Chapter Nine

An excited smile beamed across Rachel’s face as she bounded lightly across the lawn. The excitement swirling in her stomach along with an equal measure of nerves combined to make an intoxicating mix that made her head spin. She felt like a kid in high school again having just gotten a look or a nod from her first crush. This was ridiculous! She giggled to herself, pulling up breathlessly at the gate to let herself back out onto her road. Even the birds chirping merrily in the tree branches high above her head couldn’t sing a sweeter tune than the one that was currently being strummed on her heart strings. Once she allowed herself to step back from the ‘rock star’ image she had mentally painted Jon with, she found that he was a pleasure to be around, flirtatious but natural. She would nearly have gone as far as to say she felt safe around him but no, that wasn’t quite true. Safe was boring, this man was anything but boring.

Slowing to a walk, she casually strolled the last few yards up to the entrance of the house. Still grinning, she bit her lip to stop the delight bubbling over. She was a grown woman for Christ’s sake yet here she was walking along a road in broad daylight smiling insanely like a fool. Adrenalin pumped through her body in response to this fresh, new feeling. As crazy as it sounded, she felt like a creature that had just awakened from hibernation into a world full of bright and wonderful discoveries. Jon had somehow managed to make her insides twist in ways she had thought never again possible.

“There you are!”

A loud voice snapped her from her dreamy musings just as she rounded the corner of the gateway. Startled she stared up the driveway to identify the voice that had come from the man casually slouched against the side of his polished Mercedes.

“James! Hi!” Nearly stumbling in surprise, she quickened her step up the driveway to greet him.

“I was just about to give up!” He laughingly stuck his hands in the pockets of his freshly pressed cream chinos to look her up and down. “You jog?”

“I do!” Rachel smiled nervously – why in hell did she feel like she’d just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar? “Have to do something to try put a halt to time’s decline!”

James looked her over amusedly, “Rachel honey, time’s been nothing but kind to you!”

Blushing she waved him off, “Thanks James but it’s catching up all the time! I wasn’t expecting you out here today?” Bracing her hands against her slender hips, she looked expectantly up at him. With his hair freshly gelled over, a marine blue shirt complimenting his smooth skin, he was the epitome of the modern city slicker. His ambience positively screamed wealth and riches.

“Well I thought maybe you might like to go for some lunch? I have connections in the country club just up the road a little.” He arched an eyebrow at her, “I did call but apparently you…..were jogging?”

“Oh right! Yes, jogging!” She nodded a little too enthusiastically. “Sorry, I don’t tend to bring my cell with me.”

“A little dangerous don’t you think?” James looked at her warily and waved his arms to the surrounding area. “I mean, come on Rach, you don’t know this area very well yet!”

Rachel inwardly bristled at the shortening of her name for some inexplicable reason. She didn’t dislike James, quite the opposite in fact but the endearment just didn’t sound right coming from him.

“I’m fine James, perfectly capable of looking after myself! Besides, I wasn’t…” She broke off abruptly, she had been about to explain that she hadn’t been jogging alone but something made her keep that particular detail to herself for the time being.

“Besides?”

“Besides, I never go too far anyway!” Her face flushed at the hasty attempt to backtrack. It wasn’t exactly a lie, she didn’t go far!

James’s eyes narrowed slightly but his face remained pleasant. “So……lunch? Are you free?”

“Absolutely! Just let me have a quick shower and change!” Gesturing down to her sweatpants she smiled sweetly at him and started to head into the house. “Fifteen minutes max! Come in and have a coffee while you wait?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Following Rachel’s swift departure, Jon had allowed himself another moment to indulge in the memories that had briefly flitted through his brain when they had first walked in. Years old, each one was bittersweet – this little pub had marked some of the most historic days in his life. Late nights in the studio had generally wound up in here more often than not turning into raucous all night sessions as he and the rest of the guys deliberated how they would singlehandedly put the world to rights with whatever record it was that they were working on at the time.

