Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Chapter 1


Stephanie stepped of the train and into Penn station in New York City nervous and excited. She knew exactly where she needed to be for the job interview and she had one hour to get there. She didn't even know who she would be working for if she got the position. She walked outside and looked at the city she loved since she was 20 years old. At 33 years old, it was time for a change in her life. She walked in her heels to the taxi stand and got in the first cab she could find.
"Where to miss?" the cab driver asked.
"Prince and Broadway," she replied with a smile on her face naming the area of the So Ho office she had to go to for her interview. She looked at her resume and hoped it would be enough. The job was for a personal assistant. That is all it said. It didn't say to who and it did say that there would be a lot of world travel involved. About 30 minutes later the cab pulled up and she paid him and got out. She looked and saw the office.
"Mercury Records," she thought to herself, "Should be interesting."
She had some time to kill so she walked into Starbucks and ordered a vanilla chai. She sat down and drank her tea, and pulled her compact out. While checking her carefully applied make up she noticed a man behind her on his cell phone.
"I don't care what it takes," he growled into the phone, "Get it done. You know how important this is to me."
The person on the other end must have said the wrong thing.
"You know what? Lets just call off the whole thing. Fuck you!"
with that he hung up the phone and sat down.
He looked incredibly lost in his thoughts and pissed off all at the same time. There was something familiar about him to Steph, but she couldn't place it. It was fifteen minutes to her interview so she got up and headed to the record office. What she didn't realize was that the angry man was behind her on the way to the same building. She opened the door and gave the doorman her name and said she had an interview.
"19th floor," the doorman told her with a friendly voice. "Good luck."
"Thanks!" she said smiling.
As the elevator door was about to close, the man from the coffee shop stepped in. He still had the pursed lips and angry expression on his face and the hat and sunglasses remained on.
She decided to say hello since they were riding up to the same floor.
"Hi!" she said smiling at him.
It was as if he just realized she was on the elevator with him.
"Hello," he said softly.
"I'm Steph. On my way to a job interview."
He smiled. She seemed so innocent as to who he was. Maybe she didn't recognize him.
"I'm Jon. Perhaps I maybe interviewing you too if you survive Doc."
Doc was his manager.
"Would I be your assistant?"
"Possibly." he still sounded cold and distant.
"Well if I'm going to work for you, we'll have to make sure you smile more and laugh. Because if its up to me to take care of you, you can't have any angry outbursts on your cell phone in a Starbucks."
"I'm a hard ass. I kind of have to be."
"You can be a hard ass and still have fun."
They got off the elevator and walked towards the office. He finally gave her a genuine grin. "I think you'll skip Doc and spend the day with me instead. I'd like to get to know the person who I think may be my new assistant."
Steph smiled happily. "Really?"
"Yeah, and honey?"
"Yes Jon?"
"The first thing we're doing is going shopping...no need for a suit and heels with me. Jeans and casual is all you'll need unless we're going to a huge event together."
They walked straight past the reception area and to the office where Doc was waiting.
"Where have you been Jon? You have an interview in 20 minutes with the new PA candidate."
Jon grinned. Talking to Steph was the most he actually smiled in weeks unless he was performing, but that was an act. "Actually Doc, this is Steph. She saw me chew Richie out at Starbucks on the phone and told me I need to stop being such a hard ass and have some fun. Little did she know I'm probably going to be her boss. No need for the interview Doc. We're going to spend the day together and see how she does."
He took off his hat and sunglasses and sat down and grabbed the laptop from Doc. Steph was amazed at how gorgeous he was without his hat and sunglasses. She had noticed his great ass at the Starbucks, but those blue eyes were so deep and the dirty blonde hair on his head was slightly messy but sexy all at the same time. Suddenly she realized who it was she'd be working for. Jon Bon Jovi. 

