Part Five

“Yeah,” Jon said. “That’s pretty much what I said about halfway through your Vampire story. Then I saw your profile blurb about the book.” He winked at Terri. “Then I ordered it. You know you missed a ‘Jon’ in there.”

Terri blushed. “Yeah, I know. How in the hell did you find. . . well, me?”

Jon laughed. “You couldn’t have made it any easier. Your friend The Goddess Hathor is apparently Rich’s favorite author of late, and he sent her an email, under pseudonym of course, and asked what her favorite Jon story was.”

“Hath outed me? I’m gonna fuckin’ kill her.”

“’Hath’, huh?” Jon filed her nickname away to tell Richie about later. “Anyway, she told him about the Vamp story, and he finally got me to read it. He’s been badgering me for months to join their bandwagon.”

“Their bandwagon?” Terri was wide-eyed. “You mean –”

“Yep, all of us are now officially hooked on, what do you girls call it? ‘Jovi porn’.” He laughed at her expression. “Though if you tell anyone, we’ll deny it.” He chowed down a handful of fries and washed it down with a swig of Coke. “I’ve gotta say, you girls are pretty, uh, generous in your descriptions.” He smiled at the just-swallowed-a-bug look on Terri’s face. “And as for finding you, it’s really all your own fault; don’t blame your friend. She may have pointed me to ‘T’ the writer, but ‘Terri’ the person? Hell you put your real name out there, and put your state and profession on your profile; that’s not very clandestine. I may not be a whiz with computers, but I can Google with the best of them.” Jon smiled a breathtaking, genuine smile that had Terri almost mooning. “Richie hasn’t sorted out who Hath is yet,” Jon continued, “but he’s working on it. She’s apparently much sneakier than you are. He’s gonna piss fire when he finds out I found my author first.”

Terri got a wicked gleam in her eye and took a pen from her bag. She scribbled a number down on a napkin. “Here, quid pro quo,” she said. “This is Hath’s cell. She always has the damned thing on her, but if he calls around six in the morning, she’s usually in a tunnel, and it’ll go to voicemail. He’ll find out who she is and where she works without actually talking to her first and giving himself away.” She sat back, a smug smile on her face. “She outed me, I’m gonna fuck with her right back,” Terri muttered.

Jon laughed and tucked the napkin into his pocket. “If you’re trying to distract me from your book, it isn’t going to work. We do need to talk about that.”

Terri sighed. “Alright; how pissed are you?” This was literally her worst nightmare. Well, the “worst” version involved a courtroom, and a very dressed up, very pissed off rock star. This was marginally better – at least he wasn’t scowling at her.

Jon sighed. “Actually, I was more pissed at home.” He looked at Terri, the blue heat of his eyes skewering her to the spot, and all but melting her brain. “I just can’t seem to get indignant at you.” They chewed their dinners in silence for a few minutes. “Why is that?” he asked.

Terri smiled. “That’s easy, rock star, it’s because you want me and you’re thinking with your dick,” she said, winking at him. “Not that I’m complaining, mind you,” she said laughingly. She waited for him to join her in laughter, but his perusal was thoughtful instead. Well shit, she thought, she was kidding. Sort of. Projecting was actually more like it. The chuckles dried up in Terri’s throat, and she took a swig of cola to wash them down.

The silence stretched until it became uncomfortable. “So,” Terri said finally. “What now?”

“Well, hell, I don’t know,” Jon said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Terri rolled her eyes and handed him a napkin. When their fingers touched, Terri thought it was a wonder the napkin didn’t burst into flames from the spark that passed between them. Jon smiled as if he didn’t notice, but Terri saw his eyes darken slightly and wondered what the hell he was thinking.

She was distracted enough that she had to ask him to repeat what he had just said. Jon made a big show of being put out. “Sure, you aren’t even listening to me now. I’ll bet you’re picturing me naked, aren’t you?” Terri laughed at that, surprised at his playfulness, and now that he had her full attention, he continued. “I said that I had this whole little speech planned out about attorneys and lawsuit threats, but I’ll be damned if I can muster up even a flicker of annoyance now.”

