Can Kara achieve her dream? Can Richie help?

Monday, July 20, 2009

Chapter 7

When Kara woke the following morning she lay in bed and ran through the events of the previous night. When she got to the part where Richie kissed her, her fingertips grazed her lips, remembering. His lips had been soft and gentle and the kiss itself had been butterfly light. Kara sighed and rolled out of bed, he was going back to LA on Friday and she would probably not see him again. After making her bed and dragging her suitcase out from the closet, she went and made herself a cup of coffee and started packing.

After she finished, Kara was sipping a second cup of coffee when her phone rang. “Hello?”

“So, how was it, I want all the details.”

Kara smiled; at least Jen had waited until a decent time in the morning to call. She took a sip of her coffee before answering, “well good morning to you too. We had a very nice time last night thanks for asking.”

Jen laughed, “you can’t blame a girl for being happy for her friend, now can you?”

Kara shook her head, “no I suppose not. What else do you want to know?”

Jen settled in on the other end of the phone, “everything, spill it girl.”

Kara told Jen all about their evening, dinner, the walk on the beach, the conversation at her place later. The kiss. Jen was surprised that Kara had opened up like that to him, she hadn’t told anyone other than her what had happened.

“What did he say?”

Kara hesitated, “he didn’t say anything really, he just listened until I told him I had sworn never to go out with anyone in the business again.”

Jen nearly dropped the phone, “you told him WHAT?! How could you tell him that? What did he say?”

Kara sighed, “he asked me why I went out with him if I felt that way.” Kara couldn’t see her, but she knew Jen was shaking her head in disgust.

“I hope you didn’t run him off Kara. You need to move on sweetie. I know you thought Greg was the one, but we both know he was an ass and now its time to get out there again and...”

Kara interrupted her friend’s tirade, “Jen, stop. I told him that I felt something and decided to take a chance. That was when he kissed me.”

Jen didn’t say anything for so long that Kara had to make sure she was still there, “Jen, are you all right?”

“He kissed you?” Jen’s voice was nearly a whisper, “holy shit. Richie Sambora kissed you.”

Kara waited, “are you done?”

Jen nodded her head, “yeah. Do you know how happy and jealous I am right now?”

Kara laughed, she loved her friend. “Thanks I think.”

“Oh come on, you know I’ve fantasized about that man for nearly forever. You’ve gotta cut me a little slack.” She had a thought, “is he still there?”

Shocked by the question Kara was trying to say something when there was a knock on her door. “Jen, there is someone knocking on my door and no, he’s not still here.”

“Damn” Jen sounded disappointed. “Look go answer your door, have a great time with Jack and Happy New Year.”

Richie could hear her voice so he knocked again.

Kara hurried her good bye, “bye Jen Happy New Year to you too and I’ll call you when I get back.”

Kara hung up and went to answer the door, catching sight of her reflection in the window. “Oh God.” She tucked the falling strands of hair from her clip behind her ear took a deep breath and opened the door. “Hi, can I…” she trailed off when she found Richie standing on the other side.

Richie took in the woman in front of him; clearly he had caught her at a bad time. She wore red flannel pajama pants with, were those snowflakes all over them? Her tank top was red and the hoodie she had pulled on was falling off one shoulder. Her hair was clipped up at the back of her head, several strands shoved behind her ear. Richie wanted to pull the clip from her hair and run his fingers through the dark silky mass.

“Richie, what are you doing here?”

He brought his gaze back to her face, glasses, she wears glasses? He cleared his throat, “sorry. You forgot these in my car last night so I thought I would return them and see if I could take you out for lunch.” He was holding her gloves in his hand.

She reached for them, “come on in.”

Richie followed her into the living room, “did I catch you at a bad time?”

She shook her head “no I was just on the phone with my girlfriend.” He watched as she tried to fix her hair and then just gave up and took the clip out, running her fingers through it and letting it fall down around her shoulders. His remembered how her hair felt when he pulled it up out of her coat the night before, and he curled his fingers into his palms to keep from reaching out and touching it.

“So, how about lunch today?”

