Chapter Forty Three

Her cheeks burned a bright crimson as she stood awkwardly in front of whom she now knew to be Richie. Mortified didn’t come close to describing how she was feeling right now.

“Errrr…….hi! Lovely to meet you……Jon’s just em………in the shower…” God she sounded like a blathering idiot but for once she was at a complete loss for words.

Still beaming at her like a Cheshire cat, Richie dropped the holdall he was carrying to the floor with a loud thump and strode forward to pump her hand.

“Sorry if I gave you a bit of a fright!” Winking at her he chuckled quietly, “I wasn’t expecting Jon to have company!”

Jenn blushed an even deeper shade of red as she gingerly accepted his firm handshake. “I’ll just go tell him you’re here………excuse me!”, shooting him an embarrassed smile she scurried past him to the safety of Jon’s bedroom.

“JON! Get out here!” Sticking her head into the steam filled en-suite she hissed at Jon’s shadow from behind the frosted glass of the cubicle.

His soaking wet head emerged as he looked enquiringly at her, “Jenn honey, you’re not really a morning person at all are you?” Streams of water ran off his hair that flopped forward over his eyebrows. “The whole idea is that you get in here with me!”

“We have company!” Still clutching the shirt around her she hopped from foot to foot waiting impatiently for him to get out.

“Company??” Jon raised his eyebrows in confusion as he stepped out from under the water.

“YES! Your friend………..RICHIE!” Jenn gestured frantically toward the kitchen, “out THERE……..with me……” her hands turned back to point at herself, “……dressed like THIS!”

The look of pure panic on her face made Jon convulse with laughter as he dropped the towel he had been about to wrap around his waist. Moving behind her, he smoothly shut and locked the bathroom door.

“JON!!” Her eyes widened with incredulity as he moved in front of her to unbutton the shirt she had so tightly wrapped around herself. “He’s like right out there!”

“And?”

“And…….AND!!” Jenn stuttered as she shook her head at him, “Jon quit it! He knows I’m in here with you!”

Ignoring her protests, Jon relieved her of the shirt and steered her gently into the shower. “Baby he hardly thinks we had a pyjama party last night……now let’s get wet!”

Laughing Jenn gave in to her earlier embarrassment and tipped her head back against the flow of the gloriously hot jets of water. Soon enough Jon had covered them both in a creamy lather of bubbles and while temptations lay abound, apart from some very thorough soaping of various parts of her body by Jon, control was maintained. Some fifteen minutes later they were drying themselves off with possibly the plushest towels Jenn had ever felt.

Stepping back into the bedroom she stopped short and gave a little squeal as she looked at the bed.

“Oh my GOD!”

Amongst the tangled and twisted sheets lay Jenn’s clothes from the night before, all folded neatly in a small pile. Following behind her towelling his hair, Jon chuckled and shook his head,

“Damn smart ass Sambora!” Shrugging he looked at Jenn who was staring in horror at him, “Hey….at least he’s being helpful for once!”

Jenn shot him a loaded look as her cheeks burned in embarrassment once again and grabbing the pile hastily from the bed headed back into the bathroom to dress, kicking the door closed firmly behind her.

Grinning all the while Jon left her to it as he pulled on some sweats and headed out to greet his friend.

“Hey man!” Richie was sprawled in front of the tv watching the morning sports review cradling a mug of the steaming coffee Jenn had been making earlier. “No need to ask how your weeks been!”

Jon didn’t bother trying to suppress the smile on his face as he rolled his eyes at him and headed for the kitchen to get his own coffee. Richie jumped up and followed him for a refill, smirking all the while, “Quite an introduction huh?!”

“I’m sure Jenn can think of better ways but hell I suppose I should be grateful you didn’t come barging into the damn bedroom!” Leaning back against the counter, he groaned as he stretched the muscles in his back. “Man I’m getting old!”

“Well Jonny! You know what they say! ‘You’re only as young as the woman you’re feeling!’”, snickering away to himself Richie swiftly dodged the punch Jon aimed at his shoulder. “Hey….I’m not complaining man!” He winked at Jon as he went to refill his coffee. “She made a damn better sight than seeing your hairy ass in the kitchen!”

“Oh yeah? Well I hope for your sake you got a real good look because she’s all mine brother!”

Taking a second mug down from the shelf above his head, Jon poured another coffee for Jenn. “You better be nice or she’ll kick your ass to the kerb! Trust me – she’s Irish!”

“Meh, once I turn on the Sambora charm, she’ll be kicking your ass to the kerb!”

Laughing together the two men turned to go back into the living area and were greeted by a fully dressed Jenn, her arms folded firmly looking less than impressed.

“Hey baby!” Jon smiled brightly looking sheepish, “Coffee?”