by Selena Kitt
“Then just return it.” I say and hand her the receipt.
“You probably didn’t even buy the right size.” She says and plucks the receipt from my outstretched hand.
Before Josie walks up to the counter, she opens the bag and looks at the swimsuit again. A little smile that I know she doesn’t want me to see turns the corners of her mouth up just a bit.
“How did you get the right size?”
“I’m psychic.” She gives me a death glare. “Okay, okay. The girl behind the counter helped me.
We go to our rooms to change and agree to meet up at the pool. It’s on the next to top floor with the penthouse suite above it. I arrive first and jump into the cool water, when I surface, Josie is standing next to a lounge chair removing her towel.
That bikini is the best investment I’ve ever made because she looks like divinity. Normally Josie wears her hair up in a bun with a pen or two sticking out of back, but now, she’s let her thick auburn waves down. I can feel myself getting excited looking at her strong legs and full hips.
“I’m not sure I should get in the water. You look like a shark about to devour its prey.” She teases from the side of the pool.
“You scared?” I taunt back.
“Not of you.” She replies and dips her foot into the water to splash me.
Then, as if I could I adore her more, she cannonballs into the water. When she comes up, Josie makes a comment about the high quality of the swimsuit and being thankful it stayed in place.
“I wish I’d let you buy the cheap one now.” I say and she slaps my shoulder playfully.
A huge splash right in my face follows that up, and pretty soon we’re horse playing and having an epic splash fight. She dunks me under the water, and then I grab her around the waist and tickle her until she begs for mercy.
As Josie is laughing and thrashing around trying to break free from my grip, she slides down my body just a bit and our faces end up millimeters apart. I freeze when she leans forward and nuzzles my nose with hers.
I expect her to realize what she’s just done and take off, but she just lets me hold her. We’re pressed together and panting in the cool water, and before I can think about what I’m doing, I lean in and kiss her. Josie holds very still, and I anticipate that at any moment she’s going to slap me and demand that I let her go, but then she kisses me back.
I hold my breath as the lightning bolt of desire spreads through me from my chest down to my toes. That’s right, Josie made my toes tingle for the first time in my life. My erection starts to grow so hard that I’m almost in pain, and I push my hips back so that she doesn’t feel it. But, Josie surprises me again my grabbing my ass and pulling me back against her.
I knew she wasn’t the good girl she wants everybody to believe she is, and that wakes up the animal inside of me. I push her back against the wall of the pool and lift her so that she can wrap her legs around my waist. Her tongue slips between my lips, and I meet it with mine.
My hand slips down into her bikini bottom and she lets me stroke her throbbing nub. Her head rolls back and she lets out a long, contented moan before claiming my mouth again. I increase the pressure and speed of my touch until her body is shaking against me, and she’s whimpering softly against my lips.
To my surprise, when her climax is over, Josie grabs the top of my swim trunks and starts to yank them down. That’s when we hear the pool door shut loudly and man clear his throat.
“Mr. Verona. So sorry to interrupt, but a young woman is at the front desk for you.”
“Why are you interrupting me for that? I get women in every hotel I stay at asking for me, and you guys are supposed to send them away.” I growl without turning around and grab Josie’s ample ass cheek to let her know I’m still going to give her exactly what she wants.
“Again, I’m sorry. This woman says that she’s your wife. I didn’t believe her at first, but she pulled a marriage certificate out of her purse. I came up right away after that.”
Josie lets go of me instantly, and I’ll never forget the look of utter betrayal that washes over her face. I can’t believe this is happening, but I know now that I should have told her about Yvette before anything got physical.
“Please, baby. I can explain all of this, I swear. I have to go, though. Just please trust that this isn’t what you think.” I stutter and try to stroke her cheek.
She yanks her head away from my touch, and I feel like I’m going to be sick as I get out of the pool and go with the night manager down to the hotel office.
4
Josie
I can’t believe I almost gave my virginity to that lying asshole. He somehow has a wife that he’s hidden from everybody, but he was about to have sex with me in the pool and not tell me about her. I want to strangle him, but I have a bone to pick with someone else first.
“Why didn’t you tell me he’s married?” I yell at Andy as soon as he opens the door to his room.
“You mean Yvette? How did you find out about her?” He asks me without answering my question.
“I don’t know her name. I just know she is down in the lobby looking for him.”
“Oh shit. I’m sure he’ll tell you all about it. It’s not what you think.” He says and takes off down the hall towards the elevator.
“That’s what he said too.” I call after him, but he doesn’t turn around.
I go back to my room to sulk, alone. Now I’m pissed and worried, and I wish I knew what the hell is going on. They both said it’s not what I think, but how can a woman with a marriage license be anything other than exactly what I think?
