Chapter Ninety-Six

Drying her hands on the dishtowel, Stephanie picked up her wine glass and wandered into the pretty den just off the kitchen. There was a wall of windows that looked out over the water and the sun was setting casting the room in a glow of purples and reds. The crackling behind her had her turning. Richie was crouched by the fireplace, the flames dancing as he poked at the fire he had started.

“So,” Stephanie said as she turned from the spectacular view out the window.

Richie stood and slipped the fireplace poker back in with the other tools. “So” he repeated.

Together they moved and sat on the couch. She picked at a piece of non-existent lint on her thigh. She had never been this nervous to have a conversation with him before.

“Why the hesitation, Sweetheart? You’ve never had a problem talking to me before.” He was more than a little surprised by her obvious nervousness.

She laughed at herself. “Well, honestly, I’ve never felt this stupid about a decision I made with you before.” After having that conversation with her sister and then the ensuing days to clearly think about what she had said and done, she could have slapped herself for being such a drama queen.

Richie patted her knee, “we’re all allowed to be stupid sometimes, Sweetheart.” He chuckled, “I should know, I have a lot of experience with stupid over the years.”

Her laughter made him smile and feel lighter than he had in days. As glad as he had been to see her car in his driveway and to find her waiting for him, he hadn’t been entirely sure which way she would go with her decision. But so far, things seemed to be looking really good for him.

Picking up her glass, she sipped her wine. Her favorite wine that he just happened to have in his fridge. She had to wonder if he really did have some kind of special powers when it came to her. “You want the long, drawn out, War and Peace version or the shorter, more compact, Cliff’s Notes version?”

He chuckled at her analogy. “Why don’t you just give me the highlights?”

Taking another fortifying sip of her wine, she did just that. “I want to be with you, you know that, right?”

He nodded his head, but that statement had him feeling suddenly less certain about things than he had five minutes ago. “And?”

She inched closer to him on the couch, “not ‘and’, but.”

“But what?”

“But, what happens if we decide somewhere down the line that things aren’t working between us, where do I go? What do I do then?” That was her biggest hang up of this whole thing. While she realized that home could, would be wherever he was, what if he changed his mind? Where did that leave her?

“Sweetheart,” he moved closer to her, “I don’t see that happening.  But, in the off chance that I take a serious blow the head and change my mind, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”  His hand came up to cup her cheek, tilting her head up, bringing her gaze to his.  “I would never leave you out in the cold.  If anything ever changes between us, I would help you find a house, apartment, condo, whatever you wanted.”  And because her mouth was right there, ripe for the taking, he dropped his lips to hers in a light, loving kiss.

She sighed and leaned into him, the days they had been apart had been too many. Her body reacted strongly, even though her brain said talk first.  One hand came up to grip his wrist where it cradled her face, the other slid up and rested high on his thigh.

Without breaking contact, Richie moved closer, pushing her back against the pillows.  His hand left her face and slid down her side, his fingers inching up under the hem of her shirt. “I’ve missed you, darlin’.” 

And that’s when she knew that the rest of their conversation was going to have to wait. He only ever slipped and called her darlin’ when he was so focused on her that nothing else mattered in that moment.  Her hand slid around his hip, her fingertips slipping into his back pocket. Her breathing had become slightly uneven. “I missed you too. But shouldn’t we-”

His mouth covered hers, cutting off the flow of words from her mouth. When he pulled back again, color rode high on her cheeks and her lips were full from his kisses. “We can talk all you want, later.”  Being this close to her, he really wasn’t in a talking mood anymore.

She looked up at him, his unabashed desire for her showed brightly in his eyes and prodded her where he lay nestled between her legs. She nodded, “okay,” her fingers traced his face, “okay. But-”

“But what now?” he asked making no effort to conceal his frustration.

“What about Ava and Kelly?” She really didn’t want one or both of the girls to come looking for them and get an eyeful of them going at it on the couch.

Richie nuzzled into her neck, “tell me something, Sweetheart, just how did you and Mark ever manage to have sex once Ben was walking and talking?”  He and Heather had been careful, but they also had a nanny that looked after Ava.  He was sure Stephanie and Mark hadn’t had that luxury.

She angled her head and let out a breathless giggle, “when he was little we waited til he was asleep and then, when he was older, we made sure we locked the door and we told him to always knock.”

Pressing himself up on his arms, he kissed her once before pushing off of her and getting to his feet.  He hurriedly crossed the room and closed and locked the door. Turning back he smirked, “better?”

She nodded and with a crook of her finger, beckoned him back to the couch.

Richie crawled back up next to her, settling on his side behind her.  The couch wasn’t as wide as the one in his living room, but hopefully neither one of them would end up on the floor.  His hand slid up inside her shirt, his thumb tracing light circles on her stomach, loving the goose bumps he could feel rise on her skin.  He was sure there would never come a time when he didn’t want to be with her. 

