Chapter 36

Allegra entered the living room just as Dot was hanging up the phone with a mutinous expression on her face.  “What’s the  matter?”

She sighed and dropped the phone on the end table.  Your cousin thinks you’re a bimbo who lured Richie away from his work with a good blow job.  “Oh, nothing.  My husband is being an ass and managed to drag me down with him.”

“Richie said he left without telling Jon that he was going.  Is he furious over it?”

“He hates not knowing things, so of course he is.  He thinks he’s missing out on some great secret – and in this case, he happens to be right.”  She smiled widely.  “Now sit down and tell me what happened.  Is everything okay between the two of you, or has he gone back to California sulking?  It would serve Jon right if he didn’t show up for the damn show tomorrow.”

Allegra laughed and took the chair across from her.  “Sounds like he really ticked you off!”

Dot waved her hand dismissively.  “It happens from time to time.  What did Richie have to say?  He didn’t look mad when I saw him.”

“No, he wasn’t mad.”  She smiled to herself.  “We talked, and he took the news well – really well.  Said he thought a little part of him may have already known.  And then I dragged some of his personal life out of him, so I understand a little better now, too.”

“Well, thank God you two finally have it all out in the open.  Much more of this and I was going to lock you in a room until you finally confessed everything to one another.   Where is he now?”

“Sleeping.  He didn’t say, but I think he flew out right after the show last night, so he’s pretty wiped out.  We’re going out this evening after he wakes up.”

“Going out?  As in on a date?”  This was surprising news.  Sambora wasn’t wasting any time.

She watched Allegra try, and fail, to control the silly little grin on her face.  “Yeah.  He said he wanted to see where this could go, and asked if he could be my boyfriend.”

“And you’re happy about this, right?”  Dot studied her closely.  Just yesterday, Allegra hadn’t known what she wanted and Dot was worried that this may be moving a little quickly.  She hadn’t thought they’d go from not speaking to dating during the course of one talk.

“I am.  Shocked, but happy.”

Dorothea nodded her head and sat back in satisfaction.  “Good!  My work here is done.  You two can screw it up all by yourselves now.”

“Gee, that fills me with a lot of confidence.”

“Honey, we all screw it up along the way, so don’t think twice about that.  The trick is in figuring out how to work through the mistakes without killing each other.”

♪♪♪

The sound of a television pierced Richie’s consciousness and drew him from his warm, dark cocoon of sleep.  He stretched as far as his six foot one frame would allow before snuggling back under the blankets and doing his morning inventory of where, what and who.

Checking the shadows peeking around the brown curtains, he could see that it was closer to the end of the day than the beginning.  Why had he slept so late?  And where was he?

Brown bedroom.  Jon’s guest house.  His lips curled into a sleepy smile.  Allegra.

He certainly hadn’t come out here with the intention of chasing after a relationship, but listening to her story and seeing her reaction to his, he’d felt an undeniable connection with her.  It was one of those things that just felt right, and he didn’t want to let that feeling go.  So now he had a girlfriend.  A little charge of adrenaline surged through him at the thought.

The clock showed that it was a quarter to six.  Perfect.  He could grab a shower and shave and take his girl out for dinner before coming back here for some…  dessert.  He grinned that evil, dimpled grin and threw the covers back.  Surely, he had some clothes left here from last time he’d visited.  Ah, there in the back of the closet – black jeans and a purple button down shirt.  Classic Sambora.

He was just removing the hangers from the rod, when he heard a light tapping.  “Richie?”  Allegra called softly as she peeked her head around the door.

“Hey, Sunshine. I’m awake.”  He tossed the clothes on the bed.  Rubbing his chest absently, he crossed the room to drop a kiss on her cheek.  “Morning breath,” he explained with a smile, noticing the way her cheeks flushed as she took in his bare chest and arms.  He’d found an old pair of sweats to sleep in as a concession to her presence in the house. Considering she was still new to the whole intimacy thing, he figured he could live with modesty over comfort for a little while – at least until she was sleeping in his arms.

“Give me twenty minutes to shower and shave and I’m all yours, okay?” 

“I’ll probably need thirty minutes, and can you give me an idea of what we’re doing so I know what to wear?”

“Unless you had something else in mind, I just thought that we’d go out for a casual dinner.”  He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand.  “If you’re taking requests, I’d love to see you in that leather and chains outfit you wore on your birthday.  Those are some kick-ass boots, baby.”

The impish grin on her face delighted him.  “You liked that, did you?  That was my ‘eat your heart out Richie Sambora’ ensemble.  Glad to see it served its purpose.”  She whirled around and sauntered back out the door with a wink. 

He grabbed his clothes up and moved toward the shower with a chuckle.  She was going to keep things interesting, he could just tell.

♪♪♪

An hour later, they were seated across from one another in a nice steak place not too far from Jon’s house.  Richie looked at her face silhouetted in the dim light with a smile.  She’d worn the leather and chains like he’d asked her to, but this time, instead of having her hair pulled up in a ponytail, she wore it tousled in a cloud of waves around her shoulders.  He could just imagine it spilled across the pillow when he took her.

Allegra glanced up from her menu self-consciously.  “What?  You’re staring.”

“Was I?  I’m sorry.”  He reached for her hand across the table.  “I was just trying to remember if I’d ever told you how beautiful I think you are.  I know I thought it a lot, but don’t think I ever actually said the words.”

