Chapter 30

Sara lay in Jon’s arms, feeling the weariness creeping back over her as the warmth of the bed made her drowsy. She decided to enjoy the comfort of his embrace for a little longer, then go to her own room, and closed her eyes with her head pillowed on his chest. Jon lazily stroked her back, and the calming touch mingled with the cozy feeling made her fall fast asleep.

Much, much later, Jon was woken by the sound of a cellphone ringing. He knew it wasn’t his, but he slid out of the bed, leaving Sara asleep under the cover while he padded across to where her jacket lay. The phone was in her jacket pocket, and he pulled it out then, as he hesitated, the voicemail kicked in and the ringing stopped.

Carrying the phone, Jon returned to the bed, glancing at his watch. Whoops. They’d both fallen asleep, and it was now almost ten in the morning. He climbed back under the cover and cuddled up to Sara, caressing her face as he said her name.

“Sara……..wake up honey…..time to get up.”

She wrinkled her nose in protest, burrowing her head against him, and he smiled - she was as bad as the kids. He raised her face from the pillows and kissed her lips, and Sara instinctively opened her mouth to him, returning the kiss before opening her eyes and smiling dreamily.

“Mmmmm - hello.” She looked almost surprised to see him. “What time is it?”

“I don’t think you want to know.” He told her, and Sara twisted his arm around to look at his watch, suddenly sitting up in a panic.

“Oh, shit! I’m so late!” She stopped as Jon held up her cellphone.

“Somebody called you, or we’d have still been asleep. I think there’s a message.”

Sara took the phone and picked up the voicemail, putting the phone on speaker. An anxious voice burst from the phone.

“Sara? My God - where are you? I’ve been calling your room for an hour. There’s no way you’ll make your flight now. Sara? Sara - it’s Danny. Will you please call me as soon as you get this?”

“But the phone didn’t ring……..” Sara began, then trailed off as she looked around and realised it wasn’t her room. “Oh. How the hell am I going to explain this?”

She dialled Danny’s number, looking worriedly at Jon.

“Hi Danny - yes, it’s Sara.” Jon could hear the strident voice on the other end, and he decided to step in, taking the phone from Sara’s hand and interrupting Danny.

“Danny? Hi. It’s Jon - Jon Bon Jovi,” he clarified, and that stopped Danny in mid-flow. Jon grinned at Sara, raising a hand to keep her quiet.

“Danny - Sara told me about your message. She had a bit of trouble last night, with one of the wedding guests, and I made her stay in my room, because the guy had her room number. I guess one of your people must’ve told him which room she was in.”

Jon knew Danny, and he knew the best way to deal with him was to keep him on the back foot, putting him on the defensive, and it obviously worked, because Danny started to stutter as he tried to respond, but Jon cut him off.

“Look, it doesn’t really matter. Sara’s okay - physically anyway - and she doesn’t want to take it any further. I don’t know who the guy is, but I don’t like to see a lady being treated like that. Guess the waiter was right - he warned her not to walk back alone. Just glad I was there.”

Danny spoke again, and this time Jon listened.

“Well, don’t worry about the flight. I’ll sort it out. I think your people have done enough, don’t you? I’ll make sure she gets home safely. Yeah, fine Danny - I’ll tell her. Bye.”

He clicked the phone off and handed it to Sara with a smile as she looked stunned at his audacity.

“Danny said he’s sorry about what happened. He’ll call you tomorrow at the studio, to make sure you’re okay.”

“I can’t believe you did that! What if somebody gets in trouble because they think they gave out my room number?”

“Well, nobody did give it out, did they? So they won’t know what he’s talking about. Besides, if anybody did give out a room number, they deserve to get found out. Relax baby - I know Danny - if you’re not taking it further, he’ll keep quiet. More than likely he won’t even mention it to Ryan.”

Sara still looked dubious.

“Look at it this way, Sara - other than saying the guy knew which room you were in - every word was true, wasn’t it?”

She considered that for a second, then nodded slowly, starting to smile again as she realised there wasn’t really any harm done.

“I guess you’re right. You didn’t exactly tell him the whole truth though, did you?”

