Chapter 15

They gathered their things, rearranged their clothes (what was left of them, anyway) and made their way back to the car. Jon once again opened the door for Valerie, and handed her down into her seat. He leaned in to fasten her seatbelt again, letting a kiss linger on her lips. He handed her the blanket, and as she turned to toss it into the backseat, she saw her present. When Jon settled behind the steering wheel, Valerie asked, “Can I have my present now?” She winked at him. “I’ve been good.”

Jon laughed. He leaned over to kiss her, and said, “Baby, you’ve been better than good.” He reached behind her to grab the package from the back seat, and dropped it on her lap. “It’s nothing really, just something you mentioned in passing.”

Valerie searched her memory, trying to think of what she had said to him. When she couldn’t figure out what was inside, she slowly unwrapped the box, slitting the tape with her fingernails and peeling the paper delicately from the package. “Jesus,” Jon said. “Christmas must take forever in your house!”

She laughed happily. It was true. Each person opened one gift at a time, and carefully separated the paper from the packages. One of her family’s traditions was to re-use the paper year after year, and they had some paper that dated back to before Valerie was born. Often, the unwrapping would extend into the next day. They didn’t care. The fun was in the guessing what the package would contain, and in the anticipation of opening, and seeing what everyone else had gotten. The younger children were exempt from this tradition; they were just too excited, but the adults kept it alive.

Valerie folded the paper neatly, and opened the box. There, nestled in the tissue paper was what looked like a hot pink t-shirt. Puzzled, she took it from the box, and it fell open. It was a nightshirt. She turned it around and burst out laughing. “I don’t believe you did this,” she exclaimed while she was trying to catch her breath. “This is perfect. I will wear it all the time.”

“Well, not all the time,” Jon said. “At least for this weekend, you don’t need any nightclothes.”

Valerie blushed, and put the t-shirt back in the box. She said, “thank you,” to Jon, gave him a kiss, and they set out for home.

When Jon pulled onto Lily Pond Lane, he looked over at Valerie. “Would you like to come home with me? We can swing by your place so you can get some stuff; I’d like to have you in my bed tonight.”

Valerie nodded. “I’d like that very much,” she said, pinching herself to make sure this was really happening to her. They stopped at the house on Gracie Lane and grabbed a small bag of clothes, and her toiletries. Jon was lounging in the doorway, watching her.

“Why don’t you take it all with you?” he asked. “That way, if you decide you want to say, we don’t have to come back.”

Valerie stopped short and looked at him. “Really?” she asked.

“I never say anything I don’t mean,” Jon said. He crossed to her and took her hands. “I’m more than happy to stay here with you, or if you’re not sure, I’ll just go, and see you tomorrow.” He kissed her softly. “I just know I want to see you in my house, among my things, and especially in my bed.”

When they got to Jon’s house, Valerie dropped her bags in the foyer and gawped. The entry was just glorious, two stories high, with marble floors and an enormous chandelier. Jon chuckled at Valerie’s reaction and grabbed her bags; leading her upstairs to the bedroom. He pointed out the library, dining room, and kitchen along the way. “I’ll give you a proper tour later, but for now, there’s only one room I want to show you.”

In Jon’s bedroom, Valerie’s eyes went wide at the California King bed that dominated the room. It was made up in linens of a hundred shades of blue and green, and reminded her of the ocean. She could definitely see herself drowning there. There were deep-set windows complete with padded seats, an antique roll-top desk and matching chair in one corner, and a sitting area set up in the other. There were two sets of doors leading from the room; she assumed these were to the master bath and the closet. All in all, this was a pretty Spartan room, and definitely masculine. Valerie could smell a hint of Jon’s scent in the air, and sighed.


“Well?” Jon said, watching Valerie’s reaction to his sanctum.

“It’s very, well,” she started to say ‘it’s very you,’ then realized she didn’t really know what that meant. She started again. “It looks like what I would imagine your space to look like. It’s very tastefully done, in colors I would have guessed you’d use, and very neat and organized, and just ‘wow’ enough. Does that make sense?”

Jon laughed. “Yeah, I guess it does.” He pulled Valerie into his arms and nuzzled her neck. “What I really want to know, though, is do you wanna try out the bed?”

Valerie laughed out loud. “Sure do,” she said, and turned her head to kiss Jon’s mouth. “First things first, though,” she smirked at him. “I’ve gotta see the closet!” She sprinted across the room and threw open the double doors. Racks of suits and shirts, shelves of jeans and sweaters, built-in drawers holding t-shirts, shorts and socks, and one short row of shoes filled the space. She whistled. “Wow, you have nearly as many clothes as I do!” She ran her fingers across some of the softer-looking sweaters, sighing at the feel of the worsted wool and cashmere garments. “I’ve got you beat on shoes, though.”

