Chapter 16

Hey everyone...this is just a quick add...more to come soon I promise...:)

“Why are you stopping?” Rich said, trying to stall as he saw the elevator door quickly shut with Dorothea on it.

“That looked just like Dorothea,” Jon said.

“Well, we did figure out she is in Italy bro,” Rich said. “Maybe she is staying here.”  Jon watched impatiently as the elevator went up and the lit up numbers paused on Richie’s floor and the elevator started its descent back to the first floor.

“Maybe,” Jon said thoughtfully. “She got off on your floor. The elevator only made one stop.”

“I’ll be sure to say hello if I run into her bro,” Richie said as they got on the elevator.

“But it’s odd,” Jon said. “If she’s staying in the hotel, why doesn’t she want see us?”

“Jon,” Richie said, “She’s trying to have a vacation with her new man. Don’t you think she wants a little privacy with her new man instead of having her ex husband hanging around them? Let alone the fact that the poor schmuck probably thinks he has to better than you. It’s probably not easy for an average guy to live up to dating the rockstar’s recent ex wife. Let her have a little privacy Kidd.”

“You’re right,” Jon said as the elevator stopped at Richie’s floor. “I hate it when you’re right. Have a great night bro.”

“You too, Kidd,” Richie said stepping off the elevator and breathing a sigh of relief. Hopefully by the time Steph was finished with her little surprise, he’d forget all about the fact that Dorothea was in Italy.

Richie entered his room, to where Dorothea was waiting for him.

“What were you thinking?” Richie said. “Jon thought he saw you.”

“Let him,” Dorothea said. “Babe, I’m so tired of hiding our relationship.”

“Let the ink dry on the divorce papers sweetie.  This needs to be done just right.”

“I know Jon. I was married to him for twenty years. There’s no way that any way we do this will end without him blowing a major gasket.”

“And I know Jon too,” Richie said. “But if done here while he’s in the middle of touring, he’ll blow a gasket and make all of our lives miserable for the next six weeks. At least if we wait until we’re back in the states and done touring, it will give him some time to cool off. And hopefully Steph will have a great calming effect on him.”

“I guess you’re right. I guess it’s a good thing I’m not staying more than a couple of weeks.” She walked up to him and snaked her arms around his waist. “Can I come to LA with you when he finds out all of this?”

“Baby, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. I’ve talked with Heather, and she’s ok with this. I’m going to move back to Jersey soon.”

“But what about Ava? And where will you live in Jersey? I love you, but do you really want to live in the Red Bank house?”

“No silly woman,” Richie said kissing her forehead. “I’d buy my own house. If eventually, you want to live me and leave the Red Bank house, that would be great. As far as Ava goes, I’ll fly out to visit her plenty, and Heather said I can have her for school vacations, including summers when we’re not touring. Wait a minute. When you asked if I would really want to live in the Red Bank house, did you mean you’d like to live with me?” He grinned.

“It would be nice,” she said, “And you buying your own place would make it a place where we could build our own memories, instead of you having to live in the house that I lived in with Jon.”

“I think we need to get through the rest of this tour first and tell Jon before we make our living arrangements. He can only handle being pissed off by one thing at a time.”

Dorothea laughed. “If we told him about us and that we were going to be living together all at once, he’d probably have a mini coronary.”

“It won’t be that bad,” Richie said. “He’s got Steph, and she is a great at making him see the good in situations.”

“And what good would that be Mr. Sambora?” Dorothea said smiling up at him.

“Like how happy we make each other,” Richie leaned into kiss her.  “And if it weren’t for us finding happiness, then he would’ve still been stuck in the loveless marriage with you. And Steph may not have finally admitted to wanting to be with him.”

“All very good points,” Dorothea said. “But it will take a Jon a long time and a lot of anger to see that. He’s the most stubborn man I know.”

“Did you come here to talk about how Jon is going to react or to be with me?” Richie said, taking her into a kiss that left her a little breathless.

“Both,” Dorothea admitted. She was a strong, independent woman and this was going to be hard on him eventually, and she wanted to make him realize how hard it would be on him.

“I know he’s going to be pissed, but I love you Dot, and you’re here now, so let’s not waste anytime.”

There was no point in arguing with him. Truth be told, she did come here to spend time with him, even though the circumstances were very sneaky. She let him lead her over to the bed.

Chapter 15...two adds in one week...yay!!!

Hi to everyone still reading...above is a pic of Jon at Bamboozle...it's my favorite that I took that night (maybe-the shot of his butt that I got as he was walking away was good too) :) Here's the new add...enjoy!

The guys settled into the interview. Jon and Richie had gone through the questions with the guy from the television station, and then someone came rushing in around 1215 with a photograph in his hand. The gentleman looked at it. Knowing that it was in his contract to go over the questions with Jon and Richie first, he decided to show the picture to Jon and see if he knew anything about it.

“Jon,” the gentleman cleared his voice. “I do have one last minute piece of information I need to ask you. Did you realize your ex wife was in Italy right now with her new significant other?”

Richie swallowed, and knew that there was no way this guy could know Dot was here to be with him. She hadn’t even arrived at the hotel yet. The guys showed Jon and Richie the picture. Luckily the photographer only captured Dot getting into the car at the airport and not of Steph. Richie breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well, she told me she was taking a vacation with her new friend, and the kids are spending some quality time with my parents. I just didn’t realize he was taking to her Italy. Good for her, because I know that she loves coming here,” Jon said easily. “Maybe I’ll call her and send her and her new friend to tomorrow evening’s show. I do want to meet him before he meets my kids.”

Richie tried to relax, and the guy from the station told them he’d scrap that question, but decided to use the photo for when he was talking to Jon about the divorce.

Steph and Dot arrived at the hotel and Dot quickly went upstairs to her room to stay out of sight from anyone. Steph gave the rental car keys to the concierge to return for her and went upstairs to watch the guy’s interview.

Just then the hotel room phone rang. It was Dot.

“What’s up?” Steph said.

“Thought maybe you might want to stop down here and watch the interview with me. I know that there are most likely going to be questions about the divorce and probably you from what I heard he did at the show the other night.”

