Chapter Thirty-One: Lady in Red

"C'mon, I don't know what the big deal is. You've met my mother and you won her over." Jon lay back in her bed with his arm draped up over his head.

"Don't do that!" She held up her hand and then pulled on a pair of PJ Pants and a Cammy.

He laughed. "Don't do what?"

"Lie there looking all innocent and delicious when you just dropped a bomb on me."

They'd had a lovely night after Jon had bought over Chinese and retired to bed early where they'd watched an old moive and made love. This morning was different however, the real reason he was staying at her place had come out. His parents were in town so he had sought refuge at her place and they were all going out to dinner tonight, including her.

"I don't look delicious. Come here, seriously it's not a big deal." He shifted and sat up in the bed, his hair sticking on end. He looked too adorable and sleepy to be mad him but Christ, she had just told him about moving everything so fast.

She stood with her hands on her hips and blew the hair out of her face. "It is! It's your parents and your brothers! You're mother isn't exactly the easy-pleaser is she?"

"No, she's not but hell Devon. You won her over with your business, she'll love you and Dad, and well he's a big softy you won't have to worry about him. I promise."

She wasn't angry, she was nervous. She wanted to meet his family and it was a big deal for her since she'd been without her own for sometime. And Jon, well he had a great big supportive family. It was a very big deal. She sat on the edge of the bed and her gaze followed him as he leaned in closer for a kiss. "I noticed you didn't tell me this until after the sex."

His eyes crinkled as his hand cupped the back of her neck and his breath hit her cheek. "Are you accusing me of something?" His fingers curled around the ends of her hair and she closed her eyes and he hovered barely inches from her mouth.

"Yes, that you're sneaky."

"Yes, yes I am." His lips found hers and they shared a slow-burn kiss that melted down to the tips of her toes.

She shuddered as his lips scraped up her jaw and under her ear in the sensitive spot that he knew drove her mad.

"I don't know why you put your pyjamas back on." His hand slid up under her top and along her belly until the fingertips teased the band of her pants.

"Keep talking." She mused as she waited for him to make his move, she knew him well enough by now to know that it was only a matter of time.

His finger tips brushed against the soft-underside of her breast. "You think you're so smart don't you?"

She bit her lip but the smile escaped her lips. "I might do."

She gasped as he scraped the top of her nipple then withdrew from her. "Time for a shower. Work doesn't wait for any man." He popped off the bed and padded into her small en suite.

She laughed. "What? You don't like that you're predictable now?"

He cranked on the shower and popped his head around the door frame. "You know I'm not. I don't need sex. I was going to satisfy you before you went to work." He shrugged. "But if you don't want that then that's fine by me."

And with that door slammed.

It opened and her pink sponge was hurtled across the room. "The position of back scrubber is still vacant though."

"Jesus Christ. Men." She rolled her eyes as she folded her arms. She should teach him a lesson and not jump into bed with him each time he clicked his fingers. Though, it was damn hard not to but this time she wasn’t going to.

She grabbed her robe and padded into the kitchen turning on the coffee pot. God her kitchen counter was a mess, littered with empty wine bottles and empty Chinese cartons. Her order and cleanliness seemed to go out the window when Jon the hurricane was around. She swept the cartons into the trash and cleaned down the counter tops. 

The day was grey and dull with mists of rain drifting through downtown Manhattan. Even in the rain it always looked so full of life and promise. Thankfully Tuesday's were the slower days in the weeks so she could catch up on some paper work and spend some time out on the floor just floating.  She liked to float and talk to the clients her stylists were working

Jon walked into the living area with just a pair of jeans with the top button open. She grinned into her coffee cup as her eyes disappeared down the visible thin trail to the subtle hair that she knew lurked below those jeans. 

He wiggled his eyes brows and walked to her windows that looked out onto Mercer. They were no where as near extravagant as the floor to ceiling in his penthouse but she still liked it. He pulled his hands above his head and stretched until all the muscles in his back flexed. She had no shame now admitting she knew the curves of those entire muscles well, and with her mouth.

