Chapter Six

“Hi there! Again!” Puffing slightly from his exertions, Jon smiled breezily as he slowed to a stop in front of her. Clad in pretty much the same gear as last time with the exception of a sweat marked loose fitting muscle top that showed off his toned arms in all their glory, he looked fit and healthy.

“Hi...again!” Rachel stuttered nervously, now that she knew who he was she was even more of a mumbling wreck. “Uh……..sorry I didn’t know this road was private.” She gestured to the sign beside her and swallowed hard. Why the hell did she feel like a teenager again?

Jon waved her concerns away, drawing in great gulps of air as he attempted to slow his breathing down. 

“No problem, people come down here all the time!”

“They do? But…..” She looked at him in surprise as she pointed to the sign again. “What about this?”

Chuckling he fixed her with a sly grin, “They normally turn around at this point!” Shrugging he added, “Otherwise I set the dogs on ‘em.”

Rachel’s eyes widened before he hastily added, grinning. “Just kidding baby, just kidding!”

At the ‘baby’ reference, her eyes instantly went from blinking in surprise to narrowing in distaste. She didn’t care who the guy was, or how damn attractive he appeared – she was nobody’s baby, not any more at least. Pursing her lips slightly, she straightened her back and made to move off.

“Well, once again - apologies for the intrusion. I was just looking to check out the river. Have a nice day.”

Jon stared after her in disbelief as she began to jog back up the road. What the hell had he said? Fuck knows he wasn’t a comic genius by any means but Christ – it wasn’t that lame!

Hastily, he urged his brain cells into action, ignoring their muffled protests of first being assaulted by the bottle of wine he’d downed last night and now by being forced into strenuous activity at this ungodly hour of the morning.

“Hey, wait up a second!”

Jogging after her swinging golden pony tail he visibly winced at the ice cold glare he received when she turned to look at him under arched eyebrows.

“Let me try that again!” Plastering his best apologetic smile across his face, he extended his hand to her. 

“Hi………I’m Jon……”

Rachel smoothly finished his introduction for him as she frostily accepted his firm handshake, “…..Bon Jovi. I know.”

Jon eyed her speculatively for a moment, still slowly shaking her hand. There was something about her, something he couldn’t quite pin his finger on. When he’d first spoken to her, he had gotten the usual doe eyed look he was so used to seeing on women’s faces but that apparently had worn off quicker than normal. He had barely said more than three words to her yet had already managed to piss her off - and he had no clue how.

“Right, so I’m at the normal disadvantage here I see. You know who I am but I don’t know who you are.”

Rachel gave a small laugh, folding her arms defensively. “Right!”

Seriously!! What was UP with this woman? He gazed at her in exasperation when she offered no further response on her own identity. What the fuck was with the big secret?

“Right! Well see you then!” Glaring back at her, he shook his head and began to walk away, his temper barely simmering. Last time he was gonna bother being all fucking neighbourly!

Her firm voice suddenly probed past his stroppy thoughts, bringing him back to a halt.

“Rachel……….my name is Rachel.”

Turning back around to face her, he regarded the flustered blush creeping across her cheeks. She locked eyes with him for a split second before shrugging her shoulders casually and adding, “Braden.”

“Well Rachel”, putting the emphasis on his newly acquired knowledge he sauntered back up to her, “It’s nice to meet you, finally!”

Her aloofness intrigued him, there was more to this girl than met the eye, that was for sure. He still wasn’t sure if she was just messing with him or if she was genuinely unimpressed with him.

“Yes, you too……well I better get going.” Pulling her peaked hat lower on her forehead she glanced up at him with a lukewarm smile. “See you around.”

She was inwardly berating herself for coming across as such a bitch. She hadn’t appreciated the ‘baby’ remark but she knew she’d overreacted. Her nerves were getting the better of her, in the space of twenty four hours she’d found out her new neighbour was an international rock icon that she’d had a crush on in her teenage years and THEN she’d been caught practically trespassing on his property BY the afore mentioned rock God. Christ!

Just as she prepared to swivel away on her heels, Jon chuckled quietly. “I thought you said you wanted to check the river out?”

“I did…..I mean I’m going to!” Surprise washed over Rachel’s face at the fact that he hadn’t given up on her just yet it seemed.

Jon winked at her and pointed behind him. “Uh…..but it’s that way. There’s nothing back up your way but a dusty old road!”

“Yeah but….” Rachel looked at him in confusion. “I thought…..”

“I make exceptions for new neighbours, come on – I’ll show you the way down to it.” Chancing his luck with another grin, Jon motioned for her to fall into step beside him, an amused twinkle in his eyes.

