Chapter Thirty Eight

Sunday afternoon rolled around all too soon, both of them reluctant to leave the peaceful sanctuary the Hamptons had provided. In an attempt to avoid the worst of the traffic, they had loaded up the car with the luggage and hit the road home to Jersey early, the perfectly tuned engine of the car comfortably cruising along the highways until the Navesink River came into view.

“You’re quiet again…….” Reaching over to squeeze Rachel’s hand as they waited for the gates of Jon’s house to open, he gave her a concerned glance.

With a tired smile, Rachel rolled her head toward him against the headrest and wrapped her fingers reassuringly around his. “I told you….quiet equals content!” She stretched out her legs with a small groan and grinned, “In fact I'm so content I may never speak again!”

Chuckling Jon shook his head, “Good, I was worried I’d tired you out, you know with all the partying and late night swims……”

Rachel giggled and caught his eye as he manoeuvred the car up the drive and around to the garage bays. “Well I may just be weak from all the sex…..”

Shutting the car off, Jon sniggered and threw an arm around her neck, pulling her close. “Or maybe you’re content because you’re weak from all the sex!” With a gentle kiss on her lips, he broke apart to wink down wickedly at her. “You realise we’re gonna have to christen the new bedroom tonight right?”

“Is that your way of inviting me to spend the night?” Eyebrows raised, Rachel dared him to come clean, her heart dancing in delight at his cheeky reply.

“As if you could tear yourself away from me……”

Feigning disgust, she rolled her eyes and shot him a disapproving look. “You’re a cocky thing, aren’t you?”

“Well, a polite and well-mannered guy wouldn’t have let you grind all over his lap on the dock that first day and he certainly wouldn’t have stared down the front of your dress when you were innocently bent over putting your shoes on.” Jon shrugged and grinned at her when her eyebrows shot up in disbelief.

“You didn’t!”

“One little peek of a nipple was all it took and you had me hooked like a school boy!” His lips twisted wryly. “Haven’t been able to get you off my mind since!”

“You are unbelievable!” Rachel stared up at him in amusement and half-heartedly attempted to shove him away, her mind flicking back to their first meeting on the dock. She was going to have to get rid of that particular dress it seemed.

“Aww come on Rach! You don’t need a break from me already do you?”

Trapped against the inside of the car door, Rachel knew he had her exactly where he wanted her with his grinning lips hovering dangerously close to hers. His scent was intoxicating and she was more than willing to accept the fact that she was powerless to resist him.

Reaching up to push some strands of hair off his forehead, she shook her head. 

“No Jon….I don’t need a break from you.”

“Good…..” A triumphant gleam shone from his eyes. “…..because I’m showing you no mercy tonight.”

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

“No Mom! I’m just re-decorating that’s all!”

Rachel woke to the sound of Jon’s frustrated voice in the bed beside her, a faint but all the same unmistakable voice of a woman coming from his phone. Cracking open one bleary eye, she watched as Jon groaned and ran his fingers through the tousled shock of hair that was sprouted from his head.

“Because I felt like it……….yeah………..I see………that figures……..NO Mom, she is not just…… Jesus gimme a break will you?!”

Deciding to give him some privacy, Rachel slipped out from beneath the sheets and reached for Jon’s shirt to head to the bathroom. As promised, Colette had completely transformed the bedroom in a fabulous array of bright and clean pastels, the freshness even extending into the ensuite with the addition of matching towel and vanity sets. After taking care of business, she emerged to find Jon still deep in conversation with his mother, his face pained as he shot her a look of apology. Waving him off with a smile, she headed downstairs to brew some coffee at the impressive barista machine that Jon had so proudly made her some from on the day he’d given her the grand tour. Standing staring at the array of twisty knobs and nozzles, she shook her head in bewilderment and resorted to making tea instead, far simpler.