I spy the mini bar, and I don’t think again for the rest of the night. I’ve never gotten drunk alone before, but I was about to give a man with a wife my heart and my virginity.
I was going to give him my heart?
That thought sends me over the edge and the lump in my throat becomes a flash flood of sobbing, ugly crying. I polish off two more mini bottles of tequila and pass out on the suite’s sofa watching some slasher flick I rented from the pay movies.
The next day is awful between the raging hangover, that I deserved, and the horrible anxiety that can’t be quelled because neither Andy nor Zach is around. I don’t feel comfortable asking any of the other band members about Yvette, but they are happy to have the extra help since Zach isn’t around to monopolize my time.
The guys don’t show up for sound check either, but the band’s manager, Bart, lets me know to leave it alone. He swears they’ll be around in time for the start of the show, and sure enough, both of them rush in looking like shit less than an hour before they are set to go onstage.
I still don’t get the chance to talk to them because an army of wardrobe, makeup, and hair people descend on them to try and make them look like rock stars instead of two guys who spent the night in a gutter.
“I’m sorry, Josie.” Andy says to me and gives me a hug on his way to the stage. “You can use my dressing room to work now, the mob has cleared out.”
Zach starts to walk towards me, but I cut him off. “Don’t even. Just do your job.”
“Josie, please.” He says, and I have to admit that he looks completely heartbroken.
Something isn’t right, so I decide that I will hear him out. I go to Andy’s dressing room, and sure enough, there is a large velvet jewelry case with a breathtaking ruby necklace inside.
“I’m sorry.” The card reads, and I throw it across the room.
I’m angry that he’s trying to buy my forgiveness, but I calm down by the time the concert is over. Andy comes back into his dressing room after the concert and strips off his sweat soaked clothes while I stand on the other side of the door.
“I know you’re going to hate me for this, but I’m going to let him tell you everything. It’s his story, and it’s his place to tell you. I’m so sorry, but I know you’ll see things differently after you talk to him. Please understand.” He says to me when he opens the door to let me back in.
“I should talk to him.” I say and anxiously twirl a wayward strand of hair that escaped my bun while I was pacing.
“Yes, you should. And, I’ll be here if you need me.”
By the time I get to Zach’s dressing room, he’s gone again. Since it’s my job to assist him, I pack up his stuff and hope that he comes back soon. He doesn’t, and he’s still missing when it’s time to leave.
The bus is packed and everybody is waiting on him, again. The tour bus has to leave now, or we’re not going to make it to the next town in time to get set up for tomorrow night’s show. I can’t believe he’s done his disappearing act on the one night that we’re on a super tight schedule.
“Go ahead. I’ll wait and we’ll fly to the next city in the morning.” I tell the bus driver.
“Are you sure about this?” Andy asks me and gives me a hug.
“It’s my job.”
Zach
I’m at the hospital waiting for Yvette’s parents when I realize that we’re going to be late for our next show if I don’t get to the bus right now. I can’t leave until they get here, though, so I call Andy. He waited with me until we had to go back for the show yesterday. Both of us slept on benches in the hospital waiting room, and we looked like hell when we went back for the show. I didn’t bring him back with me tonight even though he insisted. When he answers the phone, I’m glad he didn’t come along. I can only imagine how pissed Josie would be if she’d had to send the bus along without Andy too. She must think I’m trying to sabotage her career on purpose at this point.
“She did what?” I say into the phone and a bunch of people in the waiting room turn and look at me. “Oh man, she’s going to be even more pissed at me now. I’m at the hospital waiting for Yvette’s parents. I’ll see you when our flight gets in tomorrow morning, then.”
“Yeah, man. You need to make things right.” He scolds me. He was always the more diplomatic one.
“I’ll try. Thanks man.” I say and hang up.
It’s another hour or so before Yvette’s parents arrive at the hospital. They hug me and thank me for waiting. We don’t have much to say to each other because it’s been years since I was their son-in-law. I feel so bad for them. I thought Yvette was going to stay on her medications this time, but apparently she went off about a month ago and has been going downhill ever since.
I still pay for all of her medical care, and I know they appreciate that. Right now, they want to talk to her doctor about getting her transferred to the hospital near their home, so I let them go with a hug and a handshake.
On my way back to the concert venue, I have the cab driver stop at a grocery store, and I pick up a five-dollar bouquet of daisies. I wish I could get something more extravagant, but desperate times call for desperate measures. My heart is aching thinking of how disappointed and betrayed Josie looked last night, and I feel even worse because I’ve let her go all day without any explanation.
I had to make sure Yvette was safe and wait for her family, though. I don’t abandon people. As soon as I get back to the hotel with Josie, we’re going to sit down so I can tell her everything. Then, I’m going to beg her for forgiveness. I don’t need her forgiveness for having a past with Yvette, but I should have told Josie about everything before I let it become physical.