Kara glanced at the clock, it was after 12. How did it get that late? “I’d like that, but as you can see, I’m not dressed yet.”

He grinned at her, “yeah, I can see that, cute pajamas by the way, and I don’t mind waiting.” She smiled, “Okay, give me 20 minutes? Make yourself at home, the remote for the TV is on the end table. I packed this morning so it’s going to take me a few to find something to wear.”

As she started to leave the room he stopped her, “packed? Are you going somewhere?”

Kara realized then that she hadn’t said anything to him the night before. “I’m going to LA tomorrow to visit my brother and sister-in-law for New Years.” She didn’t give him a chance to react before she left the room.

As Richie made himself comfortable on the couch he couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face. She’s going to be in LA too. He had wondered what would happen when he left, if she would want to see him again whenever he could get back here, but now, he had a few extra days to try to figure this all out.

True to her word, twenty minutes later Kara was ready to go. He took her to one of the many New Jersey diners that seemed to be on every corner and they enjoyed a leisurely lunch. They talked and he managed to find out that she was on the same flight as him the next day. An idea started to form as they talked and he made a mental note to call his assistant when he had a minute.

The sun had started to set by the time they got back to Kara’s apartment. She invited him in. “I can’t stay long, I promised to have dinner with my mom” Richie said as he stepped in behind her. She turned to him to take his coat and he took her hand and pulled her to him instead. “There’s something I’ve wanted to do all day.”

She looked up at him, “what’s that?”

He lowered his head, “this” and his mouth was on hers. He moved his mouth over hers, waiting for her and, tentatively, she parted her lips and their tongues met. The heat rushed through the both of them at that first touch. Richie wrapped his arm around Kara and dragged her against him, kissing her more intently. Her arms slid up and around his neck, drowning in the taste and scent of him.

Slowly Richie kissed his way away from her mouth, “Kara” his breath was soft and warm against her. Her breathing was labored as she tried to talk; “wow” was all she could manage. Richie rested his forehead against hers, “that about covers it.” He hadn’t felt anything like that from just a kiss ever before.

Without breaking their hold on each other, Richie lifted Kara slightly and walked them both the living room. He settled himself on the couch, Kara straddling his lap. He kissed her again, letting his hands roam over her back, slipping under the sweater, caressing the soft skin he found there. Kara could feel him growing hard underneath her and when she felt his hands start to slide up her sides, she pulled back from him. “Richie” she panted, “wait.”

He opened his eyes and, looking at her, let his hands fall to his sides. “What’s wrong?”

She climbed off his lap and sat down next to him, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what got into me.”

He chuckled, “nothing yet darlin’.”

Kara shoved him with her elbow, “that’s not what I meant.”

He nodded, “I know, just couldn’t help myself.” She rolled her eyes at him, but she was glad that he had lightened the mood. He wanted to hear what she was going to say, “are you going to tell me what just happened here?”

She looked up at him, her blue eyes stormy, clearly her body and mind were at war with each other. “Its just, well, we really don’t really know each other and … um…, I’m just not a one night stand type of person.” She tore her gaze from him, staring blindly out the window across the room.

Richie sighed, now he remembered why he had liked being married, none of this touchy feely ‘new relationship crap’ to have to deal with. “Kara.” She didn’t look at him. He moved to sit on the coffee table in front of her so she had no choice but to look at him. “Kara.”

She met his eyes, “what?” He picked up her hand, “if I was looking for a one-night stand I would have made the move last night.”

Kara sighed, “but what if we never see each other again?”

Richie brought her hand to his mouth, kissing it gently, “is that what you want?”

She shook her head “no” and Richie was relieved. “Me either. I like you Kara and want to know you, all of you, but obviously now is not the time.” He glanced at his watch, “I have to go. Look, since we are both on the same flight tomorrow how about sharing a ride with me? We can talk more then.”

Kara nodded, “I think I’d like that.”

She walked him to the door and he kissed her again, “see you tomorrow darlin’.”

As Richie walked to his car he pulled out his phone and dialed his assistant, “Ang, I need you to do something for me.”

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