“Well,” Jon said with a smile, “I admit I may have been a little economical with the truth, but I didn’t tell a lie.” He held up his right hand. “Scout’s honour!”

“Oh, yeah, you’re a real Boy Scout!” Sara giggled, pushing him over onto his back, then flopping back down beside him.

“So how am I supposed to get home?” She asked a moment later, and Jon rubbed his palm across her belly as he answered.

“I can give you a ride.”

“What? You drove up?”

He laughed. “No - I flew up, but the plane’s still here. You can fly back with me, unless you actually prefer flying cattle class.”

Turning her head to look at him, Sara started to speak, then stopped herself, starting again.

“Oh, right, I forgot. Rock star. Private plane. That’s the way to travel - no check-in, no security.”

“So, do you want a ride, then?”

“Would you mind? I mean, it would make things much easier. Would I be able to use my laptop?”

“I don’t mind at all, babe. The longer you’re with me the better, far as I’m concerned. What about your laptop? You actually want to work?”

“Well, yeah - what else is there to do on a flight?”

Jon chuckled, and Sara reddened as she caught his meaning. She turned over onto her stomach, lying with her face buried in the pillow as she laughed, then turning her head to one side to look at Jon, who was watching her with amusement.

“I need to upload yesterday’s photos - I should’ve done it last night, but I got kind of distracted. Won’t take me too long, though.” She added as Jon looked crestfallen.

“I guess I can catch up with a few things too.” He said thoughtfully. “I need to have a word with the Soul coach, and maybe give Richie a quick call. I’ve been distracted myself, the last week or so.” Jon smiled and kissed her shoulder as he spoke, letting her know just what - or who - had been distracting him, and Sara smiled sleepily at him.

“I still feel so tired.” She said, closing her eyes. “I could just lie here all day.”

Jon ran his hand down her back soothingly, and Sara made a low purring sound, deep in her throat, smiling broader now. Pushing her hair back, Jon kissed her cheek.

“Why don’t you just lie here, baby. I’ll go take a quick shower, then we can head along to your room, get your things together.”

“Mmmm………okay……..sounds good to me…”

Climbing out of the bed, Jon pulled the cover up over Sara, who was almost asleep already, and he went into the bathroom, closing the door to keep the noise of the shower from disturbing her.

When he emerged from the bathroom, a towel around his waist, Jon found Sara curled in the middle of the bed, the cover kicked away, leaving her bare. He stood for a while, just watching her sleep, then roused himself and sat on the edge of the bed. It took most of his willpower to force him to wake her, and not just crawl back into bed with her, but he gently shook her shoulder until she opened her eyes. He almost said ‘to hell with the plane’ when Sara stretched, rolling onto her back and arching so for a moment only her head and heels were on the mattress, making him catch his breath.

“Shower’s all yours, Sara.”

She shook her head, sitting up.

“I’ll shower back in my room - I’ll have to change when I get there anyway.”

“Okay - just give me a few minutes and I’m all yours.”

While Jon threw on jeans and a t shirt, Sara picked up her black trousers, now badly creased from lying on the floor all night. She quickly dressed in yesterday’s clothes, knowing she’d only be wearing them for a few minutes, then she tried to put her hair into some semblance of order, eventually just scraping it back and holding it there with the velvet scrunchie. By now, Jon had tossed his clothes back into his bag, dropping his suit back into the carrier and zipping it closed.

“Ready when you are, baby.” He told her, and Sara smiled, leading the way to the door.

Along in Sara’s room, Jon dropped his bags just inside the door as he surveyed the room, taking in the mess.

“Well, you did say you were messy.” He commented, and Sara shrugged.

“I know. I’m just lazy, really. Okay, I think there’s coke and stuff in the fridge - I’m going to hit the shower.”

She disappeared into the bathroom, and Jon found some orange juice in the fridge, bringing it across and sitting on the bed to drink and wait. Pulling out his cellphone, he called his pilot, telling him he’d be there in an hour or so for the flight home. Since he’d flown up alone, Jon hadn’t bothered bringing a stewardess, mainly because the girl who looked after them on band flights was away on vacation. Anyway, he was quite capable of pouring his own coffee, and it looked as though it had been a good decision, because now it would be just him and Sara - once she’d finished her work, of course. Jon actually enjoyed Sara’s dedication to her work - it was nice to find somebody else who really cared about what they did - but he did hope he could inveigle her into taking some time out for a little R&R on the flight.

