When Marina got to Houston, she was thankful to have flown into Hobby Airport instead of the big airport. Houston was the start of a whirlwind for her. She knew someone was picking her up, but she never expected Donnie to be waiting on her in baggage claim with “Marina Walker” sign and dressed as a limo driver. She had to admit it was pretty good as far as disguises went. The driver’s hat and the dark shades covered up a lot of his face. But the smirk on his face when she saw him gave him away. She had checked a bag in case she brought home more than she left with. She loved being a tourist and was always getting souvenirs to take home. Magnets & T-shirts from every city were staples of her travels. Donnie grabbed her bag and laughed when it was much lighter than he expected.
He walked her to the limo and put her bags in the trunk. Then he grabbed her and gave her a huge hug. She hugged him back. “You are all about hugging people, aren‘t you?,” she said laughing at him.
“What? A guy can’t hug someone he’s been missing like crazy for the past 2 weeks?” He was helping her get into the limo and followed her inside. There was a real driver in the front and Donnie handed him back his hat. “Thanks man.” The driver just nodded and put up the divider and they were off. “I have missed you.”
“How can you miss me? We barely know each other?” She looked at her singing cell phone before answering it. “Yes, I’m here. I’m safe. Already have my bag and on the way to the hotel.” She rolled her eyes. “Yes . I’ll be careful. Call you tomorrow.” She looked up at Donnie watching her. “I really can’t talk right now. Yes.” She looked out the window. “Love you too.” She ended the call, turned the phone on silent, and tucked it into her purse. “Now I’m all yours.”
“Not yet, but hopefully soon.” He moved across the seat to sit closer to her. “So…are you ready to meet the rest of the guys?”
“Not really, but it seems inevitable. I should warn you: Brian and Nick are my favorite Backstreet Boys. I might act all girly when I meet them.”
“I can’t imagine you would ever act girly.”
“I try to hide that side of me as much as possible.”
“You should never have to hide who you really are Marina.” Just when she was gonna say something, his phone rang. He made no move to answer it.
“Answer your phone Donnie. I’m not having a serious discussion in a limo with you..”
He kept looking at her, but answered the phone without seeing who was calling. “On my way back now.” He smiled at whatever he was hearing on the phone. “Yes she’s here.” Laughing and looking at her. “Even more. Can’t wait for you guys to meet her.” Another pause. He looked around outside the car. “I guess about 45 minutes or so. Traffic’s a bitch.” Big smile and he looked up at her “Jordan says hi.”

“Hi back,” she said laughing.
“Don’t let anyone disappear. Well, except maybe Brian and Nick. She likes them.” He nodded at her. “Later.” She laughed at him as he ended the call. They continued cat and mouse conversation with each other until Marina insisted that she have a couple of moments of peace to gather up her courage to meet the rest of the guys. Donnie understood completely and just sat back and rested his eyes for a minute. Marina couldn’t help but stare. He was utterly sexy.
She quietly reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. It was so much easier to communicate with him by text. ‘U R doing that on purpose, aren’t you?’
His phone made a noise and she knew by the look on his face that he knew without opening his eyes that she had send him a text. When he did look at the phone, he looked genuinely puzzled. ‘?’ he sent back.
‘Looking utterly …. Searching for a word here.’
He glanced up at her and the look he gave her was enough to make her blood sizzle. It was obvious what he was thinking about. ‘Fuckable? That’s a word.’
She laughed out loud at him and sent back ‘Yes, that is a word used 2 describe U But I was going 4 something a little less sex-rated.’
“Sex-rated?” he said out loud. “Did you mean Sex-related? Or X-rated?”
She smiled. “Both. So I said ‘sex-rated’ to be clear about it. It’s one of mine and my friends phrases.”
He slid right up next to her and put his head next to hers. “So, since you used it with me, does that mean we’re friends?” He batted his brown eyes at her.
“Just stop. Silly man. Of course we’re friends…new friends.” It was seeming more and more like this was gonna be an interesting trip. Donnie was utterly disarming.

Soon after that they arrived at the venue, Toyota Center. Donnie could tell that Marina was nervous as she walked with him toward guy’s dressing rooms. He had sent her bags to his bus. He wasn’t used to seeing her feel ill at ease. At the hospital she had been completely at home and relaxed no matter what was going on. Just as they got to the door, she stopped him. “I need just a minute.”
He watched her pace back and forth for a minute or so and take some deep breaths. When she stopped and looked back at him, he could see a difference. She was still nervous, but she was now hiding it really well.
When he opened the door, it was total chaos. 8 guys were there laughing and gossiping like a bunch of old women playing bridge. When they saw her, they all started screaming more. Every single one of them had something they wanted to say to her. Brian gave her a hug and whispered that he had heard that he was her favorite. She blushed, but admitted he was right. Eventually, someone brought Lumpy in to see Donnie. She laughed hysterically at Donnie playing with his dog. And Lumpy seemed to like her too.
After about an hour of chatting and laughing so hard she thought she’d pee on herself, someone else knocked on the door. “Officer! So glad you could join us,” Donnie said to the man who was joining them.
“Well, I had some extra work to do today for some reason…” he explained. His eyes found Marina. “You must be Marina. I’m Ricky Kopp, but everyone calls me ‘Officer’ and you can too.”
She held out her hand and that’s pretty much where things got abnormal for her. Officer stole her away to help her out with something to wear for the concert. He was in charge of all things wardrobe related for the guys. His extra work that day had been going out and finding a few things for her to wear. He put her in behind a dressing screen and told her to get undressed so she could start trying on clothes. She was a little uneasy getting undressed with him there, but he was obviously gay AND he was used to seeing people change clothes all the time. Not too much unlike her seeing naked people all the time at work. When he reappeared with a dress, it somehow seemed natural for him help her out with putting things on. “Oh my. This fits like it was made for me! How did you know my sizes?” she exclaimed while checking things out in the mirror.
“Donnie told me.”
“Now I need to find out how he knew…”
“Oh, Donnie is really observant. It’s kinda scary how detail oriented he is. Especially about women.” She turned around to let him see how the dress looked. “Donnie’s gonna have an orgasm just looking at you in this dress.”

She blushed. “Maybe it’s too much then? Donnie and I are just friends. And I’m here for work.”
Officer just looked at her. “You and Donnie may be friends right now, but he has other plans for you.”
“We’ll see.” She looked in the mirror. “But I do love this dress…”

As they continued to pick out a few things for Marina to wear and Officer discussed her hair with her, Donnie and the guys were having their own chat. The most telling moment was when Donnie asked Danny what he thought of Marina.
“Dude, I’m pretty sure we just met your future wife.”
Donnie just smiled and looked at the door.
Donnie absolutely loved the dress Marina wore that night to the concert. He knew she’d be beautiful, but Officer had outdone himself. That man was getting a bonus. He did everything he could, short of giving up his own bus, to make sure she was comfortable riding on his bus with him. He offered her the bedroom, and tried to insist that she take it, on the bus and he planned to sleep in one of the bunks. She assured him she’d be happier in the bunk. So, he gave in. And he made effort to not be too touchy feely with her when they had to stay in the bus. But it was pretty damn hard to not touch her when she was so close. He tried to invite at least one of the other guys to his bus all the time…or their families.