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)
He ignored the call and did as he was told, that being to stay put while Mika and Cadence made the finishing touches on dinner and opened wine.
His phone vibrated again before they were called into the dining room.
He pulled it out to turn it off as Nora said, “You should take it. She won’t leave you alone.”
He lifted his eyes to hers. “Sorry?”
“Paloma,” she stated. “My ex was involved with her, before we were exes.”
Another indication he chose very poorly with Paloma.
Tom sat still and stared.
“She’s difficult.”
“We’re no longer together,” he reminded her.
“Difficult, sadly, does not have an expiration date, nor, as my ex-husband discovered, boundaries.” She rose. “I’ll make sure the appropriate amount of wine is poured. Sally in whenever you’re finished dealing with her.”
“I’m sorry about”—she stopped moving when he started talking—“your ex.”
“I see you’re concerned about your choice. Don’t be. Men, as well as women, feel fools when they’re defrauded. It’s one of the things grifters count on when they’re grifting people, hoping your embarrassment will keep you silent. But you did nothing any normal person wouldn’t do. You had a relationship with an attractive woman you were attracted to. It was she who lied and deceived. The world would be a much more just place if victims got beyond being victimized and put the onus of guilt on the ones who actually committed the crimes.”
Delivering that, she swanned off.
His phone had gone silent, but it rang again.
He’d tried to get hold of her for weeks, she’d avoided him.
She wanted him, she called three times in a row.
Jaw set, he answered it.
“Paloma.”
“You fucking dick.”
Tom said nothing, and not because he’d never heard her sound like that, or what she said.
Simply, he had nothing to say.
“Are you fucking kidding me, replacing me with Mika Stowe?”
He did not explain how he felt about the word “replacing.”
He pointed out, “We’re no longer together.”
“Because you broke up with me on a fucking voicemail.”
“I asked you to talk, and I didn’t do that just once, Paloma.”
Considering she had no worthwhile reply, she went with, “You fucking asshole.”
“I think we’re done,” he said.
He didn’t request she not call again because he intended to block her the instant he disconnected the call.
“Oh no you don’t, motherfucker. And we’re not done. Not by a long fucking shot.”
He wasn’t sure he’d heard her say fuck once the entire time they were together.
A grift.
He’d been grifted.
It didn’t feel good.
But it was over, so he didn’t allow it to feel much of anything.
She hung up.
Tom blocked her.
He did not like her parting message.
However, he had chicken mole to eat in good company.
So he didn’t give it much thought.
* * *
“Well, shit.”
They were in bed.
He very much liked Mika’s bed.
In fact, Cadence had given him a tour while Nora and Mika sat outside under the stars drinking more wine, so he knew now he liked the whole house.
Mika was wearing a matching cami and some loose sleep shorts, her hair pulled up in a big pony at the top of her head.
He was in pajama bottoms.
He was also stretched out, head to a tall stack of her pillows, arms crossed behind his head.
She was cross-legged beside him.
And he’d just told her about Paloma.
“What can she do?” he asked in an effort to reassure her, because Paloma couldn’t do much.
She lived thousands of miles away from him.
They had some acquaintances but didn’t really run in the same circles.
He had never become close enough to share anything deep with her.
And according to Jamie, she didn’t have a lot of friends.
He’d belatedly noticed that about her.
There was no Nora for her. Nor anyone like Mika’s Teddy, who was Mika’s PA, but more, Teddy was her friend.
Mika talked fondly, even lovingly, about others in her life. Those she’d lost, like Eleanor. And those she still had, like Lyra Upton, the lead guitar and singer of Rollo’s band, the Pissed-Off Hippies. Then there was Stella Gunn of the Blue Moon Gypsies, Henry Gagnon, the famous photographer, and Pearl Bazer, fashion icon.
Her life was full, including full of people.
Paloma had talked a good game, but she’d never asked him to a party with her friends, or out to dinner…with her friends. People were polite to her face, but he’d never seen anyone react to her with any real warmth.
Of course, it was all clear now.
Then, it wasn’t that he didn’t notice.
It was that he didn’t care.
“I don’t know, but I’ve…heard things.”
Mika didn’t elaborate because she was trying to protect him.
“Nora told me about Paloma and her ex.”
She looked surprised. “Really?”
“She didn’t go into detail. But Jamie had a few things to share about her too. We weren’t that close. We weren’t anything, but…” He trailed off.
She grinned. “Fuck buddies.”
He grinned back. “Yes.” He took a hand from behind his head and squeezed her knee. “Are you okay with that?”