by CJ Roberts
While Jason continued to stare at him wide-eyed, Nic joined him on the couch. After making himself comfortable with a lot of wiggling and stretching, he turned to Jason, who by this time was holding back a fit of giggling. As Lauren filmed the scene from the doorway to her bedroom, she also tried in vain to hold back her own laughter. Nic was quite the comedian.
“SpongeBob’s the best. Hey, is this the Bad Neighbors episode?”
“Uh, yeah.” Jason’s gaze darted left and right, like he was searching for someone. Lauren smiled. He still hadn’t spotted her.
“What’s your favorite episode?” Nic asked Jason. “Mine’s the Truth or Square one. It’s so funny when everyone gets locked in the freezer and SpongeBob starts making up all these wacky stories.” Lauren’s heart melted at his boyish expression. She’d better step in before Jason started getting worried.
“Mine is the one where SpongeBob and Patrick try to break Mrs. Puff out of jail,” she said, leaving her hiding place.
“Uh, Mom…?” Jason indicated Nic with wide eyes and a jerk of his head. He was practically jumping up and down on the couch.
“Yes, honey?” She regarded him innocently.
“Look!” he whispered loudly, pointing at Nic. “It’s Nic Lamoro! Can’t you see him, Mom? Can’t you see?”
Nic burst out in a fit of laughter. Tears streaming from his eyes, he rolled onto the floor, clutching his stomach.
“Mom, did I miss something?” Jason’s confused expression was so adorable, Lauren couldn’t hold back her own laughter anymore. His eyes continued to reflect his bewilderment at the whole scene, but he soon joined them in their laughter. She took Nic’s place on the couch and hugged her son tightly. It was so good to see Jason having fun. After taking a few deep breaths and wiping the tears from her eyes, she was able to speak again.
She gestured to Nic, who’d managed to calm down enough to sit up. “Nic will be visiting us this weekend. But you can’t tell anyone until after he leaves. Nic doesn’t want any reporters to bother us.”
Jason turned to Nic and shook his head. “I won’t tell anyone. I promise.”
Nic got up on his knees and shook Jason’s hand, man to man. “I appreciate your help, buddy.” Then he winked, adding, “Between the two of us, I’m sure we can keep the reporters away.”
“You bet!” Jason jumped off the couch and shouted over his shoulder as he ran to his room, “What’s for breakfast, Mom? I’m starving.”
“It’s good to know the shock hasn’t affected his appetite,” Lauren said, her tone wry. “Come have some coffee while I make breakfast. Do you like omelets?”
He took the cup she handed him. “Love ’em.”
“There’s cream and sugar on the table. Please help yourself.”
Nic doctored his drink then tasted it. “Mmm… this is really good.” He took another sip. Lauren practically drooled. With his eyes closed like that, his expression was almost orgasmic. She’d make sure to have fresh, hot coffee on hand all weekend.
Nic opened his eyes and caught her staring. Lauren turned away to hide her heated cheeks. “This will take another twenty minutes or so. Do you want to take a shower or a nap? You must be exhausted.”
“I’d love a quick shower.” He wrinkled his nose. “I’m more than overdue.”
His expression stirred something low in her belly. He seemed so unspoiled, so happy, so much like the boy she remembered. “Take your time. There are clean towels in the cabinet in the bathroom. And there’s soap and shampoo in there, too. Shout if you need anything.”
Soon, she heard the sound of water running. As she mixed up the ingredients for the omelet, her mind drifted to images of Nic in the shower, water sluicing down his beautiful face, between his exquisitely sculpted pectorals, into his belly button, over his flat stomach, separating into two flows around his hard… She gasped as cold liquid splashed her arm. Damn, she’d just poured milk all over the counter.
Nic pushed his empty plate to the side and patted his full stomach. Warmth spread throughout his body as his gaze locked with Lauren’s. What was that bubbly feeling in his stomach?
He felt comfortable here, in this small apartment with its cooking smells, childish artwork decorating the walls, and family photos on every available surface except in her bedroom. Even if at least half the photos were of a man who, judging by the uniform he wore, could be none other than Todd James, Lauren’s dead husband.
