Chapter Three

Chapter 3

Jen was in hog’s heaven. She was shopping for shoes with Richie Sambora. She’d started out shopping with Richie, David and Tico but after the fifth store David and Tico had gotten so bored they’d bid their farewells and had buggered off some place else, leaving her with the man of her dreams and quite a few x rated fantasies.

She held her foot out for Richie to see. She was wearing a strappy silver sandal with a four inch heel which she’d had to pull her jeans leg up to put on. Richie widened his eyes and grabbed hold of her foot, then kneeling down, began to plant sloppy kisses up her leg as far as her jeans would allow.

“Ah mademoiselle, you ave ze most beautiful legs, I zink I will kiss zem forever.” he said in a very loud, fake French accent.

Jen got the giggles which were threatening to overwhelm the tingling feelings she was getting elsewhere as he kissed and fondled her calf.

“Richie!” she snorted, torn between out right laughter and embarrassment as most of the shops patrons turned to see what was happening.

Richie just waggled his eyebrows and outright laughter won as she burst in a fit of giggles.

She knew she wasn’t going to buy them as she could hardly stand in them and wobbling on a pair of heels was such a passion killer.

She removed the shoe and replaced it with her flat boot. Richie got up and held his hand out for her to take.

“Why thank you kind sir.” she said, batting her eyelashes.

He made a kind of bow and crooked his elbow for her to take before leading her out of the shop, both of them dissolving into giggles as they did so.

“So, more shoes?” he asked, really hoping she’d say no. As much as he was enjoying her company even he’d reached his shopping limit. Having been married to an actress he thought he knew what a shopping spree was like but that had been before he’d met Jen.

She looked at his face and saw the unspoken plea in his sexy chocolate eyes.

“Nah, let’s go get a drink.” she said, “Oh sorry, I mean a coffee.” she amended, thinking of his recent problems with alcohol.

“Hey, just cause I can’t drink doesn’t mean you can’t, and I have the feeling you’re a lot more fun after a few. Am I right?”

Jen just pursed her lips, trying to look stern but failing miserably.

“Am I not fun enough for you then Mr Sambora?” she asked as they walked along Boulevard St Germain.

They’d recently passed by a furrier who’d had a puppy fur coat for sale in the window and both had wanted to buy some red paint to throw over the coats so no woman would be tempted to wear it. Because of that Jen needed a drink to get the awful image out of her mind.

“Oh you are fun my lovely but I have the feeling you would be even more fun with a bit of alcohol inside you.” he said, mysteriously, leaving Jen with a hot feeling inside.

They passed by a small bar that had what looked like a stocks and shares computer in the window. Upon closer inspection they realised it was the price of the drinks. The more one particular drink was being drunk the lower the price per unit.

Jen looked at Richie.

Richie looked at Jen.

They smiled at each other and entered the small bar.

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“So what do you think of the Mona Lisa?” Jon asked Deborah as they sat down opposite the painting and looked at it.

“It’s never been one of my favourites,” she replied, “the background perspective is all over the place for me and she just looks constipated. It’s not an enigmatic smile at all, she’s asking for ex lax.”

Jon laughed softly. Since they’d gotten into the museum the real Deborah had surfaced as the surrounding artwork had done it’s job and she’d started to relax. They had wandered around for a good few hours, each pointing out to each other some piece of art that captured their eye or was just plainly bizarre. More than once they’d been asked to be a bit quieter and have a bit of respect for the other patrons.

Deborah felt at ease with this man. He was so easy to talk to and once she’d gotten past the persona and discovered John, he was a very funny, deep, introspective man with opinions on almost everything. He was also deeply passionate and she could feel that coming off him in waves as he spoke about the art around them and his music.

Jon smiled at the woman beside him. Once he’d gotten her to relax and open up he discovered a deep side to her that he had the feeling not many saw. She was intelligent and funny in her own way with a deep compassion for other people’s problems. He was beginning to like her.

He looked at his watch. It was 5:45. They’d been in the Louvre all day but it had only seemed like 5 minutes.

“Debs, we’d better go, it’s a quarter to six.” he said, feeling the familiar sense of anxiety surfacing.

“Oh ok.” she replied, seeing his face take on a more serious look.

He took her hand and they walked at a quick pace towards the exit. Once outside Jon kept up the relentless pace as he looked around for either a taxi or a taxi rank.

