When Annie opened her stateroom door an hour later after changing into her pajamas, she found herself face to face with......a Ninja Turtle. The red one. What was his name? She racked her brain trying to remember the names of the Ninja Turtles. They were all artists, right? Nick, through the eye holes in his red bandana-mask, studied Annie’s getup. She wore bright pink flannel pajamas with white polka dots, complete with big pink sponge rollers in her hair. “Those aren’t shortie pajamas,” he deadpanned.

Annie, still a little tipsy from the three glasses of wine she’d had at dinner, burst into a fit of giggles. “And those are Ninja Turtle pajamas! Where did you find a set that big?”

Nick smirked. “I’m going to behave and try my best not to turn that into something dirty, but you should know that in here...” He tapped on the side of his green, hooded head. “I’m strutting like a caveman.” She laughed again and rolled her eyes. Nick looked down at her feet. “Are those bunny slippers?”

“Why, yes. Yes they are.” She held a foot up and wiggled it back and forth.

“Where’d you find a pair that big?” he quipped suggestively.

“Behave,” she warned, giving him a playful push on the chest.

They met Mike and Howie at the end of the hallway, and he ushered them towards the atrium bar where the pajama party was being held. Halfway there, Nick casually grabbed Annie’s hand and looped his fingers through hers. She held his hand in return until they got so close to the atrium that she could feel the thumping of the music in her chest, then tentatively pulled away and slowed down so that she was a couple of steps behind him. He stopped and whirled around, his eyes searching hers in disappointment. “What are you doing?”

“Go on,” she mouthed.

He started to protest. “But, what about--?”

“Later,” she promised. He smiled and shuffled ahead to catch up with Mike and Howie. She watched as Nick and Howie entered the bar and began mingling with the fans, and Leighanne soon waved her over to a high top table where she and Leigh were sipping on cosmos.

“Cute,” Leighanne commented on Annie’s pajamas as she slid into a bar stool and ordered a drink. “The rollers are a nice touch.”

“Ooh! Bunny slippers too!” Leigh pointed to Annie’s feet. “Though I guess I, myself, should have worn bunny ears, considering my husband thinks he’s Hugh Hefner.”

Leighanne snorted into her martini glass. “Have you seen mine yet?” Annie shook her head.

“Elmo pajamas. Before we left the room, he asked me if I wanted to tickle him.”

“Isn’t it weird that AJ looks the most normal out of all of them?” Leigh asked. They all laughed.

Soon after, the Boys and announced that they would be playing truth or dare, and it was of course, a riot. That is, until Nick got tired of the dares and said, “Truth.”

A fan standing right beside the bar he was standing on took the microphone and cleared her throat. “Nick, we all really enjoyed your karaoke performance today, but it’s really got everybody talking...”

Annie had to struggle not to spit her screwdriver all over the table. “Oh, no,” she gasped and stared at Leigh and Leighanne in horror.

“She wouldn’t!” Leighanne hissed.

Across the room, Nick gulped and licked his lips. “Oh really?”

“Yes. What we all really want to know is...... Did you know that Annie girl you sang with before she got up on stage? I mean, you just seemed really comfortable with each other.”

The temperature of the room suddenly seemed to rise by twenty degrees. Annie fanned herself and gasped for air while Nick’s vision seemed to blur as he searched the crowd for her. He frowned apologetically in her direction and turned to Brian.

“Um, Brian?”

“What is he doing?” Leigh whispered.

“Oh, good boy, Nick,” Leighanne sighed.

“How is this good?” Annie asked.

“Just watch and listen.” Leighanne said, squeezing her arm reassuringly.

A collective, chatty murmur spread across the sea of women in the bar. “Well, ah, you see...” Brian’s voice cut through the chatter. “Annie Morgan is actually a dear friend and colleague of mine. You can hear her singing with me on the first single for my new contemporary Christian album, which will be released early next year. When I heard she was a pretty hardcore Backstreet Boys fan, I bought her a cruise ticket.” He was sure to leave out the part where buying her a cruise ticket had actually been Nick’s idea. That would only add fuel to the fire. “So, of course by now she’s acquainted with the rest of the guys as well.” AJ and Howie eagerly nodded their heads in agreement as Nick and Annie shared a simultaneous sigh of relief. Brian’s answer seemed to satisfy the inquiring fan and the game of truth or dare continued for another half hour or so before the guys called it a night.

