Pretty soon it was almost 6. John got a phone call from Simon saying that they'd be back later than they thought - they were considering going to a club or two before turning in that night. It was a day off for them, after all.

"Would you like to go to dinner? It'd be lonely if I went by myself."

I smiled. "Sure. Why not."

"Great!" He had decided to wait on buying a new bass - which I was relieved because we then didn't have to go and try to find a music store *and* fend off the fans. But John did want to go out for dinner, which would be a little more difficult since we couldn't find Mike or any of the other guards.

"Do you trust me?" I asked him. I had an idea where we could go in the city - of course I knew where to go! I was born in close proximity to the city and lived all my life in the same house where I grew up.

"What do you mean? I don't know how safe this would be."

"I know a bunch of good restaurants in the city." I called up Clyde's in Georgetown and asked for a table in the corner. After John spiffed himself up - entirely *not* like himself, so he wouldn't look so much like "normal" John Taylor, and he put on a gray fedora in an attempt to hide his trademark blonde splash in his otherwise brown locks of hair. We went down to the lobby, asked for the doorman to get us a taxi, and as soon as he successfully hailed a cab for us, we rushed out of the lobby. Guess the Duranies never knew what hit them! Either that or they were waiting for the rest of the guys to come *back* to the hotel, not sprint out of the hotel like a couple of cheetahs.

Clyde's is an old establishment in the heart of Georgetown, the shopping and clubbing district of D.C. Very fashionable. I told John that I wouldn't have been surprised if we ran into his bandmates there, since they wanted to go to a club and Georgetown had some of the more famous ones. Clyde's has since become John's favorite place to eat in D.C. I guess the time I took him, he had such a nice, unaccosted time that he just liked going there after that.

We had a huge meal and when we were finishing up a piece of cheesecake we were sharing, John asked to look at my hands.

"Why?" I asked. "I have really ugly hands. My fingers are too short for playing bass, for one thing."

He took one of my hands in his. "No you don't. You have very lovely hands...are you sure you play bass? You don't even have rough fingers...or anything!"

"I take good care of my hands. Most guy guitarists - they don't."

"Well, maybe if you play for more bands, next time I'm in town I'll look at your hands and you'll finally be all roughed up."

He wanted to see *me* again? After we got the check - I was trying to go dutch but he insisted on picking up the tab - we took a taxi back to my apartment. Probably not a good idea since even John didn't know the address to his hotel. But he wanted to walk me up to my apartment, for being so sweet and all.

He looked around nervously. "Um...could I come up? To see your apartment?"

I winced. "John, as much as I'd love to tonight - I'm really kind of tired, and I don't think..."

"Don't say it," he interrupted, "I got the message. I'm too fast, right?" He couldn't help but grin.

I smiled. He read my mind. "Exactly."

"Well, good night then. We're leaving tomorrow afternoon for New York City. I guess I may not see you again. For a long while anyway. But I just wanted to say - I had a really good time with you tonight."

"Yeah, so did I." I smiled. "I know, touring can be pretty tough. So don't wear yourself out, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll remember that. Maybe you can come out and see us next year when we play the Hammersmith Odeon, or maybe even Wembley. We've been dying to play that. Paul and Michael think maybe next year. Hopefully."

"That's in England?"

"Mmmhmmm. You've never been?"

"Nope. But I'd love to sometime. And I'd love to see Birmingham. From the way you describe, it must be a lovely place."

He sighed. "I wish I could go home and see the folks more often - but with touring it's impossible. And I miss Birmingham a lot. It may be a small town when it comes to size but it makes up for it in beauty. The landscape is ravishing." I couldn't help smiling. "Those fields - are some of the most beautiful I've seen." He was a small-town boy at heart, living his life from city to city. He looked at his watch. "Mike is probably freaking out by now. I should go, and you should get inside, it's cold tonight."

"Okay," I nodded. He took my hand in his - mine were cold and his were warm, so my hands felt delicious next to his. "Good night."

Rather unexpectedly, he leaned over and kissed me. I'm not talking about a quick peck on the cheek, the kind that maybe your brother would have given you when you were a little baby and he was tucking you in for the night.

I'm talking the kind of kiss that launches fireworks.

I sincerely wondered if he had any idea what kind of effect he had on me.

When his lips met mine, I thought I was almost going to fall over partially from the shock of not expecting it, and partially because that boy knew how to kiss! He wrapped one of his long arms around my back and pulled me in for a tight embrace. Which is a good thing because otherwise I think I would have lost my balance.

His lips broke away from mine. "John..." I said hoarsely.

"Yeah?" he said, giving me that silly grin of his. "What?" I was finding that grin that always seemed to play on his lips when he was happy, that grin was deathly sexy for some reason. He ran his tongue over his lips seductively.

John ran his fingers across my cheek, and I caught my breath, and my heart beat faster, I guess I wasn't used to so much passion in such a short time.

I couldn't believe that I was thinking such thoughts. But the truth of the matter was, I wanted him. He was just so cute in an endearing way, but at the same time he seemed so experienced, knowing exactly what he wanted.

It seemed almost too easy to lead him up the stairs to my apartment.

But I wasn't interested in a one night stand. I was lonely and how long had it been since I had a decent relationship? Maybe because I never really had *any* guy interested in me, this was such a new and exciting feeling that almost anything felt like it could happen. I was positive that for John, this wasn't something new for him - he probably had a new girl in his bed every night.

And I'd be nothing but faceless, he wouldn't remember me as anything but the one-night stand he'd found in Washington.

"Grace?" he said, his voice barely above a whisper. The way he said my name I thought I was going to die. He said it so slowly that I'm sure the way he said it was the sexiest way I'd ever heard it before.

"Yeah?"

"I should go." His lips grazed my cheek one last time. A small part of me said I was missing out for not inviting him up to my place - but the rest of me said that it was for the best. I may have wanted him that night but something told me that some things are best left well enough alone. He left, and I headed upstairs, alone, to my empty apartment.