“Dot,” she said. “I know you think we should be friends, but honestly, I’d like to wait until this all blows over with Jon to even really try a friendship.”

“I know,” she said honestly, “And I respect that, but sometimes what the press says on live t.v., and how the guys react can be very daunting and I thought you might like moral support to watch it.”

She sighed, “Okay. I’ll be down in a minute.”

Steph grabbed her room key and went downstairs to Richie’s room and knocked. Thankfully, David, Tico and Hugh weren’t coming out of their rooms and didn’t spot her, as this interview was just with Jon and Richie, and not the whole band.

Dot opened the door and Steph heard the opening chords of “Living on a Prayer” coming out of the T.V. And then a camera panned across Jon and Richie.

The interviewer came across the screen and he welcomed Jon and Richie to the show, stating what an honor it was. There were pictures of Jon and Richie posted on a megatron and then one of Dot came up. The two women gasped.

“Is that from today?” Steph asked shakily.

“I think so,” she said. “Do you think that means Jon knows?”

“Well,” Steph replied thoughtfully, “I think that means that Jon knows you’re here in Italy. Thank god you can’t see me in the photo and that I returned the rental car or I’d have some serious explaining to do.”

“What if he calls me?”

“You never told him where you were going on vacation. It’s just a coincidence that you ended up here at the same time as the rest of us.”

“What if he wants to meet Richie?”

“Well, you can be honest, or at least tell a white lie. You can let him know that you’re planning on quality alone time with your man and your vacation and his tour isn’t the best time to meet him.”

“Ok,” Dot said, “I panicked for a moment there.”

The interview came back on after a quick commercial break.

The interviewer started with Jon. “Well, guys I figured before we get to talking about the major record breaking tour you gentlemen are on, I wanted to get these questions out of the way. Jon, it has recently come out that you were just divorced, and I hear there is already a special lady in your life. To clarify things, was this the reason for your split with Dorothea? From what the public knows of you, you’re not the type to cheat.”

Jon flashed his million dollar grin at the audience and then grew serious. “Well Adam, I’m glad you asked this question because I know that the other night I made a beautiful dedication to the new woman in my life, and I had a feeling people would want an answer for that. My marriage to Dorothea was over long before Steph came into my life. In fact Dorothea and I both agreed that we were over a long time ago, and would wait until we found significant others who made us happy before filing for divorce. We still care a great deal about each other, and have both found someone to move on with. It was Dorothea who found a wonderful man that makes her happy first, but adultery was nothing to do with the divorce. We just fell out of love with each other. Which happens. She’s very happy, and I’m very happy. We’re both happy for each other. She and I will always be friends. One more thing, Steph, I love you.”

“So folks,” Adam, the interviewer said. “I think it’s safe to say that Jon is still very much a one woman man. Richie, has the divorce affected you or the rest of the band at all?”

“Not at all,” Richie replied. “We’ve always had a family bond within our group, and we were all quick to include Dot in that part of the group. She’s still very much a member of our family and always will be. And Steph has quickly become a sister to the rest of us. The two women have met before Jon and Steph got together, and from knowing them both so well, I am confident that they will both be friends.”

“Ok,” Adam said, “Now that we’ve established all of this, we can get into the tour and the actual questions about the music. I think your fans want to hear more of that than anything else, but I know that there are some out there that want to hear about the personal stuff, so I apologize to you both for having to ask those questions.

Jon just laughed, “You’re just doing your job.” He grinned. “We all have jobs to do.”

The interview went on and questions were asked about the tour and the great success of it

Steph looked at Dot. “That went well.”

“Yeah,” Dot replied. “The guys have been doing this for years. So they know what they’re doing for the personal questions.”

“Well,” Steph said, “I’ve got to get going. The interview should be over soon and I have some stuff I’m working on for tonight with Jon. Sort of a special surprise for him for after the show.”

Dot smiled. “I know you wanted to wait on being friends, but seriously, if you ever need anything, I’m just a phone call away. This is a tough life to adjust to.”

“Thanks, Dot,” she said. “But I’m feeling pretty adjusted to them already.”

“Ok,” she said. “I’ll see you later.”

Steph left and got back upstairs and ran into David in the hallway.

“Where have you been all day? You missed the interview where Jon announced to the world that he loves you,” David asked. “Tico and I were looking for you and thought that maybe you might want to watch with us.”

“I’m sorry you Lemma,” she said. “I just got back from running errands. I found a cute little restaurant that had the interview on so I watched that part there.” The lie was just too easy for her.

“Oh,” he said. “Did you see the picture of Dot? It looks like she’s at the airport right here in Rome. Do you think she’s here or is that an old photo?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I know she was going on a vacation, but Jon didn’t think to ask her where she was going.”

“How funny would it be if she were in Italy? Although we only have tonight and tomorrow night and she’s probably only here for a few weeks.”

“Probably,” Steph said, “Listen, David, I’ve got some stuff to do. I’m sort of arranging a special surprise for Jon for after the show tonight. I know they’re not coming back here when they’re done at the television studio, but maybe you can help me with some stuff. I need to leave the show early tonight. After Jon’s break, and before the encore. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can make that happen since he prefers having me around?”

“Well, you can say you don’t feel well,” David said. “That usually worked when the ex wives didn’t were tired of watching our concerts. Of course, usually we’d go out for drinks or something and pass out in someone else’s room after the show so not to disturb our women.”

“I definitely want him to come back tonight,” she said, “How about saying I have a headache?”

“That will work. Let him know you’re going back here to take some Advil and lie down and that it would be great if he could join you when he gets back.”

“Good plan,” she said. “Thanks Lemma!”

“Anytime sunshine!” he said, heading back to his room. “Are you riding with us to the venue?”

“Yeah,” she said, “I’ll be downstairs in about an hour or so.”

“Sweet,” he said.

She got back to her room and her phone beeped. She looked at it and saw a text from Jon.

“I love you,” he wrote.

“I love you too,” she said.