Sara came out of the bathroom, swathed in a towel, and sat down to dry her hair. Jon lay on the bed watching her, sipping juice in silence, until she finished and stood up, going to the closet for her clothes.

“Awwwww!” Jon said, pouting as she pulled on her panties, and Sara smiled.

“But, look,” she told him, “they match!” And she put on the matching black and white bra, twirling around for his approval.

“Oh, okay then.” He assented, looking at the little keyhole cut into the back of the waistband of her thong, then at the ribbons in front as she turned.

Sara walked across to pick up her hairbrush again, and Jon watched every step she took.

“Dammit, baby - unless you want to take those back off again, right now, I think you need to put some clothes on.” He said, feeling his pulse accelerate as he gazed at her brushing her hair in front of the mirror, which meant he could see both her back and front views.

“Huh?” Sara looked at him in the mirror, then grinned. “You don’t like them?”

“Oh I like them…….but I’d like them better if they were on the floor.” He said hoarsely, and Sara took pity on him, dropping the brush and going across to pull on her jeans and a black t shirt.

“Now we match.”

Jon gestured at his own jeans and black t shirt.

“But you’re not a coyote.” Sara pointed out, since her shirt said Coyote Ugly across the front, and he just laughed.

She laid her bag on the bed, flipped it open and quickly dropped a mixture of clothes, shoes and toiletries into it, then zipped it closed, then brought over her camera case and carefully loaded up her cameras.

“I’m ready.” She announced, taking a bag in each hand, and Jon sprang off the bed to pick up his own bags.

“Let’s go.”

They headed out through reception, dropping keys as they went, but walking slightly apart from each other as they went out of the main doors. There were a number of limos waiting, and one of them drew up in front of them, the driver getting out to take their bags.

“Are you travelling together?” He asked as he took Sara’s bag, and she recognised him as the driver who’d brought her up from Calgary.

“Yes. I missed my flight, so Mr Bon Jovi has been kind enough to offer me a ride home, since we’re both going to the same place.”

“Very kind of you, sir.” The chauffeur said with a slightly ironic tone as he took Jon’s bags to the trunk, leaving them to climb into the back of the car.

“I think he thinks I’m trying to have my wicked way with you.” Jon said to Sara as he closed the door, and she looked at him in surprise.

“Sorry - and your point is….?” She said in disbelief, and Jon swatted at her, smacking her thigh as he sat down. Unfortunately, though, he caught the bruise from the previous morning, and she yelped, just as the driver opened his door.

“Is everything okay?” He asked, looking through the open divider, and Sara nodded.

“Fine, thanks. I just managed to smack my leg off the door, and I’ve already got a bruise there.”

The driver smiled at her as Jon took his seat.

“Would you like the divider up or down, Miss?”

“Would you mind if we had it up, please? I need to make some calls, and it makes the car quieter.”

“Of course I don’t mind, Miss. If you need anything, just press the button.” He half-glanced at Jon as he spoke, and Sara hid a smile as the divider rose, shutting them off.

“I don’t think he trusts you.” She whispered, and Jon gave a crooked grin.

“And you do?”

“Actually, yes, I do. In a way, that scares me - I really don’t know you.” Sara put her hands in her lap, looking down at them.

Jon’s eyes softened as he looked at her, then he laid one hand over hers as he tried to explain how he felt, to make her understand him a little more.

“If there’s one thing I can tell you, sweetheart, it’s that you never need to be scared of me. I won’t let anybody hurt you, Sara, and I’ll try not to hurt you myself. Sometimes, though - as you’ve already seen - I’m a bit of an asshole, so I can’t promise I’ll never upset you.”

Sara moved so Jon’s hand was caught between hers, smoothing her fingers over his as she raised her gaze again.

“My knight in shining armour, huh?” She leaned across to kiss him lightly. “I guess we’ll just have to play it by ear, won’t we?”