“Hey, there’s Jon’s brother.”
“No way!” The
blonde woman nudged Lilah out of the way in the Diamond Circle and put a hand
on her brunette friend’s shoulder, standing on tiptoe in an effort to see the
back of the stage. The pre-concert crowd
was getting dense in Dusseldorf’s Esprit Arena at only thirty minutes until
show time, and it was hard for the vertically challenged woman to get a good
look. “The really tall, cute one?”
When Tony had asked if she wanted watch the show from
back stage tonight, Lilah had declined, preferring to hang on the rail this
time around. She had a gut feeling this
was going to be a good set list and she loved experiencing Jon and Richie
together in a live setting, particularly in one of those ‘good’ shows. Now that Jon didn’t snarl at her every time
she got near, she thought she might be able to appreciate his showmanship
again.
So, with her decision made and her luggage on the bus,
Tony had told her to stay put after the final encore. One of the security guys would bring her back
in the midst of the post-production frenzy and she would hang out until
everything was stowed and the crew was ready to roll.
She was a little apprehensive about this bus thing, just
because of the social aspect of it.
Walking into a ‘family’s’ home and being an outsider didn’t appeal to
her, particularly if Mike Rew was going to be there. He still made her uncomfortable with his
knowing grin. On the flip side of that,
heading back to the Intercontinental all alone held even less appeal. Being crammed into a sardine can with Tony
was the better option.
The blonde’s brunette friend shook her head with what
Lilah interpreted as a grimace of distaste.
“No, the other one. The ugly
duckling. I don’t know what he inherited
from Mom and Dad, but it sure wasn’t the same helping of sexy his brothers got.”
Lilah’s hackles raised.
It took quite a bit to make Lilah angry.
She was one of those live and let-live kind of people and, as a general
rule, took a lot of guff before getting truly ticked off. That is, unless you were messing with someone
she cared about. In that case, she flew
mad faster than anybody.
How many times had something like that been said over the
years, she wondered? How many people
considered Tony the ugly duckling of the genetically enhanced Bongiovi
clan? Yes, Jon and Matt were both
handsome men, but she considered them pretty as opposed to sexy. Tony was the one whose quiet assurance and
dark good looks personified sexy – in her opinion.
The more she listened to the women pick apart his “ratty
t-shirt”, “saggy shorts”, “ugly work boots” and “trashy looking tattoos”, the
madder she got. But Lilah wasn’t a physical, or even a direct, confrontation
kind of girl. She preferred to use more
indirect methods to assuage her anger – and hopefully she could give Tony an
ego-boost in the process.
A determined gleam in her eye, she cupped her hands
around her mouth and bounced up on her toes, loudly calling, “Jersey!”
Tony’s head snapped up from the camera he was adjusting on
David’s keyboard setup and he lifted his chin to indicate he’d heard her. A couple more twists of the stabilizing mount
and he strolled across the stage, wearing a faint look of concern.
Lilah wormed her way in front of the other two women,
with an overly sweet, “Excuse me, ladies,” as he lithely dropped to the ground
and ambled to the barrier separating the crowd from the stage. She pressed herself against it at the same
time he got close enough to speak without having to yell.
Wiping a hand across his slightly sweaty brow, he asked, “What’s
up?”
“C’mere,” she beckoned with a curled index finger,
leaning over the rail, hoping those two mean bitches would see her mouth
angling close to his ear. “I need to say
something to you.”
“Okay.”
“In case you didn’t know,” she began in a low voice, her
right hand coming to rest lightly atop the shoulder left mostly bare by his
black tank. “I think you’re sexier than
both of your brothers combined.”
His chuckle went from muffled to distinct when he turned
his lips into her ear. “That’s
convenient since it’s my bed you’ll be in tonight.”
“Bunk, but that’s beside the point,” she corrected with a
matching chuckle before pulling back to look him directly in the eyes. “I really do mean that.”
His smile faded slowly and the world around her –
including the bitchy women – faded to background noise as he studied her with a
heated intensity. “I know.”
It was all Lilah could do to push a whisper out of her
constricted lungs. “Good.”
Her lips longed to kiss the daylights out of him right
now, but she was reluctant. Lilah wasn’t
interested in flaunting him or their… friendship in front of these women, some
of which she already knew weren’t very nice.
She wouldn’t have made that brazen move in a million years, but Tony
took the choice away from her.
He dipped his head, curling his fingers around the back
of her head as he claimed her mouth for one quick, firm, possessive kiss – a
kiss that was every bit as possessive as the claim he’d staked yesterday on the
stage behind him. It made her insides a
little quivery that he didn’t care who knew she was his… and in her fairytale
head, it didn’t feel temporary.