She kept her cool. She could be professional.
"You want me to work for you?" she asked.
"Well, Steph, I do need you to perform one task. It means a lot to me and no one has been able to accomplish it. If you do, then you officially have a job as my PA. What do you say?"
"Ok," she replied. "What's the job?"
"Well as you know...wait maybe you don't know...are you a fan?"
"I am," she admitted hoping that it wouldn't ruin her chances for a job with him. She already wanted to take care of this man and make sure she had a career doing so. She could sense he needed her special brand of crazy to get him going and laughing.
"Ok, then you know Richie is in rehab..."
"I do...for a couple of months now."
"Yes and according to everyone there he's ready to leave. I say he's ready to leave. The problem is him. He doesn't think he's ready. I need him to do the European and final leg of the Circle tour. I've been unsuccessful so far at convincing him. The doctors have been too."
"So you want me to convince him he's ready?"
"Yes," Jon said, "I'll give you his number and you can call him. I haven't been to see him and I miss my best friend."
"Well where is he?"
"Just over in Jersey?"
"Then I'm not calling him. That's a hell of a way to introduce yourself to someone. We will drive there and you will see your best friend."
"Why the hell do I have to go? Can't you go without me?"
"Really Jon? You want your best friend to support you on the tour, but you won't support him? Stop being an ass about this whole thing. You're not going to get anywhere unless you go to see him."
Jon started to purse his lips. This girl had fire to stand up to him after knowing him for less than an hour. He broke into a grin.
"Ok. You're right. Why didn't I think of that?"
"Because I'm going to be the smart one in this relationship," she said smiling, "And because if you connected to humans in your everyday life the way you connect with your audiences you might actually be happy."
"Wow...no one talks to me that way. I'm used to being in charge. I kind of like it."
Doc had been sitting quietly listening to their exchange. Could it be that they had finally found someone perfect to work as Jon's PA? It had only taken years.
"Well, get going you two. Jon you have a thing this afternoon."
"I'm going to have Steph cancel that on the way to Jersey. You know I didn't want to do that in the first place."
"Ok. Well let me just grab the PA phone for her."
Doc left them alone in the office.
"So when we get there you have 30 minutes,"Jon said all cold again.
"Honey, I'll only need about 10," she said confidently, "And you need to stop being all business all of the time. Have some fun."
He softened instantly and grinned. "Richie can be pretty stubborn. I'll still give you the 30 minutes."
Doc came out and gave Steph the phone and Jon's laptop and they were on their way.
They got in the dark SUV and Jon was driving. Once they got to the highway, Steph spoke.
"Do you mind if I look at the laptop? I want to look through your calendar and contacts and familiarize myself with some stuff."
"She sure was ambitious," he thought to himself. Aloud, he replied, "Go right ahead, and while you're at it cancel my plans for this afternoon."
She found the calendar and was quickly on the phone with the office where Jon had the meeting scheduled.
"Hi! I'm Steph, Jon Bon Jovi's PA. I'm sorry, Jon won't be able to make it this afternoon. Something urgent came up."
She paused and put the phone on mute, and looked at Jon. "Do you want to reschedule."
"Fuck no. I didn't want to do this in the first place. My last PA scheduled without asking me."
She turned off the mute button. "No reason to reschedule at this time. We'll call you if we need to. Yes. That's all. Thank you so much!"
As she hung up the phone Jon spoke. "That was very professional. Kept me out of it completely. I like it."
Jon pulled into a small plaza off the exit.
"Where are we?" Steph asked.
"Jeans. I told you you needed jeans and my wife introduced me to this shop years ago."
She had forgotten for a while that he was married.
"She doesn't shop here anymore, but I do. She doesn't do any of the same things as me anymore." He didn't know why he was telling her that.
"I'm sorry," she said softly.
He closed off immediately. "Don't be. I'm not."
"And her for a moment there, I thought you were actually opening up. The first thing you have to do is let someone in and stop being such a cold hearted ass."
"Woman, you are going to drive me up a wall."
"Someone has to," she said hotly as they walked into the store.
"You're right. I only hope you can work magic on Richie so I can give you a job. What do you think of these?" He held up jeans and a tight knit dark purple tank top.
"Cute."
"Good. Try them on. What size sneaker?"
"9," she said as she headed to the dressing room.
It had been a whirlwind day as she undressed in the dressing room and put the jeans and tank top on. The outfit looked great on her. It showed off every curve in her body. She took the clip out of her hair and let her soft dirty blond curls fall down around her and put on some lip gloss, and stepped out of the dressing room.
"Wow!" he let a low whistle. "You look hot."
"Shut up. I may be your employee soon. No hitting on me," she said smiling at him.
"I'm not hitting on you. I'm just doing what you've done since we met a few hours ago and telling you how it is."
She laughed. "Well, thank you then."
He handed her a pair of white sketchers with purple trim and she tried them on. They fit perfectly. The sales woman came over.
"Well, Jon?" she said.
"We'll take the whole outfit. She's going to wear it out of here if you can remove the tags." He handed over his credit card.
"Jon," Steph protested. "I can pay my way."
"Not yet. You don't have the job yet. At least if you don't get the job, you'll have a new outfit from me."
"An a memorable day," she said.
The sales woman rang them up and cut the tags off of Steph's outfit, and they were on their way. They drove about five minutes before Jon pulled into the rehab facility. They got out of the car and walked in. The receptionist recognized him immediately.
"Hi! Are you here to see Richie?"