“Can you do me a favor? I know Dot is in Italy. Can you call her for me? I want to send her and her new friend tickets for tomorrow night’s show. I thought it would be a good time to meet him. See what’s she’s up to.”

“Ok,” she said.

“Let me know what she says when you get here,” Jon said. “I’ll see you in an hour. I love you.”

“I love you too,” she wrote back.

She arrived at the venue with the rest of the guys a little while later, and Jon ran up to her and twirled her around, and pulled her in for a kiss.

“I missed you too,” she said laughing when he finally broke the kiss.

“A day apart from you is no fun,” he said.

“Tell me about it,” she said. “Oh I talked with Dot.” They were all sitting down.

“What did she say?” Richie asked.

“Well as much as she would love to see you guys for billionth time, she would appreciate some alone time with her man, and Jon you’re very busy with the rest of the tour and press stuff, and we’re only here for really a day and a half more; she thinks that she’ll wait until we’re all back in the states.”

Richie laughed. “She said the same thing I told you she’d say Kidd.”

“Sometimes I think you know my ex wife better than I do Rich,” Jon said with a grin. Steph nearly choked on her celery stick she was munching on. “You alright baby?”

She swallowed, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just went down the wrong pipe.”

“I guess it makes sense for the tour to end and her vacation to end before I meet this guy. It was just a thought.”

“It was a good thought too honey,” Steph said reassuring him. “It’s just that the timing was bad.”

Sound check went by without a hitch and soon it was time for the show again. She listened from back stage that night instead sitting on the sidelines like she had been doing. When it was time for Jon to break, and Richie to do his solo thing, he came running back to find her laying on the couch in his dressing room. She sat up and handed him bottle of water and a towel.

“You ok baby?” he asked come over to her on the couch.

“I’m fine,” she said, “Just a bit of a headache.”

“Why don’t you go back to the hotel? Take some Advil or Aspirin and lie down. I’ll come back as soon as the show is over,” He bent down and kissed her quickly, before he had to change.

“Are you sure? I’ve already let the driver know where to be right after the show, and gave him a half hour window.”

“Yeah, baby,” he said. “Hopefully you’ll be feeling better when I get back and we can watch a movie or something.”

“That sounds good,” she said, standing up.

“Here, I’ll walk you out,” he said, “Richie is still playing and he’ll do a long solo for an intro while I shower and change quick.”

“No,” she said leaning in for a kiss. “I’ll be fine. You go and get back to work. I’ll see you back at the hotel.”

“Ok,” he said. “If you need anything, text me, I’ll have my cell on vibrate in my pocket.”

“I’ll be fine. You only have about an hour left of concert and then a half hour to shower change and get back to the hotel. It’s just a little headache. I’ll see you when you get back. I love you.”

“I love you too baby,” he said. “Feel better.”

“I’ll be fine once the Advil kicks in,” she smiled, “So plan on coming back for a movie night.”

“I will,” he said, and they heard the opening chords of Always playing, so Jon knew he had to run back out and onto the circle. “I love you!”

“Go!” She said. “Richie can’t stall forever. I love you too.”

“Wait,” he said and pulled her into a lingering kiss, “Now I can go.”

She smiled and watched him run back towards the stage. Then she thought of their romantic evening she was planning and headed towards the door. She ran into Paul.

“Hey Stephanie!” Paul said. “Are you leaving?”

“Yup, planning a romantic surprise for the boss. There should be a car out there for me.”

Paul opened the door and there was a black town car waiting. He walked over to check, and came back.

“You’re clear. You know I have to make sure nothing happens to you. The boss will kill me if that happens.”

She laughed. “See you tomorrow Paul. Thanks!”

She got back to the hotel in about 10 minutes.  She ran upstairs and dialed a number and placed an order and they told her it would be about an hour. She knew that food would be awesome. Her next call was to room service, she ordered a bottle of champagne, chocolate covered strawberries and whipped cream. Next, she went and got the rose petals and candles she had picked up. She gently spread the soft petals out on the bed, and then she lit a few candles around the room, and dimmed all of the lights, and turned on some soft music. Room service arrived next and she had them set up the champagne, and strawberries  by the little bar in the room. Next she got a call from other order and she ran downstairs. She saw the delivery driver and took the box and opened it.

“Perfect,” she said, “Louie is the best concierge ever.” She tipped the delivery driver and ran back upstairs. She had asked around where to find a good pizza pie that was similar to those in America and the concierge that morning knew just the place. She was thrilled with the smell of the pizza. She set that up on the table along with two glasses of champagne. Just then her phone rang. She looked at the caller id. It was Jon, and she still had to change.

“Hey baby,” she said turning down the music.

“Hey beautiful,” he said. “Feeling better?”

“Much,” she replied. “Are you on your way back?”

“We’re leaving here in about 5 minutes so we’ll be back in 20 minutes.”

“Ok,” she said airily. “I’ll see you when you get here. Love ya. Bye.” She hung up the phone, and smiled and went to get changed.”

Jon just looked puzzled, and looked at the guys. “She just gave me the brush off. You don’t think she’s tired of me already to you guys?”

Richie laughed. “Trust me Kidd. The girl is not tired of you. She had a headache earlier. She probably just didn’t want to be on the phone.”

“You’re probably right,” he said thoughtfully. “I’ll feel better when we get back to the hotel, and I see her smiling face.”

Jon was feeling anxious and asked the driver to hurry.

Steph hurriedly changed. The set was a pretty pale blue teddy with a matching satin robe, which she put on and tied around her waist. She closed the robe tight so he couldn’t see the teddy, and put on a little bit of lip gloss, and brushed her hair. She quickly grabbed the privacy sign and scribbled,  “Please knock before entering the room. Your surprise awaits.”  She kissed it so her lip gloss left lip prints and hung it outside the door to the suite. He was going to love this, and she couldn’t wait to see the look on his face.

About 5 minutes later the car pulled up in front of the hotel. Jon and Richie both jumped out in a hurry, and quickly said good night to the rest of the guys. The two men practically ran into the hotel. Just before getting on the elevator Jon stopped dead in his tracks at a familiar figure headed to the elevator.

