Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 131459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
She then launched in.
“My wonderful watchers, do I have news for you! The match of the century! I would have never dreamt it in all my wildest imaginings, and my imaginings can veer to the wild. I’ll be quiet for once and just show you this majesty.”
A picture came onscreen of Tom and Mika standing outside the Hermosa Inn after they’d had dinner at Lon’s.
She was wearing an edgy black top with one shoulder covered, a sharp angle cut along her left collarbone so the other shoulder was bare. She’d paired this with army pants that she’d rolled the hem into a high cuff. On her feet were Sophia Webster four-inch stiletto sandals, replete with a butterfly at the back of the heel, a thin ankle strap, and a black butterfly vein pattern, filled with soft pastel colors from blue to green to pink to yellow.
Tom was in dark jeans, a white shirt, a linen blazer and fawn suede loafers.
She was leaning her front into his side, both her hands clasping one of his, her head tipped back, her glorious hair tumbling down almost to her waist.
He was, probably, watching the valet pull up his car, but he had a small smile on his face at whatever she’d said.
Mika had eyes to his profile and was smiling radiantly, lots of teeth.
The screen returned to Elsa.
“Oh my God, wonderful watchers! Do we love beautiful couples coming together beautifully, or what? Don’t answer that. We do!”
She leaned toward the camera.
“I can’t even begin to tell you how beside myself I am at this pairing. We have been waiting with bated breath for what has felt like forever for the fantabulous Mika Stowe to finally find a man worthy of her, and here we are! None other than the handsome, talented champion, Dr. Tom Pierce. Oh, this is such fabulous news. I cannot wait to see what happens next!”
Mika touched the screen and said, “She goes on to gab about someone else.”
Tom sat back and took a drink.
Yes, the color left a lot to be desired, but it was damned tasty.
That wasn’t the only reason he took another healthy sip.
“You’re hardly a stranger to attention, Tom,” Nora drawled, watching him closely over the top of her glass.
“It’s still annoying,” he replied.
“Utterly,” Mika grumbled.
He turned to her.
She did not look happy.
“It’ll be a story for a while, honey. And then she’ll be on to someone new,” he assured.
“Uh, not to be a downer, or to contradict you, Tom,” Cadence said carefully, and he shifted his attention to her to see she was scrolling on her phone. “But it looks like Elsa has a fascination with your family. Your names are in like, a lot of the titles of her episodes.”
“I’m a minor player,” he shared.
“Mika isn’t,” Nora informed him, and he saw she again had her eyes pinned to him.
“I can assure you I’m used to being with a woman far more famous than me,” he reminded her. “And it isn’t an issue in the slightest.”
She lifted her eyebrows and tipped her head to the side, nonverbally conceding the point.
Mika’s question brought his attention to her.
“Are you okay with this?” she asked.
She looked worried.
“Am I having dinner with you and your daughter and your best friend?” he asked in return.
Her face cracked with the start of a smile. “Yes.”
“Then…yes.”
She pushed into him and touched his lips with hers.
When she settled again into the couch, he did too, and looked to Nora.
“You do know after this”—he raised his drink to her—“that you’re on cocktail duty any time we’re together.”
“I will accept that appointment with alacrity, sir,” she replied.
Tom grinned.
“We made chicken mole, Tom. Do you like Mexican food?” Cadence asked.
He stared at her. “You made mole?”
She nodded.
“From scratch?”
She nodded more enthusiastically.
“Can’t wait, honey,” he said.
She beamed.
Christ, what a great kid.
She then jumped up, sloshing her cocktail in its glass. “Oh no! We forgot the guac appetizer. I’ll go get it.”
With that, she put down her glass and raced from the room.
“You got a great kid, baby,” he murmured his earlier thought to Mika.
“Totally know that, my handsome man,” Mika replied.
“I’ve decided to plot my jealous revenge,” Nora shared.
Mika and Tom laughed.
Cadence came back with the guacamole and chips.
They munched, talked, drank, with Mika and Cadence infrequently heading to the kitchen to check on things.
The Winston/Core Point situation came up, and as Mika knew, but Tom briefed Cadence and Nora, Jamie’s investigator was digging into it. She liked to be thorough but doing that took time.
So they were in a holding pattern.
They were getting ready to move to the dining room when his phone vibrated against his ass.
He pulled it out, looked at it, and the screen told him Paloma was calling.
Not a word from her since he ended it via voicemail. It had been weeks.
His guess, she’d seen the Elsa thing.