"C'mon Nick, we need to get a move on! You've got 45 minutes!"

"Dammit!" He pushed her away from him so that she landed on the bed and started pulling clothes out of the drawers and tossing them into his suitcase.

Jessica stood behind him and put her hand on his arm. "Let's get dressed and I can help you with that." Nick looked at her and grinned.

"You'll help me pack?"

"Sure I will."

He sat and watched admiringly as she fastened her bra and pulled on her panties. "You are such a gorgeous creature." he murmured.

"Get dressed!" she laughed and tossed his boxers at his head.

Jessica smiled as she turned away from Nick. No one had ever called her gorgeous, no one had ever wanted to sleep with her. She hadn't told him that she was a virgin, had been a virgin that is, that her only sexual experiences had come from a vibrator. She kept expecting to wake up only to have someone tell her that it was all a dream. That this handsome man would never be interested in her. What a fool she was. As she watched him dress and fix his hair she pinched her leg lightly. It was real, he was here, she was here. And she was with him.

They finished Nick's packing and he watched from the sofa as Jessica made a final check of the rooms to make sure neither of them forgot anything. He licked his lips as she bent down to retrieve something from the floor by the bed. "What did you find?"

"Oh, one of our condoms!" She giggled and tossed it into the garbage can. "Our aim wasn't too precise last night."

He pulled her down onto his lap. "Oh no? I thought I hit all the targets pretty good."

She hugged him around his neck and kissed him, letting her tongue trail around his lips. "YOUR aim was spot on. Very good job!"

"Jess?" Nick circled his arms around her waist and held her tight to him.

"Yes?"

"Will you come with me?"

Her eyes sparkled and she smiled at him. "Where?" she giggled.

"With me, on tour."

She looked surprised. "But Nick, my job."

"Tell them you need a leave of absence or whatever. I want you to come with me."

She wiggled out of his clasp and leaned against the dresser opposite him. "Why Nick? Why me?"

Nick sank back into the overstuffed chair. "Because you are beautiful and because I want to get to know you better. This is the only way. It's easier for you to leave here than it is for me to stay here."

She put her hands to her throat. "You want to get to know me better, really?" Nick walked over to her and sat on the dresser beside her. He pulled her into his arms, nestling his head on her shoulder.

"Really. I think we have something here."

Jessica raised an eyebrow and looked down at his blond head. "You can tell that from one night of sex?"

"It was more than sex, baby." Nick whispered and lowered his mouth to suck on the tender flesh of her neck.

Jesica gasped and pulled away from him slightly. "I...I have to think about it. What would I do for money?"

"I'll take care of you, I promise. Anything you want." He pulled her back to him. "Will you?"

"Nick, it's a big decision to have to make suddenly."

Nick's bodyguard opened the door. "3 minutes Nick, we're rolling!"

Nick climbed off the dresser and grabbed a pen and scribbled something on a piece of paper. He pressed the paper into her hand. "That's my cell number. Call me by six. No later. I can tell you then where to meet me. Everything will be arranged."

Jessica was stunned. she didn't know what to think. "Nick...I..."

"Let's go Nick!" The guard hollered into the room.

Nick grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room with him. "Call me. Think about it and call me. Okay?" He hugged and kissed her before he ran to catch up to the guard at the elevator. "Bye Jess!" She nodded her head slowly as the elevator door slid closed in her face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey guys!" Nick jumped on the bus, a huge grin on his face.

"And why are you so late?" AJ asked, wiggling his eyebrows at him.

"I think I know, I was in the room beside him last night." Howie muttered, punching Nick in the arm.

"She stayed all night?"

"She who, Kev? Who says anybody was with me?"

"I hope to God someone was with you. You couldn't have made all that noise by yourself!" Howie laughed at Nick's look of surprise. It wasn't often that Howie got to tease Nick and he was taking full advantage of the situation. "Please tell me you didn't make all that noise because you were watching a porno and jacking off!"

"Jesus!" Nick yelled and threw his backpack on one of the bunks. "That's really nice Howard. Everyone knows you make way more noise than I do."

"I usually have a partner though!"

Nick took a swing at Howie as he jumped into the back compartment of the bus.

"Little bugger. I'll get him!"

Their tour manager moved into Howie's vacated seat and passed out the next days itinery.

"Hey Cliff?" Nick scratched his head as he studied the notes. "I'll be having someone stay with me starting tonight. Indefinitely."

Four heads lifted and stared at him.

"What?" Nick asked, innocently, finally noticing the silence.

"Indefinitely is a big word for you. And, you could tell us who she is." AJ prompted, with a smirk.

"Oh, her name is Jess, Jessica, um...I don't know her last name."

"It's Birch." Kevin offered quietly

"How do you know, Kevin?" Nick studied the older man, his eyes narrowed.

"She told us at the bar. Last night."

"Oh, yeah, right. Jessica Birch."

"You don't even know her last name and she's touring with you?" Cliff shook his head in amazement. "Damn rock stars!"

"Was she that blonde waitress last night?" AJ asked eagerly. "Damn she was fine!"

"Oh yeah!" Nick grinned wickedly and tipped his chair back. "Damn fine fuck too! I'm gonna work on loosening her up a bit, but she is good."

"Christ Nick! You sound like a first class dickhead! She's not a piece of meat!"

"Like you haven't ever said that about someone you've slept with, Kevin!"

"Okay gentlemen." Cliff interrupted. "I penciled her in. She will be staying with you Nick, I assume? Now where is she?"

"Oh. She'll meet us at the venue tonight. She wanted some time to think and plan stuff. She'll call." Nick said nonchalantly as he retrieved a Coke from the fridge.

"You don't even know for sure if she wants to tour with us?"

"She'll be there." Nick picked up his notes and got up from the table. "Trust me."