Absolutely Unforgivable (4 page)

The lead guitar player was Zander. He was cute and had a mess of shoulder length, light brown hair with an intense look about him. He reminded me a little of Kid Rock.

The bassist was a wild-eyed guy named Travis. He had light skin and dirty blonde hair that was styled with little spikes and shone from far too much hair gel. His body was decent and the barbed wire tattoos on his arms were interesting to look at but he was nowhere near as appealing as Billy.

Jeromy’s friend Billy was the lead singer. If I weren’t so in love with Jeromy, he definitely could have captivated my attention.
Billy Badass
, I thought to myself, remembering what Jeromy had called him before. Now I got why that was Jeromy’s nickname for him. He definitely had that bad boy look down and no doubt stole the hearts of many girls. He had obsidian hair that tumbled all over the place, a strong jaw line and bright blue eyes with thick eyebrows that sat low on his forehead giving him a natural brooding look.

At first glance, Jeromy and Billy could be almost brothers. They both had dark, sleek hair and godlike features. Their eyes, however, set them apart. Jeromy’s eyes were a bold emerald color while Billy’s were a bright blue, equally as beautiful, only distinctly different than Jeromy’s. These two men together would be a lethal combination. I don’t know if the women of Houston, Texas could take it.
Who am I kidding?
I didn’t know if I could take it.

A loving smile spread over Jeromy’s face as I sat there staring at the web page. His hand, which by then was resting comfortably on my knee, slid up my thigh. This caught my attention and I turned to face him. He leaned in to kiss me, and with his lips gently pressed against mine, all thoughts of Billy left my mind.

Jeromy picked me up and carried me to the bedroom. Normally so gentle and compassionate, today he was more forceful. He threw me on the bed, then began kissing me hard as his body lay on top of mine. He was an incredibly sexy man.
How did I land this package of pure perfection?

◊

I spent the next few weeks wrapping up loose ends; putting in my notice at the bar, packing, and giving my resume yet another update, this time with our new address. Houston was a much bigger city and I felt more confident I would be able to find work with my fresh new degree in hand, than I would in Oklahoma. Things here weren’t going so well. The state was hit harder by the economic downturn than others. Our unemployment rates were higher and even those who did have jobs, earned significantly less than they did doing the same job just a few years ago.

I was horribly sad at the thought of leaving Oklahoma behind; it was all I had ever known. But at the same time I knew it was for the best. Not only did it ensure me a better financial future with far more career prospects but it also meant that I got to be with the man I loved, an unbearably gorgeous man who for some reason, loved me just as much.

When moving day finally arrived it wasn’t the complicated mess I had imagined it would be. All of our clothes and the few possessions we did have were packed up and shipped over ahead of time. We were going to fly there with just a small carry-on bag to worry about.

On the way to the airport I sat in the car across from Jeromy staring into his beautiful face. I was nervous and worried about the move, more so than I had been in the past. I knew that Jeromy loved me and that should have been enough, but I was still horribly worried about what lay ahead of me. I was moving to a strange city, a big city, and the only person I knew was him. He had many friends there but they were
his
friends and what if they didn’t like me? I began to panic and my heart raced.
What if all of this was a huge mistake? Should I really be doing this?
But then suddenly Jeromy gave me one of his adorably sexy smiles and I knew everything was going to be all right.

It would be a less than a two-hour flight, and Jeromy had flown us to Houston first class, but I didn’t really notice because I slept the entire time. By the time I woke up, we were landing in Houston. My eyes widened as I looked out the window at my new home. The buildings were so tall and everything looked majestic. I suddenly felt overcome with excitement as butterflies filled my stomach.

◊

Billy had met us at the airport. He was even better-looking in person than he was in the pictures on his website and on Facebook. Seeing him in person made my stomach twist in knots and I wasn’t sure why. He had an easy smile, bright eyes and a chiseled jawline. His clothing was spotless and had the crisp-new appearance of garments straight off the store shelf, yet he wore them comfortably like they were made just for him.

The drive to his house from the airport was rather long and filled with lots of traffic congestion. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many cars in my life. It was nerve-wracking and made me nauseated. Jeromy and Billy fell into an easy conversation about what they had been up to lately in each of their lives while I quietly watched car after car rush by. Houston had so much traffic, I don’t know how I was ever going to get used to that.

When we arrived at his home -- what would be my home now too -- I was surprised at how big it was. Jeromy had said it was nice, but he had far understated how wonderful it really was. This house was amazing. It looked like a life-sized doll house. It was a beautiful two story Mediterranean style home that had four bedrooms and six bathrooms. Outside was a covered terrace and a sun deck that overlooked the gorgeous swimming pool.

My mind flashed to the thought of how many different swimsuits I could wear while laying out by the pool and getting a tan. I had a mild obsession with swimsuits, sort of like how some girls collected shoes. The swimming pool and the whole outside area had me distracted. The backyard was like a stand-alone house with a bar and its own kitchen. Billy said that he loves to cook out here and Jeromy and he made plans to grill steaks for dinner tonight and then we made our way back inside the house. I shrugged off my disappointment at having to leave what would no doubt be the favorite area of my new home to continue the tour.

Off to the side of the house on the first floor was what was at one time the media room, but Billy had converted it into a private studio where he and his band often rehearsed. I wondered how he got away with that, in such a fancy neighborhood, but it turns out with the doors shut, the room was completely sound proof. It was a large room, easily bigger than two normal sized bedrooms put together.

“This is where I spend most of my time,” Billy said as he showed us around his studio.

Next we went into the living room. We had glossed past it when we first came into the house. But now, giving it more than just the once over I realized how beautiful the room really was. It was very open and spacious and all of the furniture was turned to focus on the huge marble fireplace in the center of the room, flanked by oversized, built-in bookcases.