"What are you grinning about?"

She poured him a cup and joined him by the window, handing it to him.

"Nothing. Just admiring."

He didn't meet her gaze but the smile twitched on the corner of his lips.

"Well you could have up close and personal with a sponge, but you didn't."

They both stood there looking out at the world in a comfortable silence sipping their coffee. 

"It's called punishment for throwing a family dinner on me at the last minute." 

He chuckled and took a sip from his cup. "You know what I like about Manhattan?" He asked as the faint honk of horns and bustling traffic floated in.

"What's that?"

"The Anonymity of it all. I can get lost in the city and just be one of the crowd." He shrugged. "Sure, I get the paps every so often but there are people far more interesting and scandalous here than me."

She wrapped her arm around her waist and sighed. "I can understand that."

"Yours?"

She paused for a minute. "The people. The streets are always bustling with people from all different walks of life. You never feel alone here. And they always have somewhere to go and somewhere to be. I imagine where people are going and that it's on some great big adventure somewhere.”

"Where would you be going Devon?" 

She didn't look at him, instead focused on the tiny drops of rain that started to hit the window. 

"Anywhere I wanted."

Although she was away on her own adventure now, she wasn't completely free. That's what she wanted. She wanted to be on her adventure but free from what haunt her in the past.

He chuckled.  "Well that's easy. Especially when you have me."

She laughed as he puffed out his chest. "Well that is true. You are definitely an adventure." And that was all true too. Jon had been just the kind of adventure she didn’t even know she’d be longing for.

He sipped his coffee and leaned back against her couch. "A good one I hope?."

“The best.” She shook her head and grinned. "So, what's the plan for tonight?"

"I’ll pick you up about seven and we’ll meet them there. The restaurant is on the other side of town, it’s one of Mother's favourites."

"Sounds good. Snazzy dress?"

"Snazzy? If that means sexy and showing off your gorgeous self, then yes. Snazzy." His attempt at her accent was laughable.

"It's a date then." Her lips curled as she thought of exactly what she was going to wear. He was in trouble, big trouble.

~

Jon slipped his phone back into his jacket pocket and stepped out of the car onto the kerb in front of Devon's. He was running late and he hated fucking running late but the kids called and he couldn't exactly blow them off. They wanted to see Grandma and Pop while they were here so he was going to have to figure out when they could do that. One thing that he liked about Devon was it didn't feel like she was another thing to juggle and slot in. He took on a huge life and workload knowingly and he wouldn't change any of it but she was definitely the easy part of it all surprisingly.

He took a step and stopped. Holy fucking hell. His heart banged against his ribs as his gaze trailed from her feet up. She was standing on her step in a simple black knee-length sleeveless dress with a coat slung over her arm. A red thin belt cinched around her waist and her legs poured out of the dress into strappy red heels. Fuck me.

"Oh you're good." He said. Her hair was swept around to one side and she had subtle smokey grey around her eyes that made the blue in her eyes pop.

"What?" Her long lashes blinked innocently like a devil woman and her lips were as red as her shoes. She was going to have him in a puddle by the end of the night, he just knew it.

He circled his arms around her and drew her in and pressed a kiss to her lips. "You are evil." He whispered against her ear. Her candy-cane scent swirled around him and he suddenly felt like he was home. He held her hand as she walked down her steps and she walked in front of him to get into the car so he could appreciate the back-view of her curves.

"Dayum. And I didn't even bring the right car."

“The right car?”

He grinned. “The one with the privacy screen.”

She laughed as she got into the car as the driver held the door open. "You’ll be lucky, this all didn't happen in five minutes mister."

He climbed in after her and draped her slender calf over his knee. He leaned forward and kissed it. "I will make every minute of that time worth your while later."

Now he had to watch her and her hot shoes in front of his entire family which was just fucking great. He reached over and took her hand and rested it on the top of her leg. "Ready for the Dragon's Den?"

She clutched her tummy and nodded. "I think so and that's no way to talk about your mother." She teased.

"No she's not a dragon, she's more like one of those black panthers. Sneaky and then she pounces."