Jon had to fight back a sarcastic reply. The girl's eyes were bulging out of her skin. Clearly she recognized him.
"Yes, we are," Steph piped up.
He shot her a look that said "Thank you."
The receptionist looked at her computer. "Usually we have to check with him first before he gets visitors, but you sir, are on the exception list. You can go right on in. Down the hall. Take a right. Its the last room on the left."
"Thanks." Jon managed to say as Steph started walking.
As soon as they were out of earshot Jon burst out laughing.
"Are you here to see Richie?" he mimicked the receptionist, "No stupid. I'm here to see someone else. Clearly she recognized me. I have zero patience for people like her."
Steph just laughed. "You'll learn patience. Stick with me Jon. I've learned a lot of patience for dealing with stupid people."
"That's what I have you for. IF you're successful."
"I told you. Only 10 minutes."
They paused as they reached Richie's room.
"Steph, he probably hates me right now. I mean I've been a terrible friend. More concerned about me and the guys than him."
"Let me do the talking," she said opening the door and walking in.
"He doesn't visit me in two months, and brings me this gorgeous creature so I don't hate him. Very clever Jon," Richie said with a grin at Steph as they walked into the room.
Steph grinned back.
Jon gave a sheepish grin. "Richie, I'd like you to meet Steph. She may be my new PA."
Richie gave her another once over. "Nice to meet you. He gives them all a challenge that is almost impossible. If they complete it then they're lucky enough to work for him for a little bit. Until they can't stand him."
Steph laughed. Jon just pursed his lip and looked angry.
"Jon, Richie's only teasing. Lighten up."
"He hasn't lightened up since 1999." Richie said.
"Really? I thought we had a great drive here. He even laughed." Steph said.
"Wow! Jon fuck the special task. I think this one is a keeper." Richie said.
"Nah...I think I'll leave you two alone to chat. Steph, like I said, you have 30 minutes." he said and turned and walked out of the room, slamming the door on his way out.
"Wow...that man has a lot of anger built up inside," Steph commented.
"Yeah he does. But you may just be the one to get him to lighten up. So I already can guess that your special assignment is to get me to do the European leg of the Circle tour?"
"Yes. And you're going to do it. Not for Jon, but to prove to yourself that you can do this. You can't hide in here forever. You have a gift and you need to share that with the world. And if you want to celebrate by drinking after a show call me and we'll hang. I'll keep you away from the booze."
Richie smiled. "You certainly have a way of putting things in perspective. I guess I'm scared of going back to the way I was before. This isn't the first time I've done this, but I want it to be the last."
"It can be Richie. You just have to keep the faith."
He laughed. "Way to say the lines of one of our songs. It actually works."
"Does that mean you'll do it?"
"Yes. Go get him...and Steph?"
"Yeah," she said.
"It was 7 minutes."
She laughed and opened the door and found him sitting there with his head in his hands.
"Get up asshole. I worked my magic in less than 10 minutes."
Jon's face broke into a grin as he stood up and took her into a big hug. "You did it! You actually did it!"
She smiled as he pulled away from the hug and hopped into Richie's room. "Man, It's going to be so great to have you back. I can't wait!"
"Yeah, well, I sense you need to keep this one around."
They sat in the room and chatted for a couple of hours. By the afternoon they all seemed like old friends and Jon had a sparkle in his blue eyes that Richie hadn't seen in a while.
"Listen you two, I have to go to group, so why don't you head back to the city and Jon?"
"Yes Richie?"
"Let her take care of you. You need it."
He laughed, "Ok."
They walked out of the room and got in the dark SUV and headed back to the city.
After a few moments of silence Jon spoke.
"So you don't live in the city?"
"No," Steph replied.
"You'll need a place to stay when we're not traveling. How about my place. Lord knows I have the room. There's one huge guest room with a view of the city off the balcony and a hot tub."
"That sounds fabulous. Your wife won't mind?"
"Dot doesn't care about anything I do anymore," his lips pursing as the subject came up. "In fact she'd probably enjoy having you around to keep me in line. We don't even sleep in the same room anymore. Haven't in two years."
"Wow..." Steph said, "A true moment of honesty from the man who seems so closed off."
They pulled up in front of a huge building. "This is it. Home sweet home," Jon said.
They got out of the car and got on the elevator and rode to the 50th floor. There was only one door in the hallway and Jon walked and entered a code in the lock and let them in. The penthouse was breathtakingly beautiful. It didn't look very lived in. A woman with long dark hair, pale skin and beautiful icy green eyes walked out.
"Hi Jon," she said coldly.
"Hi Dot," he said just as coldly.
"I see you brought a friend."
"This is Steph. She's my new PA. She's going to be staying in the guest room for a while when we're not on the road

