I knew who he was. I’d go as far as to say that not many women in the States around my age would have a hard time knowing who he was at least by sight if not by name. He’d been all over television, magazine and radio for years, it was sort of difficult to not know him. And suddenly there he was… Kevin Richardson was moving in next door to my best friend for the summer.

Kevin was a Backstreet Boy. Or rather, he’d been a Backstreet Boy for over a decade and then decided to retire from the boyband to pursue other opportunities. Or at least that’s the last I’d heard about him in the press. It wasn’t like I followed his career in the news or anything, I was actually very much into one of Kevin’s “rival” boybands for years. But see, I’d met Kevin before and once I meet someone if I hear their name or see it in an article I tend to pay attention. Apparently Kevin wasn’t the same way though because when he’d introduced himself to me in the hallway that afternoon there wasn’t a flash of recognition on his face whatsoever. He had no idea, or so it seemed, that he’d once sat at the same table as I at some posh dinner party and talked to me for hours about everything under the sun. I didn’t blame him though, I’d barely broken my way into being published when we’d met and why would a famous Pop Star stud want to remember a college chick who wrote chick-lit for young adults?

While I watered the plants in Christian’s condo I thought about Kevin and what had changed since we’d last met. It had been about seven years. Back then Kevin was at the height of his career, and I was at the beginning of mine. Since then, I’d moved up… way up… in the publishing world and although Kevin hadn’t lost his celebrity status, it certainly had changed. Now I was the one doing talk shows and book tours to promote my work while Kevin was living a less public life than he had before.

The one thing I couldn’t figure out was whether Kevin was still married or not. When I’d met him he was engaged to some beautiful blonde dancer who basically looked like the perfect match for him. I knew they eventually did tie the knot, but now with him spending a summer in Roland’s condo, seemingly alone, I had to wonder… where was the blonde? Were they still married? Was there trouble in paradise? Not that it mattered, I just wondered. I'm a writer, my mind does things like that. I tried to remember if I’d seen a ring in the short time that we chatted in the hallway, but I honestly couldn’t recall. I didn’t think he was wearing one, but then again once I saw those green eyes looking at me I really wasn’t good for much anyway.

I almost called my mother from Christian’s place to ask her if she’d had any other visions about this guy with the green eyes, but I blew it off as me being silly and possibly a bit dehydrated from too much sun and not enough liquids. I stole a bottle of water from the fridge, gave Vinnie his own bowl of water to drink, and then decided to let the green eye conversation with my mom wait until later.

Going down in the elevators with Vinnie was never as much trouble as going up was. I think he knew that if we were up on the fifth floor and waiting for an elevator it meant we were going back down to solid ground and that he’d soon be standing in the car with his head hanging out of the window and his ears flapping in the wind. Vinnie loved riding in the car, even if it was just the five minute drive from the condos to our house down the road.

We made it down the elevators and into the bright parking lot with a minimal amount of groaning and then Vinnie happily leaped into my car and made himself comfortable in “his” seat. I ruffled his ears with a smile and then shut the door for him. Walking toward my side of the car I was distracted thinking about what to have for dinner, wondering if making a trip to Starbucks could be justified even though it was in the opposite direction of my house, and yes… I was still thinking about Kevin and his eyes. In my distraction and thanks to my inherent clumsiness I dropped my keys half way around the car and they tumbled underneath the back of the car.

I stopped and crouched down to pick them up, "Shit…" I reached my arm under the car and struggled to reach the keys as I mumbled a potpourri of obscenities.

"Hello again…"

His voice startled me and I jumped hitting my head on the hitch on my car, "Fuck me!" I closed my eyes and my hand immediately went to the point of pain on my head as I let out a groan and a whine.

I heard him set a box down on the ground, "Holy shit, are you okay?" I sat back on my knees and kept my hand on my head making that groaning sound that only comes out when you hit your head and can’t talk as the pain shoots through your body. "Let me look…" he said as I opened my teary eyes and looked back up at him. He had his sunglasses back on but took them off again so he could look at my head. "Move your hand…" he said quietly, almost in a whisper as I stared into his eyes. I moved my hand carefully and he gently felt my head with his hand. I winced at his touch and closed my eyes again. "Wow… you have a bump…"

"No shit…" I groaned looking back up at him noticing his eyes for the millionth time. He stared at me as I stared at him, "Stunning…"

"Huh?" he smiled.

"Oh…" I chuckled. "Uh… your eyes… they’re stunning."

He blushed and looked away for a moment, "Thank you. How about I help you up?"

I smiled and nodded slowly as more pain shot through my head. He reached out and put a hand underneath each of my forearms and I grabbed a hold of his arms. He had really nice arms. He smiled at me once I was standing and looked at me still holding my arms loosely, "You okay?"

"Yeah I’m good…" I swerved a bit as I reached out for him again and he tightened his grip.

"Dizzy?"

"A little…" I admitted timidly.

"Well I’m not leaving you alone then. You could have a concussion…"

I rolled my eyes, "I don’t have a concussion."

"You could…"

"Kevin?"

"Yeah?"

"I don’t have a concussion…"

Two hours later I sat on an examination bed in the ER looking at a med student with Kevin standing nearby, "You have a slight concussion, ma’am."

Kevin chuckled and began biting his thumbnail to avoid laughing. I shot him a look and then smiled, "Can I go home now?"

"Yes I’ll discharge you now…" the med student said. He looked at Kevin, "You’ll have to make sure that she doesn’t sleep more than two hours at a time, and if the pain gets worse, come back in. I’ll give you the painkillers and she can have them every four to six hours."

"Oh I…" Kevin stumbled over his words looking between the doctor and me as he held the bottle of pills. “I’m…”

"He’s not ‘with’ me…" I said to the student. "He just made me hit my head. He’s a neighbor of my… I’ll be okay…"

"Is there someone else who could stay with you?" the med student asked.

"Does my dog count?" The pain killers they gave me clearly were beginning to kick in because I laughed pretty heartily at that one, I almost snorted.

He didn’t laugh. "You need someone to wake you up every few hours… it’s standard protocol with concussions. Otherwise we’ll have to admit you for the night for observation."

"I’m not staying here…" I said as I slid off of the bed.

"Ma’am…"

"Stop calling me that… I refuse to be called ma’am… do I look like a ma’am to you?"

"No ma’am I…"

"I’m going home…" I was getting grumpy and although the painkillers were beginning to work, when I stood up I realized just how much they still weren’t working yet. My head was pounding from the sudden movement off of the bed and all I wanted to do was go home and curl up with Vinnie and sleep.

The med student reached out and grabbed my arm, "Miss… I really don’t think that…" I turned around and all but growled at him. He quickly removed his hand from my arm.

"I’ll take care of her…" Kevin said quietly stepping in between the student and me. I looked at him ready to protest but he caught me with his eyes and I was speechless. Damn his pretty eyes. He smiled and handed me the ice pack that I’d left sitting on the bed. "Come on, I’ll take you home…"