Chapter 135 - The Wine Bar

Cate watched the golden liquid swirl around inside her wine glass as she gently wiggled the glass’ foot against the table. The wine's movement matched her emotions, both happiness and sorrow churning inside her. Her lips twisted into a bittersweet smile as she felt Jon rub his calf against hers under the table. The gentle, intimate contact touched her heart, yet again spiked a tiny pang of sadness.

“Cate.” Jon’s voice was soft and sweet. “Your wine okay?”

Cate looked up at Jon, into his beautiful blue eyes. “It’s good,” she answered. “Sorry. Just kinda drifted away there for a minute.”

Jon reached across the table to brush a finger across her hand on the glass’ foot. The wine bar was a tiny little place, and even though they had claimed a table at the back of the room they had no privacy from the other patrons seated at the bar and the other small tables.

Jon could tell several people had recognized him, and he had seen several cell phone cameras pointed his way. He knew it was likely word would spread quickly if he was spotted having a romantic glass of wine with a beautiful woman, so he did his best to maintain a businesslike demeanor. It was taking every bit of his acting skill to do that.

He knew his impending departure was really starting to affect Cate. She had been calm and quiet during their walk from the villa, a radical departure from her brash, sexy demeanor during their earlier encounter. Again he wished he could tell her his news and make her smile without a shadow of pain in her eyes. But he couldn’t. Danny had made that clear.

Jon and Cate had spent the last hour and a half recovering from their afternoon sexcapade. They enjoyed a leisurely shower, then Jon had retrieved Cate’s bag from her car while she collected her gear and uniform items from their various places around the bedroom. They had dressed comfortably in jeans, plain tees, flip-flops, and baseball caps, then wandered hand-in-hand down the path to the village.

Keeping her promise to help Jon find a gift for his daughter, Cate guided him to several little boutiques along Mallory Street, avoiding the cheap tourist traps in favor of the classier shops catering to the island’s more well-off vacationers. She pointed out several items she imagined a 16-year-old girl might like, trying to remember what she had been interested in at that age.

Jon smiled as he watched her thoughtfully peruse each shop’s wares. Her earlier assertion about not being a “girly-girl” was apparent from the items she was drawn to. But she certainly displayed a taste for quality and elegance, eschewing the gaudy, trendy fashions and jewelry that dominated the tourist-oriented shops in favor of chic simplicity.

Jon had ended up buying a necklace for Stephanie; a pretty silver chain with a pendant of a turtle, the shell inlaid with mother-of-pearl. He had known the minute Cate had pointed it out that Steph would love it, and when Cate explained that endangered Loggerhead turtles nested on neighboring Jekyll Island he had been convinced that it was perfect for his animal-loving, eco-aware daughter.

As he had made his purchase Jon noticed Cate admiring a sterling and sapphire pendant in an adjoining case. When she turned away to look at another display Jon whispered with a grin and a wink to the middle-aged cashier, “I’ll take that too.”

The experienced saleswoman gave him a knowing smile and nod, then wrote on the back of Jon’s receipt: Where shall I have it delivered? Jon smirked and scribbled King & Prince in reply. The woman gave him a conspiratorial little grin and nodded again. “It’ll be there within the hour,” she murmured.

“Thank you,” Jon replied gratefully, accepting his credit card and the receipt back from her.

“My pleasure, Hon,” she answered as he scrawled his signature on the receipt. She pushed the little bag containing the turtle pendant across the counter to him. “Good luck,” she said with a smile, glancing at Cate.

Jon’s eyebrows elevated in surprise at her comment, then he grinned. “Thanks.”

After completing Jon’s errand, he and Cate had wandered down the street to the wine bar at the end of the block. Jon directed Cate to a table while he ordered two glasses of white wine and a cheese plate, then carried the food and drink to their table. With a quiet toast “to us” they both sipped at the sweet liquid, then exchanged a smile.

Cate had remained quiet until Jon asked her about her wine, pulling her from her thoughts.

“Are you getting hungry?” he asked, again drawing her out.

Cate shook her head. “Not really.” Though her lunch had consisted of a can of Diet Coke, she had no appetite. “But if you are, we can go somewhere.”

“Nah.” Jon picked up a piece of cheese from the plate and popped it into his mouth. “This is fine,” he added with a little grin as he chewed.

Cate smiled and took another sip of her Reisling. “So… do you start filming next week?” she asked softly, again toying with her glass, watching her wine spin around the bowl of the glass.

Jon’s eyes widened in response to her question. She was violating her self-imposed prohibition on discussing life after tomorrow. He nodded, swallowing his mouthful of cheese and washing it down with a quick drink of his wine. “Yeah, we have the first read-through on Tuesday, then we start blocking on Wednesday. I’m not sure exactly what my schedule will be yet. I’ll find out once I get out to L.A.” Jon gave Cate a little grimace. “I fucking hate L.A.”

Cate chuckled. “Yeah, I’m not much of a fan either,” she agreed. “I’ve been there for work more times than I care to count. The beach is nice, but the traffic sucks. I’m always ready to get out of there.”

Jon nodded in agreement. “Yeah, well… unfortunately I can’t avoid it, in my line of work.” He studied Cate’s expression as she watched her swirling wine. “At least I don’t have to live in some hotel, though.”

Cate looked up at him, giving him a little smile. “Where do you stay? With Richie?” She knew he had a house in Laguna.