Rachel, momentarily stunned quickly regained her composure to smile gratefully at him.

“Really? I mean it’s fine – I can just find another way……..”

“Rachel trust me, you’re gonna have to run nearly a whole mile that way,” Jon pointed westwards with one arm, “to get to the bridge and even then it’s not the nicest of areas. Down here is always quiet, kinda why I bought the place to be honest.”

“Well so long as you don’t mind……”

“I don’t! Come on!” 

Breaking back into a slow run, he waited for her to keep pace with him before striding back into his regular rhythm. Side by side, they jogged easily together off the road, crossing the boundary into Jon’s estate. Just beyond some trees, a fenced pedestrian gate stood blocking their way until Jon nimbly punched some numbers into the keypad allowing them access. A smaller path weaved its way amongst the proud Pin Oak trees that stood tall and resplendent in their summer greens offering a splatter of shade around their bases.

Rachel forced herself to concentrate on her breathing as she stretched out her limbs but the sight of him running beside her was mesmerising. The man was sheer muscle, not an ounce of extra weight collected anywhere from the top of his sweat dampened nape of his neck with its darkened curly hair to where his chiselled calves ran down into his trainers. Her eyes, try as she might to stop them, kept flicking to the faded Superman tattoo on his left shoulder that with every stride swung in and out of her line of vision. Flashbacks of spending hours staring at that very same tattoo on albeit a younger version of the man next to her from glossy magazine spreads filled her mind and she grinned at the memories.

Jon, comfortable in his stride occasionally glanced to his left smirking every time he noticed her surreptitiously checking him out.  So she wasn’t completely immune to his charms after all!

Discreetly, from behind the safety of his sun glasses he carried out some covert appraisals of his new neighbour for himself. Slender toned legs, further elongated by her cut off capri pants blended upwards to a flat stomach, her neat bust firmly ensconced in a close fitting tank, a honeyed complexion - they all ticked the right boxes in Jon’s mind. He usually didn’t tend to get to know his neighbours very well, something was telling him that might need to change.

Rounding a corner, Rachel pulled up sharp as the full view of the river stretch burst onto the scene.

“Ohhhh………wow!” Breathless, she gazed in wonder at the gently flowing current that rippled and twisted beneath the surface of the sparkling water. “What a view!”

Jon grinned as he took in her appreciation of something he considered to be the best asset on his property. Especially on a day like this one, with the cloudless sky reflected off the mirrored waters this had to be one of the best views in Jersey.

“She’s something alright, isn’t she?” Puffing his chest out Jon laughed as he made a grand gesture to the banks. “Rachel, meet the Navesink River in all her glory!”

Grinning back at him, she walked in wonder down the path that led out onto a long wooden jetty. The weathered planks creaked slightly as she tested her weight on them, unsure of whether to go on she looked to Jon.

“Go ahead, I’m a good swimmer – I’ll rescue you if you fall in!”

A blue eyed wink had Rachel rolling her eyes; he was a cocky son of a gun, that was for sure. Taking his word that the jetty was safe, she led the way out across the shimmering depths stopping at the end to exclaim in admiration at the small cruiser that was moored to the pier.

“Wow…….that’s gorgeous!”

“It’s totally wasted on me to be honest,” Jon shrugged his shoulders casually as he glanced over at the cobalt blue boat bobbing gently in the water. “I bought it a few years back to mess about on with the kids; I’ve only been out on it a handful of times since.”

Rachel noticed the slightly wistful shadow that crossed his face, so he had kids? Something else she didn’t know about her teenage obsession. She reckoned a bit of research on the internet was in order for later on, she liked to be prepared.

“Well that’s a shame, especially with weather like this!” Smiling up at him, she felt her heart skip a beat as he reciprocated with a dazzling white grin.

“You’re right, how’s about you and me take this baby out sometime?”

She felt her jaw drop open in surprise at his impromptu invitation, she had barely known the guy five minutes and now he wanted to take her on a boat ride? Smooth, real smooth.

“Yeah, sure thing……sometime maybe.”

Turning away from him, she concentrated on watching a group of birds swoop low over the rippling water, searching for flies hovering above the surface. Her walls were going back up again without her really even noticing. All she knew was, she didn’t want to give him the wrong impression. She just wasn’t looking for that sort of thing in her life right now, from a rock star or otherwise.

Jon frowned in confusion at her apparent rebuffal of his offer. Rejection was not something he was used to having to deal with on a day to day basis, at least not with women – normally! A change of tactics was called for.

“So Rachel, what brings you to the great state of New Jersey?” he smiled hopefully at her, pushing the dent in his pride to one side for the moment. He’d deal with that later, in private, with his own hands.

