Chapter 6
Was THIS the reason Jon has been in the clouds lately, Joe wondered in thought, his dark eyes moving to the dark-haired beauty in front of him who looked like a regular fish out of water. "I'm Joe." He extended his hand, noticing the top she had on, and smirked.
"No way am I saying thank you." Jon folded his arms over his chest, rolling his eyes. "Whatever you paid was a rip-off, you should've called. I'd of signed one and given it to you for nearly free." He would have undoubtedly also extracted kisses or something else from her as payment, his icy blues sparkling wickedly. "Or did you lose my number?"
"I'm Monique." She shook Joe's hand, feeling a little out of it.
"I could ask you the same thing." Vallea remarked, taking the same stance as him, and raised a slow brow. If he was implying she didn't call him, well, he didn't exactly pick up the phone either. "And I didn't want one, but Monique insisted I buy something to remind me of the event, so I chose your t-shirt. I'm not into the whole memorabilia unlike her."
"Valle!" Monique could NOT believe she was meeting her favorite wrestler like this and felt mortified, refusing to meet his eyes. She would melt in a puddle otherwise.
"What? Am I wrong since you're into all of this? Don't get me wrong, great show you guys put on and I did enjoy myself." Mostly with Jon's match, but Vallea wouldn't say that aloud. "Might even start watching it, who knows?"
"Okay – okay we're settling this right now because…just because!" Monique pointed at Vallea and then gestured to Dean Ambrose, still not believing they knew each other personally. "How do you know each other? And why didn't you tell me you knew 'The Lunatic Fringe', Valle?"
"Because he's not 'The Lunatic Fringe' to me. He's simply Jon and, for the record, the name Dean does NOT fit you, handsome."
"Believe me he knows that." Joe piped in with a chuckle, knowing how much Jon despised his wrestling name, but it grew on him after a while.
"Okay…how do you two know each other though? How did you meet?" Monique didn't mean to pry, but her curiosity was burning.
Vallea giggled at the exasperation in Monique's voice and looked down at her hands as if remembering what happened that fateful day 2 months ago. "He saved me from a near-death experience and I'll leave it at that."
"Wait, YOU saved her?" Now Joe was somewhat skeptical. Jon wasn't a bad person, and he had interfered a time or two in some weird situations where he felt it was warranted, but… "Okay, how?" Because she looked way out of Jon's league and Joe was having a hard time picturing them in any situation where Jon actually saved her from a legit near-death experience.
"Hey now," Jon was somewhat offended. "She fell off the face of a rock wall and I helped her back up." He didn't mention the lack of buddies or harnesses because Joe would ream them both out. "In my defense, babe, I got busy with work."
"It's fine. I figured we'd never see each other again and went on with my life. Fond memories and all that." Vallea had a serene smile on her face while Monique gawked at her.
"Wait, wait, WAIT, you went rock climbing without someone again?" Monique accused and groaned at Vallea's smile, placing her head in her hands. "Girl, how many times have I told you NOT to do that?! You're lucky he was there or you could've gone splat!"
"Yes, yes I know, MOM." Vallea rolled her eyes and could tell the Samoan was eyeballing Jon skeptically. "The point is, he saved me from going splat, I bought him dinner and we had a nice time together. Case closed. Nothing more to say." She did not kiss and tell and that night was meant for only her memories, as well as his.
"When did this all happen?" Monique wouldn't let this rest, wanting as many details as Vallea was willing to give her.
"Hmm 2 months ago. It was a one-time thing and like I said, didn't think we'd see each other again. We both travel for our jobs and are constantly busy." Yet fate kept intervening and pushing them together for some reason.
This was DEFINITELY who Jon had been daydreaming about lately and now Joe understood why because Vallea was definitely a knockout. Not as beautiful as her friend, Monique, though. "We didn't fuck the hood of your car up, I made sure to look, baby girl."
Monique's stomach tightened at that term of endearment and smiled. "Thanks."
"How about I buy you dinner this time?" Jon offered, a grin on his face as he walked over to Vallea, reaching out to plant his hands on her hips.