Jon shook his head. “No. I still have the house in Malibu. Dorothea didn’t want it.” He took another sip from his wine. “To tell the truth, I don’t really want it either. The only reason I haven’t sold it is because of situations like this – when I can’t flee the city the second I’m done with work. At least I can go back to my own house and hide when I’m done for the day.”

Cate nodded, again dropping her gaze to her glass. Jon watched her azure eyes swirl along with her wine as she considered what he had said. “How long will you be in L.A.?” she asked softly.

Jon smiled as his heart leapt. “About three months, maybe a little less,” he answered softly. “But I plan to escape every chance I get, even if only for a day or two.”

“To see your kids?” Cate asked.

“Yeah.” Jon hesitated. “I’d like to see you, too,” he added, pressing his luck.

Cate’s only response was a tiny upward curl of the corner of her mouth. She continued to spin the wine around her glass as if hypnotized by its movement. “I start a new class on Monday,” she stated, quietly changing the subject. “Forty-eight new students, all mine for the next ten weeks.”

Jon nodded slowly, surprised by her demeanor. She hadn’t shut him down, hadn’t refused his suggestion. He felt his heart beating faster in his chest. “You’ll have to let me know how they are,” he replied nonchalantly, raising his glass to his lips to hide their little quiver as he spoke.

Cate looked up at Jon, but didn’t reply. He could see the conflict in her swirling eyes. Jon took a swallow of his wine, then gave her a sweet smile. “Will you call me next week?” he asked.

Cate stared at Jon for a moment, then again dropped her gaze as a little smile played across her lips. “I don’t know…” she murmured.

Jon’s heart flipped at her gentle response. He drew in a breath, biting back his urge to press her further. Maybe now that the clock was ticking down on his final hours here, Cate was finally realizing that she didn’t have to walk away from him.

“What time do you leave tomorrow?” Cate asked, still staring at her glass.

“I have a flight at seven,” Jon answered softly. “I didn’t know what time we’d be done at the Center, so I booked an evening plane.” He again reached out to brush his hand against hers. “I wanted to be sure I had time to thank everybody before I left.”

Cate nodded, her eyes shining with moisture at the thought. “I can drive you to the airport if you want,” she said huskily.

Jon pulled in a deep breath, then shook his head. “I arranged for a car,” he said quietly. He didn’t want to say goodbye to Cate at some airport. He couldn’t put her through that. He couldn’t put himself through that. If there was one thing at which he had experience, it was saying goodbye to someone he loved. If he had to tell Cate goodbye, he wanted it to be in private.

Cate nodded wordlessly, blinking rapidly as she raised her wine glass for a long drink.

Jon had an overwhelming urge to wrap his arms around Cate and hug her tight, to let her spill her tears onto his shoulder, to stroke her hair and tell her everything would be all right. Damnit, he cursed silently, glancing subtly around the room at the other patrons, seeing them watching him.

He took a gulp of his wine then nudged Cate’s foot with his under the table. “Let’s get out of here,” he murmured, trying not to let his body language betray what he was feeling. “We have too big an audience.”

Cate looked past Jon to the now-full room, noting most of the other patrons were throwing not-so-casual glances their way. She nodded, then took one last sip from her glass.

Jon stood and formally held Cate’s chair as she rose, then escorted her toward the entrance. They almost made it to the door before Jon was addressed by two obviously excited young women. Giving Cate an apologetic glance, Jon paused to oblige their request for a photo. Cate smiled and moved to the door, where she waited for him.

As she watched Jon with the girls she realized that just a few weeks ago she would have been exactly like those two fans, starstruck and giggling as they gushed over the sexy rock star. Now, to her Jon was just a man. The man who had stolen her heart.

After a couple minutes Jon freed himself. He shook a couple more hands and nodded hellos as he moved for the door, but he didn’t stop until he reached Cate. Finally they escaped to the sidewalk.

Jon and Cate headed straight for the beach. Keeping a platonic distance, they walked to the water’s edge and strolled toward the King and Prince, leaving the Village behind. As soon as they were a reasonable distance from any potential spectators, Jon reached for Cate’s hand. She entwined her fingers with his, giving his strong hand a little squeeze of affection.

“You okay?” Jon asked gently as they wandered along the smooth, wet sand, their joined hands swinging gently between them.

“I’m sorry,” Cate sighed. “I don’t mean to be a drag. I’m just…” She smiled sadly. “I don’t want this to end.”

Oh, Baby... it doesn’t have to, Jon thought. But he didn’t say it. “Me either,” he replied, pulling her hand up to his lips and pressing a gentle kiss against it.

Cate smiled at Jon, then pulled in and pushed out a deep breath. “Okay. No more sad shit,” she pronounced with a little chuckle. “I’m spending a night with Jon Fucking Bon Jovi! And I’m DAMNED well gonna enjoy it!”

Jon chortled at Cate’s declaration. He knew she didn’t think of him that way anymore, as THE Jon Bon Jovi. Her statement was an attempt to distance herself from her emotion. “Well, shit,” he teased. “Guess I’m gonna have to be sure I don’t disappoint you.”

“You won’t, Baby,” Cate replied with a sweet smile. “It’s already a perfect night.”

Jon smiled gently but didn’t answer as her words went straight to his heart. It’s not quite perfect, not just yet…