He worked the buttons on her shirt, sliding his hand higher with each on he opened until he could cup her breast in his hand.  He nuzzled into her neck, nibbling lightly as he palmed her breast, his fingers working the tightening nub.  Her hips moved restlessly against his the more he teased her.

Shifting, she maneuvered herself around so they were face to face.  Her lips immediately went to his.  The kiss was hungry and a little wild.  He pushed at her shirt and she worked it down and off one arm, never taking her lips from his.  She tugged at his shirt, wanting to feel his skin, the heat and hardness of him against her.  He pulled his mouth from hers with a wet smack.  “Sit up” he breathed against her.

She pushed herself up and pulled her shirt off the rest of the way before getting to her feet in front of him so he could move.  The couch was definitely not big enough for the two of them.

He pulled his shirt over his head and, with a finer through her belt loop, tugged her to straddle his lap.  On her knees over him her breasts were right in his face.  He nipped at the center closure and popped it open with his teeth.  Burying his face in her chest he licked and sucked at the soft sides of her glorious tits. 

She dropped her head back, her hair streaming down to touch his knees as she fisted her hands in his hair, holding her to him.  Had she really thought she could give this man up?  She had to have been having a serious lapse in sanity.  Her mind blanked when the man in question found her nipple and he circled it with the tip of his tongue before pulling it into his mouth and suckling like a babe in search of sustenance.  She writhed against him, searching for that extra little bit of friction.  God he was gonna make her come before she even got her pants off. 

“Rich, baby, I’m…”

He let her nipple go with an audible pop, “not yet, darlin’, not yet.”  He nudged her off his lap again and stripped them both of their jeans.  He sat back down and before he could pull her back over him, she slid to the floor between his knees.  He looked down at her, “darlin’ what are you…” she flicked her tongue over the inside of his thigh before he could finish his question.

“Okay?” she asked.

He nodded.  Who was he to stop her from practicing her oral skills on him? 

She nipped and licked her way along his thigh, leaving a mark high on his inner thigh before sucking on his sac. 

He sucked in a lungful of air, blew it out and settled a little lower on the couch.

She kept on, dragging her tongue across his sensitive skin, wrapping it around the base of his shaft, moving higher and higher.  Kneeling up, she kissed the tip of his erection before lowering her mouth over him, hugging the shaft as she slowly took him in.  Closing her eyes and relaxing her throat muscles, she slid all way down until her nosed nestled in the dark hair at the base. 

He fisted his hands in her hair, he couldn’t remember the last time a woman had been able to take all of him into her mouth and throat like that.  And, fuck if wasn’t going to lose it if she didn’t stop.  Right now. 

Wiggling her tongue, she eased back, sucking as she went, teasing him mercilessly with her tongue.  She felt his hands tighten in her hair when she took him deep again.

“Fuck darlin’, you need to stop.”  He didn’t want to blow his load in her mouth.  Not this time, anyway.

She eased back, wrapping her hand around him as she pulled her mouth away.  “Don’t like it?”  She pouted playfully.

He tugged her up to her feet, “liked it too damn much” he kissed away her pretty pout.  “Come here now” he urged her closer.

She climbed onto his lap, straddling him once again.  The tip of his cock slid against her, rubbing her clit, before slipping lower, to rest just inside her.  Flexing and relaxing her muscles, she tortured them both. 

He clamped his hands on her hips, “come on now, stop fucking teasing me” he growled.

Leaning forward she nipped bottom lip as she rolled her hips and sank down on him, burying him inside her.  Gasping, she closed her eyes, the pleasure was almost too intense.  Finding her breath, she rocked against him, slowly at first, then quicker as she found her rhythm. 

Her breasts bounced in his face the faster she moved.  Richie pulled his hands from her hips to cup those amazing breasts and bring them to his lips.

She cried out at the first touch of his tongue to her sensitive nipples.  “Richie!”

He pulled his mouth away from her rosy, swollen bud, “I’m right there, come darlin’, let go.”  He sucked her nipple back into his mouth for one last tug before he groaned his release right along with her.

Heart pounding and breathing coming in harsh pants, Stephanie slumped forward, draping herself over him, her forehead resting on his shoulder. 

 
Finding a breath, he stayed buried inside her and tipped them both sideways, drawing their legs up onto the couch.  Pulling the blanket off the cushions, he hap hazardously covered them both and they dozed, tangled together like a pretzel.

Chapter Ninety-Five

Hey, this is Richie, you know the drill.  I’ll hit ya back.

She sighed and pressed the icon to end the call.  Three days.  It had been three days and still they hadn’t been able to connect.   As tempted as she was to text him or leave a message, she really wanted to talk to him in person, face to face.  She just couldn’t have this conversation over the phone.  It wouldn’t be right.