Family events had also been played out here, the night Jake his second son had been born, he had invited half of Jersey back to help him celebrate. A small smile twitched at the corners of his lips as he thought back to how wasted the guys had gotten him that night. Dorothea had been less than impressed when he’d staggered into the hospital to see her the next morning smelling like a brewery and looking like he’d been dragged through a bush backwards. She’d forgiven him though, that time at least.

In fact, he couldn’t recollect a single bad memory he had of this place. Sighing he pushed himself upright off the pool table to scratch at his grizzly jaw. It was just a pity there wasn’t much opportunity to use it these days, house calls had been pretty quiet lately. Well, until Rachel had showed up to shake things up a little. Smirking he headed to the house for a shower, this was the best Sunday he’d had in years.

A little while later after he’d brewed himself another coffee, Jon swung open the door to the studio, a determined glint in his eyes. It was time to get some work done around here. The dust and clutter was ten times worse in daylight, there was even a collection of dead flies littering the window sills. First thing tomorrow, he resolved, he was calling a damn cleaner in to get the place back to a useable state. He began packing a few items away that he didn’t necessarily want lying around with strangers coming in, some scribbled lyrics on the back of old newspapers, a few e-mail print offs from the record label and such like. In less than a few minutes, his arms were full to overflowing with papers and he set the whole lot in a haphazard pile in the middle of a table. He needed a box or more like a damn freight container to get this lot sorted.

Upstairs in the little kitchen, he rummaged through a few of the cupboards eventually retrieving a bent but useable cardboard box that would suit his purpose. Straightening back up, a cursory glance out the window across the yard had him narrowing his eyes. Through the trees, Rachel’s front yard was clearly visible with her SUV in its normal spot, parked up by the front porch. That wasn’t unusual but what made Jon’s pulse quicken was the gleaming black Mercedes parked up beside it. He couldn’t tell from the darkness the other night but he was pretty sure it looked a hell of a lot similar to the shape of the car he’d seen parked outside her house that night he’d played Peeping Tom.

Dropping the box at his feet with a soft thump, he folded his arms and watched for signs of movement. Sure enough, he didn’t have long to wait before a man emerged laughing with Rachel following close behind. She had changed from her running gear to a simple floral print summer dress, her golden hair swinging softly about her shoulders as she turned to lock the door behind them. Jon tore his eyes away to shift his focus to her companion. Broad shouldered with dark hair and tanned skin, he was dressed to impress. Jon noted even the guy’s shoes fucking gleamed in the sunshine. His jaw tightened and his heart thumped loudly in his ears as he watched Rachel gracefully accept the man’s outstretched hand to guide her into the passenger seat and as he smoothly shut the door for her and moved fluidly around to the driver’s side. The car roared to life and with a quick burst of acceleration, it disappeared down the drive and swung out into the road leaving a faint trail of dust rising in its wake.

Scowling, Jon turned from the window once the car had driven out of sight. Who the hell was that asshole? Muttering furiously to himself, he stooped to pick up the battered box trying to figure out what this guy’s connection was to Rachel. That was the second time in as many days that he’d seen him there now and yet she had made no mention of him in all the time they’d spent together so far. As a matter of fact, she had barely told him anything about herself other than she’d moved from the West Coast and was in the business of real estate. With no wedding band on her finger, he had taken to presuming she wasn’t married and while he hadn’t been watching her house all week, he’d seen no other signs of anybody calling to see her.

He angrily thumped back down the small wooden staircase and banged the box onto the table in frustration. It was becoming painfully obvious to him that he knew absolutely nothing about this woman whatsoever, yet for some reason he had willingly invited her into his home – not something he did lightly. He smoothed a hand over his freshly shaved jaw and blew out a heavy sigh, frustrated creases furrowing his forehead. A little voice in his head told him he should just get a life and forget about her – by the sounds of things she was gonna be moving out in a few months anyway so what was the point? Then again…….silently he argued with himself as he began piling papers into the cardboard box, there was something about her that begged to be discovered. Challenging maybe but he wasn’t one to back down from anything that was remotely within his reach. She was definitely within his reach judging from her response to his attentions this morning and the slimy dick he’d just seen whisk her away had fired up his testosterone fuelled blood. That guy was history, he’d make sure of it.