Chapter 35

Tessa slapped her hand over the alarm clock, searching for the snooze button blindly. With one eye open she glared at the readout. That couldn’t say seven already, could it? She closed it and ducked under the covers. She’d spent a miserable night tossing and turning.

She dozed and woke with a start when her alarm shrilled out its very annoying, very effective buzzer. Stumbling out of bed, her toes met with icy hardwood. Every single part of her wanted to dive back under the fluffy down comforter and sleep for another fifteen hours. She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes, trying desperately to rub the grit out of them.

One sleepless night could be recovered from…two in a row was way too much for a woman on the wrong side of thirty. She replaced her nightshirt with a sports bra and a pair of bike shorts and tugged on her running shoes. She fastened her Ipod to her treadmill and set a course for incline at thirty minutes.

She’d been an utter slug for the last few mornings and needed to get back into her routine. If she didn’t get a little exercise she’d never make it through the weekend. She preferred running outside but in the winter months she was a big wimp and used the treadmill.

As she warmed up her muscles started to loosen and the cobwebs lifted a bit. If this was how people behaved with a man in their lives then she’d have to say it was awfully draining. She had a full day ahead of her and no part of it included pining for a man, even if that man was Jon Bon Jovi.

With a groan she kicked up her pace for the final twenty minutes of her run and like clockwork her shuffle of exercise songs included a Jovi B-side called Standing. The attitude and speed of it had her shifting one more level up to keep up with it. The song bled into another one of Jon’s songs, this time off his solo venture. A few more songs by different artists saved her from tossing her Ipod across the room in frustration.

By the time she ended her work out her legs were the consistency of jelly with over-excursion. Hell, she hadn’t worked out like that since she’d fretted about getting the loan for the store. She dragged in great gulps of air and drove the settings down to a medium walk. Stumbling off the evil machine she bent at the waist and held her knees. Christ, the man was going to put her in the grave, first from unbelievable sex then from mind bending withdrawal.

Hobbling down the stairs she went for her trusty Mr. Coffee thankful that she’d had enough sense to program it the night before. She tossed in three ice cubes so it was drinkable and took greedy gulps hoping it would drag her the rest of the way into what was going to be a very busy morning.

A quick flash of memory had her insides clenching. He’d been in her house. He’d looked damn good in her house just standing in her kitchen. She put the mug down with a thump and refilled it with steaming coffee.

“Jesus, Tessa, get yourself together. It’s not like you haven’t had great sex before.” She rolled her eyes. Okay so great was stretching it a bit. She didn’t even know she had that kind of lust inside of her. He brought it out so easily, even with just a few words. Color, that had nothing to do with the sweat of her workout, flushed along her cheeks.

Hell, she’d never been squeamish about talking about sex, but practically having it over the telephone was a new one on her. It had probably been old hat to Jon, but she couldn’t remember a time she’d been so quickly moved to orgasm by just a few well placed words.

Her wall unit gave a sharp ring and she was yanked out of that line of thought. “Hello,” she said a little breathlessly.

“Thinking about me, I hope.”

A guilty flush heated her cheeks. “Perhaps,” she said and was appalled to hear her voice lower.

“Good, I can’t be the only one that stared at the ceiling until three.”

She wound the curling line of cord around her finger and any thoughts of being coy slipped away. “Really?”

“I can’t get your smell out of my head, Tessa. And not just your perfume.”

She swallowed thickly. “Every time I close my eyes all I can see is your face just before you slide into me.” Slightly horrified that she’d let that slip she slammed her eyes shut.

He swore darkly. “You win,” he muttered. “And if we don’t talk about something else I’m going to be going into the studio with a fucking hard on.”

“Can’t have that,” she said with a hint of amusement. Even if it was feigned tension on his part, she got a thrill from the thought that this man wanted her like that. It amazed her that he could.

Jon cleared his throat and shifted in his jeans. “No, I have tons of work to do today and a phone conference with Habitat. They would notice if I wasn’t on my game.”

She tried not to melt. The fact that he so easily shared his day with her left an ache in her belly she didn’t want to name. “Yes, well I’m with you on the busy, darlin’. I’ve got two large orders coming in today for Christmas and another boatload of customer special orders that need to be tracked down.”

“Looks like the both of us will be fried by the end of today,” he said with a smile. It was nice to be able to talk about the everyday with someone again. Talking out the balance of his day was one way to get it all evened out in his head before he dropped running from the gate like he did every morning. “I miss you,” he said softly. “I’ll call you later in the day. I’m not sure when though.”

Tessa smiled. “That’s okay. I’ll be at the store until eight tonight then I’m heading over to Nic’s house to decorate the tree. I’ll have my cell on me,” she said hoping she didn’t sound too needy.

“Got a private room we can talk in?” he said with a low growl.

“Oh no,” she gulped down a hiss of lust. “I meant it when I said I wasn’t coming again without you.”

Jon’s lips curved in a smile. “That’s okay, you can just talk dirty to me.”

A quick bubble of laughter displaced some of the humming need gathering inside of her. “It’s a mild day here in Jersey. Just maybe I can sneak out of the house.”

“It’s a date,” he glanced at his watch and swore. If he didn’t get Richie moving they’d never get any work done before noon. “I gotta go.”

Tessa glanced at her own clock. “Yeah, I gotta hit the shower myself.”

Jon groaned, “You did that on purpose.” Flashes of her in his shower threatened to bust the seam on his jeans. Christ, he hadn’t been this randy since his early twenties.

Her laugh was low and smoky. “Would I do that?”

“Yes you would.”

“Have a good day, Jon.”

“You too, babe,” he said with a teasing laugh.

Tessa dropped the phone on its cradle and let her head fall forward against the wall. Her muscles weren’t warm from exercise now. In fact, she felt the sweat of her running shorts blend with a whole new wetness. What the hell was it about that man that had her turned on constantly?

With a disgusted sigh she pushed away from the wall in her kitchen and grabbed her mug. It was time to get moving.