Chapter 14...finally

Hey everyone, thanks for being patient while I was very busy with school this semester. I have started writing again. Below is a photo (not of Jon this time), but still a good one. I went to an after party at the Stone Pony Sunday night after Bamboozle and look who I met! It was awesome...I know the pic is a little grainy, am downloading photoshop and hoping to fix that. Enjoy, and please...I love feedback! :) Anyway, here is the new add. Enjoy!

Steph was the first of the two to pull away. “Actually,” she said, thinking of her romantic plans, “I think we should wait until we have all night ahead of us.”

Jon grinned at her. “All night, huh? You will definitely be wearing me out, my little one.” He pulled her close and kissed her forehead. “But you’ll definitely be worth it.”

Steph pulled back and got out of bed. “Come on,” she said walking over to the dresser and pulling out some clothes. “You promised you’d show me Rome.”

“But I thought we were going spend the afternoon right here,” he said with a pout from the bed.

“Very funny,” she said getting dressed and he pouted some more, and then broke into a grin. “Actually, I did arrange for a tour of the sights today.”

She tossed her hair back and ran a brush through it. He got out of bed and did the same. He put on his baseball hat and sunglasses and they both brushed their teeth and they were out the door.

They walked around Rome and he showed her the sights. He took her on a private tour of the Coliseum, and a private tour of the Vatican, and the Sistine Chapel. They stopped for lunch along the way and she had real Italian pizza and gelato. 

“I’ve got to say,” she said licking her chocolate gelato, “The pizza here is not as good as pizza in America.”

“Definitely not. Here is very hard to find good pizza like what we have. I think pizza is an Americanized Italian dish.”

She laughed. “I miss real pizza.”

“Me too.”

While they were walking she had seen a little square with lots of little quaint shops.

“Can we go here?” she asked.

“You can go wherever you’d like my little one,” he said, putting an arm around her.

“Yay!” she said. They walked in and she looked different shops. Sure enough there was a small lingerie shop. She made a mental note to go there in during her shopping excursion.

He saw a little jewelry shop. “Come in here with me.”

“Okay,” she said, and they walked in the store. Jon was looking at necklaces . “What do you think of this one?”

He pointed at a beautiful necklace on a gold pendant with a beautiful heart shaped charm. Inside the embedded in the heart in a blue stone was the superman symbol.

“Jon, this is beautiful,” she said, “But probably way too much money. You don’t need to buy me a gift.”

“I want to. Is it so wrong to spoil the woman I love?”

“Can’t this wait until we’re celebrating an anniversary or something?”

“It kind of is,” Jon said. “You came into my life 2 months ago, tomorrow. You were feisty and I knew I wanted you from the moment I saw you.”

“Aww,” she said. “You’re sweet, but really it’s too much.”

He looked at the sales person. “We’ll take it.” He took the necklace from the sales person, and opened it and put it around her neck. “That looks perfect there.”

“Thank you,” she said. “It’s still too much, but I do love it. And I love you.”

“I love you too,” he said taking her into a kiss.

They got back to the hotel that evening and went to dinner with the guys. Soon after, Steph was yawning next to Jon. It had been a long day and she was exhausted.

“Guys,” Jon said, “I think it’s time me and this lady hit the hay. What do you say babe?”

“Definitely,” she said “Sleep is good and you have to be up early tomorrow.”

Richie looked at Steph. “Mind if I borrow your girl for five minutes Jon? Just some shop talk.”

Jon smiled, “Go right ahead. I’ll see you upstairs beautiful.” He yawned. “I’ll probably be sleeping when you come up.”

“I won’t wake you,” she said.

“You can if you want to,” he teased with a grin, and leaned over and kissed her.

“Good night baby,” she said smiling at him.

He got on the elevator and went upstairs leaving her and Richie to talk.

“So Dot’s plane gets in at 11:30 tomorrow,”

“That’s fine,” she said. “I have to be at the venue by3 and you guys will be tied up in interviews most of the day.”

“Good. Thank you for picking her up,” Richie said. “Here are her room keys. I checked her in to the adjoining room next to mine under a different name while you guys are out today. The connecting doors will remain open so she can come and go from my room.”

She sighed, “I really wish you would tell Jon. This is just asking for you to get caught.”

“I know it’s risky, but it’s to be with the woman I love. If you and Jon had to keep your relationship quiet, and couldn’t really see each other, wouldn’t you try anything risky to be with him?”

“I suppose,” she said, “But even if we did, what we’re doing doesn’t have potential to destroy a nearly lifelong friendship. What does she think about telling him?”

“She thinks we need to tell him too. You women seriously don’t get it. The blow will come a lot better when we’re not all under the stress of touring.”

“Be careful Rich. Be very careful. He may be happy with me, but that doesn’t mean he won’t feel betrayed when all this comes out. I see a bumpy road for me and him in the very near future, and I really don’t want to lose him.”

“You won’t,” Richie said calmly. “He’s crazy about you. He’s going to pissed at me, but he’s absolutely head over heels for you.”

“I hope you’re right, Rich.”

“So what are your plans for tomorrow night?” he asked changing the subject.

“I’m not staying for the whole show. I plan on leaving after his break. I want to have everything set up perfect when he gets back with candles, rose petals, room service, and any other romantic thing I can think of.”

“Sweet,” he said. “Just remember, he’s getting old, so he can’t go all night. He needs to be able to function properly on Thursday.”

She laughed. “I’m not a crazed sex maniac.”

“You think he isn’t?” Richie teased.

“I think on that note I’m going to bed. Good night Richie,” she said smiling.

“Goodnight Steph. Thanks again.”

She got upstairs and found Jon sound asleep hugging her pillow and she smiled at the sight of him. She changed into pajamas and crawled into the bed with him, careful not to wake him. He only stirred slightly, just enough to remove his arm from her pillow and wrap it around her instead. She was asleep not too long after that.

The next morning, the alarm went off at 8 a.m., and she woke right up. It was going to be a long day. She sat up in bed, and Jon opened his eyes.

“Baby,” he pouted at her. “Don’t we have time for a little more sleep?”

