Justin knocked on the suite door a few minutes to eight. Alex opened the door. "You're early."
"But you're already ready."
"That's not the point. You said eight, and you're early."
"By like three minutes."
"But you're still early."
"Fine. Do you want me to stand outside the door and wait until eight?"
"No. It's eight now."
Justin sighed. "You're confusing."
"And you're not?"
"Nope."
"You're a guy who is going on a date with a woman who isn't going to have sex with you. That's not confusing?"
"You don't have a very high opinion of men, do you?"
"Nope."
"We'll have to work on that," Justin told her.
"You can try to change that, but I don't know how successful you'll be." Alex shrugged her slender shoulders. "I really don't care what you do." She looked over at Ashley. "Bye." She and Justin walked out of the room.
"They make a cute couple, don't they?" Ashley asked AJ, watching Alex and Justin walk to the elevator.
AJ glanced at them. Alex's dark brown hair and gold eyes were a perfect contrast for Justin's blond hair and blue eyes. "Yep."
"I wonder how serious it's gonna be."
"You never know."***
"Are you in college?" Justin asked over dinner.
"Yeah. I start my second year in a few weeks. I go to NYU. But I'm thinking about transferring to either UCLA or a college in Florida. I'm gonna go look at the ones they have there over Thanksgiving break."
"Why do you want to transfer?"
"I miss the beach. Being able to go swimming on the beach in the middle of winter. New York's cool and all, but it seems confining to me."
"What do you want to be?"
"A writer. But I'm already that. I'm going to college to get a degree to fall back on. I think I'd like to teach."
"Do you have any books published?"
"My first debuts next week."
"Congratulations."
"Thanks."
"Care to dance?" Justin stood up.
"Sure." Alex stood up, placing her hand in Justin's.
They moved perfect rhythm together, their bodies matching the other's as though they'd been made for each other. They started out with a few inches of space between them, but as the first song progressed, the space grew smaller and smaller, until Alex's head was resting on Justin's shoulder.
Justin's lips brushed her temple, and Alex shivered. It was only the softest of touches, but she felt it to the very core of her body. No other guy had ever made her feel so much, so soon.
"We should go back to our table," Justin said in a husky voice, after a few dances.
"Yeah, we should," Alex agreed.
Neither of them moved to go back to the table. After a few minutes, Justin finally pulled away from her. They walked back to the table in silence.
Justin watched Alex across the table. He'd never felt so much for a woman, so fast. He'd gotten hard just by dancing with her. That amazed him. He'd never felt something like this before.***
"How much longer will you be in LA?" Justin asked, as they rode up the elevator to the top floor, where the suites were.
"I leave the day after tomorrow."
"Would you like to go out again?"
"Sure. Where?"
"Dinner and dancing?"
"That's cool."
"Seven ok?"
"Seven's fine." Alex turned to face him as they stopped in front of her room. "I had fun tonight."
"So did I." Justin leaned down. His hand slipped behind her neck and tilted her head up to his. "I don't think I've enjoyed a date so much." His lips met hers.
Alex's hands ran up his chest, wrapping around his neck.
They didn't break apart until they heard someone clearing their throat behind him.
Justin and Alex broke apart and turned around. AJ stood in the doorway. "Having fun?"
"Go away, AJ," Alex told him.
AJ laughed. "No. I'm your chaperone."
"No, you're not," Justin said. "We're old enough to not need chaperones."
"Are not."
Alex and Justin sighed. "Since we're not going to get anymore privacy, I'll tell you good night now. Sweet dreams."
"Thanks. You too."
"See you tomorrow night."
"Yep."
"Bye."
"Bye, Justin." Alex watched Justin walk down the hall to his suite.***
"Have fun on your date?" AJ asked, as he and Alex walked in the room.
"Make Justin a lucky guy?"
Alex laughed. "Is sex the only thing you think about, AJ?"
"No. I think about a few other things."
"Like?"
"Um, girls, and music."
"Girls is close enough to sex to not count. But I'll give you the music."
"Gee, thanks." AJ pouted. "I feel loved."
"You are, by about a million fans."
"I suppose I can deal with that."
"Good, because you don't have my love."
"Not even a little?" AJ inquired with a puppy dog face. "Not even as a friend?"
"Maybe a little, just as a friend though," Alex said, laughing.
"I settle for that, then. 'Night, Alex."
"'Night, AJ." Alex walked to her room.***
"Alex, want to go shopping?" Ashley asked, walking into Alex's room.
Alex groaned and pulled the pillow over her head. "Go away."
"C'mon, Alex, it's time to get up. It's almost ten."
"And I didn't get to sleep until six."
"What time did you get in last night?"
"A little after midnight. Everyone but AJ was asleep. We're going out again tonight."
"Then why didn't you get to sleep until six?"
"I was up writing." Alex rolled over on her back and stared at the ceiling. "Thank you very much, Ashley Noelle Morgan, for waking me up."
Ashley smiled brightly. "You're welcome."***
"I don't need to spend anymore money," Alex complained as Ashley and AJ dragged her into a store. "I've already spent too much on this trip."
"You need to get a new outfit for tonight," AJ told her.
"I do not."
"Sure you do," Ashley said. "What do you think about this?" She held up a knee- length purple skirt with bright blue and gold flowers on it.
"Oh yeah, Ashley, that's really my style," Alex said.
"No, this is more you," AJ said, holding up a black and white zebra stripped skirt.
"I don't know either of you," Alex exclaimed, walking towards the back of the store. She picked out a knee length, black skirt and a black tank top with silver roses on it.
"But that's too dark," Ashley complained as Alex paid for the things. "You need something bright, colorful."
"It's me, though. I'm not the type to wear bright, vivid things, wild prints, or colorful patterns."
"You're no fun," AJ told her.
"And who asked you for your opinion?" Alex inquired sweetly.
Ashley and AJ stared at her for a minute, then started laughing. They followed her out of the store.***
"Are you ever gonna give me your phone number?" Justin asked during dinner that night.
"Later tonight, I will," Alex assured him.
"Good. I'll give you mine, then."
"If you're ever in New York, come visit me," Alex told him.
"I plan on it. But be warned, I'll probably drag the others with me."
"The others being the other members of N'Sync?"
"No," Justin joked, "my other selves."
Alex looked at him with a serious expression. "You mean you have other personalities?"
Justin laughed. "Yeah, I'm crazy, you see, and have multiple personalities."
Alex nodded her head. "I knew there was something wrong with you," she said, as she burst into laughter.
Justin's laughter joined hers, and as he looked into her eyes, he knew she was different from everyone else he'd ever dated. She was different from anyone he knew. It would be easy to fall in love with her.
As Alex stared into Justin's blue eyes long after their laughter faded, she felt a tugging at her heart. Something she'd never felt before. He would be easy to love. But that would just make it even easier for him to break her heart.
No, Alex, you're not going to think like that. Trust him. Give him a chance before you push him away.
But another voice inside her whispered back, He's not any different from any guy you've met. No different from anyone else in your life. He'll desert you when things start going bad.
Just give him a chance first, the other voice, the romantic, trusting side of her said. Don't ruin it before it even begins.
Justin watched her gold eyes go from a soft, sparkling gold to a harder gold, and wondered what happened. He hadn't said anything aloud, had he?
"I won't mind if you brings the others," Alex told him. "They can't be that bad."
"Uh, I'm not too sure about that."
Alex laughed again, her fears momentarily forgotten.