Dot gave Steph an icy look and then glared at Jon.
"I hope this one lasts. Jon has a tendency to screw things up with his PAs. I'm sure you're no exception."
"She talked Richie into going on the European leg of the tour," Jon said quietly.
"Hmm..." Dot said, "Then maybe she'll last longer than a year."
A year will be when Cassie turns 18. Jon and Dot had agreed that when their youngest daughter turned 18, their marriage would officially be over. They wanted to wait until both kids were officially adults. But both of their kids were already so grown up. They understood that their parents weren't in love anymore. Maybe more so than their parents.
"Well, I'll let you give Steph the grand tour of the place. I'm going out."
"It was nice to meet you," Steph said smiling, refusing to let Dorothea's iciness get to her.
Dot softened a little at Steph's smile. For some reason, she seemed to that effect on both of them. "It was nice to meet you too. I'm sorry if I came off a bit bitchy....it's just...well Jon will probably fill you in on us." With that, she left the room.
Jon sat down and put his head in his hands. After a minute he looked up at Steph.
"I'm sorry if she scares you away from the job."
"Nonsense," she said, "I'm your PA. Not hers."
"Good answer," he said flashing her a grin.
"Damn that grin is sexy," she thought to herself. Out loud, she said, "Well, show me around. I already know that the corridor is extremely long and this living room is bigger than my home in Connecticut."
Jon laughed, "Impressed?"
"Not very easily. The fancy things in life don't impress me. I'm much more simple than that."
Jon showed her around the apartment. There were four basic hallways that went around the pent house in a square, each one leading to different areas of the place. He got to the last hallway and opened the door.
"Why the privacy for this one?" Steph asked.
"3 reasons. The guest rooms are here, my room is here and one of our studios is here. Everything in this hallway is sound proof."
They walked down past two doors which were open and looked like bedrooms. Steph assumed they were guest rooms. They got to another door and Jon opened it and walked in.
"This is my room."
It was huge. There was Bon Jovi memorabilia on one wall, and what looked like his children on all of the others. There was a balcony. Jon walked over and opened the door to the bathroom and motioned for her to follow him.
They walked through the bathroom and into another bedroom.
"This is the room I'd like for you to stay in." He wanted to keep her close to him. The room was amazing. There was a California King sized bed with a lavender down comforter, and a black leather couch and chase lounge. There were two sets of double doors and one led to the balcony. Steph walked outside and enjoyed the beautiful New York City air. She sat down on one of the outdoor chase lounges.
"Now this is impressive Jon."
He grinned again. He hadn't remembered smiling this much when he wasn't on stage or with his kids in a long time.
"You haven't seen the best part. Come inside."
"Ok." They walked up to another double set of doors which Jon opened and Steph gasped. It was a huge walk in closet. There was enough room in there for a whole other bedroom. But the best part was when you walked to the end of the closet-it seemed a mile long, was the guest room bathroom. Inside was a full length mirror, a beautiful bath tub and a hot tub.
"Ok...we should redo this and make it your room."
Jon chuckled. "Why do you think my room connects to this one? I use that hot tub quite often when no one is staying her."
She smiled. "Are you hungry? I can cook something if you'd like."
"I have a better idea. Let's go out. You can raid the closet and wear whatever you like."
The closet actually had a ton of clothes in there.
"Who owns all of those?" Steph asked.
"Just random things I've picked up over the years for guests that didn't realize they were staying over. Not much of it has been worn."
"What should I wear tonight? Where are we going?"
"Casual is good."
He left the room for Steph to get ready for their night out.

Steph walked out of her bedroom and to the living room and found Jon waiting for her.

“You look great!” He said smiling at her.

“Thanks! It was all in my closet,” she said smiling. She was wearing a pair of tight low rise jeans, and dark purple baby doll top with spaghetti straps. For shoes-the closet had her shoe size in there too, she picked out a pair of silver Manolo Blanik sandals. It was the first time she had ever worn such nice shoes. She could get used to that. Her light brown hair was swept half up, with curls framing her face, and her make up was done just enough to bring out her big brown eyes.

He looked just as good as her. He had on a pair of tight jeans that showed off his ass. He had on a light blue shirt that seemed to bring out the amazing blue in his eyes even more and a simple pair of sneakers. Grabbing the famous sunglasses and baseball cap disguise, they were out the door.

