Chapter 35

Keira reluctantly disentangled herself from Jon and stood on shaky legs, then held her hand out to him and helped him up. He enveloped her in his arms, pressing one hand to her back and stroking her hair with the other. She closed her eyes for a minute, then drew away from him and began collecting her discarded clothing from the floor. She picked up his jeans and playfully threw them at him. As he pulled them on, he let out an exaggerated sigh of contentment and said, “Well, that was fun.”

She laughed. “Fun? Is that the word you’d use to describe what we just did?”

“Oh, I can think of lots of words to describe what we just did, but I’m a gentleman.”

This time she snorted with laughter. “Some gentleman! You just fucked me on a hardwood floor!”

“Hey! First of all, you were on top, so technically you fucked me on a hardwood floor. I tried to get you to a bed. It’s not my fault you couldn’t keep your hands off me long enough to make it upstairs.”

She yanked her shirt over her head. “It is too your fault. You were standing there being all hot. What was I supposed to do?”

“I was just standing there.”

“And being hot,” she retorted.

“Well, I’m not gonna stop being hot just because you can’t handle my hotness.”

She smiled sassily. “Oh, I think I handled it just fine.”

Jon shook his head sadly. “You know, Kathy, I thought we had something special going, but now I’m starting to think you only want me for my body.”

Keira threw him a look of mock pity. “Well, it sure as hell ain’t for your music.”

Jon’s jaw dropped open, and then he charged at her. She shrieked and took off running. “I’m just kidding! I love your music! I LOVE YOUR MUSIC!” She yelled as she ran. She reached the couch and tried to leap over it, but her foot caught on the back of it and she landed in a heap on the cushions. Laughing, Jon jumped on top of her and dug his fingers into her armpits, tickling her. She writhed beneath him, screaming. “Stop tickling!! STOP TICKLING!”

Jon didn’t let up. “You don’t love my music – you only have one CD!! Say Bon Jovi rules and I’ll stop.”

Gasping for breath, she said, “Okay, okay. Bon Jovi rules!”

“Louder!”

“Bon…Jovi…rules! Now STOP!” she screamed, thrashing about as she tried to escape from his hands.

He stopped tickling her and stood up. “There. That’s better.”

She sat up, tugging her shirt down and trying to catch her breath. “That wasn’t exactly fair,” she muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

He offered her his hand and helped her to stand. “That’s what I thought.”

“I need to go take a shower.”

“Why? You need to wash me off of you?”

“Um…no, I’m all sticky from the beach…and yeah, okay, from you…so I think I should shower.”

“Well…” he said, as though he was considering. “I’ll let you use my shower if I can get in with you.”

She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. “No funny business.”

He laughed. “A little late for that.” He held his hand out to her and led her to the master bathroom. The shower was enormous and had a double showerhead. He started the taps and waited until it reached the perfect temperature, then slipped her shirt off and helped her under the spray. He dropped his jeans and climbed in with her.

He turned her around to face the wall, then gently soaped her back and shoulders. Determined to be a gentleman, he handed her the soap to let her wash the rest of her body. She returned the favor of washing his back, letting her eyes feast on his toned back muscles once more. She felt the heat of desire kicking in again, and quickly turned her attention to washing her hair. When she was done, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself, wringing out her hair with a smaller towel. She felt sated, relaxed, and happy.

Jon finished his shower and dried off, then walked naked into the bedroom and threw on a pair of sweats. He rummaged in a dresser drawer and pulled out a shirt, then went back into the bathroom and held it out to her. “Want to borrow this?”

She unfolded it and discovered that it was a Mets shirt. “Ha ha – nice try. No thank you.” Laughing, Keira returned to the living room and retreived her extra set of clothing from the bag. Back in the bathroom, she got dressed and combed out her hair. Jon came up behind her and stood watching her in the mirror. He opened a drawer and pulled out a hair dryer. “You can use this if you want to.”

“Thanks.” She set about drying her hair, then turned to face him. He took two steps toward her and placed his hands on either side of her face, then kissed her. This time the kiss was soft and slow, not urgent and arousing. When it ended, she kept her eyes closed, wanting to hold on to the moment.

“Want to go back on the terrace and finish the wine?” he asked.

“Mmmm, that sounds like a great idea,” she murmured, her lips curving into a satisfied smile.