Nick was the first one to make it to the table where the ladies were still sitting and drinking cocktails. He untied his red eye mask and threw his hood off, then swiped his hand across his forehead as if wiping away sweat. “Well that was a close one,” he sighed.

“Word,” Brian chimed in from behind him. He dove at Leighanne and planted a kiss on her lips, then everyone laughed as he lost his grip on her purple silk pajamas and crashed into the table. Luckily, all the ladies’ cocktail glasses were more than half empty and they weren’t left cleaning up a mess. Annie momentarily tensed up when Nick came up behind her and looped his arms around her waist, but ended up tossing back the rest of her drink and relaxing with her back against his chest. He nuzzled his head in next to hers and smiled.

“Hey, Bri, can I ask you a question?” Leighanne asked sweetly.

“Yeah, babe?” He tore his eyes away from Nick and Annie to look at his wife.

“Would it have really been that bad for the fans to think Annie and Nick were together?”
Annie nearly choked on her alcohol and Nick raised a surprised eyebrow in Leighanne’s direction.

Brian looked at his wife, then at Nick and Annie, then back at his wife. Leigh and AJ looked on with amused smirks. “Well, the fans who missed out on karaoke might be pretty upset to know that was staged....”

“Good point.” Nick’s chin tickled Annie’s shoulder as he spoke.

“And you’re not, are you? Together, I mean?” Nick could tell that Brian was choosing his words, mainly because Leighanne was staring at him with that “motherly” glare she tended to give him sometimes when he was in trouble. He knew the look well-- if not from his own mother, then definitely from Leighanne.

Annie looked up at Nick expectantly. Were they? She wasn’t really sure, herself. What did Nick think? Nick gave her a wink and turned his attention back to Brian. “We’re casually having a little fun right now, Frick. Don’t get your panties in a wad.” Annie breathed a little sigh of relief. “But, I have to say I’m a little confused about why you care so much.” Well, so much for that sigh of relief. Annie braced herself for Brian’s response.

“Well Nick, I--whoa!” Leighanne’s hands had suddenly disappeared underneath the table and Brian’s eyes widened in surprise. Annie pursed her lips in an attempt to keep from laughing as she watched his demeanor completely change. He looked at Leighanne and winked, then took a swig of her drink and tipped the glass in Nick and Annie’s direction. “You kids have fun tonight!” he blurted out as he yanked Leighanne off her bar stool and led her away.

Howie approached the table carrying a large bottle of liquor. “The bartender loves me,” he said proudly.

“I’d say he does,” Annie remarked with a laugh. “Is that a whole bottle of Smirnoff you just bought from him?”

“Um, no,” Howie answered seriously. “It’s Grey Goose! Wanna drink?”

“Meh-” Annie crinkled her nose in the bottle’s direction as Nick unwrapped himself from her and took it from Howie. “I’m not much of a straight vodka kind of girl.”

“Just a second.” Nick jogged to the bar and started talking to the bartender.

“What’s he doing?” Annie asked Howie.

“Beats me,” he shrugged. “I quit trying to figure him out a long time ago. He’s weird, but seriously....he’s great.”

Annie bit her lip and nodded. “Yeah. He is,” she admitted softly.

“Here,” Nick shoved a brandy snifter full of cherries in Annie’s hand.

“What are these for?”

Nick grabbed a cherry and bit it off the stem, then tossed the bottle back and took a long drink. “Now, you try.”

“That’s quite the girly way to drink vodka, Nicky,” Howie snickered.

“Watch it, D. I can still drink you under the table, and you know it.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“No.” Nick turned his attention back to Annie. “What do you say? Have a little fun with a Backstreet Boy tonight?” Annie nearly did a double take. Had he been eavesdropping on her and Leighanne’s conversation earlier? Did it matter? She shrugged and grabbed a cherry. “Now, don’t bite into it until you get the vodka in your mouth. Then chew and swallow.”

Annie held the cherry in her mouth and took the bottle from Nick. She took a quick drink and bit into the cherry. Surprisingly, even though it still burned on the way down, the cherry added enough sweetness to make the pure alcohol taste pretty good. Oh, I am in trouble, she thought to herself.