“Where are we going?” Steph asked.

“This little Italian place not far from here. I thought we’d walk. It is a gorgeous summer night.”

“It definitely feels something like summertime,” she said.

He chuckled. “You’re going to make a great PA…you can find a way to turn any conversation into a reference of one of my songs.”

“As long as I keep you on schedule and get you to lighten up, my job will be complete.”

“I’ve already lightened up a lot and I haven’t even spent the whole day with you.”

“I have that effect on people,” she said smiling at him.

“God, you PAs are almost as bad as a rock star with your ego,” he said teasing her.

Then the inevitable happened. A fan recognized him underneath his disguise and came up to them. Within about 2 minutes, Jon was surrounded by about 2 dozen fans.

Steph stepped in.

“Ladies,” she said, “Give Jon some space. Tomorrow he has a signing in the morning at Virgin Records at 9 a.m. I will personally make sure you ladies are the first ones to see him as the signing is only two hours.”

Jon smiled, thankful for the space as Steph took down all of their names . “Bring your ID’s I will set up a personal list for you. After all, rock stars need a night off once in a while.”

The girls wanting to meet him were very understanding, and walked away happily.

Once they were gone, Jon spoke. “That was amazing. Any other PA would have had me continuing to sign autographs and just watched while I was trying to get out of there.”

“I have a way with people,” she said.

“I’ll give credit where credit is due. That’s twice today now you saved me. Incredible.”

They stopped outside a little restaurant. “This is it,” he said, opening the door for her.

The maĆ®tre’d came up to Jon. “Mr. Bon Jovi, sir, I didn’t realize you were in town. It’s so good to see you.”

“Ah…thanks George. I’ll take my usual table in the back of the restaurant please.”

“I see you’ve brought a guest,” George said.

“I did. This is Steph, my new PA.”

“Nice to meet you Steph,” he said with his thick Italian accent.

They sat down in the back of the room and Steph looked around. It was a quiet little place, but nice. There were little candles on all of the tables, and photos of all of Italy’s famous sights on the walls. Over one of the tables in the back was an autographed Bon Jovi picture of the whole band.

“You must come here a lot?” Steph mused.

“Yes, I do. I enjoy the quiet atmosphere of the place.”

The waiter came over and Jon ordered a bottle of wine and Chicken Marsalla with steamed veggies and a side of pasta. He looked at Steph. “The portions are huge. Do you want to share the chicken and some pasta with me?”

“Sure,” she said, “Marsalla is my favorite.”

So Jon told the waiter to bring two plates. They started chatting for a while waiting for dinner. The conversation was light and somewhat silly. The food came and they dug in.

“This is fabulous,” Steph said.

“Good. I’m glad you like it.” Jon said sipping his wine. He was on his 4th glass as they finished and Steph was on her second. He was actually feeling pretty good, and suggested they sit at the bar for a little while after dinner.

“Sure.”

While sitting at the bar , they talked and laughed like old friends. Jon had now switched to beer and was getting somewhat tipsy. Steph wanted to make a good impression on her new boss so she had kept it to the two glasses of wine and a beer.

They stayed there talking and laughing until 11 p.m., and Steph decided Jon had to get up early in the morning and so did she. So she offered to pay the tab, but Jon took care of it and they left.

During the walk home, Jon was behaving very silly. He started singing softly as they walked back to the apartment. He was singing “What Do You Got?”

“I love that song,” Steph said as they got in the elevator. “It’s really beautiful.”

“No,” Jon said, “You are beautiful.”

She blushed, “Thanks Jon.”

They got off the elevator and Steph walked him to his room.

“Do you need anything?” she asked

“Water, Advil. You,” he said putting an arm around her, and staring directly into her eyes. He softly kissed her on the lips.

After about a minute, Steph pulled away.

“I’ll just get that Advil and water now,” she said. This was not a good way to start a new job.

“Did you not want to kiss me?” Jon said pouting.

“Well, first of all, you’re still married. Second of all I work for you. Third you’re drunk,” she said, “Not a good combination.”

She spun on her heels and walked down the hall.

She entered the kitchen and found the bottled water in the refrigerator. She figured he had Advil in his bathroom. She must have taken turn down the wrong hallway on her way back to his room. As she found herself in the hallway where Dot slept. She heard Dot on the phone in the hallway.

“I love you too Rich, but we can’t do anything until Jon is ready. You know it would be awful for your guys if he found out.”

