Chapter 10

          Caryss moaned loudly as the phone rang and Nick picked it up then slammed it back down in the cradle.

          “Time to get up babe,” he said groggily as he rubbed the sleep out of his clear blue eyes.

          Caryss groaned again and pulled a pillow out from under her head and slapped it over her face, trying to block out the world and squeeze in some extra Z’s. Nick laughed at her morning disposition and snatched the pillow off her face in one quick swoop.

          “You’re too cute for words,” he said sweetly as he bent down and planted a soft kiss on her pouty lips. “But it’s 10:00 in the morning and there is no time for being grumpy. Let’s hit the shower,” he ordered as he rolled over on top of her and started tickling her lightly. She opened her eyes, the sunlight filtering into her irises slowly, and the intense shade of green came to life as a brighter, more vivid jade. Nick stopped tickling her and stared into her beautiful gaze, his heart skipping a beat as she looked back at him.

          “You are so beautiful,” he whispered into her ear as he rolled off of her and planted his feet firmly on the carpet next to the bed. She smiled at his kind words and allowed him to grab her hands and pull her to a sitting position on the bed.

          She sat there for a minute, gathering her thoughts and stretching. When she felt ready to face the world for another day, she lifted herself off the bed and stumbled into the bathroom to join Nick in the shower.

          Fifteen minutes and one quick “shower shag” later, the two were toweling off and there was a knock at the door.

          “Room service,” the person on the other side of the door announced, as Nick wrapped a towel around his waist and went to open the door. Caryss slipped into the hotel issued white terry cloth robe that was hanging on a hook in the bathroom and walked over to the table and sat down.

          “Hungry?” Nick asked as he piled his plate full of food. “There’s plenty; I didn’t know what you liked so I ordered a little of everything.” Caryss smiled at him as she grabbed a pancake, two strips of bacon, scooped some scrambled eggs onto her plate and poured herself a cup of coffee. They had great conversation as they ate breakfast, mostly discussing the meeting they would be at in a little while.

          This isn’t what I want to be talking about, Caryss thought to herself as Nick continued telling her all about Heal the Bay. Is he purposely not talking about last night and this morning? I knew this would happen, it always does. My heart is attached to him now and he probably can’t wait to leave. Why do I keep doing this to myself? Maybe I should just make a sign and hang it around my neck that says “Hi, my name is Caryss and I’m easy.” That seems to be all I’m good for in the eyes of every man I’ve ever met!

          Nick had stopped talking during her internal monologue and when Caryss didn’t even look up at him or respond to the question he asked her, he knew her mind was somewhere else.

          “What are you thinking about?” he asked her softly, slowly bringing her out of the bitter reverie she was in. She didn’t know what to say and simply shook her head, trying to dismiss it and went back to eating.

          “You’re not getting away that easily,” he said as he reached across the table and grabbed her hand, holding it loosely in his. “What’s wrong?”

          She inhaled sharply, not wanting to have this conversation. Last night and this morning had been wonderful to her, and even if it wasn’t going to last, she didn’t want the last memories she had of Nick Carter to be him walking out the door after she told him she didn’t want it to end like this. Maybe he won’t though. Maybe he will stay. He was so caring and intuitive last night at the club. Maybe….

          “Talk to me instead of yourself,” he told her, shaking her hand lightly.

          “Nick, last night was great and I don’t want to ruin it by talking about ‘feelings’ and stuff,” she said quietly, knowing from past experiences that ‘feelings’ ruin everything.

          “Why don’t you trust me?” he asked bluntly as he picked up his napkin and wiped his mouth. She looked him directly in the eyes, her mouth opening to fight back, but nothing coming out of it. “I thought I made it clear last night at the club that my intentions with you are not what you seem to think they are.”

          “What are your intentions Nickolas?” she asked, getting very heated by his tone of voice. She felt like he was challenging her, and Caryss always rose to a challenge. “What do you see happening? Are you going to ask me out again tonight? Are we just going to hump like monkey’s every night I’m in LA and then when I hop on my plane back to Chicago we forget this ever happened? Are you--”

          Before she could finish her sentence Nick had jumped out of his chair and pounced towards her like a cheetah stalking a gazelle. He crashed into her with so much force she fell backwards in her chair, both of them slamming onto the floor, Caryss on the bottom of the pile.

          When she realized what had happened, all she felt was Nick’s lips pressed against hers, his hands in her hair, his sweet breath penetrating her senses. She kissed him back, hard and deep, forgetting at that moment about how badly she wanted to stay like this forever and all she could think about what how much she loved him.

          When Nick pulled away, he looked down at her, his eyes filled with mystery and contemplation.

