Chapter Thirty Three

Rachel sighed happily as the heat from the sun high above sank deep into her body, the background chatter of families and other beach goers merging with the waves breaking on the shore to blend into the beach soundtrack that was universal. Wriggling further into the hollow her towel had made in the sand beneath her she stretched luxuriously and turned to squint over at Jon lying belly down beside her engrossed in some book that had captured his attention for most of the afternoon.

“What is it about the sun on your body that is soooooo erotic?”

Jon cocked an eye at her over the aviators perched low on his nose and shook his head with a low chuckle. “You have a one track mind Rachel Braden!” Discarding his book, he rolled up onto his side to slide a hand across the warm plane of her abdomen. “You are completely obsessed with sex!”

Squirming away from his tickling fingers, Rachel giggled and propped herself up on an elbow to face him, an indignant grin spread across her face.

“I wasn’t before you came along – it’s all your own fault! And I don’t remember YOU complaining last night!”

“Nope, no complaints from me!” Laughing Jon pushed his sunglasses back up his nose and with a grunt got to his feet to dust the sand off his belly. They had spent the better half of the day on the beach together enjoying the last of the summer sunshine that luckily seemed reluctant to give way to the oncoming fall.

Rachel rolled onto her back with a happy groan, stretching out her calf muscles to dig her toes into the hot sand at the foot of her towel and winked devilishly up at him.

“But seriously Jon - this sun? ….it’s kinda like an erotic massage all overrrr my body!”

Jon chuckled and shook his head, grinning down at the little display she was putting on for him. That black bikini that he loved so much had made another appearance today and damn if he didn’t appreciate it! Bending down he offered her a hand up;

“Alright ‘Miss Erotica’…..you need to cool off before you get too carried away – come take a swim with me.”

In the fleeting moment before she took his outstretched hand, Rachel let her eyes sweep over his muscular arms and lightly bronzed chest that swooped down to the board shorts that were slung neatly off his hips. Topped with a faded baseball cap sitting low over his caramel locks and the dark aviators that masked his eyes - he was a vision of ruffled perfection, the slight line of stubble darkening his jaw completing the look.

Taking his hand she allowed him to help her to her feet and together they walked hand in hand to the water’s edge, weaving their way through the clusters of towels and loungers that were dotted along the beach. Nobody seemed to take a second glance as they joined the other bathers and children shrieking in delight at the small waves breaking on the shore, the chilly water sloshing around their bare ankles before it raced back down to meet the next salty onslaught.

Jon grasped her hand firmly and waded steadily through the foamy surf until the water was more than waist high and the waves no more than gentle swells beneath them. The Atlantic chill was soon forgotten as the bright sun glinted off the ocean’s ripples and warmed the bare skin of their shoulders, its heat seeping into their bones.

Treading the water, Jon grinned and pulled her into his arms, his fingers playfully dipping under the string of her bikini top cleverly concealed by the rolling waters. Rachel giggled and narrowed her eyes at him, all the while enjoying the feel of his strong arms around her.

“I thought we came out here to swim!”

Jon flashed a mischievous grin and nudged one knee buoyed by the light current between her thighs until she was settled around his waist.

 “We are swimming!”

Rachel giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck, biting her lower lip to stifle a squeal when one of his fingers found its way under the hem of her bikini bottom, stealthily burrowing to her inner folds.

“JON!”

“What baby?”

Even with his eyes hidden behind the dark shades of the sunglasses that mirrored her own water splashed face, Rachel could feel him laughing at her as she squirmed away from his delicious touch.

“NOW who’s obsessed?”

Leaning in for a kiss, Jon grazed her chin with his stubble before murmuring wickedly into her ear;

“Well if you do insist on wearing this little outfit in public I can’t be held accountable for my actions.”

Returning his kiss, Rachel rolled her eyes and tugged playfully on the damp tufts of hair protruding from the base of his cap. Her protests were being made completely in vain; she knew if he persisted she’d more than willingly participate even though they were only mere metres from a densely packed shoreline - he made logical thinking an impossibility.

“We probably need to head in pretty soon…” With a regretful sigh, Jon let his hand float back up to the safety of her back, gently gliding over the soft bumps of her spine. “…How much time do you need to get ready for tonight?”

Groaning dramatically Rachel smiled wistfully at him. “Urgh! I’ll make it quick – I’m not quite done with beach time yet!”

“But if we leave now – we’ll have time to shower and have a little nap……” Jon smirked and threatened to slide his hand back down to her ass, “…before we have to get ready! So….”

Pursing his lips in the pretence of deep thought, he gazed down at her nestled between his arms.

 “….the real question is would you rather have time on the beach or time with me between your legs?”

“Hmm…..”

Tilting her head, Rachel considered her options with a deliberate pause before gripping her legs tighter around his waist under the water line.

“…I’ll take ‘Rock Star between My Legs’ for five hundred, Alex!”

Chuckling Jon dropped a quick kiss on her lips, “Atta girl! C’mon – let’s head in and dry out for a few minutes before I take you home and have my wicked way with you!”

