| "Ready?" Justin entered her office to find her eyes closed, obviously stressed. "Yeah." Brianne stood, gathered her things, and joined Justin at the door. "We need to stop by your house?" Justin led her to the elevator, rubbing her shoulder lightly for comfort. "No, I have my gym bag." She pressed the elevator button, then leaned against the wall to wait. "Rough day?" "Yeah, how about you?" She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, letting her eyes rest on his. "Not bad, here I snagged this for you." Justin slid a tape into her open purse, giving her a secret look. "What is it?" She tried to pull it from her purse, but Justin slapped her hand away. "You'll have to listen to find out, huh?" Justin ushered her into the elevator, pushing the button for the lobby. "Then I'll take my car to your house, I have a tape player there." She said matter of factly, hoping to get the last word. "Fine with me." He rocked onto his tip toes, looking down at her five two figure. "Justin you already tall enough, get off your tip toes." She playfully ordered, grabbing his arm to pull him onto his feet. "Look shorty.." "Justin don't call me that." She stepped of the elevator and into the lobby, which reminded her of a nice hotel she had stayed in in Durango. It had tile floors, and you could hear the women's shoes tapping across it. The roof was completely made of glass, letting the sun shine into the wide room. "OK, how about munchkin?" "Fine with me, high pockets." She passed through the door he was holding open for her, then looked back at his puzzled expression. "This guy used to call my Mom that, means your tall. Your pockets are high." She explained walking toward her car. "Look I parked next to you." Justin pointed to their side by side cars, a hint of pride showing in his voice. "I knew we'd walk out here together." "Please don't do it anymore, your Mercedes makes my Jetta look like a piece of crap." She teased, pushing him toward his car. "Your car is nice." An amused expression passed over his face briefly, telling her there was more to come. "Not as nice as mine though." He jumped into his car before she had a chance to retort, then waited for her to get into her car. He watched as she pulled the tape from her purse and popped it into the tape player. "I dunno, it's just crazy." -JC "What are you going to do?" -Lance. "I'll tell you when I figure it out." -JC "Walk into her office, throw everything off her desk, lay down, and say 'take me now'!" -Joey "I can't do that, she hates me already, imagine how mad she would be if I messed up her office." -JC "Then just lay on the floor." -Chris "Thanks guys, I really thought you could help me. But no, make it all a joke." -JC "Really Jace, first thing you have to do is talk to her. She really is nice, just don't be so defensive around her. She's not Laura." -Justin "I know, just her facial expressions sometimes remind me of her." "Maybe because Laura was a bitch, and you always make Bri mad?" -Justin "I am going to talk to her later." -JC "Good, and don't be mean." -Justin "I'll try, I just can't control it when I am around her." -JC The tape went on to a couple of songs, and she wondered if Justin had meant for her to hear the conversation or the songs. The rest of the day she couldn't get the conversation out of her head, who was Laura? She felt sorry for Justin, during the work out and dinner she had been rather quiet and stand offish. She threw her keys onto the hallway table, and debated calling JC. She hit her answering machine button to hear the messages for the day, while stepping out of her shoes. "Hey Bri, it's JC, give me a call when you get in." She looked down at the machine, letting the butterflies in her stomach settle before reaching for the phone. "Hey Josh, it's Brianne." She regretted calling, JC wasn't saying anything, she could hear him breathing, but he wasn't actually saying anything. "Hey, what are you doing?" JC situated himself on his couch, catching his breath from the run to the phone. "Not much, just escaped Justin." She giggled, making her way to her bedroom to change out of her work clothes, which she had changed into for dinner after a shower at Justin's. "Well, he must not have been as mean today, it's only eight." JC glanced at his watch to make sure he was right about the time. "And you had dinner, right?" "Yeah, luckily that boy has a bigger obsession with food than exercize." She pulled on a pair of pajama bottoms, readying herself for the night ahead of her. "Yeah, so before Justin has a chance, how about dinner tomorrow?" JC cleared his throat, closed his eyes, and readied himself for rejection. "Sure, how about lasana? I'll make it." She walked back down the stairs to check her cabinets to make sure she had the ingredients. "Well, you'll have to give me directions to your house." JC smiled, he knew she'd fall right into his trap. "Why? You were here last night." She opened a cupboard, looking for noodles. "Yeah, but you told me to forget where you live, and I always do as told." He chuckled when he heard her breath catch in her throat as her words were thrown back at her. "Now, now, none of that Josh." "Why do you call me Josh?" Barely anyone called him Josh and he was starting to love the way it sounded when she did. It felt like a nickname, even though it was his real name. "That's what you introduced yourself as, I guess it just kind of stuck in my mind." "So what are your plans for the evening?" "I dunno, I really need to get some things done around here. I really haven't had a chance to decorate at all." She looked around the living room, visualizing different designs. "Well what are you going to do to it?" "I am going to paint borders in all the rooms, I think apples in the kitchen, and I am going to paint my guestroom a cream color." She thought about the paint sitting in her garage, and wondered if she would have time that weekend. "If you need help give me a call." "Don't say that unless you mean it, I'll have you here all the time." She pulled a pillow off the couch, letting herself sink into it's place. "I wouldn't mind." She visualized the sexy look on his face, letting herself fall into a day dream again. After another thirty minutes of meaningless talk she let him go, so she could get some rest. |
| Chapter Eight |