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Nick noticed her immediately. She was in the baby aisle, looking at Johnson N’ Johnson body wash. He watched as she removed each container from the shelf and took a long sniff. After much consideration, she finally placed a pink bottle in her cart and continued down the aisle.

“Excuse me, sir? Can I help you find something?”

“Huh? What?” Nick tore his eyes away from Kayla’s back and turned to face the young, male sales associate. The teenager was wearing an oversized, red Target t-shirt and his black cargo pants were about three sizes too big. He looked bored.

“No-no thanks” Nick corrected himself. “I know what I’m looking for.”

“Really?” The Target employee rolled his eyes. “Well, you’re kinda blocking the aisle.”

Nick quickly looked around. He had become so preoccupied after spotting Kayla that he had stopped dead at the end of the sporting goods section. His cart, which was loaded down with Baylee’s basketball net and three new basketballs, was sitting at an awkward angle and effectively blocking off the entrance to the department. A middle-aged woman was standing behind him with her hands wrapped tightly around the handle of her shopping cart. She looked pissed; as if she had been waiting for him to move for quite some time.

“Sorry.” Nick mumbled. He flashed a smile at the angry looking woman before glaring at the sullen teenager. “I’m moving.”

“Thanks so much, sir.” The employee droned.

The teenager’s sarcastic tone didn’t go unnoticed as Nick gripped the handle of his cart and pushed off in the direction of the baby section. Kayla was no longer in the bath aisle, so he swung into the next aisle and, sure enough, there she was. This time, she was squatting down next to the diaper display and trying to retrieve a particularly large package of diapers from the far reaches of the bottom shelf.

Nick could feel his smile growing as he made his way down the aisle. He had been so busy watching Kayla that he had almost failed to notice that she wasn’t shopping alone. A baby girl was strapped securely into the child seat of Kayla’s shopping cart. The little girl had smooth, dark red hair and a light dusting of freckles across her cheeks. She was a miniature carbon copy of Kayla, right down to her pale complexion and slender nose. Catching sight of Nick, the little girl let out a squeal of delight; her pale blue eyes widening in excitement.

Kayla stood up to see what had caught her daughter’s attention, clutching the package of diapers to her chest. She followed the little girl’s line of sight and Nick noted the look of surprise on her face as she took him in.

“Nick?” Kayla deposited the diapers into the basket of her cart. She tucked her long hair behind her ears and tried to hide her surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Baylee wanted a basketball net.” Nick gestured at his cart as proof. “I offered to pick one up for him.”

“That’s nice of you.” Kayla supplied. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and glanced at her daughter who was still squealing and banging her chubby hands against the handle of the cart.

“She’s cute.” Nick flashed a smile in the little girl’s direction and watched as she mimicked his expression.

“Thanks.” Kayla’s eyes softened. “Unfortunately, she’s inherited my complexion. Poor kid.”

“She looks just like you.” Nick agreed. “That’s definitely not a bad thing. Trust me.”

Kayla stared back at Nick, unsure of what to say. He was just standing there making fish faces at her daughter. The whole situation was a bit surreal.

“What’s her name?” Nick asked.

“Liliana.” Kayla answered.

“That’s pretty.” Nick waved in Liliana’s direction. “Hi Liliana.” He cooed.

Kayla smiled in spite of herself. “It was nice seeing you, Nick.”

“Oh.” Nick frowned. “Are you leaving?”

“Well, I’ve got what I came here for.” Kayla explained. “I still have to go home, make dinner and get Liliana to bed.”

“I’ll take you to dinner.” Nick offered. “That way you won’t have to cook.”

“You’ll take me to dinner?” Kayla wasn’t sure if she had heard him correctly. She could feel the colour creeping into her face. Was Nick Carter really asking her to have dinner with him?

“That’s right.” Nick nodded. “I’ll take the two of you anywhere that you want to go.” He gave Kayla a heart melting smile before turning to her daughter. “What do you say, Liliana? Do you want to have dinner with me?”

Once again, the little girl opened her eyes wide and let out an ear splitting shriek. Her mouth curled up into a wide smile and she bounced slightly in her seat.

“I think that Liliana wants to go.” Nick grinned. He pulled his eyes away from mini-Kayla and turned to face the real thing. “What do you say?”

“That would be nice.” Kayla gave in. She placed her hands next to Liliana’s on the handle of the shopping cart and began walking in the direction of the checkout. She could hear Nick’s cart rumbling along behind her, and she resisted the urge to reach out and pinch herself. This couldn’t actually be happening.

“So, where do you want to go?” Nick asked as the two of them joined the queue at the checkout.

Kayla shrugged. “There’s an Olive Garden across the street.”

“Olive Garden?” Nick raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “I tell you that you can go anywhere you like and you pick the Olive Garden?”

