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“Do you have lip-gloss?”

“What?” Kayla stared at Nick as if he had grown a second head. She could barely hear him above the noise of her heart banging in her chest. Howie and Brian had just run out the back door with the dog, leaving her and Nick to wait for Peggy.

“Do you have lip-gloss?” Nick repeated. He appeared surprisingly calm as he removed his hooded sweatshirt and tossed it carelessly into the living room.

“Yes.” Kayla felt as though she were in a daze; as if she was watching the situation unfold through the eyes of a casual observer. “I have lip-gloss in my purse.”

“Great.” Nick pulled his t-shirt over his head to reveal a not quite perfect chest. “Put it on and take off your sweater.”

“What?” Kayla’s eyes widened as she stared at him. “I’m not taking off my sweater!”

“Listen to me.” Nick closed the distance between them and placed his hands firmly on Kayla’s shoulders. He gave her a gentle shake as he captured her eyes with his own. “What’s worse in Peggy’s eyes? You sleeping with Brian or you sleeping with me?”

“Me sleeping with Brian.” Kayla answered the question as if she were on auto-pilot. She kept her eyes firmly trained on Nick’s face.

“Exactly.” Nick’s mouth curved into a smile. “When Peggy walks through that door, we’re going to make her think that you’re sleeping with me.”

“We are?” Kayla questioned. She felt sick to her stomach. Brian was going to lose it.

“Brian knows that we’re faking it.” Nick continued as if reading her mind. “Now hurry up and take your top off.”

“What if Peggy doesn’t buy it?” Kayla muttered. She pulled her sweater over her head and shivered as the cool air in the foyer connected with her bare shoulders. She pulled her black camisole down to cover her stomach and stared at Nick. “Now what?”

“Lip-gloss.” Nick reminded her. He quickly unbuttoned his jeans and wiggled around so that they were just resting on his hips. “Remember, we’re going to have to sell this.”

“Nick, I dunno if I can do this.” Kayla’s hands were shaking as she coated her lips with shiny pink gloss. She tossed the tube back in her purse and stared at him in dismay.

“It will work.” Nick reassured her. He took a step closer. “When Peggy walks in that door, she’s going to see us running down the stairs looking like this. She’ll make the connection.”

“But it doesn’t look real.” Kayla insisted. She allowed Nick to grab her by the hand and pull her half way up the stairs as she protested. “She’ll know that we’re faking it. We spend all day watching people try to fake their way out of trouble.”

“I know.” Nick turned to face her. He looked just about as anxious as Kayla felt. “That’s why I made you and Brian promise not to get mad at me.”

“What are you suggesting?” Kayla felt her heart rate quicken. “Nick, I’m not going to – I can’t touch ...”

Nick smiled; a cheeky, embarrassed grin. “I’ll do that bit myself. All you have to do kiss my neck. Get as much of that lip-gloss on my skin as possible.”

“I can’t!” Kayla insisted. “Brian is going to be so upset.”

“Brian will get over it.” Nick’s voice was filling with desperation. “We don’t have much time. Kay, if we don’t do this, you’ll lose everything and so will Brian.”

As if to emphasize Nick’s point, Kayla heard movement on the front porch. She could distinctly make out Peggy’s voice along with AJ’s raspy laugh. What the hell was AJ even doing at Brian’s house? “Fine!” Kayla threw her hands in the air. “I’ll kiss you!”

That was all the confirmation that Nick needed. He crashed against her so suddenly that Kayla stumbled backwards into the wall. She scrunched her eyes shut and began kissing his neck with all of the intensity that she could muster. Kayla knew that the end goal was to ensure that they both looked as flushed and dishevelled as possible. She could feel Nick working himself up and the heat coursed through her face when she felt the most intimate part of him pressing against her. Never in her life would she have imagined that the feel of Nick Carter’s body pressing against hers would trigger no desirable reaction what-so-ever. Of course, Kayla had never imagined that she would end up falling for Brian Littrell either.

“Ready.” Nick announced as he abruptly pulled away from her.

Kayla noticed that Nick’s face was also flushed with embarrassment and that he was currently directing all of his attention to the wall just to the left of her face. His neck was believably red and shiny with smeared lip-gloss, and a quick glance downward revealed that Peggy should have no trouble believing that she had just interrupted a very intimate moment.

“Thank you, Mr. Littrell.”

The front door swung open with Peggy’s words, and Kayla took a deep breath as Nick laced his warm hand through her trembling fingers. She didn’t need to fake a panicked expression as he began pulling her down the stairs at a rapid pace.

“What the fuck?!”