Yep, they still fit her perfectly, her body had been made to order, all for him. Of course, it was damn presumptuous of him to assume she was going to want anything to do with him. After he had basically fucked and fled, but…Jon was arrogant that way.
"Dessert is always optional."
Monique caught that tone and knew damn well Jon and Vallea's relationship was sexual in nature. Vallea had a LOT of explaining to do when it was just them.
"Why don't we all go to dinner? I'm famished." Joe suggested, flashing Monique a smile. "What do you say?"
Vallea felt the familiar flood of heat rush through her, those electric blue pools were already drowning her. She placed her hands against his bare chest since he only had jeans and sneakers on, fresh out of a shower in the arena. "We can talk about dessert later, handsome. First, you're going to feed me and I'm choosing the restaurant this time."
"Just nothing TOO fancy. We're not into that kinda setting." Joe winked down at Monique, wondering if she was high-maintenance or down to earth.
"It's not. Monique, why don't you let Joe ride with you and I'll ride with Jon? You two can get to know each other." Vallea grinned at her flabbergasted friend and client before guiding Jon by the hand toward her vehicle. The second they were out of eyesight, Vallea pulled his face down to hers to passionately kiss him, their bodies molding together just as they had 2 months ago.
Well that is awkward, Joe thought as he stared down at Monique. She was obviously a fan and he hoped not a crazy one. He liked living. "Not going to wear my skin or something, are you?" He wasn't surprised when Jon came running back, pulling the keys out of his pocket. "Forget something?"
"Uh-huh." Jon was grinning.
"You got lipstick on your face, lover boy."
The restaurant of choice was a little Mom & Pop place on the other side of the city. It was on the strip, but due to the other popular places, it wasn't very well-known. Both Monique and Vallea knew it well and often visited for their mouthwatering coffee cake and delicious coffee. They also had the best pie…not to say their other food wasn't good because it was divine. Jon had shown her a place of his he frequented, so Vallea wanted to return the favor.
She had no idea what the future held between them or if it would just be meet-ups every couple of months whenever they were in the city at the same time. That could actually work, though a relationship couldn't be built on that. Sitting down, Monique looked a little less tense and more relaxed, probably due to Joe working his charm on her. She wasn't as fidgety as she'd been. Vallea took Jon's hand beneath the table and laced their fingers together while everybody looked at their menu to see what they wanted to order.
"So, how long have you been a fan of wrestling?" Joe wanted to strike up a conversation with Monique, intrigued by her, even though she was a fan of his. Hell, weirder things had happened and he knew a couple of men who had actually married fans of theirs.
"About 10 years or so." Monique popped a chip in her mouth, which was complimentary.
"Who was your favorite before me?" Joe couldn't help asking and saw her cheeks turn crimson.
Monique cleared her throat, not expecting that question. "John Cena. But then the Shield came in and completely corrupted me. Roman Reigns was always my favorite out of the three." This wasn't Roman Reigns she was having dinner with, it was Joe and she refused to call him by the wrestling persona he played on television.
Joe liked that a lot, grinning. "Cool."
Monique was one of those fans and Jon could see his buddy being extremely stupid. Of course, he couldn't talk much, he was holding hands with Vallea under the table and had no idea what was going through her mind. A casual, sexual relationship could be on the table, but given the fact that they both traveled extensively for their respective jobs…anything besides casual and sexual was off the table.
"You on time off, doll?" He asked curiously, wondering just how much time they had, not that he had really left a good morning after impression the last time.
"Unfortunately, no. Just got back in yesterday and I'm flying out in a few days for a week this time."
Vallea did not sound the least bit bothered and could feel his hesitation when it came to doing something as simple as holding hands. She missed him, but didn't want him to be uncomfortable in any way with her. Casually, she released his hand to reach for more chips to dip in the sauce provided and kept a smile on her face.
"What exactly do you do for a living?" Joe inquired, mildly curious, and looked over at Monique.
"Who are you asking, big man? I'm her personal assistant as of right now. And I'll be working with her over the next couple of months through the agency."