“It’s close.” Kayla began unloading her items onto the belt. “And I love the breadsticks.” She finished emptying her cart and her eyes drifted to the C.D. display next to the checkout. ‘In A World Like This’ was front and centre on the shelf.

“Have you heard it?” Nick dropped one of the basketballs onto the belt as the cashier began to ring through Kayla’s items.

“Have I heard what?” Kayla asked. She pulled her wallet out of her purse and began putting the bagged items back into her cart.

“The new album.” Nick laughed. “I saw you look at it just now.”

Kayla paused while she entered her pin number. She waited until the transaction had been approved before she answered Nick’s question. “Yeah, I’ve heard it. I own it actually.”

“Oh. My. God.”

Nick looked up to see the cashier gaping at him. Her eyes flipped between him and the C.D. display so quickly that Nick actually feared that her eyes were going to fall out of her head and roll along the floor. Slightly annoyed that his conversation with Kayla had been interrupted, Nick merely flashed the young girl one of his signature smiles and pulled Brian’s credit card out of his pocket.

The girl accepted the card with shaky fingers and turned it over in her hands. She hesitated as she went to insert it into the card reader. “You’re not Brian.”

Nick looked up into the girl’s extra-wide eyes and grinned. “I know. I’m Nick. My friend, Brian, said that it would be okay if I used his credit card.”

“Bri-Brian Lit-Littrell said that you could use it?” The girl stuttered.

“That’s right.” Nick confirmed. The girl was clutching Brian’s VISA so tightly that Nick was worried that she might never let go of it. “If it’s a problem I can just use my own card.”

“No!” The girl finally found her voice. “It’s no problem.” She gave Nick a massive smile, revealing a set of perfectly straight teeth, as she spun the pin pad in his direction.

“Do you think that I could take a picture with you?” The girl’s voice was tentative as Nick punched in Brian’s pin-number.

The machine beeped its approval, and Nick made sure to remove the card before spinning the pin pad back towards the cashier. “Of course you can have a picture!”

The girl pulled her iPhone out of her back pocket and offered it to Nick. He accepted the phone from her shaking hand and hopped up onto the conveyer belt. The woman behind him in line let out a gasp of surprise, but Nick ignored her as he leaned over and wrapped his arm around the cashier’s shoulders. He held the phone at arm’s length and grinned wickedly at the camera. After inspecting the quality of their selfie, he handed the phone back to the young girl and slid off of the conveyer belt.

“Thanks, Jen.” He chuckled, reading her nametag. “I’ll let you get back to work.”

“Thanks so much!” Jen gushed. She continued to ogle him as he re-loaded his cart and strolled off in search of Kayla.

Nick gave Kayla a small wave as he caught sight of her standing by the exit. “Sorry about that.”

“What are you apologizing for?” Kayla laughed “For being famous? I think it was nice that you took the time to take a picture with her. A lot of other people probably wouldn’t have been so accommodating.”

“I AM a super nice guy.” Nick joked. The two of them stepped out into the chilly October evening and began pushing their respective carts towards the parking lot. “I’m over there.” Nick gestured towards his car.

“I’m a few rows up.” Kayla pointed towards a black Mazda 3.

“I’ll just toss this stuff in the trunk and meet you at your car.” Nick suggested. “We can walk to the restaurant if you like.”

Kayla nodded and Liliana gurgled her approval. Nick smiled at both of them and hurried off towards his car. After stuffing the basketball net in the trunk, he tossed the balls into the backseat and pulled out his phone. He sent Brian a text as he locked the doors and headed off in the direction of Kayla’s car.

Nick: Saw Kayla at Target. I’m gonna take her to dinner. Wish me luck!

Brian: Don’t you DARE fuck her!

Nick: I can keep it in my pants. ;)

Brian: I’m serious, Frack.

Nick chuckled at Brian’s use of his old nickname. He couldn’t remember the last time that he and Brian had referred to themselves as ‘Frick and Frack’.

Nick: I got this, Frick. Don’t worry

“What’s so funny?”

Nick hurriedly tucked his phone into his pocket at the sound of Kayla’s voice. She was standing next to her car with Liliana propped up on her hip.

“It’s just Brian.” Nick replied. “I sent him a text to tell him that I wasn’t coming home for dinner.”

“Do you guys live together?” Kayla gave him a weird look as they set off towards the restaurant. “I kinda figured that you would all have your own places by now.”

“I’m staying with him temporarily. My-my new place is currently under renovation.” Nick pulled open the door to the Olive Garden and the scent of garlic immediately invaded his nostrils. His stomach grumbled in anticipation and he stole a quick peek at Kayla to make sure that she hadn’t heard the unruly noise. Thankfully, she was too busy trying to untangle her hair from Liliana’s small fist.