AJ spoke first; his mouth falling open in astonishment. Kayla watched as AJ’s eyes travelled over her and Nick, taking in the sweater that she was holding in her hand, Nick’s lack of clothing, their flushed faces and, finally, Nick’s obvious sign of arousal.

“Jesus Fucking Christ, Nick!” AJ’s anger was real. Rightfully so, as he was not privy to what had happened only a few minutes earlier. “Have you two lost your fucking minds? You’re in Brian’s house!”

Kayla had never seen anyone as angry as AJ was at that particular moment. He was literally shaking and the small portion of his face that was still visible beneath his massive beard had turned beat red. AJ clenched and unclenched his fists as he stared at the two of them, seemingly debating whether or not to tackle Nick to the ground. Kayla kept her eyes trained on AJ, refusing to look at Brian or Peggy. Nick’s fingers were digging into the soft skin on her hand, revealing the extent of his nerves.

“Say something!” AJ exploded. He took a few steps forward to confront Nick, but seemingly changed his mind and whirled around to face Brian instead. “Why the fuck aren’t you saying anything? The two of them are fooling around in your house!”

“I – I – I don’t know what to say.” Brian had turned deathly pale. His eyes were radiating with unwarranted jealousy and he sank back against the wall to steady himself.

“Tell Nick that you hate him; tell him that he’s a shitty friend! Tell him to get out!” AJ’s hands were flying in the air in frustration. “You can’t let him do this to you, Brian!”

“AJ ...” Kayla’s voice was barely above a whisper. “...please, calm down.” She was pressed against Nick so tightly that she could feel the heat radiating off of his bare chest.

“Calm down?” AJ’s eyes were like daggers. “I haven’t even started to say how I feel about you right now!”

“Mr. McLean!” Peggy snapped. “Kayla is right, you need to calm down.”

AJ turned his angry eyes on Peggy and opened his mouth, but she effectively silenced him by returning his steely gaze. “It’s clear from what I see here that you all have some issues that you need to resolve.”

Kayla finally forced herself to look her supervisor in the face. Peggy was staring back at her with a mixture of anger and dismay. “Kayla, are you involved with Mr. Carter?”

“Yes.” Kayla could feel Brian’s eyes piercing into her as she delivered the lie. Nick’s breathing intensified and he squeezed her hand for reassurance.

“Un-fucking believable.” AJ sputtered. “Nick, I’m seriously going to punch you in the face! I can’t believe that I fell for all of that bullshit that you were spewing the other day at rehearsal.”

“Mr. McLean!” Peggy scolded AJ for a second time. “I’ve had just about enough of your profanity and your threats.” She returned her attention to Kayla as she continued. “Kayla, I can’t even begin to tell you how inappropriate this whole situation is. You could technically be fired for this kind of behaviour.”

Kayla’s heart was beating erratically. She saw Howie and Brian exchange a worried look behind Peggy’s back. “I haven’t done anything that’s against the rules. Nick and I have kept this a secret.” Kayla lied. “I’ve never spent time with Brian in an unprofessional sense.”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Kayla could practically see the light bulb turn on over AJ’s head. The colour rushed from his face and he looked quickly back and forth between Nick and Brian. “Sweet Jesus.” He mumbled.

“Mr. Littrell, did you know that this was going on?” Peggy turned to Brian who was still leaning against the wall.

Brian shook his head. “No.” He choked the word out. “I had no idea.”

“How is that possible?” Peggy’s eyes narrowed. “You must have seen them together at some point.”

“I was in on it!” Howie jumped in to take the attention away from Brian. “I was running interference for them. I kept Brian from finding out.”

Peggy swivelled her head in Howie’s direction. She looked as though she was going to be sick. “That’s disgusting. I don’t understand why you celebrities think that you can behave like animals and get away with it.”

Howie shrugged. “Nick begged me to help him keep it a secret. He really seems to like Kayla.”

“Please.” Peggy held up her hand. “I’ve heard everything that I need to hear.” She returned her eyes to Kayla. “Kayla, I suggest that you take a sick day tomorrow. I need some time to think.”

Kayla nodded, her eyes falling to the floor. “I understand.”

“Mr. Carter, I hope you’re aware of how much trouble you’ve brought upon your friend. If this whole ordeal is made public, Mr. Littrell may very well lose custody of his son.”

“It doesn’t have to be made public.” Nick spoke for the first time since Peggy had stepped into the house. “You don’t have to tell anyone.”

Peggy sighed. “Are you asking me to compromise my integrity, Mr. Cater?”

“No.” Nick’s voice was firm. “I’m asking you to do what you know is right. Brian doesn’t deserve to be punished for something that he didn’t do.”

