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Chapter 98

As Richie stepped off the elevator, bags in hand, he spotted room service knocking at their door.

"Hey, whoa!  I'm here," he called as he rushed to the door.  "Have you been knocking long?"

"No, I just knocked," smiled the young girl recognizing Richie immediately.  "It's really you!"

As Richie opened the door, he smiled, "Yes, it is.  Are you a fan?"

"Yes sir," and she wheeled the cart through the door that Richie held open for her.  "I joined 'Jesse's Gang' too. Is Jesse with you?"

"She's aslee..."

"Awake," interrupted Jesse groggily as she came into the room.

"Baby, I was going to wake you," smiled Richie as he set the bags down and moved to take her in his arms.

With her head on his chest, she said, "I heard the knocking."

"I'm sorry.  I meant to get back before room service got here.  Baby, this is..."

"Gigi," smiled the girl.

"She's a fan and joined your site."

"Cool!  Nice to meet you, Gigi," greeted Jesse from the security of Richie's embrace.

"You are such a lucky lady.  Richie is soooo...."gushed Gigi.

"An amazing man?" questioned Jesse with a smirk.

"Yeah," blushed Gigi.  "I don't mean to go on about him but..."

"It's okay.  I'm cool with the fans thinking he's amazing because he is."

Richie gave Jesse a kiss and reached for his wallet.  He pulled out some money to tip Gigi as he said, "Thank you for bringing dinner."

"You're welcome.  It was really nice to meet both of you."

Gigi left the couple alone and Jesse looked up at Richie.  "Where have you been?"

"Shopping.  There are a ton of outlets around here and I found some really beautiful things for you," he beamed.  "First gift over dinner.  Now go get yourself ready."

"Yes dear," she simpered.  As she headed to the bathroom, she called, "Where's my phone, Rich?  I need to check to see if you've had any calls and to call Stevie."

"Your phone and your laptop have been put away until Monday morning," announced Richie as he was setting up dinner.

Jesse stopped and came back to face Richie.  "Are you serious?"

"Very."

"But...."

"Don't worry about Stevie.  I called him earlier, while you were sleeping and told him that you would talk to him on Monday...that you and I were spending a special weekend away from everyone because you were so upset.  He understood.  Now, dinner is getting cold."

Jesse sighed and went to get ready for dinner.  She was a little irritated with Richie's announcement and just like an oyster, the irritation began to grow.  It only took her a couple minutes but by the time she rejoined him, she was completely ticked off.

"How DARE you cut me off from my son!  Wasn't it bad enough that the judge and Kevin took him out of my life except for phone calls and supervised visits?"

Richie simply smiled and held the chair for her.  "Your dinner, beautiful lady."

"NO!  I'm PISSED and you're making me even angrier standing there with that damned sexy smirk!"

"Jess, I promise, I have my reasons.  Calm down and have a seat so we can eat," insisted Richie.

Not budging, Jesse glared at him.  "Reasons FIRST!" she demanded.

"No," he simply said, not loosing his smile.

She continued to glare at him.

"Jessica, don't you trust me?" he asked as he moved toward her.

That diffused her anger and she met him halfway putting her hands on his sides.  "Of course I trust you...I just...."

Richie put her fingers on her lips.  "I promise, everything is fine.  This weekend is going to be all about YOU."  Seeing the protest in her eyes, he said, "Sometimes being selfish is a good thing, Jessica, and I promise, I'm not going to jeopardize your being able to see or talk to Stevie."

"I know," she whispered.

"now, would you like to have a seat?" repeated Richie as he moved to hold her chair for her.

Jesse took a seat allowing him to help her scoot in closer.  That's when she found the white rose laying across a long, slender black box.  Her eyes lit up like diamonds, as she asked excitedly, "For me?"

"Of course!  I told you, this weekend is all about you, baby.  Go on, open it," answered Richie as he took his seat across from her.

Jesse gently set the rose to the side and opened the gift.  Carefully, she lifted the delicate silver charm bracelet from the box.  There were already three charms on it; a guitar, a baseball glove, and a soccer ball.  "Richie, it's gorgeous!  I love it!"

"We'll add a charm for each city we go to if you want."

Jesse laughed, "If I add a charm for every new city I get to visit with you, you'll have to buy me A LOT more bracelets!  Help me put it on please."  She handed the bracelet to Richie and extended her arm to him too.  As he put it on, she asked, "I know what the guitar and baseball glove are for but why the soccer ball?"

"For Ava.  You're about to become her step-mother."

"I hadn't thought about that."  Jesse held her arm so she could look at it.  "Richie, thank you."

"You're very welcome.  Now for your dinner."  Richie reached across and lifted the top off her plate.  "All your favorites."

"Oh my god!  You are so AMAZING!  I love you!"

Richie smiled, "Not as amazing as you.  Enjoy.  We've got a tour in about two hours."

As Jesse took a taste of the shrimp on her plate, she asked, "You said we were only here for the night.  What do you have planned?"

"The only think I'm going to tell you is that as soon as the tour is over, we're coming back here and going straight to bed."

"You know, we could SKIP the tour," she suggested wagging her eyebrows at him.

Richie laughed, "Nope!  Ashley told me how much you love ghost stories so we're doing the tour."

"Then why are we coming straight back and going to bed if we aren't going to make love?"

"I didn't say we weren't going to make love.  I just said we were going straight to bed and it's because we need to be somewhere before the sun comes up in the morning."

"Glad I took a nap."

"You can take one while we're traveling to the next stop tomorrow too."

"I can't wait to see what you have planned," she bubbled.

"I love seeing that beautiful smile," praised Richie as he reached across to touch her cheek.  "Are you okay with all the surprises and gifts?"

Jesse gave a soft smile as she took his hand in hers.  "I'm cool with it all.  I've accepted the fact that I'm engaged to a man who has the ability to give me expensive gifts.  I wouldn't change you for anything.  You are the most incredibly romantic man and I am so lucky to have you."

Richie pulled her hand to his lips and placed a kiss on the back.  "I'm the one who is lucky, Jessica.  You have given me such unconditional love from the very first night.  You've given me a second chance and there is no way in hell I'm going to blow this.  When we say 'till death do us part, it's what I intend for it to be."

Chapter 99        Index