“I thought you don’t sleep much when you travel,” she said.

“I can’t help it. With you, I sleep like a baby. You have a great effect on my sleeping habits.”

“Well,” she said, “We don’t have time for that today. You and Richie need to be out this door by 9:30, and then I have things to do. But first you have to have breakfast, and get showered and all sexy since it is a TV interview today.”

“Fine,” he said. “You win today. At least we don’t have anything other than the show on the schedule for tomorrow night. We can stay in bed until noon tomorrow.”

“That we can,” she said smiling. “Although, I much prefer you like this, but I think you should get in the shower.”

“See,” he said, “I’m sexy without the clothes, and hair being done.”

“Yes you are,” she said as he stood up wearing nothing but the boxers he slept in the night before, “But if you show up for an interview like that, the women in the television studio will definitely rush the stage, and start a riot.”

He grinned, and walked over to her and gave her a long slow kiss that made her insides melt. He always had that effect on her. He broke the kiss and looked at her. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she said. “Now shower. I’ll order breakfast.”

“I’m going,” he said, walking into the bathroom, and then turning around with a grin at her “Can I get you to join me?”

“Not now, sweety,” she said. “Too much to be done.” She called room service and ordered breakfast, and then called to confirm everything at the television studio.

Just then there was a knock on the door, and she opened it to Richie standing there.

“You’re here wicked early. I thought I told you not until 9 so you and Jon could go over last minute details for today.”

“Sorry, I was up, showered, dressed and had breakfast bright and early, so I thought I’d see if Jon was ready,” Richie said cheerily, “But I can hear the shower running, so I guess he’s not.”

“You’re welcome to hang around and wait for him. Our breakfast should be here any minute,” she said. Just then she heard the water shut off, and she gathered his dark blue jeans and t-shirt and walked into the bathroom. He was drying off with the towel, and nothing was covered up. He grinned when he saw her.

“I knew you would end up in here with me,” he said walking over to her and pressing his lips against hers.

She kissed him back, and then pulled away and handed him his clothes. “I thought you might want these. Richie’s here a little early, and I didn’t think he’d want to see you come strutting out of the bathroom stark naked.”

He laughed and kissed her again. “Definitely not.” She left the room and he got dressed, and came out barefoot with wet hair, and found that breakfast had arrived.

“Perfect,” he said reaching for some coffee, “I’m starved.”

She quickly ate her omelet, and drank her tea, and got up. “Boys, I’ll leave you two to talk shop. I’m going to get in the shower. I have some errands to run this morning.”

“Right,” Jon said. “Do these errands have to do with my surprise?” he was grinning, hoping to get it out of her.

“Maybe,” she said, reaching into the closet and grabbing a pair of jeans and a tank top and sandals to wear for the day.

“I can’t get it out of you?” he stood up and snaked his arms around her.

“Nope,” she replied. “I will not cave.”

“Rich,” he said. “Do you know what my surprise is?”

“No man,” he said trying to keep a straight face, “But surprises women plan are always better than what we do for them. They’re just more detail oriented than us, so enjoy it. Whatever it is.”

She laughed. “Ok, I’m going to shower now.” She spun on her heels and went into the bathroom, leaving the two men to talk about the interview and maybe squeeze in some time to discuss the evening set list.

Jon knew this interview would be kind of tough. He was going to be grilled about the divorce.

“You know man,” Richie said, “I bet you this guy asks if she’s the reason for the divorce.”

“I know,” Jon said. “I did dedicate a whole slew of songs to her during the show the other night. My plan is to tell them the truth: that she and I only met two months ago, and that the marriage was long since over before that, and that Dot and I just didn’t make it official until recently. I’ll also let these guys know that Dot and I both have significant others that we’re happy with.”

“Those are good points to be made,” he said.

“Yeah, I’m not worried. I knew the press would have a field day with this, but I don’t care. Let them. I’m happy. Dot’s happy. That’s all that matters.”

The interview wasn’t until 1230, but they had to be there early for it, so the wardrobe people could go through some stuff. And it was a live interview, so Jon wanted to go over some things with the interviewer so that they weren’t surprised by any of the questions that were asked.

Steph came out of the shower dressed and hair brushed. It was still wet, but that was fine because it was another beautiful day outside. The sun would dry it.

Jon walked up to her. “Hey gorgeous.”

“Hi handsome,” she said reaching her arms up around his neck and pulling him close for a quick kiss.

“You two are so in love,” Richie said. “It’s almost sickening.

Jon laughed. “I don’t want to hear it man. If your mystery woman were here, we’d only see you for gigs and whatever press interviews we have. I’ve seen the look you get when you’re texting your woman. I know she makes you just as happy as Steph makes me. I just wish we could get some details on this girl, like a name, what she does for a living. I’d hate to see you get hurt by her bro.”

“Not gonna happen,” Richie said. “She would never hurt me. I know that.”

“Ok,” Jon said. “You have always had a good judge of these things. I guess that will do until I get to meet her.”

Steph looked at her watch. “Boys, the car should be downstairs any minute.”

“I think that’s the lady’s way of saying, ‘get the hell out of here,’” Richie joked. He gave Steph a quick hug and peck on the cheek. “Thanks for making sure both of us are on time darlin’.” That was his way of thanking her for going to the airport and she knew it.

“You’re welcome Rich,” she said and Jon came over and gave her a big kiss.

“I love you,” he said.

“Mmm,” she said breaking away, “I love you too. I’ll miss you today.”

“I’ll see you this afternoon?” he asked and gently kissed her nose.

“Of course,” she said. “I should be there around 3.”

“Good.” He said giving her another kiss on the lips. “Love you.”

“Love you more!” she said. “Now go.”

The guys left the room and she finished getting ready shortly there after, and grabbed her purse and left. She had enough time to get to the little lingerie shop before picking up Dot at the airport, so she went downstairs to the lobby, and spoke to the concierge for a few minutes. He had her rental car keys waiting, and handed them to her. He told her one thing she had asked him about the day before and she tipped him and headed on her way.

