Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
“Belatedly, I’m seeing your point,” she mumbled.
“I’m sure you are,” I stated coldly.
“Maybe we can talk about this later.”
Oh, we’d talk about it later.
But only when I was ready.
“Much later,” I stressed.
“So why did you answer my call?” she inquired.
“I have a task for you to perform, and considering you owe me, you’re going to see to it before we return.”
“That task would be?”
“I want you to find out where Paloma Friedrichsen is the minute we make land after our excruciatingly slow tour of the Atlantic seaboard.”
Her tone was guarded when she asked, “Why would you want to know where Paloma is?”
“Because Roland called yesterday to impart his desire to discuss reconciliation.”
“Oh my God,” she whispered in a mixture of horror and wrath.
Obviously, she knew all about Roland, and she hated him slightly less than I did, and definitely less than Jamie did.
I went on like she didn’t speak, “And he shared with me, Paloma had told him that Jamie and I were through.”
“What is that woman up to?” Mika groused.
I went back to blending. “Why, fucking with me, of course.”
“Why?”
“Because she can’t get to you, and you stole her last chance at the delicious lifetime meal ticket that was Tom Pierce.”
“I knew she was bad, but I cannot wrap my head around any woman who did what she did to you having the sheer audacity to cloud your life again.”
“Your taste is far too good when it comes to the people you spend time with, case in point, me being your best friend,” I drawled.
“What a cow,” she muttered.
I had a different c-word I would use to refer to that woman, but I sadly had too much class to utter it.
“I’ll get Teddy on it,” Mika declared.
Perfect.
Indeed, with this reminder of her assistant, who I adored, I also realized I could enlist Teddy in devising and executing a flawless plan of vengeance against that silly…cow.
Once Teddy knew, he would live for that.
“I’ll let you go,” Mika finished.
“Farewell.”
“Wait. Nora?”
I picked up my tube of concealer. “I’m still here.”
“I didn’t know about the kiss.”
I sighed. “Allow me at least forty-eight hours after your traumatic betrayal before I’m forced to begin to entertain thoughts of forgiving you.”
I heard the humor in her, “Okay, I’ll allow that.”
And she would find it humorous, considering we both knew I’d forgive her.
Eventually.
“Goodbye, Mika.”
“Try to make the most of it, Nora.”
Impossible.
We rang off and I finished with my subtle, on-a-yacht makeup. With a curling iron, I then refreshed some of the waves in my hair that needed it, and did a half-up, half-down style. I spritzed on my perfume and donned my Ferragamo dress that was stark white with a pattern of a spread of oranges on the branch with leaves. It had cape sleeves, a plunging neckline and was completely backless (thank you, Dr. Fierstein, for my still perky breasts), with the added feature that the sleeves could come up to wrap around the neck to make the dress a halter and expose the arms.
I did not do this last.
I paired the dress with bronze, kitten-heeled slides, minimal gold jewelry, massive, black-framed sunglasses, and steeling myself for whatever was to come, I headed to the aft deck.
I found Jamie sitting at a table adorned with an extraordinary bouquet of fresh flowers. He was wearing khaki trousers and a blue button down I knew on sight would cause hot flashes with what it did to the color of his eyes.
Fortunately, he was wearing a handsome pair of Tom Ford sunglasses, something I saw when he heard me coming and turned my way. Unfortunately, those sunglasses swept me from top to toe to top again, and his beautiful lips formed a sexy smirk that instantly affected three very private places on my body.
“Good morning,” he rumbled.
The three affected areas were more affected at his rumble.
“It is?” I replied.
The sexy smirk turned into an even sexier bright white smile.
I stopped by the table and took in the silver coffee service, his half-full cup and opened laptop with papers strewn around, his attractive attaché that had files stuffed in it resting on one of the other chairs.
“You haven’t eaten?” I inquired.
“I was waiting for you.”
“That was unnecessary,” I remarked.
He pushed back his chair to get up. “Do you know me?”
I very much did.
He was a morning person, so he’d probably been up for hours, and further, was likely quite hungry.
But beating that, he was a down-to-his-bones gentleman.
Therefore, I didn’t reply.
I went to the buffet and made myself a plate that included lots of fruit, a spoonful of scrambled eggs, two rashers of bacon, and an almond croissant.
I liked food, and I partook of it at will.
Mother had instilled in me that you should always have whatever you wanted when you wanted it, “The key, dear, is careful moderation.”
My careful moderation differed from hers, which was why she had been a size six, and I was a size twelve, and would happily go up a size, if most of the designers I wore made clothes in it.