She laughed as she pulled her hand away and wrapped it back around the menu.  “Okay, you don’t have to play the role quite so well.  I don’t have a lot to compare this with, so you’re gonna look pretty good even without the outrageous compliments.”

“Sunshine, I’m not playing a role anymore.  I’m naturally a very affectionate person, but I had to keep that in check with you.  It wasn’t appropriate, considering the duty I had been tasked with.”

“What duty is that?  Watchdog?”

“In retrospect, I prefer to think of it as ‘guardian of the innocent’.”  He used the finger quotes gesture to emphasize his point and Allegra burst into a fit of giggles.

He was trying really hard to keep a straight face, but it was a struggle.  “What?  It’s the truth isn’t it?”

“Who knew I was going to have my very own superhero?  Just let me know when you’re going to put on the cape and tights, because I think my phone has a camera on it.”

“Jesus, we’ve been dating for all of eight hours and you’re already giving me lip.  What have I gotten myself into?”  He softened the words with a wink and smile.

“Actually, I was kind of wondering the same thing myself.”  She folded her menu and placed it on the table. 

A perky shadow appeared at his elbow in the form of their waitress, momentarily interrupting their conversation. 

“Hi, my name is Ellie, and I’ll be your server tonight.”  The young blonde girl gave the required smile and script.  “Can I start you off with something to drink?”

She took their orders and drifted away again, leaving Richie to prompt Allegra.  “What exactly is it you were wondering?”

“I told you that I didn’t have much to compare this to.”  She gave him a wry grin.  “More specifically, that would be exactly one boyfriend when I was sixteen years old.  Things tend to be a little different when you’re a teenager, so I wanted to make sure I know what’s going on here.”

Okay, this was something he could deal with.  He silently encouraged her to continue.

“I genuinely don’t understand all the nuances of what these relationship words mean.  Dating, going out, seeing each other, boyfriend, sleeping together.  Do those all mean the same thing or are there different levels of expectation implied with each one?”

“It depends on the people involved, I guess.  Is there something specific that you’ve got on your mind?”

He watched her tuck her hair behind her ear and fiddle with the small, silver hoop earring for several minutes before prodding a little more.  “I know we haven’t had the best track record for it so far, but you can talk to me about anything.  I’m a pretty open-minded guy.”

She lifted her chin and blurted out,  “I want to know if I’m the only one you’re going to be sleeping with.”

Richie laughed.

“I fail to see the humor here.”  Allegra’s nostrils flared and her eyes sparked.  “You forget that, even though I was only with you guys for a little while, I saw you with a different woman almost every night.  I think it’s a perfectly reasonable question to ask.”

If her eyes hadn’t been enough of a hint, the cool tone immediately clued him in that she was not happy with him.  Quickly wiping the smile off of his face, he leaned forward to capture her gaze.  “Hey, I’m sorry, but you caught me off guard with that one.  I can honestly tell you that I was faithful to Heather the entire time I was married.  I never took my wedding ring off, I never cheated on her.  When I’m in a relationship, it’s completely monogamous on my side and I expect the same from my partner.  So, no, there will be no one else.  I’ll still flirt and play around with the fans while I’m on stage, but that’s all part of the show.”  He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze.  “Okay?”

She squeezed back with a sheepish smile and a nod. “I know it seems silly, but you’ve got to remember that you’re dealing with a novice here.  I may have to have everything explained to me in the simplest of terms for a while.”

“Baby, it will be my pleasure to explain everything to you in slow…”  He turned her hand over to place a soft kiss in her palm.  “…intimate…” He folded that same hand closed and held it tight in his own.  “…detail.”

Richie watched the flush rise to her cheeks as he felt her shiver.  He didn’t think he’d ever get tired of seeing that look on her face.  But it was going to take a little getting used to Jon’s eyes staring back at him.  Richie hoped that would go away once Jon knew that they were together, and he could let go of the guilt about sneaking around behind his best friend’s back.

“Sunshine, how do you want to play this with Jon?”

“Well, you surely know by now that I don’t consider my life any of Jon’s business.  What’s the matter, are you afraid he’s going to be unhappy with you for… seeing me?  Would you rather not tell him?”

“Not telling him has never been an option, baby. We spend almost every waking moment together on the road and there’s no place for those kinds of secrets in our lives.  The only thing that’s up for discussion is how to tell him.  Do you want to do it, or do you want me to?”

“Richie, your day to day life revolves around him more than mine does.  I’ll be happy to go along with whatever you think is best.”

It wasn’t something that could be phoned or texted in.  It was likely that there would be the fallout of Jon’s temper to deal with, so it had to be done face to face.  It might be nice if they did it together, but he didn’t even know if she wanted to go back to the tour. 

“I guess now is as good a time as any to ask this.  Are you coming back with me when I go to San Jose?”

The furrowing of her brows let him know that the idea had never crossed her mind. 

It’s best coming from me anyway.  God only knows what he’ll say, and it’s better that he not say it in front of her.

“I hadn’t even considered that a possibility,” she admitted.  “And I don’t think it realistically is.  Going back out with you guys doesn’t do anything but give me another reason to delay reality.  I need to decide what I’m going to do with my life and get started on it.”

He understood, but had been secretly hoping she’d want to come play house with him for a little while.  It had been a long time since he’d had someone to share the day-to-day shit with.

“Have you come up with any ideas yet?”

“Well, Steph said something interesting to me yesterday…”