Monique felt eyes on her and chewed her chip thoughtfully. "I sell properties all over the United States. I find houses that are shabby and spruce them up to resell them for a reasonable profit. It's a lot of paperwork and that's where a PA comes in handy. We've been working together for a couple of years now, right Valle?"
"Yeah, I think 3 years. Time flies."
"Sure does."
"You're a house flipper." The market after the crash was ripe for that, even Jon knew that. Not that house flipping was ever something he'd consider, he didn't have the necessary know-how. "So, where are you ladies flying out to then?" Vallea had said travel agent, sometimes personal assistant, he was still holding that her job was screwed up. One couldn't be both. Maybe she was just a 'fixer'.
No, she did both with her job and he'd have to get used to it and deal with it. "Hawaii for another week. She has several houses out there that are almost ready to be put on the market and there's last-minute work to be done. I think in a couple of weeks we'll be heading to New York too."
Vallea wasn't lying when she said she was hardly in Vegas and at home, basically living out of her luggage. Hell, she bought new things half the time while on the road working. Monique was her number one client though and they got along really well, for the most part.
"I'm an investor. I don't necessarily do the work with the houses, I hire people for that shit." Monique could hear the judgment in Dean Ambrose's voice, but it didn't bother her since a lot of people didn't think she could build an empire doing 'house flipping'. In her eyes, it was a smart investment because the market was almost always solid for business, depending on where she found a property. "And yeah, Hawaii is my number one state, surprisingly enough. I'm gonna move there one day."
"Nah, I love Vegas. Nothing beats it."
"Not even the ocean, sand, and beautiful sunsets?"
"Woman, there are hurricanes and tropical storms too, don't forget. Vegas doesn't get that shit often since we're not directly on the coast."
That was a good point. "Way to crap all over my dreams, Valle."
Vallea laughed, sipping the beer that was placed in front of her.
Jon had zero fucks what Monique was thinking. Flipping was smart if one had the money to invest and wasn't paying out the ass on other people doing everything. That tended to bring the actual profits down to slim pickings.
"Active volcano in Hawaii, so why in the fuck would you move there?"
"What are the odds of it going off?"
Apparently, nobody watched the news anymore. Jon shrugged, taking a long drink of his beer. "Vegas has the best views." He winked at Vallea.
"Another good point." Vallea grinned back at him, leaning back against the booth, agreeing wholeheartedly with him. "It does indeed." She tapped her beer bottle against his gently, taking a long pull from it, and ate another chip.
"Meh, I still want to move there. Worth the risks." Monique would not be deterred or convinced otherwise because, honestly, she hated Vegas. Way too congested for her liking, even with the Red Rock Canyon and valleys surrounding the city of lights.
"I prefer Florida, myself."
"Way too humid."
"Hey, Pensacola is beautiful."
"And humid 100% of the time."
Vallea was amused by this and Jon was too, both staring at the budding couple before them.
"Florida sucks if you like your hair." Jon commented innocently, not surprised in the least when Monique jumped on that one. He had definitely noticed her hair.
"Exactly, the humidity would kill it. Besides, Florida is terrible for property investment right now, what with all the hurricanes, and the insurance there is outlandish."
"But Hawaii isn't?"
"Hawaii is worth it." She smiled sweetly, fluttering her eyes at Joe.
"I might have to check it out sometime." He conceded.
Jon tried not to snort into his beer.
He changed his tune right quick and Vallea snickered in her beer, rather enjoying the Samoan being brought down to size by Monique. She had a way with men, it didn't matter how famous they were. He could've been the biggest star in WWE and Monique wouldn't have cared because she was set in her ways.
"Maybe you should. You might like it being a Samoan and all." She nudged him playfully, feeling more relaxed and herself, even with a man of Joe's caliber. "Tell you what, prove me wrong, if you can. I'll come to Florida one of these days and you can show me just how great it is compared to Hawaii."
Joe liked this woman's spunkiness and held his bottle up. "Deal." They clinked together just as the food arrived; everyone was starving and dove into their meal choices.