Chapter 59

Hearing the kitchen door slam, Cilla dropped the bag of buttercream frosting she was using to the table and looked up. Jon was striding purposefully toward her, blue eyes trained on her. Before she could question him, he was there in front of her, taking her mouth in a demanding kiss. She had crept away in the early hours of the morning, leaving him to wake alone and hungry. Pulling his mouth from hers Cilla drew in a ragged breath, "I'm not complaining, but what was that for?"

He didn't answer, just dipped his head to taste her again. Cilla angled her head, taking control of the kiss, taking him deeper. This time it was Jon dragging in the not so steady breath when she pulled her mouth from his. "You do realize Sid is right on the other side of that door" she said as Jon opened his eyes. "Right?" He nodded, "yeah, I know. That's the only reason you still have your clothes on right now."

Taking a step back she drew in a calming breath, and Jon advanced a step. She held up a hand to stop him, "just hold it right there." He smiled evilly and took another step, "I've missed you Sweets. Three weeks is a long time." She pressed her hand to his chest, the firm muscles twitched under her touch. "You don't have to tell me how long three weeks can be Jon. I know. I missed you too, but this is my place of business. Would you want to have sex on your stage in front of everyone?"

With a resigned sigh Jon wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, "I know Sweets, I know." He kissed the top of her head, trying to calm the storm just kissing her alone had caused. "Will you come to my place later? Richie and Dave are going to be there. Maybe you can show us what you've got so far for the cake? Maybe we can figure out the flavor too. What do you say?"

He felt her head nod against his chest. "Okay. I'll come by." She looked up at him, "I did miss you, you know." He studied her face, not missing the shadows under her eyes that she had tried to hide. "I know Sweets. While I have you here, what are you doing for the Fourth? Do you close up shop or do you work?"

She smiled, "we close up and this year, since it's a weekend, I'm going to close Friday afternoon and not reopen until Tuesday morning. Why?"

He wanted to get her away for a few days, maybe help her relax and get some obviously much needed rest. "Come to the Hamptons with me. There's a charity fund raising dinner I've got to attend and I'd like you to come with me, then we can have the rest of the time to just relax. Think you're up to it?"

Sid chose that moment to come swinging through the door, "Cilla, the mail came. There's an envelope here..." he trailed off when he noticed Jon and Cilla locked in an embrace. "Sorry, didn't realize it was booty time."

Cilla rolled her eyes at Sid and extricated herself from Jon's embrace. "Where's the envelope from?" Sid dropped it in her hand, "from the Planning and Development Committee." Her eyes widened and her fingers trembled nervously as she tore the envelope open, unfolding the single sheet she read silently, her mouth curving into a smile as she got to the end.

"They approved my application!" She grinned at Jon and Sid, "I got it!" Sid hugged her, twirling her around before setting her down with a smacking kiss, "I knew you would!" Jon pushed Sid out of the way, "stop kissing my woman Sid" he told him before planting a kiss of his own on Cilla's lips. "Congratulations Sweets. We should go out and celebrate tonight instead of hanging with Richie and David."

Sid headed back out front as Cilla was shaking her head, "no Jon, really, it's okay. We don't have to go out."

"You sure? I can get us a reservation somewhere."

She took his hand and walked him to the door, "I'm sure. Now, if you don't get out of here and let me get back to work I'll never get out of her later." She leaned up and pressed a kiss to his full and now slightly pouting lips. "No pouting. I'll see you later." He kissed her back, "I'm not pouting" he told her as he walked out the door.

Cilla was still smiling as she made her way up the stairs and into her apartment. The mental lists started as she showered and dressed. They continued as she gathered her things and stopped briefly in the kitchen to retrieve the pink box she had packed earlier. There were contractors to interview, equipment to buy, employees to hire. She was even considering hiring someone to help her with the baking and cake decorating.

Her business had grown beyond anything she had ever imagined and it was getting to be almost too much for her to handle alone. So much for what Charles had thought about her, what had he called it? Oh yeah she thought, lamebrained idea. Cilla stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk. Where had that come from? She shook her head, and continued on her way, nope, she told herself, not going to think about him anymore.

By the time she got to Jon's she had given herself a headache. Balancing the pink box in one hand she was rubbing her temples when Jon opened the door. "Sweets, are you okay?" He took the box and ushered her in ahead of him. "Yeah, just gave myself a headache thinking about everything I have to do in the next few weeks."

Jon slung his arm around her shoulders as they walked toward the terrace, "take it from me Sweets, if you try to tackle everything all at once, Tylenol is going to become your new best friend."