Jon rolled his eyes at her. “Of course you do, you’re a girl!” Valerie just gave him a look that made him chuckle. She came out of the closet, and opened the other set of doors which, as she suspected, led to a grand master bathroom. It was done in stainless and white, looking very antiseptic and somewhat cold. Valerie was surprised. She would have expected more colors in here. There was a triple sink along one wall, a huge, glass-enclosed double shower, an oversized claw-foot tub, and a separate room where she assumed the toilet was.

“Why the frown?” Jon asked.

“Oh, nothing, really, I’m just surprised that there aren’t more colors in here.”

Jon smiled and pointed to a control panel set into the wall. “What colors did you expect?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe something in reds?”

With a few button presses, a soft warm red tint glowed from the walls and floor. Valerie gasped in amazement. “This is fantastic!”

Jon just laughed. “I don’t do techie stuff pretty well, but I do enjoy my share of cool toys, and this is the coolest.” He grabbed Valerie and picked her up off the floor. “Now, you’ve seen enough, it’ll all still be here tomorrow.” He kissed her roughly. “Let’s go to bed.”

He carried her to the bed, and tossed her into the middle of it, making Valerie scream with delight. She moaned in appreciation at the feel of the down comforter. She was right; she could definitely drown here. This bed must be what Jon was thinking about when he wrote

On any other day, I might just stay in bed,
Sink down in a sea of blankets, pull them up over my head

Jon shucked his clothes, and crawled up onto the bed after her. He brought Valerie up to her knees, and slowly lifted the dress off of her, leaving her gloriously naked. He pulled her into his arms, and reached behind her to pull down the covers. They lay together for a while, kissing and fondling each other until they couldn’t wait a moment longer. Jon rolled over on top of Valerie, and slid gently into her. He kissed her face and neck while he stroked in and out of her slowly. He felt her tightening around him and when she went off the edge, he was right there with her, whispering her name. They kissed once more, and settled into sleep, blissfully happy.

Valerie woke up in bed alone. Smiling to herself, she stretched and looked around the room. It really was a beautiful room, and she was storing up as many mental pictures as she could. Finally, she couldn’t ignore her bladder anymore, and she desperately needed coffee. After taking care of the first, she snagged her new T-shirt, pleased that it came down to her knees, and set off to find the kitchen. Jon had pointed it out to her during the brief tour of the manse last night, and she thought she could remember where the kitchen was.

Making her way downstairs, she looked at the art on the walls interspersed with photographs of Jon with his children, friends and family. She smiled at some of the early pictures, when Jon knew he had the world by the balls and was enjoying the squeeze. At the bottom of the stairs, she looked around, and caught a whiff of coffee. Smiling, she followed her nose to a swinging door, and pushed through, saying, “Thank God I found you –” and stopped dead when she saw the back of someone’s head. Someone who wasn’t Jon.

Richie turned around, and smiled broadly. “Well, darlin, the ladies don’t usually thank God for me until after we’ve been together.” He took in the t-shirt that Valerie was wearing and burst out laughing. “Although, I can see that I’m too late; which is too bad for you. I have much better technique. But, if that’s all you got out of it, maybe you wanna give me a try anyway?” Valerie, confused, looked down at her shirt, and turned beet red.

“Oh my God,” she moaned. The shirt Jon had gotten her said “I Fucked Jon Bon Jovi And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt”.

Jon chose that moment to come into the kitchen, and looked at the tableau in front of him: Richie leering at Valerie, and Val looking like she wanted to sink into the floor. He saw what Valerie was wearing, and laughed out loud. He crossed to her and took her in his arms, kissing her thoroughly. “Morning, baby,” he said.

“Morning,” Valerie said weakly. “You didn’t tell me you had company,” she said.

“Hell,” Richie said. “I’m not company, I’m family, darlin’.” He crossed the kitchen and kissed Valerie on the cheek. “And what’s your name, pretty lady.”

Jon looked at his friend with mock anger. “Oh no you don’t. Her name is Valerie, and she’s mine. She’s so happy about that, in fact, that she’s wearing the fact proudly on her chest.”

“Looks to me, bro, that you got the better end of the deal.” Richie’s eyes were twinkling, and it was impossible for Valerie not to laugh.

“OK,” she said, finally. “I came for coffee. I need coffee, and to go get dressed.”

“Need any help with that?” both men asked at the same time.

Valerie ignored them and crossed to the gourmet coffee maker on the counter. She looked around for mugs, and started opening cabinets until she found one. She filled her cup and left the room, but not before she walked behind Jon and bit his neck and squeezed his ass, making him jump.

“Pleasure to meet you, Richie,” she said breezily, as she left the room.