You see, Yvette and I ran away together, and we got married as soon as we were both eighteen. We were high school sweethearts from the ninth grade on, and I thought we would be together forever. I had a job at a local factory and she waited tables at one of the nicest restaurants in town. We rented a tiny apartment that was near her parent’s house after we eloped, and every day with her was like heaven for the first month we were married. Then, her little sister’s boyfriend got drunk at a party and crashed his car. Mirabella, Yvette’s baby sister, was sixteen when she died in the crash.
Yvette never fully recovered from the stress. Her doctor’s said the tragedy was the catalyst event for her developing schizophrenia. They don’t know for sure what causes the disease, but the doctor says it’s probably a combination of genetic predisposition and a traumatic event. The loss of her best friend and beloved sister was more than Yvette’s mind could handle.
Within six months she could no longer hold down a job, had constant hallucinations, and had stopped bathing and taking care of herself. I did everything I could, but it wasn’t enough. She started taking medication, and it helped at first, but then she stopped taking it.
A year after her diagnosis, her parents begged me to divorce her so they could take full legal guardianship of her. I didn’t want to do it, but they promised me it was the best thing for her. In the end, it was. They’ve protected her and kept her safe for the last few years, and I’ve made sure she could always have the best medical care available.
It’s been years since she had a relapse, but I guess they are always a possibility. She feels so much better on the medicine that she convinces herself she doesn’t need it anymore. When she goes off the meds, her life spirals out of control, and it has happened twice before. Once she didn’t understand that we weren’t married anymore, and the other time she was convinced that I was hurting her through the radio. Both times were before I became famous, so it was all kept very quiet.
I didn’t know what to expect when the night manager told me she was at the front desk last night, but I knew I had to act fast. Not to protect myself, but to make sure she didn’t do anything to hurt herself.
I just wish I’d had time to talk to Josie before running off like that.
5
Josie
When I see Zach coming down the hallway in the basement of the concert hall, I stand up and clench my fists at my sides. I’m a terrible mixture of furious and scared right now, and my blood is pumping in my ears.
I don’t know why I’m scared. He can’t possible mean this much to me. Can he? These feelings are why I didn’t want to get involved with someone from a band. The drama this relationship is causing is affecting my work. No man is worth screwing up my career. Not even a man who’s as gorgeous, compassionate, and talented as Zach.
“God damn it, Josie.” I mutter to myself.
I’m furious with him, so I need to stop mooning over him like a stupid fan girl. As far as I know, he’s a liar and a cheater and I need to hold it together until he proves otherwise. Even then, I need to end any involvement with him. The new assistant, Melanie, can take over as his personal assistant and I can work with the rest of the band.
As he gets closer to me, I see that he’s got a bouquet of convenience store flowers in his hand. For some reason, that gesture makes me smile. I know that Zach’s bad boy rock star persona is important to business, but when he’s sweet and humble it melts my heart. Maybe I will hear him out.
“I should be pissed at you, Verona, but instead, I’m just worried. Are you alright? I know you’re not exactly into time, but being this late is out of character even for you.” I say and take the bouquet of daisies.
“I will tell you everything, but not here. Let’s go back to the hotel so we can talk privately.”
The cab ride to the hotel is quiet. I can tell by the way he is brooding that we have something very important to discuss, and I don’t make any attempt at small talk to fill the silence. It’s almost like I can feel the heaviness he’s carrying in his heart, and part of me just wants to reach out and help him carry it.
When we get to the hotel, we check in to two rooms. However, Zach and I both go to his room to have our conversation. I’d rather have it in somewhere a little more public, but I understand that he doesn’t want anyone to interrupt us.
The suite is lovely, and with the curtains open, we’ve got a beautiful view of the city skyline. For a second, I allow myself to wonder if the view would be even more spectacular if I were seeing it as part of a romantic rendezvous with Zach instead of because we have to have such a grave conversation.
He sits down across from me in the room’s living area, and leans forward unco
mfortably in the chair. Zach takes a few deep breaths and looks like he’s contemplating how to begin. Once he starts talking, the story flows from him, and I am left completely heartbroken.
I have been so wrong about him, and I feel terrible. I judged him based on his public persona, and I’ve known enough musicians to know that most of them aren’t anything like the act they put on for the public. Zach is a money flashing bad boy because that’s what the fans expect.
Suddenly, I’m overwhelmed with the desire to know him better. There is so much about Zach that I’ve overlooked because I made incorrect assumptions about him. I want to say something, but they’ll be time for that later. Right now, my body is buzzing in a way I can’t explain.
Instead of thinking, I just stand up and look into his eyes. I unconsciously bite my lower lip, and that’s all it takes. He stands up and pulls me into his arms. We’re locked together again, and his lips are a hair’s breath away from mine.