Had he been selfish in coming here? He didn’t know how far the stalker was willing to go. Still, he’d wanted to be here with Lauren and Jason, enjoying himself, rolling around the floor, laughing his head off.
Lauren must have sensed the mix of pleasure and worry roiling around inside him because she leaned over and rubbed her finger along his eyebrows, then cradled his cheek in her palm. Today, her beautiful eyes were a soft Mediterranean green. He wanted to dive in their deep waters and stay there all day.
Not wanting her to know the turn his thoughts had taken, he smiled and asked, “What’s on the schedule for today?”
She dropped her hand and sat back in her chair. “The arena is booked from 7:00 to 9:00 tonight, but other than that, we can do anything you want.”
He gave her a cocky grin. “Anything?”
She blushed and cleared her throat. “Anything G-rated.”
His grin widened. “Is there some place you and Jason like to go? Something you like to do on weekends?”
“I know, I know,” Jason shouted as he raced around the corner from his room. “Let’s go bowling. Please, please!” he insisted, seeing his mother’s dubious look.
Nic shrugged. “Fine with me. But I should warn you, I was the city champion in my youth.” He raised an eyebrow, including Lauren in his challenge. “Are you up for it?”
Lauren winked at her son, a half smile curving her lips. “I think we’ll manage. Isn’t that right, Jason?”
Eyes twinkling, Jason pressed his lips together tightly as if trying to keep them from spilling some huge secret.
Unable to maintain his haughty expression, Nic grinned at Jason and initiated a complex series of knuckle-bumps. When he caught Lauren’s wistful expression, his smile faded. Before he could ask what was wrong, she smiled brightly and ordered them to be at the door, ready to leave in exactly five minutes.
Jason grabbed Nic’s hand and began dragging him toward his room. “Whoa there, little man. What’s up?”
“I got your disguise,” he said, his expression earnest as he held out a black knit cap and goggles. “We’ll be twins, see? People won’t recognize you.”
Nic dropped to his knees, putting them at eye level. He took the offered items and put them on. “You know what this means, don’t you?”
Eyes round, lips pursed, Jason shook his head. Nic fisted his right hand and pounded it sharply against his left shoulder. When Jason’s eyes widened even more, Nic forced his expression to remain serious. “We’re brothers, little man. Brothers in arms, and this is our first mission. Our mission has three objectives.” He ticked them off on his fingers. “One, we must protect our secret. Two, we must beat your mom at bowling. Three, we must…” He winked. “Have fun!”
Childish squeals filled the room as he flipped the startled boy over his shoulder and swung him around in circles. He loved children. Loved their innocence and craftiness. Loved their resilience and determination.
After agreeing to surprise Lauren with their disguises, Nic dashed off to his room to change into a pair of black jeans and a black long sleeved T-shirt. Black biker boots completed the outfit. He checked himself out in the full length mirror behind Lauren’s door and laughed out loud. Oh, man. Vivian would kill him if she ever found out about this. But Jason was right. People would stare but no one would recognize him. At least he hoped not. He really didn’t want any pictures of himself in this get-up hitting the front page.
Hearing a soft knock on the door, he turned the knob and peered down at the little boy. “All set?”
“Ro
ger that.”
Nic flashed him a quick grin. “Let’s roll.”
With military precision, they marched to the front door. Seeing them, Lauren’s jaw dropped and her eyes darted between the two. “Wha…What?” she stuttered as they stopped abruptly in front of her, saluting with a smart snap of their right hands and a hard stomp of one foot.
Jason managed to hold onto his salute for all of five seconds before jumping up and down, clapping his hands. “Do you like our disguises?”
Biting her upper lip, she looked up at Nic. “Absolutely perfect.” Something in her eyes made him believe she wasn’t talking about their outfits.
They’d decided to take her car to the bowling alley because any determined paparazzi could trace the rented SUV to him, but he stopped short when Lauren unlocked the doors of a blue Mini Cooper convertible. How the hell would he fit into such a puny car?
