Chapter 22
With Jeremy at practice and nothing for me to do, and more importantly, it being Sunday, I took Chloe to the park Nadia had told me about. We headed for the fenced-off small section until I could trust Chloe with her recall. Nadia waved when she saw me and brought her beagle, Misty, with her to play with Chloe and a few other dogs in the fenced area.
“So glad you could make it,” she said.
Chloe and Misty immediately recognized each other and ran off chasing each other. That gave me a chance to chat more with Nadia. I was trying to find ways to make friends, and maybe she would be the first one.
“I’m not going to lie, but my husband wouldn’t stop talking about you and your boyfriend on the way home. He said he’s never met a Kodiak before.”
“Oh, that,” I said with a laugh. “You know, I can get you tickets anytime. I work for the Kodiaks.”
Nadia’s light brown eyes lit up. “You do?”
“In PR. That’s how I met Jeremy.”
“He’s a hottie, but don’t tell Brett I said that.”
“My lips are sealed. What do you do?”
“I’m a real estate agent. Brett is a dentist.”
“He could come in handy for Jeremy.”
We lost all track of time while we chatted. The fact it wasn’t raining helped. She was twenty-nine and had lived in Vancouver all her life. She’d met Brett when he moved from out east and was looking for a place eight years ago. They’d been married two years, and Brett was a hockey fan and so was Nadia, although not nearly as fanatical as Brett.
“I shouldn’t ask, but I’m nosey,” Nadia said. “Were you dating him when the video came out of him with his teammate’s wife?”
Her question caught me off guard. It was nosey and completely inappropriate. In fact, it pissed me off a little. I thought to tell her that but wondered what either Tangi or Wolseley would do. Tangi would politely tell Nadia she didn’t want to talk about it. Wolseley would be too nice about it. I decided to go with neither approach.
“Why are you asking?”
My question then put her on the spot. That was something Eli had taught me. When you didn’t like a question, you followed it up with another question.
“I know, it’s none of my business. I shouldn’t have asked. I’m sorry. That was out of bounds. I guess when I think of public figures, I wrongly assume their personal lives are also public.”
“No problem. Chloe, come!” Yup. This was shitty. I thought I could like Nadia, but her question had crossed so many lines. “We need to get going,” I said as pleasantly as possible, but I knew it was coming off as fake.
“I hope you’re not leaving because I was being an ass. I do apologize.”
“No, not at all,” I lied. “I have a busy afternoon.”
I hated cutting Chloe’s playtime short, but everything about Nadia left me feeling gross. Jeremy and I were not her gossip fodder, and it seemed that she thought otherwise. My mission was to protect his image, and I intended to do that.
I thought to tell Tangi and Wolseley about what had happened with Nadia, the person I thought I’d formed a friendship with, but I felt stupid that I’d fallen for it. Fallen for what? I wasn’t sure. Her fake friendship? Her nosiness? I had no idea, but it bothered me all day to the point that I sulked around the apartment. The only thing I did was warm up leftovers, take Chloe out a few times, and sulk.
I did watch the Kodiaks win their game, so that was a bright spot. I must have fallen asleep on the sofa with Chloe soon after the game ended because we both jumped when Jeremy returned to the condo. Chloe leapt off the sofa to greet him with kisses and a wagging tail, and before I could say a word, he had her leash and harness on and was taking her out for a final bathroom break.
I got into my T-shirt and pajama shorts and was going to head to bed, but I waited for them to return, still annoyed by what Nadia had asked.
“You’re still up?” he asked when he got back to the condo.
“I’m annoyed.”
“With me?” he asked with surprise.
“No, no,” I said, shaking my head.
“Tell me what’s going on,” he said, hanging up his coat. He was dressed in his suit still, so I told him to go change. My story wasn’t exactly riveting. He changed into a T-shirt and sweats and hung out with me and Chloe on the sofa. “All right, spill.”
I groaned and covered my face with my hands. “Remember Nadia and her husband? They had the beagle?”
“Right. From yesterday.”
“I did that dog park meetup today. She and I got chatting, and all of a sudden, she asks me if we were dating when the Orla video came out.”
Jeremy’s face soured, and I knew then that I hadn’t overreacted. “She asked you that?” he said slowly.
“Yup. I got so pissed off. I think she knew it. She tried to apologize, but I got the hell out of there. Here I thought she was normal and that maybe I had made a new friend. Am I overreacting?”
Jeremy’s jaw clenched, and I was sure he was gritting his teeth. He shook his head slowly and sighed. “No, you’re not, and she’s an asshole. But maybe she’s also not very bright and says things before thinking about them.”
“If so, is that the kind of friend I want?”
“Do you need her as a friend? It sounds like you have two amazing friends.”
I rolled my eyes. He didn’t understand. He had a million friends. Sure, maybe they weren’t best friends, but he still had tons of them. I had two, and one lived far away. “It’s different for you,” I said, refusing to feel sorry for myself. “Everyone likes you. Unless you’re kissing a teammate’s wife, but even then, they still like you. Nadia’s husband was falling all over you.”
He blinked a few times in confusion. “People like you too.”
“They don’t. Not enough to want to be friends. Wolseley and Tangi are the only two people who’ve wanted to be friends. Even in college, friends were fleeting. I just don’t connect with people in anything more than a superficial way or maybe as acquaintances. Even my own parents don’t like me.”
He seemed so discombobulated. “But we are friends.”
I huffed. “Come on, you didn’t want to be friends.”
“Why does that matter? We are friends now.”
I turned away because tears were stinging my eyes. “I hate feeling sorry for myself. Look, let’s not pretend here. Once this fake engagement is up, we won’t be friends anymore. I know that. You know that.”