"Gee, that's really encouraging.”

"Did you bring some of your business cards?"

"What? Why? I usually care a few in my purse."

"Because where we're going a lot of Mother's friends frequent. If she likes you, she'll ask you for them."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Don't frown and if you can get through this, Wednesday night will be a breeze."

She tensed beside him. "You still nervous about that?" He squeezed her hand and eased back as they rounded into heavy downtown traffic

"I’ll be fine." 

He knew she was lying, it was a big deal for people not used to the type of exposure that he was so he had to remember that but the way he looked at it for her was that it would get her name out there for her salon. That couldn't ever be a bad thing for anyone with a business and he didn't mind doing it for her. She'd obviously worked hard at what she did and was passionate about it so if he could give her a little helping hand. Then so be it.

"My mother is over-protective of me."

"And your millions."

"And my millions but who I date is none of her business and Christ she likes what you do. She wouldn't have suggested this otherwise."

"And your brothers?"

"Nothing to worry about, I promise. I can still kick there asses, even if they are bigger than me." He hadn't seen Matt and Desiree in a few weeks and the same with Tony, so it would be good to touch base with his brothers.

Jon's phone buzzed against his hip. "Crap this will be Mom now." He reached for the phone and grinned when he saw the name. "Hi Mom."

"Angel, we're running a little late too. The traffic is dreadful and your father thought an afternoon nap was a good idea. We'll be at least twenty minutes away so can you get the table and order the wine?"

"Yes Mom, no problem." He chuckled as he could hear his father protesting his innocence in the background. "See you soon." He disconnected the call and slid it back into his pocket.

"We're not running later after-all. Which means...” He inched closer to her and brushed his fingertips around her jaw. "We've got some time." His gaze flicked to her lips and back to her eyes. 

Her hands pressed against his chest as he leaned in. "Did you forget something?"

"Nope." His lips hovered on hers, barely touching as his knuckle brushed against her breast until he felt her nipple pop.

"Jon." She hissed as their teeth clicked as they took a bump. 

"You think you can play games with me little girl?" His voice was barely a whisper as his lips slid over her jaw and to the sensitive spot below her ear. His plan to drive her wild was backfiring on himself as his cock hardened but he continued.

"What are you gonna do? Fuck me in plain sight of the driver?" Her voice quivered but her eyes flickered dark and his hand slid down her silky leg. He was going to deserve a fucking medal if he could walk straight when he got out of the car. 

"No, I'm going to do something much worse. If I have to suffer through this dinner with you in those shoes," His finger curled around a loose strand of her sunny hair. "You will be suffering with me every step of the way." His hand slid up her inner thigh until he could feel the silk of her panties against his finger tips. She groaned as he slid traced one down the centre of her. 

"Oh god." She panted in a volume just loud enough for him to hear.

"I'm going to make you come. Again. And Again.” Her breath was warm on his cheek and her scent intoxicating. He was going to have to stop before he really couldn’t.

She closed her eyes and dropped her head back. He kissed up the centre of her throat before the car came to a complete stop and the driver coughed politely.

"But it looks like we'll have to wait. Thank you Javier."

Her eyes popped open and he smirked as he moved away from her and stepped out of the car. He adjusted his pants so no one would notice the tell tale sign of what he really wanted to do in the car and held his hand out for her. She took it and stepped out and he tugged her in close. His mouth hovered over the shell of her ear.

"So, the moral of the story is baby, if you play with fire you’re gonna get burned.”

Her fingers traced around the lapel of his jacket. "True." Her eyelashes fluttered and her glossed lips curled into a subtle smirk. "But I don't have to sit through dinner with lead in my pants. Unlike some." She kissed him sweetly on the lips and he jumped as she cupped him gently. The intoxicating scent of Devon and the promise of sex dangled in front of him.

He growled and cupped her wrist. "Oh, you'll keep baby." She walked in front of him and he watched her long legs in the shoes he longed to be wrapped around his waist walk away. He quickly tipped the driver before catching up with her. This was going to be a long night.