Don’t Lilah
Jane. You’ll only end up with your
feelin’s hurt.
“I gotta go,” he said quietly against her mouth, while
tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
Of course he did.
He had a show to run.
“Mmk,” she submitted readily, stepping away from the
rail. “Have a good show.”
He winked as he turned and followed the curve of the
stage that would lead to his video lair. Lilah watched him go, feeling atypically arrogant and properly vindicated. With a cool look, she turned to the two women that had prompted the exchange.
“He got his fair share of sexy,” she informed them
archly. “And he knows how to use it.”
✧✧✧
“I’m pretty sure you hate that kinda thing…” Tony turned his head when he faintly heard
Lilah’s voice in the distance.
Squinting, he saw that she was talking to Jon, who had just reappeared
from where he'd uncharacteristically ducked into his quick change room before he
left the stadium. “But your fans count
what happened tonight as a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I know I do, and I wanted to thank you for
it.”
Undoubtedly, she was talking about the “Mercy” fiasco
on-stage, that the entire under stage
had been laughing their asses off about.
Jon had to sing it three times at different intervals in the show before
he got it right. That was an anomaly for
his anal-retentive brother, who didn’t do anything off-the-cuff or perform
anything without lyrics – for this very reason.
Tony bet he’d like to forget the whole thing happened.
“Hundreds of perfect words and notes, and my fuck-up is
what everyone’s taking away from this show.
Thanks, Lilah. That’s what I needed to hear,” Jon
snorted with a bark of self-deprecating laughter, swiping his sweaty head with
a towel and then looping it around his neck.
He’s taking it
better than I thought.
“It’s not the fuck-up they’ll remember, Jon, it’s the fun
way you handled it. They like knowing
you’re real and love that added
glimpse of personality you gave them.”
“Jon, let’s go.”
Matt swooped in to take Jon’s elbow and guide him in the direction of
his waiting car, relieving him of the obligation to say anything further. He simply gave her a single nod and allowed
himself to be shepherded out of the arena.
Lilah came closer to Tony’s workstation, standing off to
the side and out of the way.
“Told ya that you were sweet,” he commented over his
shoulder as he stowed one of the laptops in its protective case. “Why else would you try and pull the thorn
from the lion’s paw? The same lion who
tried to cut you to ribbons with that paw up until a couple days ago.”
“We almost knocked each other down when he came out of
his room. I had to say somethin’ to
him.”
He slid her a look of knowing skepticism. “Most people would’ve gone with ‘excuse me’,
or ‘get outta the way asshole’.”
She shrugged. “I
told you I lacked proper social skills, but thanks. I’ll remember that asshole comment for next
time.”
Grabbing the last laptop, he laughed while it slid into
its neoprene covering and then into the
huge equipment case.
She was unpredictably quirky. It caught him off-guard from time to time and
amused the hell out of him. One second
she was a shrinking-violet-wallflower, the next she was being all very Miss
Southern Manners, and in the second after that she let her innate sarcasm run
free. Ms. Lilah Jane Bennett’s mind was
an interesting place.
And her body ain’t
so bad either.
He was kinda sad that he wouldn’t be partaking of that particular interesting place tonight. The narrow bunk he was going to wedge his
rotundness into with her didn’t allow for much maneuvering, and if it did,
practically every noise could be heard by the adjoining bunk occupants.
Wonder how quiet
she could be? Hell, I wonder how quiet I
can be?
“Is there anythin’ I can do to help?”
Dragging his mind from the horny, Lilah-filled gutter, he
took a last look around and shook his head.
“Nah. The guys will take care of
everything else. Let’s head toward the
buses. I need a smoke.”
He stood and dislodged the cigarettes and lighter from
his pocket. Smoke lit, Tony looped his
fingers into hers and guided her through the post-production madness toward the
back gate.
“So…” She was
being quieter than usual and he slid his eyes her direction as they wove
through the crates and flocks of local and tour crew. “Wanna tell me what that thing before the
show was all about?”
“Not really.”
“How about you tell me anyway?”
A fleeting frown wrinkled her nose and forehead. “Women can be such unkind bitches. There were a couple comparin’ you to Jon and
Matt and it made me mad. Is Mike Rew
going to be travelin’ with us?”
She had answered the question, but just barely. In a classic Lilah maneuver, she’d redirected
the topic to a direction that she was willing to take. Did she really think he didn’t notice when
she did that?
“I’m not stupid, Bluegrass.”
Her head swiveled up to him, eyes wide with
surprise. “Of course you’re not, but why
do you feel the need to point that out?”
