Chapter Sixteen

The next two weeks passed in the blink of an eye – or so it seemed to Erin, at least, whose workaholic tendencies flared up when she was assigned a new project at the office the Monday following her tumultuous weekend. Working all day long with hardly any break, writing up schedules and profiles, scribbling notes in endless meetings, or getting tied up in hours-long overseas phone conferences, she was every bit the slaving businesswoman her boss had hired. And aside from coming home late every night and falling into bed exhausted, keeping busy had its advantages for her.

For one thing, she hadn’t seen nor heard from Max since the night she’d broken it off with him. While that was a good thing by most standards, his utter silence flickered in the back of her mind. Max wasn’t one to disappear off the face of the planet – even when you wanted him to. Besides, his constant suffocating presence had been what irked Erin to begin with - aside from the fact that she was seeing someone else, that had been the other main reason for ending things with him anyway.

Fortunately, she didn’t have time to ponder over Max’s mysterious and complete absence; rather, she accepted it gratefully. It made things a hell of a lot easier.

Staying busy also helped keep her mind off of Jon – for his two-week stint at home had ended, and he had returned to his hectic schedule of globetrotting and meetings. Though Erin was disappointed that they both had been consumed by responsibility just as they were given the emotional “freedom” to be together, she understood that it was part of the package deal in dating someone like Jon. And now when they did have time to be together, she didn’t have to feel guilty or conscience-stricken. She could enjoy him.

And she did. As their budding relationship progressed, she grew more and more fond of him as a person. Underneath the sexy rock star image, the dazzling good looks and the smooth, charming seduction he’d so brilliantly mastered, Jon Bon Jovi was simply a kind soul. He had a caring heart and a desire to work for the greater good, a soft spot for friends and family, and a gentility in the way he treated women that Erin couldn’t help but love. What was more, he possessed the uncanny ability to make her feel like a queen even when she felt like crap.

All in all, he was a wonderful man. It had been over a month now since they’d met on the plane and unofficially begun dating, and while the shock and disbelief had for the most part dissipated, Erin still found herself smiling randomly at times when she realized what a lucky bitch she really was.


The relief of the lifted “Max pressure” off her chest was tantalizing to Erin. Alternating between feeling schoolgirl-giddy and grown-woman-lustful, she was attracted to Jon like a moth to a flame. He’d brought a new twist into her life, despite the emotional chaos that had ensued regarding the previous beau, and it was as addicting to Erin as a drug.

What was more, there was a freedom in their new relationship – a no strings attached kind of status, where Erin didn’t feel pressured to follow Jon’s every move or fill him in on hers. He called, she called, they saw each other when they could and were able…and always when they wanted to. When she wanted to. A strange and rusty habit to get used to after six months with Max’s leash around her neck.

Jon didn’t seem to expect anything from her except…well, except her. She didn’t have to report to him, she didn’t have to explain her absences or long days at work. He accepted them and let an answer like “I’m sorry I didn’t call yesterday, I was busy” slide right off of him like water off a duck’s back. Not interrogating, not suspicious and alert to her every out-of-routine step.

She was free to live her life. As she should be. And Jon’s silent trust in her and comforting faith that she still felt the same way about him at the end of the day was peacefully reassuring in more ways than one. In fact, Erin worried herself more over the question of just how she did feel about him than he did.

Was all this a crush? No.

Was it infatuation? Partly.

Was it lust? Definitely. But not just.

Was it love?

That was the one question Erin never could answer…and didn’t really want to. That kind of feeling would constitute the binding and suffocating ties she had grown to reject, and would beg for inevitable heartbreak.

Especially with a high-profile celebrity rock star like Jon Bon Jovi.

No, she wasn’t in love. She definitely felt something for him that she hadn’t felt in a long time, and she cared deeply for him in ways she couldn’t quite comprehend. An almost foreign emotion to her, surely, but one she counted off as whimsical and caught up in the exciting frenzy of recent events. But it wasn’t quite that core-of-the-heart, deep-in-your-soul connection.

At least, not yet.

__________________

The gravel crunched beneath the tires as the limo pulled up to Jon’s massive home. Exhausted from a long week of traveling, he slung his briefcase over his shoulder, grabbed his favorite New York Giants cap, and crawled out from the backseat. Thanking the driver and confirming the next pick-up, he wearily made his way to the sprawling front entrance and shoved the key in the lock.

Pushing open the heavy French door, he dropped his briefcase inside the dark foyer and punched the key code on the alarm. It was good to be home, finally. It was always good to be home after traveling, but this time felt especially comfortable. He’d barely gotten a wink of sleep when he was in Seattle, quite literally pulled two all-nighters with Richie and their producer in Nashville, and had been blessed with stomach-roiling turbulence on the flight home. He’d even taken the private jet this time so he could sleep. Apparently Nature had other plans.

He kicked off his shoes and padded into the kitchen to look for something to eat before he hit the sack. The answering machine on the marble countertop blinked furiously red and Jon wearily ignored it; he was not in the mood for ten thousand messages, 9,999 of which would be about work, right now.

He grabbed a loaf of bread, a pack of ham, and a jar of mayonnaise from the fridge, and as he began to make a quick sandwich, the phone rang.

Jon groaned. Seriously? Couldn’t a guy get some rest around here…

He grabbed the phone off the receiver and wedged it between his ear and shoulder to resume sandwich preparation. “Dude, I just walked in the door,” he said huffily by way of answer, figuring it was either Richie or Obie.

“Oh, I know you did.”

Jon froze. That voice did not belong to Richie or Obie…or anyone else he knew, for that matter.

“I’m sorry?” he asked, knitting his eyebrows together.

“Where were you tonight?”

Jon raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me? Who is this?”

There was a brief silence and then: “Let’s just say I’m a friend of a friend.”

Jon raised his eyes. Another stupid teenager who’d gotten hold of his number and thought he’d be funny. “Right, but I’m supposed to just tell you where I was tonight. Fuck off, asshole,” he slammed the phone back down on the receiver.

Cursing under his breath, he finished making his sandwich and scarfed it down by the time the phone rang again.

“What?” he barked, knowing he should just leave it alone and go to bed. Unplug the phone and ignore it. But he was notorious for being poisonously cranky when he was tired, and right now, he was exhausted.

“I asked you where you were tonight.”

Jon stared at the wall in exasperation. “Look, punk, I don’t know who you are or how you got this number, but I am not in the mood. Don’t call here again, and leave me the fuck alone.”

He was about the slam the phone back down and unplug it, but the caller’s reply made his blood run cold.

“No problem. If you leave Erin the fuck alone.”

Saturday, March 21, 2009