Page 149 of Embracing the Change

They moved into the elevator as Dru warned, “Don’t get excited. Everyone wants to be on this tour. It’s going to be huge, and they’ll have dates all over the world.”

This didn’t thrill him. Some of those tours lasted a year, or even longer.

But it’d be a huge coup for his daughter. It’d be tough work. But Dru loved to travel, so she’d not only see more of the world, she’d do it being able to network extensively in her chosen field.

“It’s good you don’t go in cocky so you’ll make an effort,” he said after hitting the button for the lobby. “That means you’ll go for it. But I can know you’ll get it even before you show up.”

She rolled her eyes.

Jamie kept grinning.

They hit the lobby, got in the car, and Vincent dropped Jamie first, so he didn’t have the opportunity to call Nora and share all the news before he had to meet his lunch partner.

And luckily, New York traffic cooperated, so he was only a few minutes late.

Jamie was walking across the lobby of Nora’s building when his phone vibrated with a text.

He hit the button for the elevator, then pulled out his cell.

Elsa.

The Lynch thing is dead. I’ll keep my ear to the ground if he’s shopping it around. My friend’s pissed they were duped, so she said she would too. I’ll be in touch if I hear anything.

He considered asking her to ask her friend if AJ, Roland or Paloma was involved in any of that mess, but decided to let Kateri do her work and ferret it out.

Thus, he returned, Means a lot. Owe you one.

He was in the elevator, and it was going up, when she returned, No markers in family.

So Jamie was smiling when he got off the elevator.

Alyona had the door open, and he aimed his smile at her.

She returned it and said, “Good evening, Mister Jamie.”

He walked into the apartment and turned to watch her close the door.

When he caught her eyes, he said, “Nora told me you’re coming with us to the brownstone.”

She nodded.

“Then we’re going to know each other for a long time, Alyona, and as such, I’d like to invite you to just call me Jamie.”

That earned him another smile before she replied, “Okay…Jamie.”

He winked at her and asked, “Where’s Nora?”

“Study, and warning, she’s in a bad mood.”

This was concerning, but he didn’t ask Alyona about it.

He went to find his woman so he could ask her, then do something about it.

He found Nora seated behind the desk, and he thought he discovered why she was in a bad mood, because, strewn over it were large diagrams which were obviously seating charts.

She turned her head to look up at him when he arrived, her foul mood undisguised even as she greeted, “Welcome home, darling.”

Jamie moved to her and put a hand to her charts to brace himself as he bent low to kiss her.

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