Part Two

DeeDee left Jon’s office and hurried downstairs to her desk. She was beside herself. She couldn’t believe she was going to be having dinner with HIM. She’d been halfway in love and all-the-way in lust with him for more years than she could remember. Rose came running over to her when she saw her friend arrive.

“Shit, he was in his office, wasn’t he?” Rose asked, horrified at what she had said, and what he had overheard, AND that DeeDee had said her name, so he knew who had said it.

“Yep, he was,” DeeDee said. “Radios aren’t good for that kind of conversation, my friend,” she said sympathetically. “That being said, don’t you think I thought of that already?” The two women shared a laugh. “As have most of the women that work here and some of the men, too.”

“So he heard me, huh?”

“Yeah,” DeeDee said, “but he chose to ignore you. When are we going out and where?”

“I was thinking O’Malley’s. They have a great bar menu, and we can have something to eat to sop up the massive amounts of alcohol we will be consuming.”

“Uh, OK…” DeeDee trailed off, and Rose was on her hesitation like a fly on shit.

“Spill. What the hell is going on?”

DeeDee blushed. “I sorta have a date after drinks tonight to get something to eat, so I don’t want to have to much beforehand.”

Rose’s eyes went wide with an unspoken question, and DeeDee nodded. Rose squeaked, grabbed her friend’s hand, and dragged her to an empty office, shutting the door behind them. “You so do not have a date with Jon Bon Jovi tonight.”

DeeDee blushed. “Yes, I so do.”

“Holy shit,” Rose answered. “He never dates anyone from the office.”

“Well, he established that I don’t work directly for him, and I didn’t really have another excuse…” She broke off when Rose smacked the back of her head.

“You REFUSED? Are you fucking out of your mind?”

DeeDee laughed. “Apparently, I am. Excuse me for not wanting to screw up my job by going out with the boss. That’s the last thing I need.”

“So, what are you wearing and where are you going?”

“I have no idea. To either,” DeeDee admitted.

“Well screw drinks, we can do that tomorrow. We need to go shopping!”

A couple hours later, DeeDee was emerging from the shower when her cell phone rang. It was Jon. “Hello?” she said, tentatively.

“Hey there, I’m almost to your place, you ready?”

“NO!” DeeDee exclaimed, to which Jon chuckled. “I mean, I just got out of the shower; I need at least another half an hour.” She sighed. “How close are you?” Her doorbell rang. Rose was coming to help her with her hair.

Muttering to herself, she wrapped a towel around her body and went out to see who was at the door. “Pretty close,” Jon said. DeeDee peeked through the peephole and dropped the phone.

She opened the door a crack and peeked around the corner. She said, “You are entirely too early,” and her whole body flushed.

Jon’s heart stopped. She wasn’t kidding about just getting out of the shower. He could see the dewy remnants of the shower on her shoulders, and her hair was dripping water all around her.

DeeDee was just staring at Jon. He looked gorgeous in a white button down shirt tucked into low-riding jeans. He topped it with a pin-striped jacket, and battered cowboy boots clad his feet. His hair was a little windblown, and he looked just perfect. The shirt was unbuttoned enough that DeeDee had a good view of the famous fur, and rolled her eyes at the bling.

“What?” Jon said, looking down. “What was the eye roll for? I think I look damned good.”

DeeDee laughed. “You do look good,” she said, blushing, “but it’s just that damned necklace. When are you going to be done with that?”

Jon laughed. “I happen to like it.”

“No shit, you wear it all the time,” she said, then clapped her hands over her mouth. “Sorry, sorry. Don’t mind me. Uh, I need to get dressed, and Rose is coming to help…” she trailed off as her phone rang again. It was Rose.

“What?” DeeDee said. “Where are you?”

“I’m sorry,” she said, “but I have a problem at home I need to take care of.” She sounded like she was almost in tears. “I so wanted to help you but…”

“Don’t even worry about it,” DeeDee said. “Is there anything I can do?”

Rose chuckled. “Yes, tell me every f*cking detail tomorrow. And touch the fur.”

DeeDee laughed and rang off. Touch the fur indeed.

Yeah, right.