My Sunshine (7 page)

He smiled back. “Hi.” He patted the bed next to him. She
sat down and he pulled her into a lying position next to him on the narrow bed. He began to kiss her. She responded to each of his kisses and didn’t object when he untied her robe and exposed her. She closed her eyes and concentrated on what he was doing to her. His lips had just traveled below her waist when the phone began to ring.

“Oh no,” she moaned. “I have to get that. It’s probably
Daniel.”

“So get it,”
John mumbled, but didn’t stop what he was doing.

Chloe
reached for the phone by her bed. “Hello?”

“
Chloe, are you okay?” Daniel asked.

“Yeah.” She reached down and pushed
John away. He moved away from her and stood up to begin removing his clothes.

“What are you doing tonight?”

She sucked in her breath as she watched John take off his underwear. “Umm, I thought about going to Asheville, to the mall, maybe rent a movie later.” Daniel hadn’t been exactly thrilled about her spending the night with John before, and she didn’t want to ruin her evening by telling him that John was back.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You sound funny.”

“I’m fine, Daniel.”

“Don’t forget to take your meds.”

“I already have.”

“Okay, then. We should be back late tomorrow afternoon.”

“Okay, Daniel. Bye.” She hung up the phone and John joined her on the bed. “Where were we?”

“I think I was down here somewhere,” he said, resuming his
position.

See, it’s just sex,
Chloe. He’s gonna leave as soon as it’s over. He probably won’t even take you to eat

She sat up. “Let’s stop.”

“Did I do something wrong?”

She shook her head. “We’ve got all night for this. Let’s
wait.”

John
saw right through her fear and insecurity. “Okay. I’m getting hungry anyway.”

Chloe
pulled her robe back on and John got himself dressed. He sat on her bed and watched her pick out a pair of jeans and a blouse from her closet. She pulled a pair of white cotton panties and a white bra from her top drawer. She dressed and picked up her hairbrush.

“Leave it down,”
John said as she brushed it.

Make-up. I should wear make-up
.
Rebecca had helped her pick out some basics at the drug store when she had started her job at the bank and had taught her how to apply it. When she was satisfied with the result, she turned to John. “Okay, I’m ready.”

John
swept his eyes up and down her body. “You look great.”

They went back downstairs and climbed into the Lexus.

“She still running alright?” Chloe asked, digging in her purse for her cigarettes.

“Like new.”

“Do you mind if I smoke?”

He shook his head and pressed a button to open her window
a crack. “Let’s go to the best restaurant in town,” John suggested. “What’s it called?”

“There’s a real fancy place called Gulliver’s Inn. I hear it’s
expensive, and that means nice, right?”

John
shrugged. “We’ll find out.” He turned the volume down on the radio. “Did you get a chance to listen to the CDs?”

Chloe
nodded. “Oh yeah. Pretty much non-stop.”

“So you like our music?

“It’s good. Very upbeat. I like the ballads. Very romantic. Y’all sound awesome.”

“Thanks. That means a lot coming from someone who
never gave us much thought before.”

“Well, I’m giving you a lot of thought now. I can’t get

away from you all, you know – with the cups and all.”

John
laughed. He put his hand on her knee. “I’ve been thinking about you a lot this week, too.”

She smiled. “Really?”

He nodded. “I can’t quit thinking about you. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw you.”

“Me, too. I thought I would never see you again.”

He squeezed her knee. “Here I am.”

“How long are you staying?” She asked over dinner.

“I have to be back tomorrow night, so I have to leave first thing in the morning.”

Chloe
nodded her understanding. “What do you do? I mean, I know you’re not on tour.”

“We’re working a lot in the studio on stuff for our new

album. We’ll officially start recording that next month. Right now, it’s kind of a down time because we don’t have anything new to promote, but we’re still pretty busy. I have to go next week to LA to record a duet with Monica Williams.”

Chloe
wrinkled her nose. “I’m not sure I like her. She seems kinda wild.”

John
shrugged. “She’s okay. I’ve known her for a while.

She’s okay in small doses.”

“What’s the song called?”

“Loving You
.”

“Is it a love song?”

John
shook his head. “It’s not a slow song. It’s fast paced and a little racy.”

“Well, I can’t wait to hear it. Have you got anything
coming up where you’re going to be on TV?”

