Chapter 4

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Kim stared at Jon for a moment as she tried to formulate a response.  To say his question had caught her off-guard was an understatement.  She couldn’t have heard him correctly… could she?

“Ummm… what?”  When her stunned brain finally prompted her vocal chords, Kim’s voice came out in hoarse half-whisper.

“Why don’t you flaunt it?”  Jon repeated.  “ ‘Cause I can see, you’ve got it.  Lots of it.”  His smile gentled at her blush as he repeated her words.

“Ummm…” Kim still didn’t know how to reply.  Her whole body was tingling with surprise and delight… was he flirting with her? 

“Kim, you’re up!” Kimberly snapped from her daze at the sound of Marie’s voice and the feel of a hand jostling her arm. 

“Oh!  Ummm…. Okay.” Kim dragged her gaze away from Jon’s smile and turned toward her friend.  “Here.”  She pulled her sunglasses from her face and handed them to Marie.  She couldn’t resist giving Jon another glance before she walked away.

Jon felt a bolt of arousal in the split second Kim’s gaze met his.  Her hazel eyes were beautiful, fringed by dark, lush lashes that needed no cosmetic embellishment.  In her fleeting glance he could see she was flattered by his attention.  Jon’s smile widened.

Jon watched Kim as she listened intently to Mark’s directions and nodded.  Her dark hair swung gently with the movement, then swirled in the breeze as she turned to face the camera.  When the photographer stepped behind the tripod Kim threw another look in Jon’s direction before a smile curved her pretty lips.

Jon felt his heart beat a little faster.  He watched silently as she spent the next few minutes posing for the camera, first smiling then adopting a serious expression.  As her soft lips drew together in a sultry pout Jon felt another surge in his groin.  He groaned softly in appreciation.  Jesus, she looked hot now… he couldn’t wait to see her all soapy and wet.

“Nice, huh?” Richie noticed Jon’s hungry stare and sidled up to his pal.  “She’s your type.”

Momentarily startled, Jon shook his head defensively.  “They’re all my type.”  He tried to mask his interest in Kim with the macho comment, but he knew he wouldn’t succeed.  Richie knew him too well.

“They sure are.”  Richie chuckled.  He could see Jon wasn’t receptive to his teasing right now, so he backed off.  “Me, I’m thinking that Nicki might be just the nice, soft thing to break my fall.  Repeatedly.”

That wisecrack elicited a dirty grin from Jon.  “Yeah, Man.  She’d do.”

“I’m sure she will.”

Jon snorted softly but didn’t reply.  His eyes stayed locked on Kim as he considered how she would react to Richie’s comment.  She had been quick to defend her friend when he suggested Nicki was a stripper.  Jon liked that.  He could appreciate that kind of loyalty.

Yeah, she was something else.

*****

Kim finished her turn in front of the lens and moved across the lot to stand beside Carmen, Wendy, and Nicki while Suzanne stepped up for her shoot.  She couldn’t stop herself from sneaking glances at Jon as she pretended to watch her friend.  Each time she peeked at him she saw he was looking her way, a little smile ghosting his lips.

“Think maybe they’re playing somewhere tonight?”  Wendy asked.  Like the other girls, she had been unable to keep her eyes off the musicians since their return.

“Not likely.”  Carmen shook her head.  “They’ve been all over the world.  Why would they be back here playing some shitty little club?  If they were at the Pony or the Convention Hall we woulda heard about it.”

“True.”  Wendy frowned.  “Man, now I wish I had paid more attention to these guys before.  I just wasn’t that into music.”

“Bet you will be now,” Nicki chuckled.  She was leering openly at Jon, her indecent thoughts written in her hungry expression.  “Damn, Jon is HOT.  Gawd, look at all that hair.”

Carmen chortled her agreement.  “He’s got a nice ass too.  Though God knows where he’s keeping his dick hidden in those tiny little cutoffs.”

“Maybe there’s not much to hide,” Wendy giggled.  “All the good-looking ones have some shortcoming, you know.  They’re stupid, or jerks, or have little pricks.”

“I’ll let you girls know tomorrow,” Nicki slid her tongue suggestively across her bottom lip. 

Kim snorted.  “Yeah, sure you will.”   She surprised herself with the possessive edge in her voice.

Nicki turned to look at Kim.  “What, you think I can’t fuck him?”  She smirked and adjusted her breasts.  “Trust me, after this shoot gets a little wet and wild, I’ll have Rock Star over there panting and begging.”

“Whatever.”  Kim rolled her eyes.  Nicki was always making comments like that; it shouldn’t bother her now.  But Dammit, Jon had been flirting with her.  Of course, once Jon figured out Nicki was eager to climb into his bed he would probably focus all his attention on the easy score.  He was a man, after all.

Kim frowned slightly as she snuck another look at Jon.  He was still smiling in her direction, but then again, she was standing beside Nicki.  And he had asked Kim about her.  Shit, maybe she had misread Jon’s comments earlier.  Or maybe he flirted with everybody.

Kimberly sighed resignedly. That was probably it.  He was just being nice, maybe trying to suck up a little after she had given him that cold answer about Nicki.   Jon would probably end up as another notch on Nicki’s bedpost.  Oh well.  It’s not like anything would have come of Jon’s flirting anyway.  Kim was sure he was one of those guys who wouldn’t call the next day.  Hell, he was a singer in a semi-famous rock band.  He probably had a different girl – or two – every night.

