Chapter 23

Jon woke with Katie snuggled up next to him. He really loved waking up with her beside him. Rubbing her back lightly, he watched her sleep. He could watch her sleep for hours, he thought. Then his stomach growled. She began to stir, opening her eyes finding deep blue ones looking back at her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep on you." Katie yawned.

Jon chuckled, "No problem, beautiful. I fell asleep, too." Again, Jon's stomach growled.

Katie couldn't help but giggle "You did mention something about lunch earlier, didn't you?" she asked. She got up to go to the bathroom and said. "I think we should stay in for lunch." Jon laughed, what a tease she was.

She looked in the mirror at her tangled mass of hair. She ran her fingers through it trying to put it into some semblance of order. When she walked back into the bedroom Jon was still lounging on the bed. Katie reached down beside the bed and picked up his shirt pulling it on buttoning it slowly.

Jon, watched her intently, said "You know, I much prefer you without the shirt." he grinned. The look in his eyes made her blush slightly.

"Yeah, well, I much prefer you without that sheet on, but someone has to feed us. I'm starving!" she retorted. She walked to the door and turned around to look at him, "Maybe we should stay in the rest of the day and see what happens." Katie winked at him as she walked out.

She did make that shirt look damn good....especially without underwear. He groaned as he got out of the bed. Those thoughts were best left on hold for the moment. He was starving as well. He went into the bathroom for a quick shower. Wearing only his jeans he went in search of his beautiful house guest.

As he padded barefoot into the kitchen, Katie was rummaging around in his refrigerator and cabinets. "Jon, there is nothing to fix for lunch in here." she complained.

He walked up behind her putting his arms around her waist and kissed her neck. "I've busy the past week or so, darlin'. Of course there is no food in there." Jon laughed. Katie looked back at him sheepishly, "I thought maybe you were settling into the bachelor life." she grinned.

Jon ordered in from a nearby deli, and they ate on the balcony. As Katie started cleaning up from lunch there was a knock at the door.

Jon rolled his eyes, "I guess I better go see who that is." he grumbled. Katie looked down at what she was wearing and scurried back to the bedroom to find more clothes. Jon watched her run down the hallway and couldn't help but to laugh. He went to answer the door wondering who would have the nerve to disrupt his quiet day. Keith, the doorman, had strict orders to only allow a handful of people entrance to the penthouse floor.

On the other side of the door stood Richie and David. Jon groaned. He knew that it wouldn't be easy getting rid of these two. He would have liked to have more prep time to introduce them to Katie, but he wasn't going to get it. He had to let them in, they knew he was home. He was kicking himself for not telling Keith to hold ALL visitors. Being able to think of no way around it, Jon sighed as he opened the door.

Richie was the first to speak, "Hey Bro, why the heck haven't you been returning my calls?" he questioned.

As Jon was about to answer Katie came walking down the hallway pulling her hair back into a quick ponytail. David was the first to notice her. He nudged Richie nodding in Katie's direction.

"I think we have our answer." David chuckled.

Jon turned and smiled at Katie motioning for her to join them. "Kat, come on over and meet the boys." he said.

Katie walked over to the door to meet Richie and David. Reaching for her hand Jon pulled her to him and put his arm around her shoulders. "Boys, this is Katie." he introduced her.

Katie reached out to shake their hands. "It's very nice to meet you both." she said.

He invited them in for a drink. Richie and David headed straight for the kitchen. Jon went to the wet bar and pulled out a beer for each of them. "Kat, would you like one?" he inquired.

"Do you have Corona in there?" Katie smiled.

Jon chuckled, "Yes, darlin', I have Corona and even lime." He was glad he remembered that was her favorite and then thought to have Christoph stock his bar with it. The group sat and talked. Katie couldn't help but marvel at the closeness the three men shared. They almost completed each other's sentences. She had always heard that they were very close, but to see it in person was very special. They were entertaining her with some of their exploits over the years. At times she could tell that Jon was a little embarrassed by some of the stories. She, however, enjoyed them immensely.

Realizing that Jon would rather be alone with Katie, since he had been avoiding even him over the past two weeks, Richie suggested they get going. Jon wasn't sorry, but he also wasn't in the mood to share her company for too long. He loved his friends like brothers, but he wanted as much time with Katie as he could get. He walked them to the door.

Richie noticed how Jon was looking at Katie practically the whole time they had been there. He had to admit it raised a bit of concern for him. It had only been a few months since his divorce and that had really done a number on him. He didn't want to see Jon hurt again. Not like that. He could see in Jon's eyes that he was falling for Katie.

"Hey Bro, what is the deal with you and this new chick?" Richie asked as they walked toward the door. Jon knew this was coming. He had noticed Richie watching him all afternoon and he could see the questions on his face.

"She seems nice enough, but you be careful, man. She could just be in it for who you are." he said in a concerned voice.

"First of all, her name is Katie." Jon warned, "And second, she is nothing like that. I am the pursuer, not her."