“I don’t think that Mr. Littrell is entirely innocent.” Peggy took in Brian’s still ashen face. “I don’t take it well when people try to deceive me.”

“I’ve got nothing to hide.” The tremor in Brian’s voice gave him away. Peggy had him beat.

“And you, Mr. McLean.” Peggy lifted her eyes to AJ as she edged by Howie and pulled open the front door. “I know that you’re somehow a part of this whole thing.”

AJ swallowed nervously. “I have no fucking clue what’s going on right now.”

Peggy pursed her lips and stepped out into the cold. “I will be in touch with you at some point this week, Mr. Littrell. Kayla, as I said, take tomorrow off. We’ll discuss your behaviour when you return to the office.”

Nick let go of Kayla’s hand the second that the door closed and hastily did up his jeans. Feeling more than a little exposed, Kayla followed Nick’s lead and pulled her sweater over her head. She fixed her hair and grabbed Nick’s t-shirt off of the stairs.

“Here.” Kayla handed him the shirt and he gratefully accepted it; pulling it over his head in record speed.

“I can’t believe that worked.” Howie was leaning against the front door as if to keep Peggy from coming back inside.

“It sure as hell worked on me!” AJ shook his head at Nick. “I was inches away from beating the shit out of you.”

“I know.” Nick grimaced. “That’s how I knew my plan was working.”

“You went all out.” AJ laughed. “I took one look at your pants and lost it.”

An embarrassed smile played across Nick’s face. “I had to look the part.”

“Guys.” Howie gestured slightly at Brian who was staring at Kayla with an unreadable expression on his face. “Let’s give these two a minute.”

“And you guys can fill me in from the beginning.” AJ patted Nick roughly on the back as the two of them followed Howie down the hallway towards the kitchen. “You’ve got quite the bulge there, Nicky.”

Brian waited until he could no longer hear AJ’s laughter before he pushed himself away from the wall and stepped towards Kayla. An irrational amount of jealousy was still coursing through him; the thought of Kayla touching Nick the way she had made him want to be sick. He knew that Nick had staged the whole thing for his benefit, but that didn’t change the fact that he hated the idea of Kayla touching anyone but him.

“Brian, I don’t want you to be mad at Nick.”

Brian looked up into Kayla’s worried eyes. “I’m not mad at Nick.”

“He took a massive hit for you – for us.”

“I know.” Brian was getting nervous; Kayla’s tone had changed.

“This afternoon could have turned out a lot worse. We could have been caught.”

“I know.” Brian had now fully closed the gap between them. He brought his hands to Kayla’s arms and stared into her face. He knew by her expression exactly where the conversation was headed. “Please don’t say what you’re about to say. I know that you don’t mean it.”

“We made a mistake, Brian.”

“No we didn’t.” Brian knew that he was pleading; he knew that he sounded pathetic. His stomach churned.

“I can’t let you lose your son.”

“Kay, it will be my fault if I lose him.” Brian felt beyond desperate. He hadn’t even felt this hallow when Leighanne had asked him for a divorce. There was something about Kayla that he was drawn to; that he needed. The thought of her walking away was more devastating than the end of his thirteen year marriage had been.

“You need Baylee.” Kayla’s voice was wavering. “You don’t need me. You may think that you do, but you don’t. There are tens of thousands of women out there who would die to be with you; women who won’t jeopardize your ability to retain custody of your only child.”

“I need both of you.” Brian was being selfish, but he didn’t care. He wanted it all; Kayla, Baylee, and the perfect fairy-tale ending. “I don’t want another woman. I want you.”

Kayla’s smile was thin and forced. “Don’t make it harder than it already is for me to walk away from you, Brian.”

Brian did the only thing that he could think of. He kissed her. The kiss was tender at first, but he aggressively required more. His tongue darted across the corners of her mouth before delving inside, while his hands slid down Kayla’s back to pull her closer. Kayla instinctively looped her hands around Brian’s neck, tightening their embrace. Brain began to grind against her, not caring that his friends were in the other room.

When he pulled away, his breathing was short and laboured. “Let’s go upstairs.”

“I can’t – we can’t.” Kayla corrected. “I have to go.”

“No you don’t.” Brian dug his hands into the soft skin of Kayla’s waist, as if he was trying to hold her in place. He could barely get the words out. “I can have both of you.”

Kayla shook her head and stepped out of Brian’s grasp. “You and I both know that you can’t. I’m making the decision for you; I’m choosing Baylee.”

“What if I don’t want you to choose for me?” Brian demanded. “What if I want to choose?”

“Goodbye, Brian.” Kayla grabbed her purse and her keys and headed for the door. She couldn’t bring herself to look into his face one more time; she was determined not to cry.