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

Kicking off their sandy flip flops at the back door of Jon’s house, Rachel headed into the laundry room to hang up their damp towel and shake out the beach bag while Jon headed off to call his kids. While she was yet to meet them, from Jon’s vivid descriptions and just the way he spoke of them they sounded like great kids – they were quite obviously and understandably the most important thing in his life. Reaching into the beach bag she frowned when she found her cell blinking innocuously at the bottom signalling a missed call. Please GOD let it not be work!

“Robin……”

She breathed out a sigh of relief when her sister’s name flashed across the screen. Rachel hadn’t checked in with her in nearly a week, in fact truth be told with the whirlwind of activity in the last few weeks she had been pretty bad about keeping in touch with home. Checking the time she hurried upstairs to shower, she didn’t have all that long before they were due to leave for the party but if she made it a quick one that should leave just enough time for a quick call back to her only sister.

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

“Alright honey, love you too – bye.”

Disconnecting the call from his daughter, Jon made his way cheerily to the kitchen to grab some pre party refreshments. This was possibly his favourite time of year, excepting Christmas - when he had some downtime in the good weather and time to properly enjoy socialising without criss-crossing the country every second day to perform here, there and everywhere. Of course it was made all the better when he had a fine woman such as the one currently showering upstairs to enjoy it with. That was something he’d come to appreciate since his marriage break down – life wasn’t much fun on your own.

With a large glass of chilled wine in each hand and humming softly under his breath, Jon padded barefoot up the stairs and along the landing to the master suite, his lips curving into a goofy smile when he spied Rachel perched on the bed wearing the silk robe he’d left for her in the city apartment. 

Blowing out a low whistle between his teeth, he looked her up and down before passing her the wine.

“Hell you’re looking mighty fine there little lady….” Mustering his finest Southern drawl, Jon slid onto the bed beside her and nudged the side of her damp neck playfully with his nose, his free hand running up her thigh under the silky material of the robe. “But damn woman - you done gone and showered all by your fine self…..what am I gonna do in there all on my own?”

Giggling at his horrendous accent, Rachel took a sip of her wine and shrugged carelessly as she leaned back against his bare chest. “Snooze – you lose buddy!”

Jon sighed dramatically and nibbled lightly along her collarbone, the rough stubble on his chin grazing the soft underside of her jaw. “You’re a hard woman Rachel Braden – count yourself lucky we got this party to haul our asses to or you’d be in trouble – BIG trouble!”

Contenting himself for the time being with one final peck, he hauled himself off the bed and stepped into the bathroom to run the shower, leaving Rachel smirking after him. Setting her glass down, she carried on slathering lotion onto her skin, every now and then sneakily casting her eyes through the open ensuite door. With his back to her as he stripped off his beach gear, she stopped mid slather to gaze at his sand dusted body in appreciation, a few lusty thoughts of her own running through her mind.

Just as Jon stepped into the shower, his shorts in a muddled pile on the bathroom floor, he glanced back over his shoulder;

“Just so you know – I can see you in the mirror and you’re staring at me like I’m a piece of meat!”

Caught red-handed, Rachel blushed and shot him an embarrassed little grin.

“Well you can’t walk around here with a body like that and expect me to treat you with respect! Gimme a break!”

Laughing he shook his head in amusement and with a wiggle of his bare ass, aimed specifically for her enjoyment, stepped under the shower to wash away the saltiness of the ocean. Still grinning Rachel snapped the cap shut on the bottle of lotion and reached for her cell, if she didn’t call Robin back now she probably wouldn’t get another chance.

“Hey kiddo!”

Robin answered with her usual bubbly voice and Rachel leaned back against the pillows, genuinely glad to hear her big sister’s voice.

“Hey, girl! What’s going on?”

“Oh, nothing much…..just calling to see if you’re still in the Hamptons…..”

Puzzled, Rachel frowned as she tried to recall telling her where she was. Her mind could only draw a blank, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“How do you know where I am?”

A knowing chuckle travelled down the line to enlighten her.

“I guess you’ve forgotten our dear cousin is a rabid Bon Jovi fan??”

Feeling a little flustered, Rachel fought to stop the cartwheels in her pit of her stomach. She hadn’t intentionally been keeping her activities a secret but it wasn’t exactly something she’d wanted to discuss down the phone with her nearest and dearest.

“Well now that you mention it, I had forgotten that little titbit…….but it doesn’t answer my question as to how you know I’m in the Hamptons?”

Enjoying the power of secretly gained knowledge, Robin teased her unmercifully.

“OH! Well……..Tanya apparently has Google Alerts for all things Jon Bon Jovi…….you obviously haven’t checked your email or you’d have seen the article and accompanying pictures she’s forward to pretty much everyone we know!”

Sweet Jesus!

“Shit! Let me check my email and I’ll call you back.”

Still laughing Robin gloated unashamedly; “Yeah you do that and be sure you DO call me back – RIGHT BACK!”