Arriving at the bus, he lightly spun her around so that
her back was against the side. “Number
one, I notice every time you don’t want to talk about something and
conveniently change the subject. Number
two, I know that I’m not the Bongiovi lust magnet.” When her eyebrows knit together and an
argument formed on her lips, he continued with, “And I’m okay with that. I don’t like the attention. That’s why I’ve cultivated this beer gut of
mine.”
Tropical eyes bore the lightning that heralded a storm
and, sure enough, she reached up and bounced the heels of her palms off of his
chest. “Stop that!”
“Stop what?” he asked, backing out of her reach with a
startled laugh and crushing the half-smoked cigarette under the ball of his
foot.
“Talking about yourself like that. I realize I’m not much, but you are the ‘Bongiovi lust magnet’ for me,
and I like your ‘beer gut’. Why don’t
you LIKE yourself?”
When she punctuated the question by launching another
thump in his chest, he reached up and locked her wrists in his hands.
“I like myself fine, but I’m a realist. Why don’t you like yourself, Ms.
‘Not Much’?”
“You’re more than you give yourself credit for,
Jersey. I don’t think you have any idea
how attractive you are, not just physically but in your personality and the
aura you carry.”
Lilah, in true Lilah fashion, had chosen the direction
she wanted to take the conversation and this time it got under Tony’s
skin.
“Bluegrass, you ever heard that people in glass houses
shouldn’t throw stones? I’ve never seen
somebody short-change themselves as much as you do. Sometime I look at you and wonder how in the
hell you got up enough nerve to fly across the ocean, much less find your way
to me.”
Her mouth snapped shut and puckered into an injured
frown. The wheels spun behind eyes that
had gone glassy as she stared him down, and Tony almost felt bad. Almost.
If it hadn’t been true, he would’ve felt bad, but the damn woman should
be able to see herself with the same kind of insight that she was trying to use
on him.
“I can do anything I have to do,” she informed him
quietly with a proud tilt of her head.
“And I know it. I want the people
around me to be happy. Sometimes that
means I don’t put myself first, but don’t count me as some mealy-mouthed wallflower.”
Tony couldn’t contain his scoff of incredulity. “Sometimes?
I can’t think of a single time since we met that you’ve put yourself
first, other than when I MADE you.
Anybody that truly matters will be happy with your happiness. And if
they’re not, you don’t fucking need them in your life.”
He believed that.
Nobody should have to ‘buy’ the love of their closest friends and
family. It should be freely given,
unconditional love, and he thought it was a damn shame that Lilah didn’t see
that.
“No, the other one. The ugly duckling. I don’t know what he inherited from Mom and Dad, but it sure wasn’t the same helping of sexy his brothers got.”
ReplyDeleteWhat??????? Seriously? I sure hope those two women were entirely fictional characters & not based on the attitudes of real "fans" you've come in contact with, Blush, cause none of the Bongiovi boys come even close to being ugly ducklings!
"Anybody that truly matters will be happy with your happiness. And if they’re not, you don’t fucking need them in your life.”
Hope she remembers that the next time she talks to Jo!
"Wonder how quiet she could be? Hell, I wonder how quiet I can be?"
Sure hope we find out. :)
" Anybody that truly matters will be happy with your happiness. And if they’re not, you don’t fucking need them in your life.”
ReplyDeleteJo should hear that.
P.S. : IMO blue, green, brown or hazel eyes, Tony is cute (not as much as Jon but way much more than Matt).
I agree, IMO, Matt is the ugly duckling
DeleteLOL, I was trying in my post to be nice & not say that Tony was way better looking than Matt, but since it's been said, it's so true. (Not that Matt is ugly in any way - Tony's just cuter!)
DeleteWhile this was a conversation they needed to have, it is going to make for one long ride on one limited space bus. good luck, lilah and tony.
ReplyDeleteas far as the tony or matt thing, tony is cuter.
WHEN IS TONY GOING TO REALIZE THAT HE LOVES LILAH BACK? OH I BET THEY BOTH CAN BE QUIET, CANT WAIT TO FIND OUT, JON IS FINALLY REALIZING THAT HES NOT BETTER THAN ANYBODY ELES AND EVEN HES GOING TO HAVE A BAD DAY AT WORK. LOVE THIS STORY.
ReplyDeleteIf you're not too busy or spending Easter Sunday with your love ones, I'd love to know what's next. I need my "Tony/Lilah fix".
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter.
xoxo
I forgot to post before I left home. As soon as I get back there will be an update. Give me a couple of hours. Sorry!!! :(
Delete~blush