Tucking the phone into her pocket, she headed down the basement stairs.  She still had a multitude of boxes folded up and stashed down there from when she moved in.  Might was well get a head start on the packing while she had some free time. 

She was tempted to just throw her shit in the boxes and get it all done and over with, but, starting in the office, she did it the right way.  Wrapping everything back up in newspaper and tucking it away carefully in the reconstructed boxes.  What a pain in the ass.  But it kept her busy and the music kept her from checking her phone every three seconds.

Not so far away in Calabasas, Richie was doing some packing of his own.  The back end of the Hummer was open and he was loading everything for their vacation and herding Ava and her friend into the backseat.  “Come on girls, we’ve got a seven hour ride ahead of us.  Let’s go!”  He felt the vibration of his phone in his pocket and had to ignore it while trying to get them ready to get on the road. 

Settling in the driver’s seat he looked to the rearview mirror, “you girls all buckled in back there?”  Getting their nods he started the car and pulled his phone from his pocket and plugged it into the car charger.  Swiping his finger across the screen he saw the missed call and, seeing that it was Stephanie, shot her off a quick text.

<Hey Sweetheart, we’re on the road.  Call u later.  ;)>

Finding the GPS he set the address and pulled out, headed for a much needed and much anticipated ten-day respite from the world.

~

Rolling over, Stephanie punched her pillow and sighed.  Sleep was being elusive, again.  Sitting up she kicked the sheets until they unwound from her legs and she rolled out of the bed.  She couldn’t do this anymore.  Too much time was going by without talking to Richie.  She didn’t know if he was deliberately ignoring her or if he just wasn’t getting his messages.  But she couldn’t wait any longer.  Grabbing her phone she shot off a text to Ava.  Maybe she’d get an answer from her.

<Hey, call me back.  I need to talk to you.> 

Ava grabbed her phone when it vibrated.  She didn’t want to aggravate her father any more than she may already have.  Her normally content and complacent Papa Bear had been replaced by a much crankier kind of bear since they left the other day.  Glancing down at the screen she was surprised to see it was Stephanie calling her.  She quickly and quietly made her way out to the deck to call her back.

Stephanie didn’t wait for the phone to finish its ringtone before she answered the call.  “Hi sweetie, thanks for calling me so quickly.”

Ava leaned on the rail looking out over the water.  “No prob.  What’s up?”

Stephanie curled up on the window seat.  Just how much should she tell the daughter of her boyfriend about what was going on?  “I need to talk to your dad and he’s either ignoring me or he lost his phone.”

“He’s been pretty cranky since we got here, so it could be the ignoring thing.  What’s going on with you two?”

Stephanie sighed.  “That is probably all on me.  The cranky I mean.  He asked me a pretty serious question while we were in Europe and I told him I needed some time to figure some stuff out.  Now that I’m ready to talk to him he’s apparently dodging me.”  She shook her head.  “I don’t really want to have the conversation over the phone but I don’t know how else to get to him.”

Ava didn’t hesitate.  She wanted her father to be happy and if she had to intervene on his behalf, so be it.  “You should come up here and talk to him.”

“I couldn’t intrude on your vacation time with your dad.  It’s too special to him and to you.  If you could just have him call-”

“Don’t be silly” Ava interrupted.  “You got pen and paper?  Write this down.”  She waited a beat when she heard Stephanie rustling around before rattling off the address.  “It will take you about 8 hours if you’re driving.  Kelly and I will make ourselves scarce so you guys can work out whatever is going on between you.”

Stephanie’s lip curled into a half smile.  For a sixteen year old she was pretty damned intuitive.  “Thank you sweetie.  See you some time tomorrow.”

Ending the call, Stephanie pulled her suitcase out of the closet and packed her bag.  She had a long drive ahead of her.

She managed a couple hours of sleep before her nerves, excitement, whatever got the better of her.  She quickly showered, tossed her suitcase and purse in the car and she headed out.  She had debated calling Richie, but decided against it.  He wasn’t answering her so she would just drive up there so he couldn’t not talk to her.

Mile after mile, hour after hour she cursed herself for not seeing what was right in front of her the whole time.  Her family would always be there, no matter if she was across town or across the country.  Her home wasn’t about the city or state she lived in or the four walls and roof that sheltered her.  It was the person she was with.  At one time it had been Mark and Ben and it had been wonderful.  But that chapter of her life was over.  Richie and California were the next chapter in her life, they were home now. 

If he would still have her.

By the time she found the house, she was about two straws short of a basket case.  She had nearly talked herself into turning the car around and going back home at least seventeen times.  And she had never been this nervous to talk to him before.  The gravel crunched under her tires as she pulled around the drive.  Her face fell.  His enormous Hummer wasn’t here.  They weren’t here.  Sighing she dropped her head forward to rest on the steering wheel.  All that time on the road and they weren’t even here.