Hanging up Rachel’s fingers flew over her phone’s screen, hastily bringing up her mailbox and scrolling down until she spotted the attached link that had arrived earlier that morning. Her mouth felt dry as cotton as she stared at the screen, jabbing the link in frustration when it refused to open.

“Damn!”

Flinging the phone onto the light duvet, she scrambled onto her feet to retrieve her laptop, yanking the lid up and hitting the power button as she moved back to the soft bed. Seconds felt like minutes while she waited for the system to power up, the home screen flickering to life painfully slow.

“I believe you were about to disrespect me and my body……..”

Amidst her panicky thoughts, Rachel hadn’t even been aware of Jon stepping out of the shower and sidling up behind her, his hands snaking around her waist to unravel the knot of her robe tie. Shaking her head, she wriggled out of his reach.

“Would you chill for a minute?! There seems to be some article about you and me floating around….my sister has seen it and called to ask me if I was still in the Hamptons – if my damn email ever opens I can find out what my entire family has seen.”

Jon’s brows lifted in amusement at her agitation, this was a different side to the normally cool and confident Rachel he knew.

“Rachel – you can’t expect to be out with me and it be a secret…….” His tone was gentle and reassuring as he lifted his hands to softly knead her tensed shoulders. “…..I’m sure it’s no big deal – it’s not like we’re having some sort of sordid affair.”

Choosing to ignore his infuriating calmness, Rachel sucked in a sharp breath when the article eventually loaded revealing a series of photos with Jon arriving at various functions alone only to be seen leaving with a different woman on his arm each time. There was a large picture of him arriving at a summer charity event alone and then leaving with Elizabeth Williams who Rachel had only met the day before, another of him arriving at a restaurant with Richie and then a shot of them leaving with two tanned and glossed girls draped over them. To the left of the screen a large shot showed him leaving a NYC party with a woman identified as  ’28 yr old cosmetics heiress Andrea London’ and finally a picture of him arriving alone at the Hamptons party the evening before. Scrolling down the page Rachel’s eyes widened in alarm at the final shot, a picture showing her wrapped in Jon’s arms as they waited for their car. While there was nothing crude about the photograph, the obvious lust on both their faces spoke volumes. Aware of Jon’s breath warm on her neck as he read the article from over her shoulder, she swallowed down a lump of dread and quickly scanned the small print on the page. The general consensus of the piece was about Jon’s bi-coastal antics and how he obviously hasn’t been spending his nights alone. It painted him as a bit of a womaniser and posed the question of who his latest mystery conquest was.

“Do I need to explain anything here?”

Jon’s voice was quiet and even from behind her stiff frame, his fingers never ceasing in their steady massage of her tense shoulders.

Pausing for a moment to run her eyes back over the pictures, Rachel pointed to the one dated from the time he had spent back West with Richie. “I assume this one is the girl you told me about in LA?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay…..” Moving across the page she pointed to Elizabeth. “Well I’ve already handled her…so who’s the cosmetics girl? Is that the ‘socialite’ you mentioned a while ago?”

“Yeah, that was taken earlier this summer – you and I had only just met…….”

Rachel nodded slowly, her brain running the printed dates of the photographs through her memory.

“Is this by any chance, the 'friend' that left you too hung over to run that morning?”

“Guilty as charged.”

Rachel caught the slightly sheepish grin on his face as she glanced back at him before she hit a button on the laptop to close the page. Pushing it out of the way, she turned to face him, tucking her legs underneath her.

“Okay then…..you’ve been a bit of a man whore it seems, but then I already knew that – so this is as bad as it gets?” Eyebrows raised, she looked into his eyes to wait for his assurance.

“Well I’m not gonna tell you other pictures might not show up….” A fleeting troubled look clouded his blue eyes before he lifted a hand to gently rub his thumb along her chin. “But if you’re asking me if there’s any chance of being ‘blindsided’ as you put it……well there’s nothing since you and I agreed to a ‘relationship’ that’s gonna bite us in the ass.”

When Rachel nodded, relief and understanding flowing into one, Jon added with a little chuckle, the usual sparkle returning to his eyes lit up by the standard megawatt grin.

“Hey at least it’s a good picture of us right?”

Rachel rolled her eyes and laughed back at him, her earlier panic subsiding. “I think it’s pretty obvious what we’ve got on our minds, don’t you think?”

A wicked grin curled the corners of his lips as his fingers dropped to work on unravelling the knot of her robe. “Let’s send a copy of it to my Mom – she’ll love seeing what you’ve got her baby boy thinking.”

Giggling as his fingers crept inside the folds of the robe to push it away from her sides, Rachel nodded and smirked. “Not a bad idea, considering half of my family has already seen it! But first….” 

Sitting up on her knees, she pulled the towel from around his waist and shucked her own robe in one swift motion. “…….you look like a man in dire need of a blow job.”

A grin as wide as the Grand Canyon split Jon’s face when he let her push him back onto the soft pillows. If this was what those damn articles were going to invoke he had better dig up a few more - it was about time they worked to his advantage!