearby broom closet.

Howie laughed and stepped around Nick. “I swear those two act like they’re seventy sometimes, and then other times they act like they’re seventeen.”

“The broom closet thing happens a lot, actually,” Nick said with a shrug.

“Maybe you two could find one!” AJ exclaimed. He ducked as Nick swatted at his head then scampered away. Annie loved watching the guys interact with each other. She imagined that a similar move had probably happened umpteen times in the past, except with Nick in AJ’s role and Kevin in Nick’s. My, how the times had changed.

Howie quietly excused himself, leaving Nick and Annie alone, save for the handful of crew members milling around. “It was a great show,” Annie said as Nick sauntered towards her. “I like that it wasn’t highly rehearsed, yet you guys still looked and sounded awesome. I hope I’m that skilled of a performer one day.” She picked at a piece of lint on his shoulder and flicked it onto the carpet. “I imagine I’ll be a wreck before every concert.”

Nick cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re going to have concerts?” he asked. She nodded and his face beamed in realization. “So, you’re going to give this record deal thing a shot.”

“Yep. I head to Nashville at the beginning of the year to start recording.”

“Annie, that’s awesome!” He lunged forward and started to hug her, but remembered he’d just performed a full concert, and that he’d been wearing a leather trench coat for half of it. He was surprised she hadn’t gotten a single whiff and started running in the other direction. “I, uh...” He pulled his hands away from her and ran them through his sweaty hair. “I need a shower.”

“Yeah...” Annie crinkled up her nose dramatically, her lips twitching up into a smile.

Nick laughed. “You act like you’re joking, but I know I stink. I’ll just be a few minutes if you want to wait here. I was thinking maybe we could catch a late dinner before the pajama party tonight-- just the two of us. There’s this little restaurant near the captain’s quarters that is strictly VIP, so we wouldn’t have an audience. Well, other than Mike, who promises to make sure that we really don’t have an audience.”

“Sounds good.” Annie flopped into an oversized arm chair nearby. “Now, go take that shower before I get another whiff and start running in the other direction.”

“You better not!” Nick walked away laughing and shaking his head. For his own sanity, he hoped this woman would be sticking around for a while. Yet, he feared that maybe he shouldn’t get his hopes up.

Seconds later, Brian and Leighanne stumbled out of the broom closet giggling like teenagers. Leighanne situated Brian’s hat atop his mussed-up hair and gave him a little slap on the behind as they shuffled past. “Um, hey Annie,” Brian stammered, blushing furiously as Leighanne gave her a little wink. Annie stifled a giggle and shook her head incredulously as the couple left the room. She was glad that Leighanne and Brian were a package deal and that she was going to be able to keep Leighanne around. Aside from Beth, she didn’t really have “girlfriends,” and Leighanne was a welcome confidante, even if she was her manager’s wife. She wondered if Leighanne’s plan was to keep Brian “occupied” for the rest of the night while she and Nick went on their second “date.”

A few minutes later, Annie and Nick were seated in an intimate corner of a tiny restaurant called “The Captain’s Plate,” sipping glasses of red wine. “I kind of miss the Elvis hair.” Annie commented after the maitre d’ had taken their orders.

Nick’s wine glass stopped just shy of his lips. “The what?”

“The slicked back hair you were sporting during the concert. There was this little piece that fell down in the front, and it kind of reminded me of Elvis.” Annie pushed his blonde locks to the side and away from his eyes.

Nick laughed. “Our stylist hates that I’m growing my hair out. He said that was ‘the best he could do’.” He held his fingers up in air quotes. “So, the Elvis hair.... good or bad?”

“I love Elvis.”

“So...good?”

“Yeah.” Annie ran her thumb and forefinger up and down the stem of her wine glass casually. “I mean, it’s probably not a look you should sport every day, but I liked it.” The waiter set their appetizer down on the table between them and they both dove in. Annie found herself eating much less than she had on their first date. The first one had been completely casual-- no strings attached. This time..... well, Nick had made it pretty obvious that there were strings, and that made her nervous. Nick was great, not to mention very nice to look at, but could she really see herself forging a relationship with Nick Carter? A couple months ago her answer would have been a resounding ‘no,” but now she wasn’t so sure.

“So, Nashville in January, huh?” Nick asked in between bites of bruschetta.

“Yeah,” Annie confirmed. “After I get back home, I’ve really got to get busy with packing boxes and finding child care for Drew. Not to mention, I haven’t even found a place to stay yet.”

Nick chewed thoughtfully and took a swig of his wine. “Well, coincidentally, I happen to know a guy who owns a place in Franklin. It’s a few miles south of Nashville, but the commute’s not bad and it’s probably better than living downtown if you have a kid. I mean, it’s got a fenced in yard and all of that. Plus, the owner’s almost never there, so he’d probably rent it to you for pretty cheap.”

“Oh really?” Annie leaned forward eagerly. “Do you think you could hook me up with him? That sounds perfect!”

“It’s me,” Nick replied matter-of-factly. “And as far as the ‘hooking up’ part, I guess that’s up to you.”

Annie furrowed her brows in confusion and chose to ignore the second part for the time being. “You? I thought I read somewhere that you sold your place in Tennessee.”

“Wow. Sometimes I forget you’re a fan,” he remarked. “I was an idiot to let a magazine write a piece about my Tennessee house and publish a picture. The place was crawling with fans, so I put up a for sale sign and mentioned in an interview that I was selling it. That seemed to take care of the problem.”

“Nick! That’s kind of mean, don’t you think?”

He shrugged. “I guess, but when you move in, you’ll appreciate the lack of twenty-something women standing on the sidewalk out front with binoculars. Ooh... maybe we can put a sold sign up when you move in!” He rubbed his palms together excitedly.

“Nick, we can’t do that. And besides, who says I’m moving in?” Annie brought him crashing back down to earth.

“But you just said it sounded perfect!” he protested. “It’s not like I’m asking you to move in with me. I’m just offering my house until you find something more permanent.” He paused. “Well, for now anyway.” He grabbed her hand from across the table, wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and smirked, being sure to make it obvious he was joking.

Annie rolled her eyes. “Nick, you are too much.”

Nick leaned forward expectantly. “Is that a good or a bad thing?”

She tapped her fingers on her chin and narrowed her eyes in mock concentration. “It’s a good thing.” Then she pointed her finger at him. “As long as you continue to behave.”

Nick grinned and batted his eyelashes innocently, then squeezed her hand. “Don’t I always?”