She paused a moment. “Yes I hope she’s good for him too. Ok. I love you and I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight hon.” She hung up and turned around and saw Steph standing there and her eyes widened in fear.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hear that. I was on may way back to the guest room and I took a wrong turn,” Steph said apologetically.

“You can’t tell Jon you overheard this. As much as we both want out of this marriage, I have to wait to until the right time to tell him…”

“That you’re in love with his best friend?” Steph said, “It’s not my place to say anything so I won’t. But you should.”

"I know I should. He's not ready to let go of the past yet. We have both had our share of flings over the years, but always kept them at a distance because of our marriage. And now with less than a year until Cassie's 18th birthday when the marriage will officially be over, it will be wrong to do this now. I want him to find peace and happiness too. Please I'm begging you to keep this quiet."

Steph sighed, "Ok...I'll keep quiet. But stay away from me. I think my face will give it away."

"Ok...I won't tell Richie you overheard that either. Thank you Steph," Dot said. "I promise Jon will never know that you knew."

"Ok, well I better get back to him...he's a little drunk."

Dot smiled at her. "Make sure you have Advil and and his water for him. In the morning, feed him breakfast-preferably greasy and coffee. He'll feel better."

"Ok...well, goodnight."

Steph headed back in the right direction this time and opened the door to Jon's room. He wasn't there. She walked through the bathroom and found him passed out in her bed.

She sighed. "I guess the bed is big enough," she thought to herself and crawled in on the other side of the bed. She was sound asleep within about 10 minutes.

In the morning she awoke to arms wrapped around her. Jon had rolled over in his sleep and snuggled up next to her. She tried to move, but she didn't want to wake him. She attempted to move and it caused him to wake up.

"Oh...my head," he said, not realizing where he was at first.

"I have water and Advil," she said softly.

"Woah...how did I get here?"

She laughed softly.

"Well, I left you alone in your room for five minutes to get water and Advil and came back and you were gone. I found you passed out here. Not wanting to sleep in your bed on my first night here and figuring there was enough room in this one, I slept here too."

"Oh," he said groggily. "Can I have that Advil now?"

She handed him that and the bottled water which he took. Then he spoke again. "Did I try anything?"

"Not since I left you in your room. You did kiss me," she admitted.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I guess I couldn't help myself. You are a beautiful woman."

Steph blushed. “Thanks.” She got up and headed towards the desk in the room and flipped open the laptop, and pulled up his calendar for the day.

“So,” he said still in her bed, “What’s on the agenda for the day?”

“We have two hours to be at Virgin for the signing. Then you have a meeting with the Soul Foundation office at 2.”

“The uptown office or the Jersey office?”

“Uptown.”

“Good. We have time between things today.”

He got out of bed and headed over to Steph. He was wearing nothing but his boxers and Steph couldn’t help but admire the six pack set of abs on him.

“Um, Jon, you may want to shower and get dressed,” she said feeling a little awkward.

“Yeah, I probably should,” Realizing Steph was liking what she saw, he couldn’t help but tease her. He spilled a little bit of his water on his chest on purpose. “Shit. I’m clumsy this morning and that’s cold.”

Steph laughed, and reached for a couple of tissues and wiped the water off of his chest. She wanted to run her fingers up and down that stomach of his. It was rock hard, and his skin was amazingly soft.

His skin felt on fire at her small touch. She pulled away just as quickly as she grabbed the tissues to dry him off.

“You like?” he said smiling down at her.

“What woman wouldn’t?” she said with a grin. “Now go. Shower.”

“Right,” he said realizing she broke the moment. Maybe they were both closed off to and a little more than alike than she cared to admit. “While I’m in the shower, can you call downstairs and have a car ready for us in 40 minutes. That should give us time to stop and grab breakfast on the way. Also, if you can go in my closet and grab a pair of jeans and one of my many sleeveless black tank tops, that would be great. And anything you need should be in your walk in. There are plenty of shower supplies in your bathroom.”

“Ok,” she said.

“I’ll probably be about 20 minutes in the bathroom so if you want to shower and get dressed first you have time.”

“Ok,” she said. With that he headed towards the bathroom and so did she.

She got out of the shower and walked into her walk in closet and found a pink cotton t-shirt with a scoop neck and a pair of tight fitting, low rise jeans. There were a pair of pink sandals that matched the outfit and felt so comfortable when she slid them on. She quickly ran a brush through her wet hair and then headed over to Jon’s room to find his clothes for the day.

She looked in his huge walk in closet and found a pair of jeans, boxers, sandals, and one of his black signature tank tops. Good lord this would show off his arms beautifully she thought.

She had just finished laying everything down on his bed and turned to head back towards her room as Jon stepped out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel around his waist. He grinned.