“For three?” The hostess smiled brightly at them. “With a highchair?”

“Yes, thanks.” Nick answered.

They followed the hostess through the crowded restaurant, and she gestured towards a booth with a highchair pushed up to the end of the table. Nick watched as Kayla placed Liliana in the highchair and made sure that she was stable, before sliding into the seat across from him.

“So, this isn’t going to get you in trouble is it?” Nick opened the menu, but his eyes were trained on Kayla.

“Trouble?” Kayla raised her eyebrows as the waitress deposited a basket of breadsticks in the middle of the table. “Why would having dinner with you get me in trouble?”

“I dunno.” Nick shrugged. “Brian’s kinda paranoid that it will create a conflict of interest with his case.”

Kayla laughed; her blue eyes widening just like her daughter’s had earlier. “It would be a conflict of interest if I were to have dinner with Brian. As long as you don’t ask me anything about his situation, everything will be just fine.” She began tearing one of the breadsticks into small pieces and placing it on the tray in front of Liliana. “So, Brian knows that you’re out with me?”

Nick nodded. “I felt it was best that I let him know who I was taking to dinner.”

“Do you guys tell each other everything?”

Nick couldn’t quite tell if Kayla was mocking him or asking him a legitimate question. “We tell each other most things.”

“So, you guys are still close?” Kayla pulled her own breadstick from the basket. “The media makes it seem as though you two hate each other.”

“I was right.” Nick mused. He snatched a breadstick from the remaining pile and took a massive bite. “You ARE a fan.”

Kayla blushed furiously and took a tiny bite of bread. She waited until she had finished chewing before she spoke. “Why do you think that I’m a fan?”

“You have our new C.D. and you sure seem to have an opinion about my relationship with Brian.” Nick mumbled; his mouth full of bread.

“I just came off of a one year maternity leave.” Kayla laughed. “You would be amazed at how much Perez gossip a person will read when they’re cooped up in the house all day with a baby. Ask me anything about any celebrity and I’d be willing to bet that I can answer the question.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that you own our new C.D.” Nick bit into his second breadstick. “I highly doubt that it was an impulse purchase.”

Kayla sighed. “You’re right. I like your music. It’s safe to say that I’m a fan, but not a hardcore one. I don’t, like, belong to your fanclub or anything.”

Nick smirked. He loved being right. “So, who’s your favourite?”

“My favourite what?” Kayla played dumb.

“Your favourite Backstreet Boy.” Nick finished his second breadstick and reached for a third. He ripped a large chunk of it off with his front teeth as he waited for Kayla to respond.

“AJ.” Kayla glanced quickly at Liliana who was still gumming happily on one of the pieces of bread.

“You’re lying.” Nick challenged, a massive grin overtaking his face. “I’ve seen enough of our fans to know that you’re not an AJ girl.”

“I didn’t realize that all of your fans fit a certain mould.” Kayla opened her menu and pretended to study the options. “That’s my answer and I’m sticking to it.”

Nick shook his head and leaned back against the plush backing of the booth. He opened his menu and skimmed through the items, but the words barely registered. He flicked his eyes towards Kayla who was now legitimately reading the menu. Brian was right; she wasn’t necessarily his type, but there was something about her that he was drawn to. She was effortlessly pretty, he decided.

Kayla could obviously sense that he was staring at her, because she raised her eyes from the menu. “What?”

“I was just wondering if you have a boyfriend.” Nick folded up the menu and placed it on the table in front of him. He always ordered the same thing at the Olive Garden; Cappelini Pomodoro with chicken.

Kayla stalled by carefully re-folding her menu and placing it on top of Nick’s. “Why do you want to know that?”

“I’m just curious.” Nick smiled. “So, do you?”

“The last boyfriend that I had was Liliana’s father.” Kayla paused. “We’re – we’re no longer together.”

Nick sensed that there was a bit more to the story, so he phrased his next question as cryptically as possible. “That must be tough, with the shared custody and all.”

“He’s actually never met Lily.” Kayla turned her eyes to her daughter. “And it’s better for both of us if he never does.”

“Oh.” Nick knew that he was treading on dangerous ground, but he just couldn’t let it go. “Does he live in Lexington?”

“He lives ...” Kayla paused. “...out of state.”

“I knew there was something different about your accent.” Nick laughed. “You don’t have the standard Kentucky twang, that’s for sure.”

“I don’t have an accent.” Kayla’s response was quick and defensive. “What do I sound like?”

“I dunno.” Nick shrugged. He was somewhat taken aback by how defensive she had become. “Maybe, a northern state. Michigan? Wisconsin?”

Kayla shook her head; thankful that she could see the waitress approaching their table. “I’m not telling.”