“Actually,
yeah. We’re going to be singing the National Anthem at the first game of the World Series this year. That will be on TV.”

“When is that?”

John bit his bottom lip while he thought about it. “I think it’s October nineteenth. I’m not one hundred percent sure, but I know it’s a Friday. Of course, we won’t know where until the teams are set.”

“I’ll have to be sure I watch.”

“Why don’t you come with me?” The question was out of his mouth before he could stop it.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “Yeah.” He wanted it. He wanted her to go. He wanted it more than anything.

“I don’t know,
John. That’s a month away.”

“So? What? You think you’ll have found someone else by
then?”

She shook her head. “I was thinking more like you would
have found someone else.”

He frowned. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. I
haven’t been able to think about anybody else but you for the past week
.
Well, everyone except Rachael Gerber
.
He quickly pushed her out of his head.

She fiddled with her glass, avoiding his eyes. She was both
nervous and afraid and a little embarrassed. “What are you saying, John?” She lifted her chin. “Where are we going with

this?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know, Chloe. All I know is I’m supposed to be on my way to Florida right now and I came to see you. And I do want you to come with me to the World Series.”

“Okay, when the time comes, if you still want me too, I’ll
go with you. But I have to warn you, I’ve never flown before.”

John
raised his eyebrows. “Never?” She shook her head.

“Do you think you would be scared?” He asked.

“I don’t see why. I’ve just never had anywhere to go. Is it scary?”

“Nah,” he scoffed. “Not unless it crashes.”

“That’s comforting.”

After the meal,
Chloe left John waiting in the lobby of the restaurant while she excused herself to the restroom. She reapplied her lipstick and took a good hard look in the mirror.

Can you believe thi
s
?
He wants to take me to the World Series.

He came back to Canton
for me. He couldn’t stop thinking about me
!
She wanted to splash cold water on her face, but sh
e
knew it would mess up her make-up.

You know he’s just back for the sex. He doesn’t care
anything about you, stupid. You’ve got to be the stupidest person that ever lived.

Chloe
slammed her hands against the counter. “Just go away,” she said aloud, drawing the attention of another woman in the bathroom. “Sorry,” she muttered
.
I just need to go bac
k
and see the doctor. I need to tweak my meds. Then this will g
o
awa
y
. She took a deep breath and left the restroom. She

mustered a smile for
John.

“Movie?” he suggested.

“You know, we could just go rent something,” Chloe said.

We could take it back to the apartment and watch it on
Daniel’s big TV.”

“Now, that’s a plan.” They drove to the video store and
browsed casually through the new releases. After making a decision, they went back to the apartment.

Chloe
loaded the movie into the DVD player and settled next to John on the couch. “Will I be able to see you again before the baseball game?” She asked as the previews played.

He shrugged slightly. “I don’t know. I’ll try to get back

here if I can, but I can’t promise anything.”

“I know, I know. I just…it’s just that it’s so far away.”

John sighed and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Don’t. I should be happy I’ll see you then. If you still want
met to come.”

John
shook his head. He grabbed her chin and turned her face toward his. “I will still want you to come.”

The phone rang before
Chloe could respond. She reached for it. “Hello.”

“
Chloe, what is going on?”

“Oh, hey
Justin. I told you what was going on.”

“Who was that you left with?”

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow, okay? Call me tomorrow afternoon.”

“Is he there with you now?”

“Yes. Call me tomorrow.” She clicked off the phone.

“He’s nosy.”

“I understand.” John nodded toward the TV. “The movie’s getting ready to start.”

Chloe
settled back into the crook of his arm. She tried to concentrate on the movie, but her thoughts were preoccupied with how she could see him again sooner than planned.

John
moved his arm so that his hand was settled on her breast. She wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not, but she was acutely aware of it’s presence. She rested her hand high on his thigh and slowly moved it inward. She saw him close his eyes in anticipation as she inched closer and closer to the bulge in his pants. She stopped as soon as she got directly on top of the mound. He moaned softly. She slowly rubbed it, adding pressure until she felt it pushing back against her hand.

They quickly shed their clothes. “Here?”
John asked.

Chloe
shook her head. “We should go to my room.”

They rushed to the room and fell onto the bed.