“It’s a good thing I didn’t walk out of there naked,” he said. “Can you just hand me my clothes please?”

“Sure,” she said turning around and grabbing his clothes. As she handed them to him their hands brushed. The fire he felt when she touched him was all he could to not take her and throw her down on the bed and make love to her.

“Thanks,” he said looking into her big brown eyes. She felt as though his blue eyes were looking right into her soul. He wanted so much to kiss her soft lips. “Well, I just need to make a quick call and get dressed and I’ll be ready to go.”

“Ok,” she said “I’ll just head to the kitchen for your coffee.” She had made a pot before grabbing his clothes and after her shower.

She headed out of the room and he dialed Richie’s number.

“Did you bang her yet?” Richie asked teasingly.

“Well, hello to you too man,” Jon barked at him.

“I take that as a no,” he said laughing.

“She is my employee. I can’t just sleep with her.”

“Like that has stopped you before,” Richie replied. “Oh wait, that stopped her? Wow! She is a keeper.”

“I don’t man. She is gorgeous, smart as hell, and very feisty. There’s something about this one.”

“Well take your time stud. I’m sure she won’t be able to resist your charms for too long. Maybe she is just what you need to finally move on past your dead marriage and get that divorce you and Dot have been talking about for ages.”

“Rich, that will be when Cassie turns 18. You know that we want to wait until the kids are grown.”

“But you’re both so miserable together.”

“Well we put on a good show when the kids are around.”

“Whatever. Listen man, I have to go to group. Have fun with Steph today. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Jon laughed, “And that would be?”

“Good point. Don’t do anything I would do,” he said laughing and hung up.

Jon smiled. Oh how he had missed his best friend. He was grateful that Steph had brought that back into his life.

He started singing a little as he walked out of the bedroom. He was in a fantastic mood. He woke up with a gorgeous woman in his arms-although they weren’t anywhere near where he wanted to be with her, but he definitely felt the connection with her and he had talked with his best friend.

“Oh sweet lord,” she thought to herself as he was singing and old school Jovi song, “You Give Love a Bad Name.” “He is going to make it impossible to resist him. I have to though. He is my boss. And that would be such a bad way to start a working relationship.”

“Ready beautiful?” He asked grinning at her.

She felt her knees go a little week. He was very charming. “Yup,” she said handing him his coffee.

They headed down and the car was waiting for them.

They climbed in the car and the driver drove them to a small diner where Steph had ordered egg and cheese sandwiches for breakfast to go. “I’ll be right back,” she said getting out of the car for their breakfast.

She came back out and climbed back in the car and handed him his breakfast. He decided to play with her a little.

“Egg and cheese? I can’t have cheese,” he said pouting.

Her face fell, “Really? I can go back in and grab something else.”

He sighed, “No…I’ll just pick it off.”

“Jon, its melted to the sandwich, you’ll still end up with some of it.”

“It’s ok,” he said trying not to laugh, “I’m starving. I don’t want to wait for more breakfast.”

“Are you sure?” she said, “It won’t be a problem.”

“Nah, I’m only kidding. The sandwich smells great. I’m starving.” He said grinning and laughing at the dumbfounded look in her eyes as he took a huge bite out of his sandwich.

She reached over and playfully swatted him. “You jerk! I felt so bad about possibly screwing something up on my second day on the job.”

“Yeah and you were so cute to watch looking all sad that you messed up,” he said laughing at her. She swatted at him again. He was enjoying this physical contact way too much.

“You are impossible!” she said and turned away to look out the window.

“You’re not mad at me are you?”

“Hmph…” She said ignoring him, and munching on her sandwich. Now it was her turn to play right back at him.

“Come on, Steph,” he said “I was only kidding. Weren’t you the one who said I need to lighten up?” He took the last bite of his sandwich. “I’m sorry if I upset you.”

She finished her sandwich and turned and grinned at him. “Gotcha!” she said laughing at him.

“Snot,” he said. “You’re going to pay for that one. He couldn’t playfully swat her. Instead he reached over and started tickling her.”

“Jon,” she squirmed laughing, “I give. Truce. You found my weakness. I’m extremely ticklish.”

He stopped, his face about an inch from hers and again his blue eyes bore into hers, full of life. “You give,” he said softly, “Well I don’t.” and his lips crashed down on hers.

Steph found herself responding to his kiss parting her mouth so their tongues could slip inside of each other. Jon was instantly on fire with desire for this woman he had just met the day before which was so unlike him. She slid her arms around his neck as he started running his fingers through her hair. The kiss lasted about two minutes before she finally pulled away, breathless.