He could tell Jon was was not going to listen, and maybe he was right. Richie backed off for the moment. He knew Jon well enough to know that right now he was in that infatuation period and not in the right frame of mind to accept any criticism. He decided he would just take a "wait and see" approach, addressing the issue again if he saw it was warranted. "Ok, you're a big boy. I know you can handle yourself." Richie said as he slapped him on the back.

"Its all good, Rich, really." Jon assured his friend. Richie and David exchanged looks as they left the penthouse.

As Jon walked them out, Katie thought about how awesome it was for them to be so close. She could tell they all loved each other and were a little concerned about Jon. They both kept throwing her glances all afternoon as if they weren't quite sure of her intent. She couldn't blame them really. He was one of the biggest rock stars on the planet. No doubt thousands of women would love to be with him just for the fame and fortune. She, however, was not one of them. Sure, it was pretty damn cool, but underneath it all he was just a man, like any other. An amazing man to be sure, but just a man. She knew she would still have fallen for him even if he wasn't who he was. She stopped, realizing what had just went through her head. Falling for him? Oh oh. Yes, she was falling for him, no doubt about it. That realization shocked her a bit. How could she be falling for him in such a short time? It had only been a few weeks. She had never felt like this about someone so quickly.

Katie continued to clean up as Jon came back into the kitchen, kissing her on the cheek."You don't have to do that, I will take care of it." he said.

She smiled at him, "No worries. I don't mind at all." she responded. She could tell he had something on his mind. She put the bottles in the trash and went over to him putting her arms around his waist.

Looking up into his eyes she asked, "Is everything ok? You're kind of quiet."

Jon sighed, shaking his head. "It's nothing. Richie is just being a little overprotective, but it irritated me" he admitted.

Katie nodded, "I am not surprised, I would expect nothing less from him. He loves you like a brother and doesn't want to see anything bad happen to you."

Jon leaned down and gave her a quick kiss, "I know, but like I told him, I can take care of myself. I'm enjoying my time with a certain redhead and I plan on spending a lot more time with her if she'll let me."

Katie smiled, "A certain redhead would love that."

Taking her hand in his, he led her back to the sofa in the living room. He sat down and pulled her onto his lap wrapping his arms around, her kissing her deeply.

"What do you say we find a nice quiet little jazz club tonight and do a little dancing?" he suggested between kisses.

"Sounds like a wonderful idea." Katie sighed. Just thinking of dancing in his arms made her smile. He always said he couldn't dance, but from her experience, he lied.

Jon's kisses were becoming more and more insistent. Katie could feel the heat growing once again and put her hands on his chest, slowly reaching for the buttons on his shirt.

Realizing what she was doing, Jon pulled her hands away, "Oh no, baby, not yet." he growled. He picked her up and set her down on the sofa.

Katie groaned, "You are a terrible tease!!"

Jon just laughed. "Well, baby, I promise to finish what I started later, but I'd really like to to take you out on the town."

She sighed, shaking her finger at him as she got up to go take a shower. She had a little preparation to do for an evening out in New York City.

After her shower, Katie put on her favorite little black dress. She went looking for Jon, seeing that he wasn't in the living room she headed into the kitchen. She saw the door opened to the recording studio, and saw him behind the glass fiddling with some of the recording equipment. She stood at the door watching him.

Feeling her gaze on him he turned around, letting out a low whistle. "Wow, you look stunning." He wasn't sure he wanted to share her with the whole city of New York or not tonight.

"Thank you. You look pretty amazing yourself." she purred. Katie couldn't help but think of one of her favorite fantasies. It caused a blush to rise on her cheeks.

Jon noticed and teased, "Thinking of all the ways you can use my body, baby?"

"Ha! Not if you want to actually make it out that door and onto a dance floor somewhere." Katie shot back.

Jon walked toward her, "Well then we better get going, because if we stand here much longer I'm going to forget all about dancing and attack you!" he motioned for her to go ahead of him out of the studio. He almost lost his composure when she walked back into the kitchen. The little black dress was backless. Jon inwardly groaned. It was going to be a long night of torture before he could would have what he really wanted.

As they walked toward the door Katie kept thinking about her fantasy. She looked over her shoulder and decided to test the waters. "Jon, I've had this fantasy for a while now. What do you think about acting it out for me sometime?" she asked.

Jon stopped. "Really? What kind of fantasy, darlin'?" Jon asked, intrigued. He pulled her into his arms, "I'd be happy to act out any fantasy you have." he growled.

Blushing, Katie knew that this was not the right time to give all the details, so she hedged. "Well, you have to swear you won't laugh at me and then you have to promise that you will do it." she demanded with a grin.

"Oh, sweet baby, I'm all yours. Anything you want, your wish is my command" he replied in that low sexy voice.

She pulled away, with a sly smile on her face, "Good! Now let's go dancing!" she said as she walked out the door toward the elevator.

Chapter 24