Chapter 105

The next morning, it was with a sense of unreality that Linda woke to Chino sitting on the bed patting her impatiently with a paw, claws politely sheathed. Okay, so that was usual - with five cats, she didn’t need an alarm clock - but what wasn’t usual was opening her eyes to see Richie Sambora sleeping beside her. She slipped quietly out of the bed and pulled on a robe before heading downstairs to feed the cats and release Cody into the yard. Once the animals were dealt with, Linda started a pot of coffee, then ran upstairs to take a shower while it brewed. Sadly, it was Monday, so she had to get to work, especially since she was planning to leave early on Wednesday to go to the concert.

As she showered, she could feel the dull ache deep inside, a pleasant reminder of the previous day and night of what seemed like incessant love-making with Richie. She’d lost count of how many times he’d driven her into orgasm, but even now the thought of him inflamed her, and she knew she was blushing, even alone in her shower, as she daydreamed about him. Out of the shower, she went back downstairs and poured two mugs of coffee, bringing them up to the bedroom with her.

Richie lay on his back, still asleep, and in relaxation the lines on his face faded away, though his full lips still held the faint vestige of a smile, and Linda laid down one mug before sitting on the bed next to him. She traced the tattoo on his bicep, then smiled as she gently laid a fingertip on the point of his jaw, just below his ear, waking him almost instantly.

“Good morning.” She said softly, and he looked up at her as he stretched sleepily.

“Good morning to you, too.” His eyes focused on the wet hair dangling on her robe. “You’re up already?”

“Yeah. Unfortunately it’s Monday, so I have to go to work. I did bring coffee, though.”

“Thanks.”

He took the mug out of her hand, but immediately laid it on the bedside table as his other hand pulled her down on top of him for a kiss that said good morning and so much more. Releasing her, Richie sat up and lifted the mug again, taking a drink as Linda stood up. While Linda dried her hair and dressed, he just watched her silently, and Linda had to laugh when she turned from the mirror, seeing Richie sitting in bed with two cats curled on his lap, another tucked close to his leg.

“I told you they’d get used to you.”

“Yeah. Cute kitties.” He glanced at his watch, then drained the remaining coffee. “I guess I’d better take a shower, too, if I’m going to make it to Jon’s place on time.”

“When do you need to be there?” Linda asked as she hooked in a pair of earrings.

“We just said ‘first thing’, so I guess nine or nine thirty. What time do you start work?”

“Eight. I need to leave soon, though, or I’d drop you somewhere.”

“Well, if you trust me, you could just head off to work and I’ll lock the door when I leave.”

Linda laughed. “Richie, I trusted you enough to take you into my bed. I think I can trust you to lock the door!”

He gently shifted out from under the sheet, leaving the cats curled on the bed as he walked over behind her, turning her to face him again.

“I want to come back here later, but I have a feeling I may end up going for dinner with the guys. We’re all staying in the Seasons again, too. Do you mind?”

“Of course not, Richie. I know you’ve got a lot to do. I’ll see you Wednesday, anyway, right?”

“What about tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow I have to work again.” She said, then continued apologetically. “And tomorrow night I’m meeting some friends for dinner. It was all planned before I knew you’d be here - before I knew I’d be going to the show. I guess I could always cancel - I’m sure they’d understand - but I haven’t seen them since…….well, since the last show at Giants. They’re coming down for the Habitat show, too.”

Richie kissed her softly. “You go see your friends, honey, and I’ll see you Wednesday.” He grinned. “Don’t tell them about…….us……and you can surprise them at the show. They think you’re not going, right?”

“Yeah. They knew I couldn’t get a ticket - I just didn’t have the money when they went on sale. The tour kinda depleted my Jovi fund. They’ll kill me when they find out about you.”

“I won’t let them.” He promised with a grin, then kissed her one more time. “Go to work, baby, before I throw you back in the bed. We both gotta get going today.”

“Okay. When you leave, can you just make sure all the animals are inside? Slam the door hard and it should lock itself.”

“Sure. Five cats, one dog, right?” A final, lingering kiss, and his hands stole under the hem of her blouse onto her back before he pulled himself away. “Dammit! Go, Linda!”

