The plan was to fly to Florida and meet up with Nick. You would spend a week with just him and then the two of you would go see Brian and Leighanne. Howie and AJ would be your next stop. You had to party after spending a few days with Brian and Leighanne. The last stop had to be Kevin. Nick wanted to keep you away from Kevin as long as possible. You and Kevin admittedly were attracted to one another, but just never pursued it. It was just there.
You packed all that you will need for your trip, including a special gift for Nick, and go to bed around three in the morning. Three hours later, your phone rang. You tried to pick it up and ended up dropping it. When you finally got the handset off the floor, there was no one there. You stared at it for about a second before hanging it up. Just as you got the handset back into the cradle, it rangs again. You screamed and accidentally knocked the phone off the hook and into the floor. This time you were more awake and picked it back up sooner. When you get it to your ear, you couldn’t help but laugh. You could hear Nick cursing.
“Nick,” you said.
“Dammit Kate! Do you have to drop your phone so that it slams right on the hardwood floor? I may have ruptured an eardrum or two here!”
“Awe Nickster. I’m sorry. I was sleeping. I didn’t do it on purpose,” you said sweetly. “Now what the heck do you want at,” you paused to glance at your clock, “six am?”
“There’s the Kate I know and love. I was calling to be sure you got up on time so you wouldn’t miss your flight.”
“But Nick, I don’t have to be at the airport until 8:30am, so I could sleep like at least another hour, and isn’t it like five am there? Why aren’t you asleep?”
“I’m just now going to bed. I was out.”
“Out. Were you fulfilling some teeny fan’s fantasy Nickster?” you tormented.
“I was just out dancing. I only had one drink, thank you. I did dance with this one girl that was pretty cute though.”
“What did she look like?”
“She looked a lot like you, actually. I compare all my women to you, ya know? You are how I measure them.” You started laughing at him. “And don’t call me Nickster!”
“Nice to know that someone thinks I’m top notch. But I want to go back to sleep for a while. Don’t oversleep and forget me at the airport.”
“I won’t. I love you Kate.”
“Love you too, Nickster.”
“Stop it.”
“Never,” you said as you hung up the phone grinning. You really do love him. He’s practically your best friend.
At seven am, you got up and got ready to leave. You checked one last time with your boss to be sure everything is okay. Then you took a cab to the airport.
Around ten-thirty, you exit the plane and wonder if you should even bother looking for Nick. To be on the safe side, you pull out your cell phone and dial his cell number. To your surprise, he answers.
“Hello Katiepoo, where are you? I saw that a flight from Nashville landed a bit ago.”
“Seriously? You’re here?”
“Where else would I be?”
“Still asleep. Where are you?”
“I’m standing next to the Starbucks across from the hallway to baggage claim.”
“Okay, I’ll be right there.” You had gone towards the baggage claim area and now Starbucks was behind you. You searched the area with your eyes the whole time you  walked back. You saw a tall beautiful blonde guy standing outside the Starbucks smiling at you. Recognition slowly dawned on you. Holy Shit! That’s Nick??? When did he grow up? During the last six years apparently. You always were a smart aleck, especially when talking to yourself. Nick steps toward you.
“I can’t believe you are finally here,” he said.
“Me either,” you said, somewhat shaken still. It was Nick’s voice coming out of this dreamy guy’s mouth.
“So do I get a hug or what?”
“Hugs are good.” You barely get the words out before he has you scooped up in his arms holding onto you as if for dear life. And as good as it felt to be in his arms, your body told you that it wished he wasn’t in a long black leather coat, khaki pants, and a red T-shirt. Well, you thought, he could at least lose the coat. Then maybe you could see some of the obviously firm, built body you were presently feeling during this hug.
He kissed the top of your head and finally puts you down. Taking your hand in his, he started to lead you back toward the baggage claim. “We’d better hurry before someone recognizes me and causes a scene.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” you agreed. You didn’t even recognize him . . .
You kept glancing up at the man you now knew as Nick Carter. He’s so different physically from the boy you knew. For one thing, he looked totally beautiful. You can’t help but think of the phone conversation between the two of you last week when he teased you about having a “thing for tall men.” You had thought he was alluding to Kevin at the time, but now you weren’t so sure.
“You keep looking at me,” he said, interrupting your thoughts.
“Well, it’s not like you’re not looking at me.”
“Yeah, but you’re looking at me weird. Like I’m not the same person you were on the phone with this morning or something.”
“Well, what do you expect? I came here looking for Nicky Carter and I get Nick Carter. I mean, damn, Nick, when did you grow up?”
Then he played dirty with you. He smirked. “You noticed, huh?” You nodded. “Well I kinda grew up to this height around seventeen and then I gained some weight. I got tired of all the weight comments and decided to start taking better care of myself. I thought I might get more women if I had more muscles.”
“Nickster,” you said shaking your head. “Just use that smirk you just used on me and they’ll all be lining up.”
“Maybe I should get it copyrighted?”
“Could be a good plan,” you agreed. “So, why were you staring at me?”
He smiled. “Because you are even more beautiful than I remember Kate. And I’m so glad you’re here with me.” You stop and stare at him.
“That was so sweet. Thank you,” you say. You stepped closer to him and gave him a hug.
“I have to be. Otherwise you’d probably be with Kevin and then I’d have to be all jealous and stuff.” You pull away from him and laugh.