“Jon, I’m sorry, I-“

“No, it’s me who should be sorry,” he said cutting her off, “I mean, you’re the one who clearly said no mixing business with pleasure, but I couldn’t help myself. I promise I’ll behave.”

With that her phone rang.

“Saved by the bell,” she said, looking at the new phone she was given for her job. “Hello Richie.”

“Did he bang you yet?” came the voice on the other end of the line.

“What?!” she said shocked, “No.”

Richie laughed. “Relax darlin’. I’m only kidding. I just called to see what was on the man’s agenda for dinner tonight.”

She laughed, and mouthed dinner to Jon. He nodded. “No plans yet,” she replied.

“Can you two come to Jersey for dinner? They’re springing me for an evening, so I figured dinner with Jon and his lovely new PA would be a good way to test how I am going to do in the outside world with no rehab.”

“Let me just check with Jon. I know we have a meeting at the Soul office at 2. I’m not sure how long those usually go, but I don’t see why not.”

“Does he want to do dinner in Jersey tonight?” Jon asked as the car pulled up behind the record store where Jon was to enter the building.

“Yes.”

“That’s fine,” Jon said. “If it’s a late night then we’ll just stay at the Jersey beach house.”

“Richie. We’re in. Do you need me to make a reservation somewhere?”

“I’ve got that covered darlin’,” Richie drawled, “Just be here by about 6 or so. I’ll make reservations for 7 in case you guys are late. Jon knows where I like to eat. Tell him it’s the little Italian place, and he’ll know.”

“Ok, well we just pulled up to Virgin Records, so I have to go now.”

“Alright, see you tonight.”

She hung up the phone and looked at Jon. “We pulled up to the back entrance because it’s more private,” he said, “But I’m usually spotted every time I come here. So I waited for you to get out of the car with me.”

He put on his hat and sunglasses and she slid out of t he car first with Jon right behind her. There was a man in a suit right by the door who smiled at Steph.

“Miss Alderson?”

“Steph, please,” she said with a friendly smile as he opened the door for the two of them.

“I’m Rob, the head manager here at Virgin. We spoke this morning to confirm the details of your arrival. Hello again Jon.”

“That was the smoothest entry in this place ever.” Jon said amazed.

“Yes, well your new PA seems to have a great knack for this.”

“Among other things,” Jon muttered under his breath. Out loud, he said “That she does,” he grinned.

“Ok, so I know you will mostly be signing the Japan album along with a couple of the other artists. But we do also have some Bon Jovi apparel and the sign promoting the greatest hits album, so you may be asked to sign those. There are also 6 eager young ladies out there that are the first in line to meet you. The list that Steph gave me this morning.”

Somehow, Steph had found time this morning to call and confirm all of these things, plus get him up, showered, dressed, arrange a car, and make him coffee. He grinned.

“I’m beginning to wonder if there is anything you can’t make happen,” he said to her, amazed.

She blushed a beet red at the praise. “Thanks Jon.” She then looked at Rob. “Do you have the cooler with the bottled water under the table for him?”

“Of course,” he said, “And as requested he has his own separate table away from Katie Perry and Rihanna. Again, we here want to thank you for doing this at such last minute.” Katie and Rihanna were the only other two artists on the whole compilation album for Japan that could make the signing on such short notice. Jon, having been around longer than those two did not want to be bombarded with teeny boppers and had requested a separate table.

“Nonsense,” Jon said, “It’s for a good cause.”

They walked down a corridor and came to a door. Upon opening the door Steph saw the table was perfectly arranged to her liking even with a black curtain around for privacy. Jon sat down in his chair, and removed the baseball cap fluffing out short hair a little.

“How do I look?” he gave the rock star grin to Steph. Once they were alone. Rich had given them the 5 minute warning and was going to make a little speech about the album and introduce the artists. Steph would pull the curtain open once they announced Jon.

“Like the sexy rock star that you are and you know it,” Steph said grinning at him.

He pouted a little. “All I get is grief. Listen, feel free to shop around once I get started. You don’t need to stay up here the whole time.”

“Well, I was going to go through and pull the numbers for the meeting, and see if there is any other paperwork I need from reading the notes here it looks like I may need to print some stuff for you. Rob said I can use his office. That will give us time to grab lunch after you’re done here.”

He was impressed. She’d been working with him 24 hours and she already had him on a tight schedule, and was figuring out what needed for each meeting and or event.

“Well I’ll leave you to it” Jon said as Rob announced his name and Steph pulled back the curtain.