“Bye Richie.” She grabbed her shoes and left the bedroom, and moments later Richie heard her yell ‘bye’ as the door slammed.

In the bathroom, Richie shook his head again at the cutout, then showered and dressed before calling for a cab. He carefully counted the cats before he left, double checking that they were all indoors, and it was hard to miss Cody as the big golden body was sprawled out on the kitchen floor.

“You guys be good.” He told them, and the cats gave him that kind of superior look that cats do so well. Cody just slept blissfully, and Richie grinned as he picked up his bag and left the house, slamming the door as instructed, then checking it had locked.


When he arrived at Jon’s, he directed the cab around back to the studio, then headed inside, feeling the lingering ache in his lower back from his recent exertions with Linda. He was, as usual, last to arrive, and Jon looked up from a sheaf of papers when he walked through the door.

“Nice of you to join us, Mookie.”

“Yeah, sorry I’m late.” Richie sounded anything but sorry, and Jon’s eyes narrowed as he watched his buddy carefully flex his back, obviously in a little discomfort.

“Fuck! I see I don’t need to ask why you were late. How’s Linda?”

“She’s great. She’s gone off to work, though, or I’d probably still be back at her house.”

Tico, Dave and Hugh were looking confused, but it was Tico who asked the question.

“Who’s Linda?”

“Linda’s a lady I’ve been seeing for a few weeks.”

“A ‘lady’?” Dave laughed. “Hell, that makes a change for you, Rich, if you’ve hooked up with a nice girl. You two didn’t waste much time, did you? Jon with this Sara chick and now you with your Linda. Fast work.”

Richie just laughed. “Well, if Jon hadn’t snapped her up first, I’d have gone for Sara myself.” He glanced at Jon. “But I guess she’s too sweet for me, really.”

“That she is.” Jon replied with a smirk. “Okay - can we get some work done now that everybody knows about Richie’s new lady? You’ll meet her at the show anyway. She’s still going to be there, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, she is. So, what have you done to the set that we need to practice, then?”

Wordlessly, Jon handed over a sheet of paper with the list of songs, half of which had been crossed out and replaced with others. Richie looked it over, his eyebrows rising as he got nearer the bottom. He glanced at Jon.

“Wow. You certainly did shake it up. What’s this at the bottom? Just says ‘Richie’.”

“Well, when you said Linda was coming along, I thought she might like to hear some more from you. Up to you what you want to do there - probably time for three or four songs. Actually, the length of songs you write, more like two or three! I would kinda like you to do ‘Wind Cries Mary’, though, ‘cause Sara likes Hendrix.”

“She does? I knew I liked that girl for a reason. No problem. And, thanks, Jon.”

Jon at least had the grace to look a little shifty. “Well, okay, so I also thought, if you’re doing a few, nobody’s gonna notice if I’m offstage for a little while.”

Richie roared with laughter, knowing exactly what - or who - was in Jon’s mind. “Yeah, don’t you worry, bro - I’ll cover for ya!”

They eventually got down to work, and spent most of the day working through the songs Jon had picked out. The ones which they normally did, they just had a quick run-through, but some of the others took a little working out before Jon - ever the perfectionist - was satisfied with the results. By then, they were all tired, and the guys were starting to long for their hotel rooms and beds. The studio refrigerator was stocked with water and various drinks, but the only food around was chips and - of course - cookies. As they were winding down, Jon pulled out his cellphone and suggested pizza, and the guys grinned in agreement.

“Just like old times, huh?” Dave said. “Pizza and beer in the studio. Takes me back to my youth.”

“You mean your ‘yoot’!” Jon and Richie said at the same time, and Dave nodded, laughing.

“Yeah.”

Just as they were finally finishing, the pizza arrived, and they sat around eating, comfortable in each other’s company as only very old friends can be, laughing and yelling friendly abuse at each other. When the pizza was gone, the guys left, sharing a limo to the hotel, and promising to be back in the studio early next morning, so they could finalise the last bits and pieces, leaving Jon the afternoon free to pick Sara up from the airport. As he mentioned that, there was a barrage of ribald comments from the guys, until he laughingly told them all to ‘fuck off and annoy somebody else’, slamming the limo door on them and walking back into the studio.