She got to the little shopping plaza and found the shop she was looking for. She found a pretty light blue set that matched her necklace, and tried it on and it fit her perfectly. She paid and wrapped it up and got into the car and headed for the airport.

She arrived there and checked on Dot’s flight. It just switched from on time to landed and she was waiting in the waiting area for her. She saw her come through the gate, and Dot gave her a small wave, and walked over to her.

“Hi,” she said. “Thanks for picking me up.”

“Thank Richie for that,” she said. “He knew I had a car today and would be out running errands and when I found out you were coming here, I confronted him on it. I’ll say the same thing to you that I told him. This is a mistake and just asking for trouble.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Dot said. “But you try saying no to either one of those two men. It’s not easy. I’ve won quite a bit of arguments over the last 20 years, but you really have to stick to your guns. He just wore me down, because I missed him just as much as he was missing me.”

The quickly got to the baggage terminal and collected Dot’s two suitcase, which she carried.

“Do you want some help with those?” Steph offered.

“Not necessary,” she replied. “Look, I know that lying to Jon is hard for you. Richie and I have already discussed this and we will do everything in our power to make sure he doesn’t find out that you knew anything about this. From what I’ve heard, you’re an amazing assistant for him, and you make him so happy. Much happier than he was when he was with me. If he finds out you knew about this, that will mess things up big time, because he will feel betrayed; not only by me and Richie, but by you. And I think that blow will be harder than me and Richie.”

“Agreed,” she said. “I know I’ve only known him a short time, but I can’t lose him Dot.”

“And you won’t. I may not be in love with my ex husband anymore, but there’s too much history for me not to care about him and want what’s best for him. And honey, from what I can see you’re it.”

She blushed a little. “Thanks Dot. That means a lot coming from you.”

“I’d like us to be friends,” she said. “Once all of this blows over, we’ll be spending a lot of time together, because these guys are like two peas in a pod when they get together. Where one goes, the other one goes, and the significant others and kids follow.”

She laughed. “I get that. Except for right now, other than the stuff that they have to do together, and the occasional dinner, we haven’t really done that much as a group.”

“That’s because Jon is in love with you and it’s new. He doesn’t want to miss a moment with you. And Richie is calling me whenever the time is convenient.”

As they got into the car, they didn’t notice a camera flash go off behind them.

Chapter 13 Yay!

Ok all...here is another chapter...I have loads more written, so I can still post when school starts. Sis had another pic of Jon at the Jets/Patriots game not too long ago. Love this pic!

The next morning the alarm rang bright and early. They were both so tired, but they were ready to go. Steph picked up the phone and made a few calls. One was to the hotel in Italy checking to see if their rooms could be ready for arriving this morning instead of late tonight like they had planned. The other was to their pilot, confirming the flight time. Once she was done with everything she climbed out of bed and got all of their belongings together and loaded on the cart to take downstairs. Their driver would be arriving in a half hour to take them to the airport and it was time to wake Jon. She walked over to the bed and kissed him firmly on the mouth, and he didn’t wake right away, so she kissed him again and he opened his eyes, and pulled her down on the bed on top of him.

“Morning sunshine,” she said. “As much as I would love to stay in this bed all day with you, we have to get up and get you moving. We have a flight to catch.” She stood up and pulled open the blinds in the room.

“Yeah, and you’re already showered and dressed and ready to go. Love the t-shirt by the way.”

She was wearing the t-shirt the guys gave her when they first arrived in Europe, paired with a jean skirt.

“Thanks,” she said with a grin. “These strange guys gave it to me. It’s the coolest Jovi t-shirt I ever owned.”

He threw a pillow at her. “Come back over here and lay with me just a little while longer. The plane won’t leave without us.”

“Yes, but the guys hate it when we’re late, and,” she said crossing over and kissing him, “It’s part of my job to make sure you’re on time. Besides it was your idea to leave early this morning.”

He pouted as she stood back up, and threw the covers off of him. “Fine,” he said. “I’m up. You know you’re much more of a slave driver than I am.”

“You ain’t seen nothing yet, baby,” she teased, thinking about the next night and actually sleeping with him for the first time.

He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her and cupped her ass, and pulled her close to him. “I bet when we finally to sleep together, you’ll be calling all the shots.”

She laughed, “I was just thinking the same thing.”

“Does that mean you think you’re ready? I’m calling everyone right now and changing our plans back to later.”

She smiled and shook her head. “Soon though.”

“Good,” he said taking his hand that was cupping her ass and moving it up her skirt. “Because I can’t wait to show you just how much I love you.”

“You already do that,” she said, feeling herself getting wet as his fingers moved closer to her.

“Well than I can’t wait for you to show me how much you love me. Although you already do by allowing me to do this to you,” he took to fingers and quickly slipped them inside of her causing her to let out a soft moan. “Oh I’m sorry,” he teased pulling his fingers out, and just rubbing her wet skin. “We don’t have time for this.”

She groaned softly. “It’s all your fault,” she said, “But we can always the private room on the jet. It is a two hour flight.”

“Mmm…a two hour flight?” he said silkily, “It’s a good thing that room is sound proof. The guys may hear you.” He still was still rubbing her but much faster, she kissed him hard on the mouth. When she broke the kiss, Jon breathed, “How much more time do we have? Time to make you cum for me?” he slipped his fingers inside of her quickly and began moving them pumping them in and out of her, causing her to let out soft moans. He looked at her and grinned. He loved doing this for her and honestly, the sex part didn’t matter all that much to him. As long as he heard her while she was climaxing, he didn’t care. He loved the sounds she made.

“Yesss,” she moaned as he continued to pump his fingers in and out of her. He could feel his own erection grow, and ignored it.

He pumped harder inside of her and she was moaning loudly. “Oh god Jon! I’m going to…”

He felt her walls explode and knew she had just came for him, and happy, he kissed her. “That was hot, and all while standing up in our room.”

She let her breathing calm down and looked at the clock. “You have to get dressed,” she said softly, “And I have to fix my skirt. We have ten minutes for you to dress, and brush your teeth and put your hat one so we can go. But I don’t care if we’re a minute or two late. That was amazing. I love you.”