Angling his head, he examined the vehicle from all directions, considering the possibilities. If he pushed the seat all the way back, and if he pulled his knees up to his chin, and if he hunched his back, and if he held his breath, he just might be able to squeeze in.
“Are you sure you don’t want to take the SUV?” she asked as he began easing into the passenger seat. When he bumped his head on the roof, Lauren smirked. “I’ll open the roof so you don’t get a cramp.”
“How kind.” Little Miss Lauren was definitely getting a kick out of this. Maybe they should have taken the SUV. If only to save his manly pride.
“You know, this could work for you,” she teased, eyeing him up and down, focusing first on his head, then on his knees tucked under his chin. “This car, with those goggles, everyone will think you’re Austin Powers. Except he’s really short and you’re, well, not.” She grinned.
Smartass.
Nic grinned back. He was having a blast. Everything from the small apartment to the tiny car and his outrageous outfit was so different from his regular life. But the biggest difference was the laughter. Nic The Lover smiled a lot for the camera, even laughed on cue. But Nic the man? Until he’d met Lauren, he’d had too few reasons to laugh.
Letting go of the past, letting go of the mask he perpetually wore, at least for a few hours, felt so unbelievably good. And every time Lauren gazed into his eyes, the connection between them grew stronger, and he had to resist the urge to open the door wider and let her into his life.
For a moment, when his cell phone started blasting “She’s the Boss,” he considered not answering it; he’d told Vivian he’d be off the grid for the weekend. But she wasn’t the type to call simply to chat.
Lauren raised her eyebrows. “Aren’t you going to answer? It’s Vivian, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” He leaned to the side so he could inch the phone out of his pocket. “What’s up, Viv?”
“Hello, darling. I have some news. NicsBitch has been a busy bee. Another sighting on CelebrityStalker put you in San Francisco last night. Since you neglected to tell me where you’d be this weekend, I didn’t know if it was a real sighting or not. Should we be worried?”
“I’m not in San Francisco.” Nic tried to hide his concern but his adrenaline spiked and sweat broke out on his forehead. How did NicsBitch know he’d been in San Francisco?
“Good. I’d hate for the paparazzi to ruin your weekend. I know things have been difficult lately.”
Nic relaxed as best he could in the tight space, leaning against the headrest and letting the wind cool his heated skin. “Thanks Viv. You’re a good friend.”
“Anything for you, darling.”
Nic finished the call and looked over at Lauren. She was focused on the road, but her lips were stretched in a tight line.
“Is everything okay?” she asked. “You seem a little tense.”
“Someone posted a sighting of me in San Francisco last night.” He shrugged casually, hoping to keep things light. “It’s no big deal.”
“On the Internet? You mean on one of those websites that specialize in tracking celebrities?”
“CelebrityStalker.com in this case. Fans who spot a celebrity can go there and post the location of the sighting, the date, even a photo if they have one.”
“I’ve heard some of these sites even show maps of all the places where a particular celebrity was spotted.” She glanced at him furtively and nibbled her lips. “I’ve often wondered about people who do things like that. I’m sure some are random sightings by excited fans. But it wouldn’t surprise if some of these so-called fans are actually stalkers.”
Nic’s jaw clenched. Stay calm. She’d put into words everything he’d been thinking. Before telling her more, he checked the backseat to make sure Jason wasn’t listening. “One of them is a repeat poster. Vivian checks regularly and lets me know if she finds anything about me. There’ve been several in the last month.”
“That’s creepy. It’s good you have someone like Vivian watching your back. Has she been your agent a long time?”
“Since I first came to Hollywood. She and her husband signed me as a client, and within two months, I had my first movie contract. She’s a terrific agent.”
Lauren pulled the car into a spot in the bowling alley parking lot and cut off the engine. Turning in her seat, she snapped her fingers. “Hey! Didn’t I read something about you giving her husband a bone-marrow transplant when he got sick?”
