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“Kayla?”

Peggy forced her eyes upwards when her question went unanswered. The younger woman was staring at her laptop with a vacant expression on her face. She was holding a large mug of coffee in her right hand, and she was absently twirling a section of her hair around her left pointer finger.

“Kayla?” Peggy repeated, a little bit louder this time.

When the girl still didn’t answer, Peggy leaned over her desk and waved her hand in front of her co-worker’s face. “Kayla? Hello? Are you in there?”

“Sorry.” Kayla flushed. She shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. “I was just thinking about something.”

If she were going to tell Peggy the truth, which she wasn’t, Kayla would have to explain that she was thinking about someone, not something. She had gone out with Nick again last night; this time to a movie. As usual, it had been a wonderful evening. Nick was cute, funny, and polite, but something was amiss. They had gone out ten times and he still hadn’t tried anything. He hadn’t even tried to kiss her, let alone get her into bed.

Kayla was beginning to develop a complex. Was she not pretty enough? Had she done something to offend him? Was she not his type? The same thoughts rolled through her mind every time that he dropped her off and gave her nothing more than a hug, but she still hadn’t been able to come up with an answer. She couldn’t figure out why Nick was going through all of the trouble to take her out if he wasn’t interested. The other part of the situation, the part that was really nagging at her, was that she wasn’t overly upset by the fact that their relationship hadn’t progressed beyond friendship. Of course she wanted him to kiss her. Hell, what girl didn’t want to be kissed by Nick Carter? Still, she wasn’t devastated that he hadn’t. She was confused more than anything.

“Does that something have a name?” Peggy fell back into her seat and gave Kayla a knowing look.

“I don’t have time for a boyfriend.” Kayla deflected Peggy’s suggestion. “I told you that I barely have time for myself and Liliana.”

“You make time.” Peggy advised. “Once you find the right man, you’ll always have the time.”

The woman had been happily married for over thirty-five years, so Kayla knew that there was at least some truth to her words. Regardless, she was in no position to discuss the situation with Nick. Peggy would probably die of an aneurism if she found out that Kayla had been fraternizing with a client outside of work. It hadn’t taken Kayla long to realize that hanging out with Nick inadvertently meant hanging out with the rest of the band as well. The guys had been rehearsing in Lexington for the past three weeks, and she had spent many evenings watching the five of them run through their holiday set list.

If Peggy were to see her phone, she would have a conniption. Not only would she see hundreds of flirty texts from Nick, but she would also see the messages from Brian bragging about the fact that Baylee had made the junior basketball team. She would be able to read the texts from AJ asking about Liliana, she would know that Howie forwarded her funny pictures and that Kevin had recommended the novel that was currently stuffed in her lunch bag. It was like she was leading two separate lives and, as much as she hated to keep things from her co-worker, Kayla knew that it was for the best.

“What did you need to talk to me about?” Kayla tried to steer the conversation back to work. “I doubt that you were trying to get my attention in order to give me relationship advice.”

“No.” Peggy sighed. She sat back in her chair and rubbed her tired eyes. “I’ve been given a surgery date for my hip.”

“That’s great!” Kayla enthused. She knew that the older woman desperately needed the operation to improve her mobility. “When?”

“They’ve had a cancellation.” Peggy explained. “Doctor Shafer is able to fit me in before Christmas; on December 20th.”

“December 20th?” Kayla repeated. “That’s in, like, four weeks.”

“I know it’s sooner than I had planned.” Peggy admitted. “If I wasn’t in so much pain, I would have turned him down. Thankfully, the worst part of my recovery will take place over the Christmas break. I’ll only be gone for one additional week in December and the first two weeks in January, so I can use my vacation days to cover the time that I will need to miss. My retirement date won’t be impacted and you will only have to handle the caseload on your own for a couple of weeks.”

“What about the trip?” Kayla could feel the anxiety rising in her stomach. “You were supposed to conduct the assessment in Montreal for Bri – for the Littrell file, remember?”

Peggy closed her eyes and rubbed at her forehead. “I forgot about that.” She opened her eyes and peered at Kayla. “Is there absolutely no way that you can do it?”

“I don’t have anyone to watch Liliana.” Kayla tried to keep the panic out of her voice. “My aunt and uncle have already booked their annual Christmas vacation. They’re the only family that I have in the – in Kentucky.” Kayla corrected herself. There was no way that she could go on the Montreal trip, absolutely no way.

“What if you were able to bring Liliana with you?” Peggy was thinking out loud. “Do you have a passport?”

“Of course I have a passport.” Kayla muttered. She immediately regretted the words as soon as they had left her mouth. Claiming to not have a passport would have given her an easy way out; stupid!

“Let me talk to Anthony.” Peggy pushed back from her desk and hauled herself to her feet. “As long as you complete the inspection, I’m sure that he won’t care if you have to bring Liliana. It’s not like he’s going to have to purchase an extra seat on the plane or anything.”