The house was immaculate. Everything was perfectly in its place. In some way it made me feel like we were visiting a museum, so much so that I was actually afraid to touch anything.

As we worked our way up the stairs we came to our bedroom. “It will be private here. Nobody ever comes up stairs except the maid,” Billy said while giving Jeromy a sort of
nudge, nudge, wink, wink
grin.

The bedroom was magnificent. It was really less of a bedroom and more of a suite, with a private sitting area and our own fireplace and a bathroom that looked more like a fancy showroom. It quite honestly looked like it had been done up by one of those design shows on HGTV. This bathroom was spectacular and no detail was left untouched from the seamless shower with dual shower heads that hung from above to the double granite counter tops. It was a beautiful room which I could have lived in and been perfectly happy.

The bathroom had an extra door and I was left utterly speechless as I went to open it. The door opened up into another room altogether. It was the size of a normal bedroom but it was a closet. It was the biggest closet I had ever seen in my entire life and it was all mine. I felt like I was living in a dream.

Billy picked up a remote that had been sitting on one of the custom designed tables, pushed a button and something started moving. “That’s for your shoes Stacy,” he said with a grin on his face.
Wow, I had my very own rotating shoe rack.
I truly did not know what to say. I was beaming.

“Okay, you boys can go play now, I’ll be fine in here,” I teased as I pushed them out the door of my new closet.

While Jeromy and Billy went off to get caught up on old times, I spent some time unpacking our clothes and putting them away in our enormous closet. I wasn’t a big fan of unpacking, but then again who was? However it almost seemed worth it, to have an excuse to get to spend time in my fabulous new closet.

Exhausted from the excitement of the move, I soon found myself unable to resist taking a nap. So after a quick shower I plopped down on our new bed. It was so comfortable. My body luxuriated in the soft Egyptian cotton sheets and I fell asleep the second my head hit the oversized, overstuffed pillows.

I had gotten at least an hour of sleep before Jeromy sat on the bed beside me and woke me up. He gently nudged me. “Stacy, are you awake?” I looked up at him groggily and then gave him a half smile.

“What do you think about going out? Billy’s band is playing tonight and I thought maybe you would want to go and meet the rest of the gang.”

I pulled his face down to mine and kissed him. “Sure. That sounds good to me.” I kissed Jeromy again and then stroked his arm as he moved his lips to my neck. I closed my eyes as he lightly ran his tongue up my throat. My heart sped at his touch and I moaned lightly.

But then I heard a soft tap at the door. “You guys ready?”

Jeromy jumped up and I quickly looked down to make sure I was still fully dressed. When Jeromy was around my clothes had a way of disappearing. Jeromy opened the door slightly and Billy cocked his head charmingly to the side as he checked me out as I laid on the bed. I pulled the bedspread over my body.

“Yeah, man, give us a minute,” Jeromy told him as he grabbed the door. “Stacy will need a few girlie minutes, if you don’t mind.”

Billy gave a light chuckle and told us to take our time; that we still had another hour before we had to leave. I jumped up and went to my new luxuriously large closet to try and find something to wear. I started to feel nervous.
What do people in this city wear
? My clothes suddenly felt so plain and boring. I wished I had taken Jeromy up on his offer of a shopping spree before we left Oklahoma. I sighed and grabbed a simple black dress out of the closet and some matching black platform heels.

I put on some makeup and did my best to fix my hair. I worried what the others would think of me. I know I shouldn’t, but it’s hard not to sometimes. I stared at myself in the mirror and I could feel the anxiety start to set in.
What was wrong with me tonight? What do I even care what the people I don’t even know think of me?

I put some glitter above my eyes and then across my chest and I walked back into the bedroom where Jeromy was patiently waiting. I went over and stood in between his legs and leaned in to kiss him. Then he stood up, took me by the hand, and led me downstairs where Billy was waiting for us. He greeted us with a huge smile on his face as we came down hand in hand.

Billy eyed me up and down, locking his gaze on my face. “Well, don’t you clean up nice?”

I reached up and touched my hair.
Oh God, did I really look that bad before?
I could feel heat filling my cheeks. I gave Billy a smile and then put my head back down as Jeromy led me to the car.

When we got outside I noticed his familiar Hummer wasn’t in the driveway. I looked up at him curiously. I had just assumed that Jeromy had shipped his precious Hummer down with the rest of our belongings, but much to my surprise sitting in the driveway was a completely different car. For a moment I thought his Hummer hadn’t arrived and this was just one of Billy’s cars, but instead he said, “What do you think of your new car Stacy?”

“What?” What did he mean,
my
new car? This I loved. It was an actual car, unlike the monster he drives. This is a white convertible BMW with black leather interior. It was a beautiful sight. But I didn’t understand what he was saying to me.

I looked up at Jeromy with a confused look on my face. He bent down and kissed my forehead and handed me the keys, his eyes were sparkling with excitement. “I bought this for you. A housewarming gift.”

I felt tears forming in my eyes as I jumped into his arms. I couldn’t believe he had bought me such an extravagant gift. I wanted to protest but I knew Jeromy, it would do no good. He gives and he gives. That’s just his way ... his wonderful, wonderful way. It was as if he derived his own happiness from the joy he brought to others. I loved that about Jeromy, but sometimes he was so kind and so unbelievable, it made me feel like I wasn’t worthy of all that he gives me. He just gives me so much and it makes me wonder what I ever did to deserve someone as absolutely perfect as he is. But when those insecurities came creeping in I did my best to push them aside as quickly as possible, like right now. Today isn’t a day to question our relationship; it’s a day to celebrate all that I have with him.

Jeromy lifted me up and hugged me tightly. When he sat me back down on the ground he grabbed the keys and playfully said, “But tonight I’m driving.” We got into the car and followed Billy to the bar.