Sucking in a tremulous breath she opened the heavy car door and stepped out.  Her arms immediately went up over her head in an attempt to stretch out the eight hours of driving from her body.  She could at least walk around and work out the kinks before getting back in the car and finding a place to stay for the night. 

Walking out into the lawn she stared up at the house.  It was impressive.  The two story structure wasn’t nearly as big as the house he owned in LA, but it was still big by her standards.  Surrounded by Pine trees, it was shrouded in shade and she could hear the gentle lap of water.  Following the calming sound, she wandered around the back end of her car and around the side of the house, following the path to the deck and out toward the dock.  The sky was impossibly blue and the bench at the end called her name. 

Just for a minute. 

She wandered out and sat down on the bench, watching the water, listening to the gentle call of the birds.  The sun warmed her and she had nearly dozed off when the slamming of a car door startled her to full wakefulness.  She blinked her eyes and looked around, spying the back end of the black SUV. 

He was back.

~

Richie stared at the back end of a very familiar maroon Camaro parked in his driveway.  What was she doing here?  Grabbing the small bag off the seat next to him he climbed out and started to follow the girls to the door.  He ducked his gaze and found the car to be empty as he moved past it.  He looked up to the front of the house.  She wasn’t sitting on the steps or in one of the chairs.  So, where was she?

He pulled his new phone out of the bag and started to press in her number and stopped.  When he’d activated his new phone and they’d transferred all his information, he seen the texts and listened to the voice mails.  She had said she wanted to talk to him and probably didn’t want to do it over the phone, that’s why she was here. 

“You okay dad?”  Ava and Kelly had paused at the front door, waiting for him.

He waved her off, “I’m fine.  You guys go ahead inside.”

Ava watched him look around again and smirked.  “Try out back.”

He stared at his daughter, her expressive eyes couldn’t hide anything.  She had given Stephanie the address and told her to come here.  “Go inside” he said distractedly as he headed toward the back of the house.

She didn’t look up until his shoes stopped in front of her.  She greeted him the way she always did with a warm smile and a quiet “hey you.”

He leaned on the railing across from her.  “Hey yourself, sweetheart.”

When he didn’t say any more she stood and took a tentative step toward him.  “Don’t be mad at Ava for telling me where you were and that I should come.  I wanted to talk to you and you weren’t answering my texts or my voice mails.

He dug into the bag that dangled from his fingers.  “My phone shit the bed.”  He held up the new Iphone he had purchased that afternoon.  “Had to get a new one and I just got all your messages.”

“Oh.”  She bit her lip.  Maybe she shouldn’t have come.  Maybe she should have just waited one more day and he would have called her.  She looked down at her shoes.  Now that she was here with him, face to face, she couldn’t find the words to say everything she needed to say.

He cleared his throat, “so, what was so important that you had to drive all the way up here to talk to me about?”

She raised her head again and caught his gaze.  Indifference blazed in his normally warm, friendly brown eyes.  Had she done that?  Did she ruin everything?  She took a fortifying breath.  Only one way to find out.   “I talked to Jess and she helped me figure out a few things while I was in New York.”

He shifted against the railing.  “Yeah?”

She nodded her head.

“And?”  He wasn’t giving her anything.

“Jess and I had a long talk and she helped me understand what my real issue was and basically told me to follow my heart and that they would always be there, no matter where I lived.”  Her eyes started to sting and she closed them.  She was not going to cry.  She moved, stepping up to stand next to him.  She rested her forearms on the railing and faced the water. 

“Did I screw up, Rich?”  She asked quietly.

Setting his bag down, he turned and imitated her pose.  Looking at her profile he could see the sheen of wet in her eyes.  He couldn’t let her suffer any longer.  He hadn’t meant to make her cry.  “Maybe just a little, but not so bad we can’t fix it.”

She whipped her head to look at him and a lone tear escaped down her cheek.  “You really mean that?”  The tear caught the corner of her mouth where it started to curve up into a hopeful smile.

His big, gentle hand came up to cup her cheek, his thumb, wicking away the stray tear.  “Really, Sweetheart.”

She turned to face him fully.  “I’m sorry, Rich.  I’m so sorry.”

He straightened and pulled her into his warm embrace, “I know.”  He pressed his lips to the top of her head and released her, taking her hand instead.  Leaning down he picked up his bag and gave a gentle tug on her hand.  “Come on inside, we’ll eat and send the girls to the movie room so we can talk.”

They walked back around to the front of the house and stopped at her car to get her things.  He saw just the one small bag and her purse on the seat.  “How long are you staying?”

She gave him a hopeful smile, “how long do you want me here?”