“Work.”

Well that was fucking enlightening. This woman was turning out to be hard work and he couldn’t for the life of him understand why he was trying so hard. He could have just run past her on that road up there, not given her a second glance. But something had made him stop. Who was he kidding – he knew exactly what it was that made him stop. The exact same thing that had made him sit up late watching porn last night with his dick in his hands – fucking lust!

He chose his next words carefully; obviously he was going about this all wrong. “And what is it you do for work? If I may ask?”

Despite her reservations, Rachel gave a small smile at his new polite demeanour. The man was just being nice and here she was acting like an ungrateful bitch again. She turned back to face him with what she hoped was a warmer expression.

“Of course you can, I’m in real estate.” A jerk of her head motioned back up the hill to where she now resided. “Hence the temporary accommodation.”

Jon was surprised to feel the tiny flutter of disappointment that swirled in his head when he heard the word temporary. Lust really was ruling his head at the moment.

“Oh, so you’re not here permanently?”

Rachel shook her head regretfully. “No, well not right here anyway - it’s part of my job to oversee bank foreclosures and it suited for me to move in here until I find something more permanent.”

Nodding in comprehension, Jon considered what she had said for a moment. “I see, you’ve made the move over here then from…….?”

“California.” She finished his question for him, squinting slightly at the brilliant sunshine silhouetting Jon’s frame.

“Wow, big move!”

Rachel nodded at his exclamation; this was a conversation she needed to steer in another direction. With her back to the river, she now had a clear view of the main house, nestled atop a gentle slope up from the river bank. It really was a beautiful house, solidly built but yet with that quintessential understated elegance that made it stand out.

“Your house is magnificent, really beautiful!”

The sudden change of subject didn’t escape Jon’s attention but he willingly let it slide for now as he joined her in gazing up at the house. He wasn’t going to deny it, too many years of planning and creating had gone into making his home as breath taking as it was and he was proud of it.

“Thanks, it’s comfortable!” Winking across at her, he grinned slyly. “Does its job for me I guess!”

Rachel snorted, “I’ll bet!”

Glancing at his watch, Jon grimaced when he saw the time steadily ticking its way through the morning towards midday.

“Shit, I gotta get going. Come on I’ll show you a loop you can do that’ll take you back around to the main road.”

Rachel let him lead her in a gentle run further along the banks of the river, skirting the perimeter of his property. The house loomed large on their left, it’s palatial wings exposing themselves as the pair cut around the furthest more corner. Pulling up at a small wooden fence camouflaged by a copse of trees and bushes, Jon pointed to a worn earth track winding its way through the undergrowth.  

“If you follow that path and then keep left when you see the next place, you’ll wind back up on River Road. Should take you about ten minutes and then its straight back down past here and onto your place.”

Rachel nodded, doing her best to ignore the flicker of disappointment she was feeling that they were about to part company. “Okay, I’m not gonna get eaten by dogs or anything?”

Jon chuckled, “Nah, you’ll be alright. If anyone stops you just say you’re with me, they’re pretty used to seeing me run by.”

“Great…..well thanks for showing me the river and all this.” Rachel stuck out her hand to shake his, “It was fun.”

“No problem! Here let me give you a hand over this.” Motioning to the fence, he clasped her hand gently grinning cheekily all the while. “Want me to throw you over?”

Laughing, Rachel shook her head lightly. “I’m good thanks, I got it.” Retrieving her hand from him, she braced herself on the solid top rail and neatly swung herself over to the other side. Dusting her hands off she grinned back at his surprised face. “What? I wasn’t always a city girl!”

“Evidently!” Across the fence from her, Jon laughingly acknowledged her prowess. “Hey, I’m probably gonna be doing this again same time tomorrow……….if you fancy joining me?”

He was taking a chance he knew, considering his earlier invitation had been blown out of the water so badly. He couldn’t just leave it there though; he didn’t give up that easily.

Rachel considered his invitation for a moment before shrugging her shoulders in agreement. “Sure, why not, it’s nice to have someone to run with for a change.”

Aha! Jon’s brain neatly catalogued that snippet of information away for future reference. So she usually ran alone? Must be no significant other then – interesting.

“Alrighty then Rachel! Meet you at the end of your road? Same time?”

“Works for me! See you!” Smiling widely, she gave him a small wave before turning to thread her way through the undergrowth. Alone again, it was time to process everything that had happened in the past hour.

Jon stood watching until she ran out of his view, the bushy shrubs swallowing her up as she bounded lightly away from him. A small smile played across his lips while he turned to jog back across the lawn up to the house for a quick shower before his meeting. Life was maybe about to get interesting again.