Chapter 25

After a delicious breakfast of cinnamon chocolate chip pancakes and sausage, Richie and Faith found themselves alone in the kitchen, Hannah having taken off to her room. As they sipped their coffee Richie eyed Faith over the top of his cup. "I heard what you and Hannah were talking about earlier." Faith smiled at him, "oh, eavesdropping were you?" He smiled back, "not intentionally." A look of concern crossed Faith's face, "I didn't offend you did I?" He reassured her, "not at all, just the opposite actually, I was flattered." Faith raised a questioning brow, "flattered?" Richie scooted his chair closer to hers and took her hand. "When we first met, you knew who I was but didn't make a big deal of it. You have never mentioned anything about what I do or who I am. You treat me like you would anyone else, and you told Hannah that I was a nice guy who made you laugh. How could I not be flattered? A lot of people find it hard to get past the image, but it didn't even phase you. Thank you."

The sincerity that showed on his face and in his words touched Faith. "It's true that I knew who you were when we met and believe me, it took everything I had not to let an 'Oh my God you're Richie Sambora!' slip out, especially when you invited me to share your space. It never occured to me to ask about what you do. I know you play the guitar in the greatest rock band ever. What more do I need to know? If you want to share that with me, that's up to you. It's your job and that's enough for me." She let her eyes meet his, "I like the guy I met at the beach, the one who played in the sand with his daughter, the one who made me smile and laugh for the first time in a good long while." Richie reached for Faith just as Hannah called out, "mom". Faith spun around in her chair, "what?" "Is it okay if I go to Lucy's?" Faith sighed in relief, "go ahead, just be careful crossing the street."

As they heard the door slam Richie reached for Faith and pulled her onto his lap and hugged her close. As he held her, Faith raised her head, "I do have one question though." He kissed her, "oh really? What would you like to know?" "What is it you do exactly when you aren't touring or writing? I mean you you seem to always be around, not that I am complaining, but do you do anything with all your free time?" She felt the rumble of laughter before she heard it. He threw his head back as the laughter came. "Actually, I do charity events and spend quite a bit of time with Ava, but my schedule will be picking up in the next couple of days. We have some dates we are playing over the next few weeks for the album that is coming out." Faith sat up and straddled his lap. "I see. Are you playing anywhere around here?" "Unfortunately, we're not. We have a couple of TV appearances in New York and then we are going to Europe before coming back to play at Summerfest and then the Live Earth gig at Giants." He told her the rest of the schedule and she tried not to be disappointed that he was leaving, this was his job after all. "When do you leave?" He closed his eyes and swallowed, "tomorrow."

He kept his eyes closed and waited, fully expecting some kind of backlash. When he felt her hands on his face he opened his eyes to find her misty green ones looking at him. "Well, if you are leaving tomorrow for two weeks, you need a proper send off, don't you think?"

He turned his head, kissing first one of Faith's palms and then the other. "What did you have in mind?" Faith slid her hands from his face and into his shirt, playing across his chest, then moved lower to unbutton the few buttons he had done up. Pushing his shirt open she placed open-mouth kisses across his chest, running her tongue over and around his flat male nipples. She could feel his erection growing under her and rolled her hips over him, eliciting a low groan from him. Faith kissed up his chest to his neck. She hovered over his lips, pressing only a light kiss before running kisses across his jaw. Richie felt her warm breath at his ear, a slight tug on his earlobe, then her whispered voice. "How am I doing so far?"