He tilted his head at me, his mouth hanging open just a little. “I don’t know that. And why would that be true? We’ll still hang out. You’re in my circle of friends now. That’s not going to change.”
He was being sweet, and maybe he thought he was being sincere. “I should go to bed,” I said, dismissing everything he was saying. It was nice of him to try to make me feel better, but it wasn’t working.
He grabbed my hand before I could make my escape. “Nope. You don’t get to leave like this. You’re upset.”
“I’ll be fine. I’ll sleep on it.”
But he didn’t let go. “Sit down.”
I dutifully did but still sulked. I didn’t normally feel sorry for myself for long, and usually got over it by either shutting the world out or having a good cry alone. But Jeremy wasn’t going to let me do either.
“First, can we agree that Nadia was a bozo? Here is my take. She got really comfortable with you and thought she could ask a totally shitty question. That’s on her, but you know what? I think she likes you. Unfortunately, now you can’t trust her, and that’s okay. She’s not the right friend for you. You move on. No big deal.”
I pursed my lips and let the words sink in. “I guess so.”
“Second, when this whole fake engagement is over, I still want to be friends and hang out with you, because you’re awesome. And we share a dog. We have a link to each other. I’m not going anywhere. Don’t even try to get rid of me.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from crying. “You’re right. I know that.”
“Good.”
He leaned in to kiss me, surprising us both, but I loved his kisses, not that I’d ever admit it to him.
“I have to stop doing that,” he said, after breaking the kiss.
“I really don’t mind,” I said, the words coming out before I had time to process them.
He looked into my eyes and it was electric. My heart picked up beats and he kissed me again. I leaned into it more, and he pulled me close. Did I want to do this? Was I ready for it? My brain was screaming no, but my body wanted him. It felt so good to be so close to someone again.
“Nope,” he said, pulling away again. “You’re upset. This isn’t right.” He jumped to his feet. “I’m going to bed.”
And that’s how he left me. Sitting there on the sofa with an equally confused Chloe.
I had to admit that having Chloe sleep with me was the best sleeping pill, because after what had happened with Jeremy, my brain was a mess. After getting up the next morning fully rested, I took Chloe for a walk to clear my head, get some exercise, and enjoy the fresh rain-free air. We got back and Jeremy’s door was still closed. I figured he’d be getting up soon, and I really didn’t want to have to discuss the night before, or worse, be awkward about it, so I quickly fed Chloe, took a shower, and got ready, leaving him a note that I’d walked and fed the dog.
Luckily, I was gone before he got up. I decided to walk to work. I had my sneakers on, and took in several deep breaths as I made my way there. Back home it had already snowed, but here, in November, while there was a definite chill in the air, I wasn’t going to need winter boots anytime soon. Maybe never. I couldn’t wrap my head around only needing sneakers.
I got to the office and saw the staff putting up Christmas decorations. Right. It was less than six weeks away. Where had the time gone? I guess I’d been too busy to notice it flying by. I’d barely entered the office and was putting on my black pumps when Whitney came in, her face more gaunt than normal. The woman needed to see the sun, but then again, the sun came out so rarely.
“Andy Michaels from the Tribune called. He wants you to call him back. I tried to get out of him what he wanted, you know, to put out a fire if I could. He was reluctant at first, but I pushed.”
“Am I going to need a lot of coffee to deal with this?”
“Maybe. He said it was about Orla Donnelly.”
Shit. “Okay. I’ll call him now.”
“I’ll get the coffee.”
She left, closing the door behind her. I grabbed the phone and dialed Andy’s number. He’d been one of the first reporters to come through for me when the whole debacle with Lex being suspended broke. We had a good relationship, so if he was calling, I had a feeling it wasn’t with good news.
“Hey, Andy. Jill Bowman here.”
“Jill, thanks for calling me back. How are you doing?”
“Good. And you?” He sounded pleasant, so that was a good sign.
“I’m good too, but I have some news.”
Double shit. “Do tell.”
“I’m not sure if you’re aware that Orla Donnelly is back in town.”
“I didn’t know,” I said as pleasantly as possible. I certainly didn’t want him to think I knew.
“Yeah, she’s originally from here, so I’m guessing she wants to be with family and friends. Not sure. Anyway, it looks like she’s ready to talk.”
Triple shit!“About what?” I hated playing stupid, but I needed to know everything he knew, and the only way to do that was to ask questions that made me sound like an ignorant clown.
“It sounds like everything. Including her time with Vaughn.”
Quadruple shit would likely have someone in the hospital with intestinal issues, and right now, I was feeling sick. Whitney came in with my coffee, and my expression must have said it all. The time for playing the clown was certainly over. I needed to get down to business, and though I didn’t know Andy well, I knew he wanted to protect the Kodiaks, and by extension, that meant Jeremy.
“What do you know?”
“She’s got a sit-down with a colleague. It’s scheduled for next week. Get this: Orla has a publicity person. We’re going through him. She plans to tell it all, but I don’t know what she plans to say about Vaughn. It sounds like shes preparing an attack on the Kodiaks and is going to blame them for not helping Lex. I think her endgame is a book. I’ve heard rumors about a publishing deal.”
“Can you keep me updated?”
“With anything I can find out. I think she plans a hit piece.”
“Sounds that way. I appreciate the heads-up. I owe you one.”
We said our goodbyes, and I let my head fall to my desk. This was a mess.
“You okay?”
I lifted my head to look at Whitney. “We need an emergency meeting with Dave, Clay, our team, and anyone else we deem important. We are in for a fight.”