“I love you too baby,” he said, walking into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

She quickly fixed her skirt and brushed her hair, and grabbed his baseball cap and sunglasses. He came out of the bathroom and decided to put on a show and change in front of her. It wasn’t something he usually did, but he was hoping if she saw him completely naked, she’d be ready for this soon. He slipped off his shirt and handed it to her silently with a smile on his face. She looked at him, and never got tired of seeing his perfect abs. It always turned her on. He slowly slid off his sweatpants and boxers and she nearly gasped at the sight of him. He was absolutely perfect completely naked. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to wait until she surprised him the next evening when they got back from the show. She might have to have him on the plane. She could feel herself growing wet again, as he grinned.

“Like what you see baby?”

Not trusting her voice, she nodded.

“Can you hand me my jeans,” he said, and looked down at his obvious erection, “Oh and I guess I should wear boxers today. I need to hide this a little.” He grinned, and she silently handed him his jeans, boxers and a t-shirt.

“Get dressed,” she breathed, “Before you ruin your surprise.”

“I have a surprise?” he said excited and quickly getting dressed. “What it is it and when do I get it?”

“You’ll see,” she said mysteriously. “Come on, let’s go.”

She hadn’t gone shopping for proper lingerie, and was determined to wait until after the show tomorrow night, but maybe she could give him a sneak preview on the plane. Lord knows he probably needed it from the bulging erection he had going on in his jeans.

He quickly picked up their bags. “Let me carry stuff down to the car. Now tell me about my surprise.”

“No way,” she said. “You can wait. You’re very patient.”

“Bull shit,” he said. “I’m the least patient person you know.”

“Unless it’s something you want,” she said, “Then you’re a very patient and a very good boy.” This time she reached over and cupped his crotch quickly and quickly took her hand away.

“Ok,” he said. “I’m guessing my surprise is sexually related.”

“Could be,” she said, “But you’ll just have to wait.”

They met the guys and got in the car, and took the 30 minute drive to the airport. Every time Jon thought he had his growing erection under control, she would move a hand on his leg and he knew he needed to find some sort of release soon. He had already done that a few times in the bathroom after she was asleep, but he didn’t want to do anything she wasn’t 100% comfortable with.

They were all talking and laughing and cracking jokes, and got onto the plane, and took off the pilot soon shut off the fasten seatbelt sign. Yes, even the Jovi jet has one of those. Jon yawned.

“Tired Kidd?” Richie asked.

“A little,” he said. “Late night, and early morning. Babe, would you like to come lie down with me for a bit?” Her hand was still resting on his leg.

“Ok,” she said getting up. They walked into the bedroom area and he closed the door behind them, and she walked over to him and kissed him hard on the lips. He pulled back. “God woman, the things you do to me.”

“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” she said, pushing him down on the bed, and climbing on top of him.

“Are you sure?” he asked gently. “Really sure?”

“Oh,” she smiled with mock innocence. “We’re not doing that.”

“We’re not?” he asked disappointed.

“No,” she said with more feigned innocence, “I had something else in mind.” She kissed him again and then lowered the kiss to his neck and reached down and slid his t-shirt off.

“Baby?” Jon said.

“Shh….now it’s my turn to take care of you. Now lay back and enjoy.”

“Yes ma’am,” he said. “You are a slave driver.”

She continued her attack on his neck and then worked her way down kissing his chest all the way down until she reached his jeans. She unbuttoned them quickly, and slid them off along with his boxers.

“God baby,” Jon breathed. “Are you sure you’re not ready to go further?”

“Shh,” she said, “This is about you this time.” With that she went back to her kissing attack on his body and made her way to his hard cock, and briefly paused and then licked the length of him and he let off a small moan.

“Baby,” he breathed, “You’re killing me. But what a way to go.”

“Shh,” she commanded again and he quieted down, she stroked him with one hand and took him inside of her mouth and sucked on him. She started slow and he began to softly moan. She began to suck harder, knowing he was close to release already especially after the morning.

“Oh god baby!” Jon groaned, “I’m going to-“

And just like that he exploded with his release right inside of her mouth.

He quickly reached for a tissue and gently cleaned them both up and then she lay in his arms.

“I love you,” he said softly, as they snuggled.

“I love you too,” she said. “Very much.” And then she actually did fall asleep. He woke her about 45 minutes later, and told her it was almost time to land.

“No,” she said burying her head against his chest.  “I don’t want to wake up yet.”

“I’m sorry baby,” he said, “But it’s time.”

“You stink,” she said.

“Come on,” he said gently, “Before the guys get on the intercom and wake you.”

“I’ll kill them,” she said with a pout.

“You do have a better pout than me.”

“Told ya,” she said turning the pout into a smile.

“I’m serious,” he said. “I’d say yes to anything you have to say with that pout.”

“Good,” she said pouting again, and resting her head back on his bare chest. “Back to sleep.”

“Ok,” he said, “Just for five more minutes, and then we have to go out there and put our seatbelts on, after I get dressed again.”

“This is Captain Richie speaking,” Richie’s voice boomed over the intercom a minute later. “Time to get up and get your asses out here.”

“I’ll kill him,” she groaned, and Jon laughed.

“I warned you,” he said.

“Wake up, it’s time to wake up!” he sang into the intercom.

“When we fly home, I’m dismantling that damn intercom,” she said grumpy, but sitting up.

Jon laughed again. “I’ve been telling them we need to get rid of that thing. But it’s really there for safety reasons. If some crazy fan was hijacking the plane, or if the captain needed us to put on our seatbelts for turbulence or if we were going to crash; those of us in this room have to kind of be able to know what’s going on.”

“Then they can knock on the door,” she said slipping into her sandals and smoothing out her hair.

“I have to say,” he said getting up and getting dressed himself, “The way we used to party and sleep, we wouldn’t be able to hear a knock on the door even if you banged something really heavy against it. Although someone is always a pain in the ass with the intercom. Now that we’re much lighter sleepers, maybe we should get rid of it.”

“Agreed,” she said.

“Oh guys,” Richie called again. “Are you awake?”

