Chapter 40

Walking into the restaurant was a surprise, Amber expected the utilitarian Oriental decor that seemed to be in every Japanese or Chinese restaurant she’d ever entered. This place was nothing like what she was used to. Although the decor was Oriental in flavor, the use of brightly colored sumptuous silks and ornate wall hangings gave it a luxurious ambiance. Her eyes darted around the room trying to take it all in at once, the thickly cushioned seats, the exquisite colors, deep wood tones and the display of katana swords encased in glass. She wanted to go look at the swords, yet she was determined not to look like she was overly impressed. There was another display case of carved jade figurines that drew her attention as well. Jade was something that she loved and had a small collection of figurines that she kept stashed away in a small display case where Bounce couldn’t get to them.

Being steered towards the sushi bar, her eyes widened when she saw the sashami, maki and nigiri on different pattern and size plates floating on boats as they circled the bar. As many sushi restaurants as she’d visited over the years, she’d been to them all over the country, she’d never seen anything like this. It was amazing.

Jon pulled out a chair for her at the sushi bar, he’d considered a table, but the experience of watching the chefs was something he never tired of and the ones here were especially good. Sitting next to her, he accepted the oshibori that was presented in a basket and wiped his hands with it, seeing Amber do the same, registering that she did know the custom of cleaning her hands with the warm towel brought to them before eating.

Watching the boats floating by, he selected a couple plates to start and grinned to himself when Amber almost tipped one over before grabbing it. “Not very experienced at this?”

“I’ve never had them come around like this. It’s different, but I can see that I’ll be trying a bunch of different stuff instead of just rolls or nigiri.” Pulling a plate that had a couple pieces with eel with teriyaki sauce on it, she eyed the rest of the boats floating by with the dishes on them before lifting her chopsticks. Grasping her first piece, she dipped it into the soy sauce she’d laced with wasabi before popping it into her mouth. “Umm, this is really good.” Taking another piece, this time nigiri with yellowfin tuna, she followed her routine, dipping it into the soy sauce before eating it.

Jon was doing the same with his dinner, a little nigiri, some maki and sashami, all washed down by some warm saki. Grateful that she was just as involved with her meal as he was his, requiring little conversation and the chance to just enjoy the companionable silence that rested easily between them. Finding a piece of sashami, raw fish, that tasted exceptional, he offered it to her and laughed outright when she pressed her fingers over her nose from the sharp sensation of the wasabi opening her sinuses a little more than anticipated. “Sorry.”

Dabbing at her eyes as she sniffed inward trying to overcome the shock of it, she smiled gamely, “you went a little heavy with the wasabi there, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t have a problem with it” smirking back at her, piling a small glob of wasabi on a piece of fish before putting it in his own mouth to show her that it didn’t bother him. His eyes watering as he experienced the same sinus opening sensation.

Slanting an ‘I told you so’ glance at him, Amber took a sip of green tea, having foregone the sake as her rock star tried valiantly to cover his discomfort. “The tea is wonderful, would you like a sip?” She’d learned years before that when you had too much wasabi that the tea helped neutralize it.

Accepting her cup, Jon drank down the remains of its contents and then returned it to her. “Touche,” he was a little more careful with his next several pieces of sushi, chatting with her about their choices and getting to know each other a little better. It was hard to really talk much since there were other people sitting in close proximity to them around the bar. He did manage to learn more about her family, or rather, lack thereof other than her maiden aunt in Florida and her estranged brother that lived somewhere out in Montana. She didn’t mention any other family when he pressed the issue. For his part, there wasn’t much to tell her that she didn’t already know, but gave her insight on his family with little snippets of stories that made her laugh.

Glad he didn’t push too hard on the subject of family, she relaxed as dinner wore on, getting more and more full and seeing the twinkle in his eyes becoming more evident the more sake he drank. Tickled by the fact that before the evening was over she might get entertained by a slightly inebriated Jonny, curious as to what he might have in store for her if that happened. Finally unable to eat another bite, she pushed her pile of plates away and saw that Jon was doing the same. Their waitress came by and tallied the bill by the number and pattern on the plates, then wrote out the bill and handed it to Jon, who didn’t even glance at it, instead handing over his credit card. Within minutes they were out the door and in the town car again after a brief delay when a couple fans stopped them for autographs and a picture with Jon, who was gracious and smiled playfully.

Sinking back in the seat, Amber looked over at her companion that was propped against the corner of the opposite seat. “Why so far away?” She teased.

“I was wondering the same, babe. How about you coming over here to keep me company?”

Hesitating, “I would, but there’s no room.”

Patting his lap, he teased, “right here, there’s a seat waiting.”

Sliding over to his side of the car, Amber snuggled onto his lap, attempting to be somewhat discreet since their driver could see everything they were doing in the back seat. Turning towards him, she swiped his lips with her tongue, whispering that he needed to get them a limo the next time. Feeling as much as hearing the deep rumble of laughter that greeted her words before his fingers tangled in her hair and pulled her hard against his mouth, devouring any protests that his bold action might elicit. Sinking into the kiss, she suddenly didn’t care if the entire world saw them making out, giving as good as she was getting before they’d been half a block.

The cold rush of air that swept into the car brought their heads up and Jon’s hand out from inside her sweater as the driver cleared his throat loudly in deference to looking into the back seat. He’d seen enough to know their clothing was disarrayed and it wouldn’t do his tip any good to be obvious about it.

Cursing silently the swift ride to the heliport, Jon straightened his clothes and helped Amber with hers, smoothing her hair as best he could before either of them stepped out of the car. Fully cognizant that his arousal would be clearly evident, he kept close behind Amber hoping that Richie wouldn’t make any comments about it.