Kayla stared after Peggy with her mouth slightly open. She watched as the older woman knocked on the door to Anthony’s office and stepped inside, pulling the door closed behind her. If Anthony wasn’t such a nice guy, Kayla wouldn’t have been so anxious. Most people would kill for a boss like Anthony, but at this particular moment Kayla found herself wishing that Anthony wasn’t so accommodating. She had a sinking suspicion that she was going on that trip, whether she wanted to or not.

Her phone pinged with an incoming text message as she took a sip of coffee in an unsuccessful attempt to squash her anxiety. Kayla located her phone on her desk and made no effort to hide her smile. The message was from Nick.

Nick: I had a good time with you last night.

Kayla: I had a good time with you too. :)

Nick: Baylee has a basketball game at 4:00. Do you want to meet us there?

Kayla: Who’s ‘us’?

Nick: LOL. We’re all going. Brian says that the team needs a cheering section. Will I see you?

Kayla: Yeah. You’ll see me. :)

Nick: Can’t wait. :D

“Good news.”

Kayla quickly returned her phone to her desk as Peggy approached. “What’s that?”

“Anthony says that it’s perfectly fine for you to bring Liliana along. He’s even going to reimburse you for the extra baggage fees.” Peggy smiled. “He knows that the Littrell file is high-profile and he wants to get things wrapped up as soon as possible. He said that the option of you taking the baby along is preferable to pushing the assessment back until February and paying to send me all the way to Europe.”

“Don’t you want to go to Europe?” Kayla asked; still looking for a way out. “I would kill to see London.”

“Oh, honey, I’ve been there and done that already.” Peggy brushed it off with a wave of her hand. “I have no desire to go again.”

“Oh.” Kayla mumbled, defeated.

“Don’t look so worried. It will be fun, and the report that you have to write is really straightforward.” Peggy encouraged. “Montreal is lovely at Christmas time.”

“Yeah.” Kayla muttered. “I know.”

“You’ve been?” Peggy raised her eyebrows.

“What?” Kayla pulled herself out of her thoughts. “I mean, pardon?”

“You’ve been to Montreal at Christmas?” Peggy repeated.

“Oh.” Kayla stalled. “No. Sorry, I wasn’t listening.” She lied.

“Well, you’re going to love it.” Peggy continued. “Hopefully, there will be some snow and you can check out the Notre-Dame Basilica ...”

Kayla tuned the older woman out, but she made sure to smile and nod every so often to make it look as though she was still paying attention. She was well aware of all that the largest city in Quebec had to offer. She was also well aware of the emotional baggage that was waiting for her north of the border.

By four o’clock, Kayla had quelled most of her anxiety related to the Montreal trip. She had somehow managed to convince herself that there was no need to dwell on the situation until the day of the excursion. If she continued to worry about it, she would be a basket-case by the time that she needed to board the plane.

Sparrow Hill’s gymnasium was packed, but Kayla had no trouble picking out Nick and the rest of the guys in the stands. They were taking up the entire top row of one of the small, fold away bleachers that the school had rolled out for the game. Kayla stifled a laugh as she carefully picked her way through the crowd of parents and staff members who were milling around and looking for seats. Although Brian and his friends were relatively the same age as most of the other parents who had come to watch the game, the five of them still stuck out from the crowd like a sore thumb. She could see some of the moms trying to sneak pictures of the guys with their cell phones, and she definitely heard the term ‘Backstreet’ flying about as she walked through the crowd.

“You came!” Nick waved Kayla over as she carefully climbed the metal stairs to the top of the bleachers. He motioned for Howie to slide over and patted the space in-between him and Brian.

“You invited me.” Kayla reminded him as she slid into the small space. She was acutely aware of the fact that she was very close to both men, her shoulders brushing against both of them as she adjusted her posture. Cologne invaded her nose from both sides; Ralph Lauren from Brian and Giorgio Armani from Nick.

“I’m glad.” Nick flashed her a heart-melting smile and lightly bumped her shoulder with his.

“Dad!” Baylee hissed.

Kayla pulled her eyes away from Nick and looked down at the gym floor. Baylee was standing in the shadows at the side of the bleachers and staring up at the six of them. He was wearing his school jersey and holding a basketball under his right arm and, Kayla couldn’t help but notice, he looked positively mortified.

“What is it, Bay?” Brian also dropped his eyes to his son. “What’s wrong?”

“Why are ALL of you here?” Baylee whispered. His eyes darted frantically around the gym. “Everyone is talking about you.”

“What do you mean?” Brian did his own quick scan of the gym. “Nobody is talking about us.”

“I can’t believe you!” Baylee continued. “Are you trying to ruin my life?”