It made Nic uncomfortable when people knew things he hadn’t shared with them. Unfortunately, that was life in Hollywood. The paparazzi made certain of it. Nic nodded. “David had leukemia. I got tested and found out I was a donor match.”
“So how is he now? It was several years ago, wasn’t it?”
“Two years. The transplant didn’t take and he died.”
“Oh, I hadn’t heard. Vivian must have been devastated.”
Nic closed his eyes for a moment. The last two years had been extremely hard for both of them. Vivian had lost David, and he’d lost his mother. “It’s been difficult. The agency lost most of David’s clients, so she’s had to deal both with losing her husband and struggling to keep the agency going.”
“But you stayed on,” she said softly.
He smiled. “She’s helped me with some personal issues as well as with my career. I owe her a lot.”
“Even so, don’t you think she can be a bit much sometimes?”
“Absolutely.” He grinned. No one knew that better than he did. “I think she’s just been really lonely since David died. And she’s immersed herself in her work. Her focus is one hundred percent on rebuilding the agency.”
“Hey, are we going in or what?” Nic looked behind them to see Jason, elbows hooked over the two front seats, his irritated gaze darting between him and Lauren.
“That depends. Are you ready to get your butt whipped?”
Jason grinned. “The question is, are you?”
Staying back to reassess her plan, she watched Nic go into the bowling alley and had to laugh at his ridiculous outfit. She jotted down one last note in her journal before stowing it in her purse.
The sight of her phone reminded her of her luck in finding Tony. Last year, while searching the Internet, she’d come across repeated sightings of Nic. Using some clues in the postings and some online messages, she tracked the postings to Tony Spagnoli, a stage hand during the filming of Bad Days. He had a huge crush on Nic, but when Nic told him he didn’t swing that way, Tony snuck into his dressing room and installed spy software on Nic’s phone. He didn’t want to hurt Nic, but he did want to rattle him and teach him a lesson. In turn, she’d decided to teach Tony a lesson.
When she revealed what she knew, Tony had explained where he’d gotten the tracking software, how he’d set up the account, and how he’d obtained a stolen credit card so he could remain anonymous. If he hadn’t been working on the set, she’d never have caught him.
Armed with that information, she let Tony go with the threat that if he ever posted about Nic again, or came anywhere near Nic, she’d turn all the informati
on she had on him over to the police. Tony would be arrested for stalking, and given Nic’s status, Tony’s ass would be in prison until he could no longer even feel it. Someday, she grinned, she’d have to thank Tony for the education.
A few months ago, she’d used what she’d learned to buy a stolen credit card, which she’d used to pay for the tracking software, and she’d created NicsBitch. Even if someday Nic discovered the tracking app on his phone, no one would be able to trace it back to her.
When she’d seen the flashing light on her phone that indicated Nic’s GPS position moving from San Francisco International Airport to Seattle, she hadn’t known whether to wring Nic’s neck for being so foolhardy or be proud of his resourcefulness. And that was one of the things she loved best about him. He kept her on her toes, slightly off kilter, surprising her at every turn. He added spice and excitement to her life. And that, along with his smile, his caring words, and his innate tenderness had brought her out of the depression that had gripped her heart.
When her world had been torn to pieces, he’d stepped in and helped her. He’d saved her life. And you know what they say—when you save someone’s life, that person becomes your responsibility. Nic had saved her, and so now, she was his. Only, he didn’t know that yet. She was making arrangements so they could be together forever.
He had sexual needs she couldn’t take care of yet, and she understood that. She wouldn’t punish him if he satisfied those needs with women who only took his body, but she would be very angry if he let any woman take his heart.
His heart belonged to her, and only her.
Picking up her camera, she got out of the car and followed her heart into the bowling alley where she could keep a close eye on it.
7
Three hours later, Lauren couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she, Jason, and Nic tramped back into her small apartment carrying a pizza box and a six-pack of Coke. Bowling had never been so much fun. She and Jason had neglected to inform Nic they were state champions in the parent-child bowling league. He’d been a really good sport about losing to an eight-year-old.