She walked over to the intercom, and pressed the button, “Yes Richie, if you must know I was giving Jon the best head of his life. Can we have one more minute of privacy? I’m almost done here.”

Jon burst out laughing. “That was fantastic.” He said walking over to her and putting his arms around her waist. “And it really was the best head of my life.”

“Good,” she said. “I can’t wait to go out there now and see the look on Richie’s face.”

He walked over and pressed a couple of buttons, and Richie and the rest of the guys popped up on the screen.

“Cameras?” she said. “I learn something new every day.”

“Just another security measure. There’s no sound.”

Richie was shaking his head and laughing.

“Is he laughing at me?” she said. “Bring it big brother. I’m ready to get him back for waking me up.”

Jon laughed. “He should know never to mess with a determined woman.”

She quickly poured a pitcher of water. “What are you doing baby?”

“I thought the guys might be thirsty,” she said as she calmly opened the door to the bedroom. Jon walked out and the guys started hooting and hollering.

“Hi boys!” she said sweetly. “Who is thirsty? I thought you all might want some water before we land.”

“Water is good,” the guys piped up.

“Great,” she said, slowly pouring Jon a glass and handing it to him. She walked over to Hugh next and poured him one and handed it to him, and then over to Tico and David and poured him one. She stopped when she got to Richie and looked at him. Jon’s phone beeped. He smiled at Steph.

“Thank you so much for interrupting us Rich. I have to say your wake up calls are just divine.” She smiled sweetly and Richie knew he was in trouble. She handed him his glass and went to pour the water, and spilled it all over his lap. “Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry big brother. It was a total accident.”

Just then the captain announced to put on the seatbelt as they were going to be landing shortly.

Richie glared at her. “Thanks a lot Steph. Now I can’t even dry off.”

“Nope,” she said sweetly. “Maybe now you’ll think twice before interrupting us or waking me up.”

The rest of the guys burst out laughing, and Jon put his arms around her. “She got you pretty good Rich,” he said. “That doesn’t happen very often.”

“Yeah,” he admitted. “Steph, I promise. I will not wake you up any more with a rude wake up call or interrupt you and Kidd when you’re indisposed. I’m sorry. Really. Truce?”

“Ok,” she said, leaning over and shaking his hand. She reached behind Jon and handed him a towel she had stashed behind the seat on her way out.

“Thanks Steph,” Richie said.

The plane landed and they all left and got checked in at the hotel.  Sure enough Richie was on a completely different floor from the rest of the guys.

“Why are you on a different floor Rich?” Jon questioned. “I know that happens sometimes, but its good if we can all be together.”

Steph had already tipped the woman at the front desk to keep Richie away from everyone else and thanked her for her discretion. She explained when she was picking up the keys that no matter what the boss said that there was no other room open to get them on the same floor.

“Jon,” she interrupted. “It’s ok. The lady at the front desk said that there were only four rooms on the top floor.  She did the best she could at getting us all together.”

“Really man,” Richie said, “I don’t mind being away from you clowns for a few nights. I can come to you when need to review the set lists. It’s not like my room is that far from yours. It’s just an elevator ride away.”

“Ok,” Jon said. “Babe, can you make sure that at the next hotel, we all have rooms on the same floor. It’s just better for all of our privacy if we’re all together, because then it’s more likely that no one else will be around on our floor.”

“Ok,” she said. “Are we going out today?”

“Yup,” Jon said with a grin. “We are going to see all of the wonderful sights of Rome.”

“Yay,” she said. “I’ll meet you upstairs. I want to take care of our dinner reservations for tonight. I thought it might be nice to stay in for dinner.”

“Ok,” he said. “They have great food here so that works. I’ll see you upstairs in a few babe.”

She headed over to the concierge desk where Richie was thumbing through an Italian brochure.

“What the fuck are we going to do?” she said. “He wants us on the same floor. That’s going to be very risky for us with Dot.”

“I know,” Richie said, “But I have a plan. I’m going to get her a separate room. I don’t want to make every hotel we stay in look bad by changing rooms or anything like that.”

“Good. But it will still be risky? What if Jon comes to your room and you’re not there?”

“Then I went for a walk, or to an AA meeting or to get a bite to eat, and he can call my cell. I’ll make sure the hotel puts her a few floors below us, and then when I do come up to see him, it will look like I took the elevator up from the lobby.”

“I still think you should tell him the truth.”

“And I still want to wait until after the tour is over.”

“Fine,” she said walking up and making dinner reservations for the evening, and asking about a car rental for the next day.

She finished there and went upstairs. Jon was waiting and pulled her into a kiss. She pulled back a moment later.

“You’re absolutely beautiful,” he said softly.

“Thank you,” she said. “By the way…”

“What?” he asked. “Tomorrow during the day, I have to run an errand while you and Rich are doing your interview. I’ve rented a car. I’d also like to check out the venue today if we can. I want to make sure everything set up properly.”

“What sort of errand do you have to run?” He asked. “Is it for my surprise?”

“It could be,” she said with a grin.

“Now about the airplane,” he said. “That was amazing. Will there be any repeat performances anytime soon?”

She kissed him, “Maybe. If you’re good.”

“I can be very good,” he said seductively, running a hand up her leg and hiking up her skirt.

“Baby, I thought we were going to see Rome.”

He gently scooped her up in his arms, and carried her over to the bed, and reached his hand up her skirt again.

“That can wait just a little bit right?” She was already wet when he quickly began to rub her, and he kissed her as she let out a small moan into his mouth. He pulled back, feeling breathless, “Right?”

She always seemed to forget everything when he touched her like that. She nodded.

“Good,” he said, laying on top of her, and continuing to rub her.

He took his other hand and deftly reached up under her shirt and unhooked the bra she was wearing so he could feel her breasts, while she moaned in ecstasy at the touch.

“God, I want you so bad baby,” he breathed. “Are you ready? I can wait if you want.”

She remembered her surprise. Maybe they could just have a romantic evening the next day. She wanted him just as much as he wanted her right now.

He then remembered that he had wanted their first time together to be really special. A moment that they would remember forever.