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“You’re talking to the Fire?” She frowned, confused. “I thought you were retiring.”
“I am. I did. However, your boss suggested otherwise.”
Her boss? She blinked. “Robert?”
“Hailey Allen. She is your boss, correct?”
“Yes.” Her stomach dropped the rest of the way, and the nausea rose up her gorge. “What did Hailey do?”
“She told Brad that she wanted to set up a dinner to talk about what you can do for me,” Jamie said, his voice ice.
Oh my gosh—Hailey talked toJamie’s agent? “I—”
“Is that what I should expect?” he continued. “She said you’ll take care of me really well.”
The accusation in his words hurt, which showed her how hurthewas, because if there was something she knew, it was that Jamie would never be deliberately mean. “Jamie, there’s been a big mistake. You know I’ve been working my butt off to earn this promotion.”
“Apparently your boss counts the hours you’ve been putting in at night in bed with me.”
Ouch.She winced. “That’s not true.”
“Rachel, open your eyes,” he said, raising his voice. “They gave you the promotion the day you were caught kissing me. They don’t care how good you are at your job. They only care about the big names you’ll have access to by being in my company. Imagine it. They could have not only me, but Didier and Erik, and whoever else they know. It’s success by association.”
“I would never use you that way,” she said, horrified that he’d even think that.
“No? Did you accept the promotion?”
His voice was like a whip, and she recoiled. “I did. But I didn’t know this was the reason I got it. I only just saw the article and the picture of us kissing.”
There was silence on the other end of the line. Then, sounding defeated, he said, “I want to believe you, but I’m too upset and overwhelmed.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said again.
“Are you going to turn down the promotion if it’s true that they gave it to you because of me?”
She stopped cold, sputtering in surprise. They couldn’t haveonlygiven it to her because of him. She’d worked so hard… “I need to find out what happened.”
“That’s what I thought.”
The finality in his voice made her panic. “Jamie, I—”
“What word do you give us?” he asked out of the blue.
She blinked, caught by surprise. “What?”
“You told me once that you gave you and your ex a word, but the word didn’t work because you weren’t on the same page. So what’s our word?”
“Believe,” she replied, saying the first thing that came to her mind.
“That’s the thing, Rachel. I’m not sure we believe in the same thing,” he said in a monotone. “Goodbye, Rachel.”
“Ja—”
He hung up.
“Oh no,” she murmured, staring at her phone. Should she call him back? Would he pick up if she did? “Oh no, oh no.”
“Sweetheart.” Her grandma put a hand on her back. “Are you hyperventilating?”
