John Francis

“Trish! You almost ready, babe?” Richie called out, wondering at the amount of steam escaping the bathroom.

Grasping a towel around herself, Trish came out of the bathroom with her hair up, tendrils escaping, and threw Richie a pleading look.

“I need 15 minutes, okay?” She didn’t pause as she moved to her vanity where within a short time she had applied her makeup. Dropping the towel, she dressed in her underwear, stockings, and a jade green floor length gown. Richie, dressed in a formal black suit and deep gray shirt, opened as usual, gave her a wolf whistle when she was finished.

Trish’s cheeks dimpled as she smiled at him and gave a curtsey.

“Why, thank you, sir!”

Richie drew her to him, careful not to fuss her dress, but aching to touch the softness of her shoulders and back. They had been spending every possible minute together during the last two weeks and he was finding himself more intrigued by her as the days passed. Their relationship had recently progressed to the physical, but even then he was surprised that he enjoyed talking with her almost as much as making love to her. And, he admitted to himself, it was making love.

Running his hands down her bare shoulders, he stepped in to kiss her, breathing in her perfume and the warmth of her skin.

“Thanks for going with me tonight.” His voice was a caress at it reached her ears.

She whispered back to him. “Thanks for asking me.”

A car horn interrupted their second kiss and they reluctantly parted, heading toward the waiting limo.

~~~

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Jon watched as Amanda finished dressing. She had chosen the amethyst gown this evening and had just finished applying her perfume when she glanced in the mirror and saw Jon grin at her.

“So apparently you WANT me to get you naked again as fast as possible?” His smirk was sexy and ironic at the same time as he moved to her to nuzzle her neck.

She grinned back at him in the mirror as she watched him behind her.

“Just want you thinking about it.”

He gave a brief regretful glance at his watch. Fifteen minutes until we need to leave…damn, not enough time!

“Thinking about it isn’t the problem…” he gestured to the now full front of his pants, “…walking around all night with this is…” He cupped her breasts over the dress and she gave a small gasp of her own. Pressing his erection into her buttocks, he grinned into the mirror.

“Now you’ll be thinking about it too…” His grin bordered on evil as she pushed back against his now fuller erection and shook a little. He gave a small groan and with sheer will moved away and swatted her on the ass. She gave a jump at the unexpected smack and turned suddenly as he moved further away.

Shaking her head as she gathered her purse and wrap, she muttered almost too low to hear.

“Damn! Now he’s done it!”

They were both laughing as they began their night.

~~~

Richie and Trish were driven to a heliport in the city where they were flying to meet up with Jon and Amanda and then the four would be flown into Philadelphia for the dinner. The Soul personnel, from players and their wives, to managers, select VIP patrons, and others would be there for a pre-season celebratory dinner for their Arena bowl win. There had been a players dinner before, of course, soon after their win, but this involved their sponsors and others who participated in the season.

Jon and Amanda were waiting in their car at the local airport for the helicopter to arrive and made their way to the chopper once they were given the “all clear”. Carefully entering they nodded and smiled at the other two and mouthed “hello” but were unable to talk due to the noise. Neither woman had wanted to wear a headset that might muss their hair and the men just grinned at one another and settled in for the short flight to Philadelphia.

As they approached for landing, they all saw a waiting limo and the four quickly exited the helicopter and entered the car. Everyone gave a small sigh at the reduction in noise and started talking at once. Sharing a bottle of wine on the drive, the women moved naturally into complements about what the other was wearing, while the men were of course talking football.

Patricia made a small motion towards the ring on Amanda’s hand and crooked an eyebrow at her.

“Did it sink in yet?” She joked, a half smile on her face.

“Actually – no, not yet. I just put it back on. We had to tell some other people first and didn’t want them to find out from the press.”

Nodding in understanding, Patricia responded.

“How did that go?”

“Better than I expected…” Amanda responded, a slight hesitation evident in her voice.

Squinting at her, Patricia’s expression expressed her confusion.

Shaking her head a little side to side, Amanda blew out a small breath of air before answering in a low tone.

“Uh, Jon’s mother doesn’t seem to like me.” Her simple statement was accompanied by her own brief look of confusion.

“Ahhh…” Patricia nodded in understanding, although she didn’t really and wished she could ask for more details but felt the time wasn’t right.

Amanda shrugged and settled back in the seat next to Jon. He took her hand in his even as he and Richie continued to talk. On the opposite seat, Richie had also taken Patricia’s hand in his. She was a bit nervous about this evening, knowing there would be press there, as well as official photographers inside. She and Richie had discussed what they would say and agreed that they would acknowledge they were dating. Asking Richie to answer most of the questions had not been a hard decision.

They arrived at the Italian restaurant that had been booked for this event and prepared to exit. Jon flashed what Amanda realized was the beginnings of his “press grin” at them, rolled his eyes, and gave a small chuckle.

“Everybody ready?” He looked at Amanda and Patricia in particular, knowing Richie would always be “on” when needed. The women nodded back, both unknowingly taking the same deep breath as they gathered their purses and adjusted their coats.

Jon stepped out first, smiled hugely at the members of the press waiting outside and then turned to help Amanda out. She exited quickly, smiling at the inevitable flashes of the cameras as she joined Jon at his side. Richie and Patricia joined them and for once the babble of many shouted out questions and the blinding flashes of the cameras were turned off them and towards Richie and the “new woman” who was with him.

Richie deftly answered the questions he wanted to, answering that the woman with him was “Patricia”, a “psychologist” he was “dating”, while Patricia smiled until she felt her face would begin to crack. Richie gripped her hand a little more tightly, giving it a small squeeze and she looked at him to see him wink and begin to lead her to the entrance. His wink gave her a reminder that this was a “show” and she started to relax a little.

As Jon also answered questions from the press, Amanda was a bit surprised to hear her name being called out along with his and questions for her. She answered honestly when asked if she had always been a fan of arena football, giving a rueful smile and a negative shake of her head. Jon overheard and gave a theatrical impression of shock, earning laughter from the press and not a few photographs. She playfully gave him a small swat on the arm for that and was met with more laughter from those who saw it.

The four entered the restaurant, handed over their coats and moved to the interior. Amanda and Patricia begged off for a moment to head to the restroom where they quickly smoothed hair and re-applied lipstick, both grateful their makeup and hair were pretty much okay for the photos that had been taken.

“Wow! That was a first!” Patricia whispered as she put her comb back in her bag.

“I have no idea how they DO that all the time!” Amanda whispered back, giving a small laugh as she remembered her first time in the spotlight. She turned to the other woman.

“The only thing I know is to NOT act surprised, no matter what question gets thrown out. They can really be rude sometimes and Jon says to just act like you didn’t hear it.” Amanda offered, knowing a little of what Patricia might be feeling.

Patricia nodded at her and blew out a breath. “Yeah, I can see where that would be important. Thanks.”

Pausing for just a moment before speaking, Amanda took her own breath and looked at the other woman.

“Trish…” she began as Patricia looked right at her, “…Richie is a really great guy and…” she paused then, suddenly not sure how to phrase what she wanted to say.

Understanding dawned in Patricia’s eyes as hers met Amanda’s.

“He is a really great guy. I had no idea, but the more we talk and…” she paused herself then, a light blush crossing her cheeks, “…the closer we get, the more impressed I am.” Trisha lowered her head and then brought it back up, again meeting Amanda’s eyes.

“I really like him, Amanda.” Her voice was low at this admission.

Laughing softly now, nodding her head, Amanda grinned.

“What’s not to like?”

A grin and another blush were her answer.