Chapter 24

The next morning Jasmine and Richie visited with Joan and Adam before having a relaxing afternoon. Richie spent most of the afternoon with his guitars and watching television. Jasmine, however, took her time to prepare for the wrap party. It had been a while since she had been to a work related function and had never been to one as big as the Bon Jovi one so she needed time to prepare herself mentally as well as physically.

She languished in the bath until her skin began to wrinkle and the water had cooled enough that she felt a slight chill. She hopped into the shower to wash her hair then shut herself in the bedroom that she now thought of as her own, to continue the beautifying process.

Richie remained downstairs concentrating hard on not joining Jasmine in the bath or going to investigate what she was up to once he heard the bedroom door close. The thought of Jasmine a few feet away from him, caressing lotion into the softness of her skin, something he desperately wanted to do himself, was almost too much to cope with. 

By the time he decided that he had better get ready himself, Richie was itching to lay his eyes on Jasmine in the beautiful sapphire dress and killer silver heels that he had seen a glimpse of on their shopping trip.

He opened the door to the bedroom and stopped dead in his tracks; Jasmine stood in front of the mirror smoothing her dress down and making a few adjustments so that it fit her perfectly. She had straightened her hair to such a degree that it appeared as smooth as running water and the light bounced off it giving it a shimmering look. It fell over her shoulders to the middle of her back, the layers sitting perfectly together, shaping her face. The heels lengthened her legs, legs that disappeared under the blue material, legs that would be slightly exposed every time that she moved thanks to the split up the side of the dress.

Richie was temporarily speechless, the vision in front of him was so dazzling that he wanted the memory etched into the back of his eyelids so he could see it whenever he closed his eyes.

Finally the power of speech returned and he shook his head, “Wow!” he breathed, unable to control himself,

Jasmine turned around, “You like?”

“No. I LOVE! You look spectacular. You won’t want me cramping your style tonight, maybe I should just stay here.”

“No chance!!” Jasmine exclaimed, “You will most definitely be right by my side tonight, for as long as we can get away with it. I am NOT going to pass up the opportunity to be seen with you in a suit.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah. You are hot in a suit, especially when you leave a few of the buttons undone so some of that wonderfully tanned and toned chest is on show.” Jasmine said, fanning herself.

Richie laughed at her as he stripped ready for the shower, and was still laughing when he turned the water on and stepped underneath the spray. Jasmine finished off her outfit with a silver tear drop necklace, her bracelet wrist watch and a pair of earrings that matched her necklace.

She laid out Richie’s clothes on the bed, black dress pants, a matching black jacket and the dark blood red shirt that she picked out for him a few days previously. After making sure that he had everything he needed, Jasmine went to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine to settle her nerves and sat at the kitchen table to wait for Richie to be ready.

“Holy fuck!” she exclaimed unladylike when Richie appeared in front of her in the kitchen a few moments later. He was wearing what she laid out for him along with a black leather necklace with a silver cross hanging from it, and some leather bracelets on his left wrist. He smelled divine, the aroma made Jasmine feel giddy with desire, she felt the fires being lit within her and involuntarily she breathed in deeply. When she reopened her eyes she noticed that Richie had taken her words to heart and had left the top three buttons undone, exposing the slightest hint of the treasure that lay beneath the material.

“I scrubbed up ok then?”

“More than ok. You look beyond gorgeous, in fact I think we should both forget this party and stay here instead. I’m sure there’s an awful flu virus going around.”

Richie’s mouth stretched into a smile, his mirth obvious, “Sorry darlin’, boss man wants us there and a bout of flu won’t stop him from demanding our presence. I promise you though, later on that pretty dress of yours will take pride of place on the floor with all the other clothes that are keeping us from being naked, and you’ll be ravished until the sun rises, or we pass out from exhaustion.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep Rich, I’ll be holding you to that.” Jasmine said, holding her hand out so that he could help her out of her chair,

“I fully intend to keep this promise. Come on, let’s party!” he said, pulling her out of her chair and kissing her passionately before leading her to the waiting car.

The drive into the city was painful for both of them; the urge to rip each other’s clothes off was strong but they both knew that the time for that was not now, and they sat in almost silence most of the way, thinking about anything unsexy that would dampen the infernos burning within them.

They arrived at the club in Midtown a while later, Richie got out of the car and helped Jasmine to her feet. The night was warm and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The few stars that could be seen through the lights of the brightest city in the world twinkled happily in the sky and shone down on them expectantly.

“Ready?”

“Yep, let me at the dance floor!” Jasmine replied, sliding her arm through Richie’s and opening the door into the building.

They shed their coats then toured the room, chatting with band members, family and industry people. Jasmine was caught by Pete Armstrong not long after arriving and despite her best attempts, she couldn’t escape to go and find where Richie had gotten to.

“So Jasmine, how did you find working with the guys?”

“It’s been amazing thanks Pete, I can’t believe just how much I have learnt, how easy it is to get along with them and how down to earth they are.”

“You were lucky, not all bands are like these guys, not so easy going. Jon can be difficult to work with at times but he’s nothing compared to the demanding primadonnas that we have the pleasure of working with most of the time. There are lots of things lined up for you when Bon Jovi is finished with you, but Jon has requested your services for a few more weeks yet so enjoy the ride while you can.”

“I will. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to work with them so early in my career with Island. It was a huge responsibility that you laid on me, I just hope I did ok.”

“Jasmine, you did more than ok. Jon hasn’t stopped singing your praises, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more people queuing up to work with you soon enough.”

At that moment, Richie appeared at Jasmine’s side, resting his hand at the small of her back, his thumb running soothingly in circles.

“Hi Pete, sorry but could I borrow Jasmine for a bit? Jon wants her to meet a few people and Dorothea is looking for her too,”

“Sure. Catch you both later.” Pete said, turning to leave and bumping into Cathy from the promotions team.

“Thanks, I didn’t think I’d ever get away.”

“I figured that’s what was happening. I thought I’d come to your rescue.”

“Thanks. Where did you get to anyway?”

“I was talking with Teek for a bit, then got accosted by some woman from a magazine. I gave her a sound bite then came looking for you. Have you made it to the dance floor yet?”

Jasmine shook her head and pouted, “No. People keep getting in my way. Do you fancy heading that way now?”

“Lead the way,” Richie smiled, holding out his hand for her and followed her to the crowded dance floor.