Page 47 of Embracing the Change

He loved me (he said that too!).

So what in the hell was going on?

On that thought, I engaged my phone in order to call in assistance.

Mika answered on the third ring with the quip, “I see my forty-eight hours of Nora purgatory is up.”

“I think I’m Jamie’s girlfriend,” I blurted.

“What?” she shrieked in delight.

Yes, Mika Stowe, coolest woman on the planet (and that wasn’t my title for her, it was many others, though I agreed with it) shrieked with delight.

“Don’t get excited,” I cautioned.

“How could I not be excited? I knew it! Hey!” she cried suddenly. I heard what seemed to be skin slapping against skin. And then, “Stop that! Te?—”

There were jostling noises and then I had Teddy’s voice. “Nora, darling, we must speak.”

“Give that back!” I heard Mika shout.

“What’s going on?” I asked Teddy.

“Do you know that Paloma is seeing AJ Oakley?”

My stomach took a dive.

“Seeing?” I asked.

“Seeing,” he confirmed.

“I saw them at an event together some time ago, but?—”

“Well, he’s?—”

Teddy didn’t finish because Mika was back. “Talk to me about this being-Jamie’s-girlfriend business.”

“We already know she’s his girlfriend,” Teddy stated in the background, then demanded, “Hand me the phone.”

“No, this is more important,” Mika refused Teddy.

“You don’t deal with catty bitches enough,” Teddy’s voice retorted. “When they’re making moves, that takes priority over everything.”

I was in the unfortunate position I couldn’t agree or disagree.

Everything seemed to be a priority.

“Mika,” I said commandingly. “Tell Teddy I’ll talk to him in a second.”

“Nora says she’ll talk to you after she talks to me,” Mika said to Teddy. Then to me, she said, “He’s pouting, but I’m back.”

“All right, I should be up top, mixing Jamie a cocktail right now, so I don’t have a lot of time,” I began.

Then I ran it down as quickly as I could.

All of it.

Jamie answering my phone, then seizing it when Roland called. His “You’re mine/I take care of those I love” speech at breakfast the morning before. His confusing comment of “as I’ll allow myself to have you.” His extreme agitation that Roland was pestering me. The whole spiel about Belinda and my Vogue-style society page shot and the rest of it. And last, there was the entirety of that mind mess, yet no kissing, touching or making love, but there was a lot of our usual getting on swimmingly with each other.

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