Kim watched silently as the other girls completed their turns in front of the camera, half-listening to her friends’ chatter and trying not to look at Jon.  She was relieved when Mark called all the women back over to the cars.  Unable to stop herself, she glanced again at Jon before following the girls over to where Mark stood.  This time she thought she saw his smile widen just a bit when she looked his way.

“Okay ladies, time to get down to it.”  Mark grinned enthusiastically and clapped his hands together, then rubbed them palm-to-palm.  “I’m gonna get you positioned where I want you, then we’re gonna have a little car wash.  Now we want this to look authentic, so by all means get into it, but try not to get drenched.  The drowned-rat look ain’t the sexiest thing in the world.”

“You mean wet t-shirt, good; wet hair, bad?” Suzanne quipped. 

“Bingo,” Mark laughed, wagging a playful finger at Suzanne.  “I like you.  You’re no-nonsense.”

“Yeah, no shit, no games,” Carmen agreed, draping an arm across Suzanne’s shoulders as she chomped her gum.  “Suze tells it like it is.”

“Umm, Mark?” Nicki fluttered her hand in the air, attracting his attention.  “Could you maybe put on some music? That would really help me get into it.”  She smiled beguilingly. 

“Sure.” Mark turned to his assistant.  “Joey, why don’t you crank up the radio in the van.”

“Oh, you don’t have any songs from this album?”  Nicki pouted slightly.  “I mean, maybe we’d be able to capture the look you’re going for a little better if we know what the music sounds like.”

Mark smirked at Nicki’s attempted manipulation.  She just wanted a sneak-peak of the record, to be sure.  Probably so she could brag to whomever would listen that she had already heard it, once this shoot was done. 

Shaking his head slightly, Mark turned to call across the lot.  “Hey Jonny, you don’t have a tape of this record handy, do you?”  He knew the answer, but he asked just to humor the pushy blonde.

Jon sauntered over to Mark and the girls.  “Nope.  Why?”  His eyes went straight to Nicki, who was smiling coyly at him. 

“I just think we’d be able to really get into this if we were listening to the songs that are gonna be on the record.”  Nicki tossed her head slightly and braced her hands on her hips.  “You know, so we can give you what you want.  That authentic Jersey Girl attitude.”

“Sorry, Doll.” Jon answered.  “Can’t do it.  I don’t have a tape here anyway.”  He anticipated her pout, rolling his eyes behind his sunglasses at her play-acting.  “Why don’t you turn on the radio or something?”  Jon directed his last comment at Mark.

“That’s what I told Joey to do,” Mark replied, exchanging a grin with the singer.  This wasn’t Mark’s first shoot with this band; he and Jon understood each other well.  He could tell from Jon’s expression that they were sharing the same thought:  What a Pain in the Ass.

Jon’s eyes moved to Kim.  She was standing a step behind the rest of the girls, her arms crossed over her midsection, looking a little bored.  Feeling his gaze on her, Kimberly looked up and again their eyes met.  Jon’s lips curved into a sexy smile as a surge of electricity coursed through him at their connection.  He gave Kim a long look before turning back to Nicki.  “But you know what, Sweetheart?”

“What?” Nicki immediately perked up from her pout as she realized she had Jon’s attention.

“I don’t think you’re gonna have any trouble giving us what we want.  In fact, there’s a song on the record that could have been written about you.”  Jon gave Nicki a dazzling grin to soften the sarcasm in his tone.  “It’s called ‘You Give Love a Bad Name.’  And I think you’re nothin’ but trouble in that department.”

Jon’s gentle zinger was met with snorts and chuckles from Mark and the girls.  Nicki responded with her own girlish giggle, but her smile wilted just a bit.  Jon turned back to Kim and saw that she was smiling, but it wasn’t that pretty, shy smile she had given him earlier.  He hoped he hadn’t stepped on it again with his barb to Nicki, but for some reason he felt the need to put that chick in her place.  He wasn’t interested, and he didn’t want to be distracted by her little games. 

“What station you girls want?” Joey’s voice floated across the parking lot as he stood beside the open driver’s-side door of the van, reaching in for the radio dial.

“WXRK!” Marie shouted back.  Almost immediately the air was filled with the bluesy bump-and-grind beat of an old Aerosmith tune.

Glad the topic was closed, Mark turned back to the girls and clapped his hands together.  “Great. Let’s get to work.”  He ignored the slightly miffed look on Nicki’s face and pointed to Carmen.  “Okay, you, over there….”

Seeing his input was no longer needed Jon turned to head back to the other guys.  He hesitated for a moment, then turned back around and walked over to where Mark was positioning Carmen next to the black convertible’s fender.  Jon leaned in close to the photographer and murmured quietly to him, then wandered away.  He took a circuitous route toward his post, moving behind the group of girls awaiting their instructions.

Jon smiled as he neared Kim, seeing her hazel eyes shift sideways to follow his approach.  Jon slowed as he strolled behind her, discretely reaching out to give her hand a little squeeze as he passed by.  He couldn’t see her reaction, but he heard a soft gasp as she inhaled at his touch.  His own pulse jumped as his fingers trailed gently over hers, then slid away as he continued his path back to the guys.  The brief contact left him craving more.

A lightning bolt shot through Kimberly’s synapses at Jon’s touch.  When he had nonchalantly wandered behind her Kim’s senses had jumped to alert, his nearness overwhelming her calm and causing her heart to beat wildly.  Then came the brush of his hand, the gentle squeeze a surreptitious confirmation that she hadn’t misread their earlier exchange. 

It wasn’t Nicki.  It was her.   

~