Terri relaxed marginally, but something in his gaze wouldn’t let her breathe a sigh of relief just yet. She didn’t know how to read him. Was he really flirting with her or just trying to soften her up before diving into a tirade.

Jon dropped the crumpled napkin on the table. “Look, I don’t want to be a jerk,” he said. “But I’d appreciate it if you would confirm that your next book, the one you said you were working on, is about something else?”

Terri took a big gulp of her Coke and didn’t say anything. Well her mouth didn’t say anything but the delicate pink flush creeping up her face spoke volumes. Jon had a fleeting thought, wondering if her whole body flushed or if it was just her face.

Jon groaned at the image that put in his head, and dropped his head into his hands. “Oh God,” he said.

Terri thought he was talking about the book. “Now wait a minute,” Terri said, “what makes you think my book is about you?”

Jon smiled widely, glad she didn’t notice him all turned on. He didn’t know how she’d react, and he was having too good a time to mess it up with biology. “You’re saying the book isn’t about me?” He tried to turn the conversation to something that wouldn’t get him more agitated than he already was.

“Well no,” Terri hedged, “but it’s a little arrogant of you to presume, isn’t it?” Jon’s expression was pained, and Terri had to chuckle. “Now, relax, baby. It’s not too far gone that I can’t change it around some. Your fries are getting cold.”

“Arrogant huh? Just like it was arrogant for you to presume I want you?” Jon asked.

“I didn’t hear your denial. And baby, that’s not presumption, just chemistry,” Terri answered. “I’m damned near irresistible.”

Jon chuckled. “People have been known to say the same about me,” he said.

Terri nodded. “Yes. . .Yes they have.” She swallowed the last of her burger and wiped her mouth. Then she leaned back in the booth, and put her feet up next to Jon’s thighs, crossing them at the ankle. She folded her hands across her stomach and sighed. “Listen. I get your point, okay? About the book. But you have to take into account that it’s not like I made hundreds of thousands of dollars off it.” Terri laughed. “Though, if I used your real name instead of changing it, it probably would have sold more.”

Jon laughed and nodded, grudgingly admitting she was right. When the conversation hit another lull, Jon was grateful that Bertie came by their booth to ask if everything was alright. When Terri tilted her head up to talk to him, Jon couldn’t tear his eyes away the column of her throat. He smiled and wondered what Terri would think if he bit her, like Giovanni in her story did to Mackenzie. The thought of putting his mouth on her had him shifting in his seat.

When Bertie left, Terri caught Jon staring at her. “What?” she said.

Jon shook his head. “Just errant thoughts, that’s all, nothing important.”

“Uh-huh,” she said. “You are a piss-poor liar, Jon.”

Jon dropped his hand to her calf, and stroked it lightly. “So,” he said, his voice lowering and touching something primal in Terri’s soul. “I’ve told you why I was here; have you decided on where and how I can touch you now?”

“You forgot the ‘if’, rock star,” Terri said, though she made no move to shift her legs away from Jon’s touch.

“I figured since you weren’t kicking me that the ‘if’ was a given. Besides,” he smiled at her. “You want me. And that’s not arrogant presumption, that’s chemistry,” he said, throwing her words back at her. He waited a moment before he added, “and I don’t hear any denial from you, either.”

Terri’s eyes locked on Jon’s for a moment, then she slowly withdrew her legs from his bench. She stood and tossed some money onto the table. Digging her keys out of her pocket, she asked, “you done, then?” and started to walk out of the diner, tossing a g’bye at Bertie on her way out. Jon followed her to her truck and after handing her up into the driver’s seat, once again strapped himself in on the other side.

Terri pulled out of the parking lot and headed for her house; in the opposite direction from the one from which they had come.

“Hey,” Jon teased, “you promised to take me back to my car.”

“Oh no,” Terri answered. “I promised to consider it.”

“Did you even consider it?” Jon asked, sliding closer to her and putting his hand high on her thigh.

“No,” Terri said. “So sue me.”