Deborah kept pace with him but was soon feeling uncomfortably breathless. She pulled her hand from his and stopped. They were on the Voie Georges Pompidou.

“Jon, what’s the hurry? Can’t we slow down a bit?” she asked, puzzled as to why he was rushing.
“Well I said we’d back at six.” he replied

“What time is the table booked for tonight?”

“9pm, why?”

“Three hours? That gives us three hours Jon. We don’t have to rush back plus the hotel isn’t that far away from here. It’s across the Seine and down a bit so why can’t we walk it and enjoy the scenery? What‘s the point of being in Paris otherwise if we don‘t do the touristy things? I‘ve been here many times before and I still find new things every time.”

Deborah could see the internal battle taking place between his Moon in Aries which was never late and had to be in control and his Sun in Pisces which made him a dreamer who wanted to experience different things.

“Is the world really going to end if we’re a bit late back?” she gently chided, before taking his arm and leading him off down the road towards the I’le de la Cite, in the total opposite way from where their hotel was.

As they walked Deborah kept up a running commentary on the surrounding areas.

“Did you know that the I’le de la Cite is one of two natural islands in Paris? The other is right next to it, the I’le Saint-Louis,”

They were crossing the Pont Neuf bridge onto the Island.

“And this bridge is now the oldest bridge in Paris even though it’s called the New Bridge. It was built in about 1607 and commissioned by Henry IV,” she looked at her watch and smiled, “Let’s go and take a peek at Notre Dame. Come on, we’ve got lots of time.” She said, laughing at Jon’s face.

Jon relented and allowed himself to be dragged by the hand long the Quai des Orfevres that would lead them to the Cathedral. He was enjoying himself, regardless of that little internal voice that constantly told him he was going to be late and that others would laugh at him because he wasn’t in control. Jon knew he had a problem with taking control and he hated to be shown up over something. It was why he’d given up acting as he was required to lose himself in a role and he just couldn’t do it. Couldn’t give up control to someone else and run the risk of being ridiculed.

He felt at ease with Deborah though. He instinctively knew she wouldn’t make him feel small or stupid.

They stood looking at the huge edifice, marvelling at the intricacies of the carvings and the stonework.

“Ok, now what?” Jon asked as he looked at the impressive building

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“Ok, now what?” slurred Jen as she necked her drink. She had two waiting on the table in front of them. Richie was on his fourth coffee.

“Where was the strangest place you’ve ever had sex?” Richie asked, grinning at the now inebriated woman.

“Erm. On a sand dune at 2am. It was fuckin’ freezing and I was so cold we were only there for about a half hour before we gave up and went inside.” she laughed at the memory, “What about you?”

“In the wings backstage, just before we were due on stage I had some girl go down on me. David had to step over her to get to the keyboards.” he replied

“Ok, I think you win.” Jen was feeling good. The alcohol was flowing and the company was great. She’d almost forgotten who he was, he was so easy to talk to. Her libido popped up to remind her exactly who it was she was having fun with and she squirmed slightly in her seat trying to scratch her itch.

“Hey drink up, it’s ten past five, we’d better not be late. Trust me you don’t wanna see Jon annoyed cause we’re late.”

“He’s so anal!” Jen retorted with a snort as she tried to neck both drinks at the same time but failed dismally.

Richie laughed as he watched her trying to drink from two glasses and then laughed harder as she managed to tip one of them down her front.

He handed her a napkin and watched as she tried to mop up the alcohol.

“ya know darlin’, if I was still drinking I’d’ve licked your shirt by now.”
Jen stilled as his words penetrated the vodka fog and her nipples stood to attention. She could feel heat pooling and squirmed even more.

Richie watched Jen’s eyes dilate and noticed a faint pink blush spread across the top of her chest and grinned to himself. This was going to be an interesting night.

She put her glass down and stood up,

“Come on then, mustn’t be late for Boss man.” Jen held her hand out only to have Richie place six bags of shopping on her arm.

She glared at him, a wry grin on her face as he picked up the remaining bags and they made their way back down the road towards their hotel.

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Jon hadn’t been this relaxed in ages. He was having fun just meandering through the back streets, even laughing when Deborah had admitted to taking him the long way round as she’d wanted to walk along The Seine at dusk.

Finally they reached Boulevard Raspail on the corner of Boulevard St Germain and Rue du Bac and entered the lobby of their hotel. The clock said 7:15pm. Laughing they made their over to the front desk to get their keys and then entered the elevator, still holding hands