With her laptop fired up, she perched herself on a stool at the counter, tucking the tails of Jon’s shirt underneath her and quickly flicked down through her e-mails. Aside from the various work related ones, her eyes skimmed over the junk mail until she found a new message from Robin with a link to a new article about Jon and herself. This particular one showed various new pictures of their time together, shopping in Soho, walking hand in hand to a restaurant and one of Jon on his own looking not particularly impressed. Scrolling down Rachel grimaced when an array of beach shots showed up, one of them lying side by side apparently asleep in the sun and several of them laughing together in the water. The photographs were accompanied by a brief article discussing how much time Jon had been seen spending with her and finished with the big question as to who the new mystery lady is that has captured Jon’s heart.

Sitting back Rachel took a careful swallow of the hot tea and stared thoughtfully at the screen. No matter what way she looked at it, seeing herself captured in magazine articles was unsettling to say the least. But, she reasoned with herself, this was obviously something she was just going have to get used to no matter how uncomfortable it made her.

“It’s a Monday isn’t it?” Striding into the kitchen wearing only a pair of sweatpants, Jon interrupted her thoughts with a frustrated sigh.

Smiling she nodded in sympathy, the weary slump of his shoulders signalling the phone call with his mother obviously hadn’t been the perfect start to the week.

“Oh yeah…..remember how perfect it was when we woke up yesterday in the Hamptons?”

Leaning over for a quick kiss, Jon laughed dryly. “That’s yesterday’s news. We need a vacation – somewhere without a damn cell signal.”

“And a simple coffee maker!” Grinning up at him, Rachel motioned to the abandoned coffee machine. 

“I don’t have a clue how to operate that thing!”

Chuckling Jon turned away to fire up the offending machine, automatically pushing buttons and twisting nozzles. “That was my Mom on the phone.”

Rachel laughed at the scowl he threw at her over his shoulder. “I gathered that much.”

“You should probably be prepared – there’s more pictures of us, she’s gonna send me the link.”

With a scowl of her own, Rachel twisted on the stool and turned her laptop in his direction. “My sister beat her to the punch – care to see?”

Slurping a swallow of steaming coffee, Jon turned to examine the article. Pointing out the picture of them shopping together in Soho he grinned. “I love that outfit……mmmhmm it just hugs in all the right places!” Fingers cradled around his mug, he nodded his approval. “I think I’m gonna blow that up and hang it in the studio so I can show everybody my hot girlfriend…….and her perfectly round boobs!”

Rolling her eyes, Rachel turned the laptop back to face her. “If you’re finished with your wet dream…….”

“Sorry….” Jon shrugged and sighed dramatically. “My girl snuck out of bed this morning before she took care of business.”

Rachel snorted and ignored his presumptuous pout. “So……….your conversation with your Mom??”

Taking another slug of coffee, Jon smacked his lips together. “Ah! Yeah……she’s used to seeing pictures of me with multiple women but she’s not used to seeing multiple ones of me with the same woman. So naturally, she’ll be coming for a visit.”

Snapping back to reality, Rachel sat up straight and stared at him. “She’s coming for a visit? When??”

Amused at her reaction, Jon fought to keep a straight face and waved her off casually. “Oh, she didn’t mention anything specific – but I know my Mom. I give it ten days max and she’ll be on the doorstep.”

Turning away to hide his smile, he padded over to refill his coffee. “Of course it’ll be under the guise of wanting to see the kids – she thinks I don’t notice when she’s checking up on me but she’ll want to meet you – no doubt about that!”

“How has she liked your other ‘girls’?” Suspicion was heavily laced in Rachel’s question. She knew all about how Mama Bears liked to protect their little boys.

“Truthfully, she hasn’t met many.” Wandering back to the counter, Jon pulled up a stool beside her.

“She’ll be reserved when she first meets you but it won’t take long for her to see you’re not after my money. But……she’s a smart lady, so she will figure out that you’re a sex fiend out to corrupt her sweet angel boy.”

The sharp peal of Rachel’s cell phone rang out from beside the laptop and reaching for it she threw him a dirty look, responding dryly; “Remind me to hide the handcuffs when she comes.”

Grinning Jon sipped his coffee as he waited for her to finish the call until his own phone started ringing the moment she hung up. Grumbling, he looked at it disparagingly and sighed.

“Yep…….it’s definitely a Monday.”