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)
Yes.
I was up to my neck in this, damn it.
“We gonna try to be friends, honey?” he asked quietly.
Up to my neck, treading fast, going under.
And the water felt warm and inviting.
“I’d like to give it a go, Tom.”
“I would too,” he whispered.
Did it get dusty in my bedroom suddenly?
“I’ll text you,” he said.
“Perfect,” I replied.
“I’ll make you dinner.”
Oh God.
I wanted that too.
A lot.
I cleared my throat. “Okay, that sounds great.”
“I have to call Genny. I’ll get in touch soon.”
“Awesome, and good luck, Tom. I hope you guys figure it out. Especially for Sasha. It isn’t a good feeling, being aimless.”
“Have you been there?”
“Yes. My whole life growing up. But the minute I took off, the minute I hit New York City at age eighteen, I figured it out.”
“I’d like to hear that story.”
It was ridiculous, and terrifying, how much I wanted to tell him.
“I’ll give it to you over dinner.”
“Right. See you soon.”
“You will. See you, Tom. And thanks for being cool about me not being cool.”
“Thanks for giving me a second chance.”
“I think that’s going to be my pleasure.”
“Figure that will be mutual. ’Bye, Mika.”
“Later, Tom.”
I hung up.
I smiled at my phone.
I jumped out of my skin when Nora drawled, “See? That wasn’t so hard.”
I peered around my chair to look at my friend who was leaning in another doorjamb.
Mine.
“Jesus, have you been eavesdropping?” I demanded.
She drifted a reloaded martini glass out to her side. “Of course.”
“Don’t do that,” I ordered.
“Lord, do you not know me? I left my island. I’m”—she cast a glance with just a hint of a curl to her lip around my room—“here. Your house is lovely. I’m getting very Star Is Born vibes, the good version. And you know how much I love Barbra. Nevertheless, it’s thousands of miles away from Bergdorfs. I nearly got cold feet and demanded the pilot turn back, but then I looked it up and they have a Neimans and Saks here, and a standalone Dior in some mall, so I decided to brave the Wild West. Nevertheless, I didn’t come out here for my health. I have a mission. And I never fall down when there’s a mission.”
“Tom and I have decided we’re going to try the friend thing. It’s all good. You can stand down and I’ll book us into a spa.”
“There is the small matter of Paloma,” she noted, gliding in and delicately resting her slim ass on the ottoman at my feet.
“Obviously, he likes her. Maybe she’s changed.”
“And maybe I’ll again get into a size seven shoe, after carrying my progeny laid waste to my feet. However, a plastic surgeon can rejuvenate only so much. I’ve availed myself of all the magic to be had in that arena, and as for the rest, I must live with the consequences of my actions. I sense Paloma Friedrichsen is the same as my big fat feet.”
“Nora—”
She cut me off.
“Relax. Mother knows what she’s doing. I’m like a cat. My attack is soft and subtle, though the scratch is horribly painful and bloody, of course. And when I’m in stealth mode, which I am, no one will even know it was me behind it.”
“Did you just say ‘stealth mode’?”
She ignored that.
“I also have a variety of reports in on this situation, such is the desire for people to spill the tea on Paloma. She’s a walking, breathing, venom-carrying example of why you don’t shit where you live. She’s hated on five continents. And the word is, Tom and she are not serious. If a label has to be slapped on them, they’re fuck buddies.”
I felt my heart leap.
“Seriously?”
Nora nodded. “I have it from no less than six sources. That said, Paloma wants more. Tom is one of the few men around of his looks, wealth, fame and stature who’s available and who’ll date an age-appropriate woman because he has scruples and honor. She’s fading and fast. Apparently, before Tom she went after Ned Sharp. He took what was offered, then discarded her like the trash she is. Rumors swirling were that he fucked her once and was not moved to go for seconds. So he’s out. Unless she goes after Jamie Oakley, who apparently detests her for reasons I cannot wait to find out, Tom’s her last and only hope.” She leaned toward me and there was a very serious look on her face when she finished, “And she knows it.”
“That sounded sinister,” I whispered.
“Did you miss the venom-carrying part of what I said?”
I was beginning to feel very not good about this.
“I found out about her and my husband,” she went on. “And then Roland ended it with her. We stitched our marriage back together and part of that was practicing extreme honesty. It would later come to light our marriage counselor was a quack, but that’s beside the point. Roland’s extreme honesty included him griping about how difficult it was to scrape her off. Pretty tears and pouty tantrums and avowals of love, which soon became threats and attempted bribery. That in the form of outright demands for money, or she’d talk to some journalist or other and let it be known to society that he was a cheat, and I couldn’t keep my man faithful. Roland eventually shared with her that half the men of his set were fucking around on their wives, and if she did that, she’d never get another Cartier bracelet again. She quieted down and went away. But one must wonder what a desperate woman could get up to.”