“Bay, I don’t understand.” Brian tried to camouflage the fact that he was hurt by his son’s words. “We just came to watch you play.”

“Just don’t cheer for me, okay?” Baylee pleaded. “I don’t – I don’t want anyone to know that you’re all here to see me.”

“Why?” Brian was desperately trying to wrap his brain around his son’s request. “You introduced me to your friend, Mike. Remember? How is this any different?”

“This IS different.” Baylee insisted. “I’ve told my friends about you and they’ve promised to keep it a secret.”

“To keep what a secret?” Brian pestered. “That I’m your dad?”

“That my dad is – that you’re – that you’re ...” Baylee dropped his voice even lower “... that you’re a Backstreet Boy.”

A whistle sounded and Baylee gave Brian one last fleeting look as he hurried towards the benches on the other side of the gym. He took a seat with the rest of his team and turned his attention to his coach.

“Did that just happen?” AJ broke the silence. “Did Baylee actually just come over here and tell us not to cheer for him?”

“Clearly, I’m an embarrassment.” Brian muttered. “Didn’t you hear him? I’m trying to ruin his life.”

Kayla patted Brian gently on the leg. “He didn’t mean it.”

Brian shifted his eyes to Kayla; they were shimmering with pain and indignity. “He sure looked like he meant it.”

Kayla fought the urge to pull Brian into a tight hug. She knew that Baylee was only behaving like any other boy his age, but she still wanted to storm the court and scream at him. Every kid was embarrassed by their parents to some degree, but Baylee’s comments had definitely crossed the line.

“He doesn’t want us to cheer for him?” AJ was still ranting on the other side of Brian. “Just wait until that kid sinks a basket. He’s gonna wish that he never opened his mouth.”

“AJ, what the hell are you going to do?” Howie leaned across Nick to get a better view of the tattooed man as the boys scurried out onto the court. “You might want to give it some more thought, whatever it is.”

“Oh, I’ve already given it plenty of thought.” AJ smirked. “Brian, do I have your permission?”

Brian stared long and hard at AJ. He flicked his eyes to Baylee who had taken his position as small forward before he responded. “Go nuts.”

Kayla turned as Nick placed his hand on her arm. He leaned into her and whispered in her ear. “Are you still glad that you came?”

“I think this is going to be the best elementary school basketball game that I’ve ever been too.” Kayla leaned in even closer to Nick as she responded. Their faces were so close that she could feel his breath on her skin.

“Here we go!” Howie’s gasp caused Nick and Kayla to pull away from each other and return their attention to the game. “Baylee’s taking a shot.”

Baylee released the ball in a perfectly executed two point shot. The ball sailed smoothly through the air and AJ was out of his seat before the ball had even fully connected with the backboard. As soon as the ball dropped through the net, AJ started shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Way to go, Baylee!” AJ cupped his hands around his mouth to ensure that his voice had maximum volume. “Everyone look at number eight! He’s my nephew! And, for those of you who were wondering, yes, I AM AJ McLean from the Backstreet Boys! That’s right everyone; Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell is Baylee’s dad!”

The entire game ground to a halt. The kids on the court were all frozen to the spot, and every single spectator had turned to stare at AJ who was still standing up and clapping as if his life depended on it. The woman sitting in front of AJ even went so far as to use the opportunity to turn around and take his picture.

Baylee was still standing in the same spot from which he had released the ball. He was staring at AJ along with everyone else and his face had turned the same shade as an over-ripe tomato. The kid had looked mortified before, but now he looked beyond humiliated. If the floor had suddenly opened up in front of him, Kayla was willing to bet that Bayle would have jumped head-first into the hole instead of waiting to be swallowed up.

AJ let out one final whoop for good measure before returning to his seat. Regaining his sense of focus, the referee blew his whistle and shouted for the game to resume. Slowly, the crowed turned their attention back to the game and Baylee took off down the court after the ball. Kayla noticed that Baylee went out of his way to avoid looking in their direction as he hustled past them.

“Jesus Christ.” Kevin had his face buried in his hands. He was still trying to control his laughter. “Can you imagine how you would have felt if someone had done that to you when you were in the sixth grade?”

“Of course I can.” AJ grinned. “That’s why I did it.”

“That was priceless.” Brian sputtered. He turned quickly to Kayla. “Does that make me a bad parent?” He asked the question in jest, but Kayla could see a flicker of worry cross his face.

“It makes you a great parent.” Kayla reassured him. “Baylee will get over it.”

Kayla watched as Baylee made another two point shot. The crowd applauded politely, and more than half of the spectators turned in AJ’s direction to watch his reaction. AJ simply smiled and gave the crowd a small wave in-between his own claps. Kayla saw Baylee breathe a sigh of relief as he got into position for the next play, and she gently nudged Nick. “You’ve got good friends.”

Nick smiled back at Kayla and moved his hand over her knee. “They’re the best.”