          “I understand that you’ve been treated badly by men before me, and I’m sorry that you have. I also understand that because of your past experiences, trusting me may not come as easily as I had hoped it would. I can’t tell you where we go from here or what is going to happen. All I can tell you is spending last night and this morning with you has been the best time I’ve had in quite a while and I’m in no hurry for that to end. Yes, I would like to see you again tonight. Yes, I do hope we can have mind-blowing sex again tonight, and every night, and every day for that matter while you’re here. And I would like to not think about you going back to Chicago, because when I do, my heart aches.”

          “Thank you,” Caryss said softly as she lifted her head off the floor and kissed him. She wrapped her arms around his neck he helped pull her off the ground. They stood there for a minute, wrapped in each other’s arms, hugging tightly, neither one wanting to be the first to release the other.

          “We should get dressed, we have to leave a little while,” Caryss said as she looked at the clock by the bed.

          “Okay, but when we leave, we’re leaving together,” responded Nick with a smirk.

          “Yeah, together.” Caryss felt a lot lighter as she walked over to the closet and scanned through her clothes. At least I have you for a little while longer. At least I don’t have to say goodbye just yet.

          “I’m going to run downstairs, there’s a clothing store across the street. I need to get something to wear,” Nick said as he slipped on the pants and shirt he had been wearing last night. “I’ll be back in a little while.” He walked over to Caryss and kissed her on the neck.

          “I’ll be here, trying to decide what to wear,” she said with dread in her voice. Nick laughed at the look she had on her face as she stared at her clothes hanging in the closet. He grabbed the room key off the counter and shut the door quietly behind him.

          As he stood waiting for the elevator, he reflected on last night and this morning. “She’s so perfect for me, but so afraid of me leaving her,” he thought out loud as he watched the numbers on the elevator climb to fifteen. “What is going happen when it comes time for her to go home?” When the elevator dinged and the doors started to open, he took a step towards them to enter the elevator.

          “Oh my God!” Stacie screamed as she ran into Nick as she was running out of the elevator. She stopped when she saw who she had run into, and her mouth gaped open.

          “Hey Stacie, here to see Caryss?” Nick asked playfully, not trying to hide the amused look on his face at all. When Stacie didn’t respond, Nick started laughing and motioned behind him. “She’s in the room trying to find something to wear; I’m sure she could use your input. I’m going across the street to get some clothes. See you in a little while.” He stepped around Stacie and boarded the elevator.

When the doors closed and he was out of sight, Stacie exhaled loudly and muttered to herself as she walked down the hallway to Caryss’s suite. “Way to go Stace, way to look like an idiot!” She knocked on Caryss’s door and when it opened, she quickly ran into the room and knocked Caryss down onto the bed, rehashing the horrendous episode at the elevator.

          “I’m so embarrassed,” she concluded as she sat up on the bed and looked at her friend meekly.

          “You are too funny girl. Don’t even worry about. Now help me pick out something to wear!” By the time Nick arrived back with a new pair of chinos, a spring green colored short-sleeved button down shirt with a white t-shirt to wear underneath it and a pair of flip flops, Caryss was dressed, made-up and ready to go.

          “You look great,” he told her as he made note of every curve on her body underneath the summery dress she had on. The dress was a sleeveless wrap around style, with the tie forming at her waistline, accentuating her hips and butt perfectly. It was cotton/rayon blend that swayed when she walked and hit mid-thigh. The off-white with pale pink flowered material exuded the essence of spring and while it looked out of place when she was packing it back in snow-covered freezing Chicago, here in warm, sunny Los Angeles it couldn’t have fit better.

          She completed the outfit with a pair of open-toed mules the same off-white color as the dress and piled her curls on top of her head with a few pins holding it into place. Her makeup was neutral shades of brown and pink, and her lips were glossed with just a hint of pink shining through.

          “Are we all ready?” she asked candidly, trying to get Nick to stop staring at her like she was a steak and he was a hungry lion.

          “Huh? Oh yeah, all ready,” he stammered as he blinked a few times and cleared his throat. He opened the door, allowing Stacie and then Caryss to exit before him, and as Caryss walked in front of him, he swatted her playfully on the butt. “You really look beautiful.”

          “You don’t look so bad yourself; that green is great color on you,” she responded with a smile, feeling the same sexual urge as Nick. Keep it in your pants girl, you’ve got to act professional until the meeting is over, she told herself sternly as they rode down the elevator to the lobby. What she didn’t know what that Nick was giving himself the same speech.

          When they entered the lobby, Derek was waiting to drive them to the meeting. Stacie, Nick and Caryss climbed into the car and reminisced about the happening of the previous night as they rode downtown to Liz and Stacie’s office.

          Up until the moment Caryss saw Trevor again when they got to Stacie’s office, she had completely forgotten about his “obsession” with her. But as she exited the car and once again was ogled by him, she was against her wishes reminded, something that would surely cause some problems during her time in LA.