Wrapped Around My Finger

by Kristen Strassel

  She started painting again. “I think it’s a lot, all at once. That’s all. Two shows, and now you want to split your time between two cities? I’m thrilled for you, I really am, but I don’t see how you can possibly juggle everything.”

  I climbed off the ladder. It wasn’t the time to be hovering above the ground. “You’re not acting like you’re thrilled. Things change when you add someone new to your life. You know that.”

  “Just remember what happened the last time you put a man first.” Kari frowned. “You were miserable.”

  “Bullshit. I put Raven first.”

  “Okay. So you spend more time in Miami. How are you going to work on both shows? There’s only so many hours in the day. And then where does Raven factor in? Is she still first?”

  Raven thankfully had her earphones in and was oblivious to this conversation. Her accusations about Christmas were still a fresh wound. My hands shook, I was so pissed off. “She’s always first. And it’s important that I show her she can have anything she wants. A successful career and a loving relationship. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.”

  Kari softened. “You have the world in the palm of your hand. I don’t think you can see how huge this really is from the outside. I’m proud of you, Leah. You wanted this for so long. I don’t want to see you go on cruise control because someone’s telling you everything you want to hear.”

  “Don’t have to worry about that with you, do I?” Paint splashed when my roller hit the tray too hard.

  “Nope.” Kari didn’t take the hint. “I know Jagger’s not escorting anymore, but he’s used to a certain lifestyle. One that you’re not. He’s going to expect you to take care of him. That’s the type of thing I can see you falling into way too easily.”

  “Stop right there.” I leaned my paint roller against the wall and didn’t say anything else until she’d stopped painting. She’d gone way too far. This was my first serious relationship since Rich, which Kari also had plenty to say about, and most of the time, she’d been on point. Everyone was screaming at me and Jagger to stop, but we had no reason to listen. I glanced back at Raven. Nope, still no idea what was happening. Good. “You’re telling me I have to find a man who makes more money than me, who won’t bitch when I work all the time, lives in Washington, and you don’t want me to hire him. Do you want me to be a side piece for a politician? No thank you. I’ve looked for a man who treats me better than Jagger in this city. He doesn’t exist.”

  I could’ve pointed out that Reno hadn’t lifted a finger in this project, okaying everything I ran by him without asking any questions. I could be creating a home he hated. I was almost past the point of caring, but I didn’t give up that easily. I wouldn’t point it out because this wasn’t about who had the better boyfriend. This was about my best friend respecting my decisions.

  Kari put down her roller. “Come here.” She held out her arms in a hug and laughed when she wrapped her arms around me. “My hands are covered with paint. I didn’t get it on you. I’m glad you’re happy. But I’ve seen you when you aren’t. It broke my heart. I’m not sure either of us can handle that again.”

  Kari was not a hugger, so this was strange but actually comforting, even if she couldn’t put her hands on my back. “That’s a chance we have to take,” I said.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Jagger

  I’d been dying for Leah to come to Miami, but there was no way to prepare myself for the emptiness she left behind. I saw a different side of her that weekend. A woman who could let her guard down, who didn’t have to look over her shoulder before every kiss. The one who laughed in the sunshine and begged me to take her on a road trip on the back of my motorcycle. I needed more of that Leah, and so didn’t she.

  She jumped back into work as soon as she got home, like the whole thing never happened. Working even harder to make up for the lost time. Don’t get me wrong, I was proud of her. I couldn’t say I knew how hard it was to be creative at that level because I wasn’t able to achieve it. But every night, I watched the weight of those expectations crush her a little more.

  I didn’t want her to stop what she was doing. I didn’t begrudge her success—without that passion, I might have never fallen in love with her. I wanted her to give herself a chance to enjoy it.

  Without her here, I had nothing to do but figure out what the fuck was next. There was no such thing as a help wanted ad for a photographer job. One that paid any money. I had a decent portfolio, but my photography had been a passion project. It didn’t have any commercial value. I had no equipment other than my camera and even worse, no contacts in the industry.

  Besides Leah.

  She’d offered me my dream job. I wasn’t stupid enough to think anyone else would ever give me that kind of opportunity, but I never wanted her to think I was using her for the job. I also didn’t want us to make decisions about what we did in our personal lives based on the fact we worked together. If we fucked it up, we’d lose everything.

  If anybody but Leah had made the offer, I would’ve jumped on it. I was a fool to say no when the person I cared about more than anyone else in the world tried to give me what I wanted.

  I’d given her a dozen reasons why it wouldn’t work. I had to start thinking about how it could.

  “I’m wiped out,” Leah groaned as she adjusted herself in front of the computer screen, then gave me the slow smile that turned me to junk every time. “We’re spread so thin with the two shows. I’ve got most of the crew working on Second Chances because it’s priority now, so I recruited Raven and Kari to help me out with Reno’s project.”

  She’d barely taken a breath. I leaned into the screen, wishing I could break through and touch her, and get her to relax. “So you’re hiring.”

  It worked. She settled in, hugging the pillow she’d propped herself up on. “Are we ever. Although it’s nice to actually have my fingers in every part of a project again. I had to scrub paint off my hands tonight. I missed that. But there’s no way we can stay this short staffed.”

  “I’d like to talk to you about an available position.”

  “We need interns, but it’s the middle of the semester so we’re pretty screwed on that until summer. Diane’s been interviewing contractors....Wait a minute. Did you just say what I think you said?”

  “Yeah.”

  Leah clapped her hand over her mouth but it was too late. She’d already screamed loud enough that my neighbors might call the cops. Her eyes were huge and she shook with laughter. “No way. What made you change your mind?”

  “I was letting a bunch of shit that didn’t exist get in the way of what we both wanted.” I’d made the right decision. Leah was glowing.

  “Ma, are you okay?” Raven was blurry in the background. “I thought I heard you scream.”

  Leah turned to face her. “Yeah. Everything’s good. Jagger just gave me some really good news.”

  “Oh.” Raven’s sideways face came into view. She waved. “Hi, Jagger.”

  Thankfully I had clothes on. “Hey.”

  Leah came back into view. “So Hell is freezing over today. And I like it.” This was the best decision I ever made. “Okay, this is what happens next. You’ll have to come to New York and talk to my executive producer, Diane, and a couple people from the network. And me. That’s how we’ve handled any salaried positions in the past. I have a meeting tomorrow because I want to promote Shannon, one of my interns. She’s amazing, you’ll love her. And I’ll propose your position. Obviously, as far as I’m concerned, you have the job. We just have to get the budget approved.”

  “Okay.” I didn’t expect the process to be so formal. I should’ve asked her a lot more questions, but I had no idea what they were.

  “Don’t be nervous. It’s just a formality. I can’t remember the last time they told me no. Hang on.” She disappeared from the screen.

  My phone vibrated next to my laptop. Barry. What the fuck did he want? A couple of days ago, if he asked me back, I might�
��ve caved. The last thing I wanted to do was escort again, but my bank account looked sick.

  Leah was back, her smile making me forget everything else. “Because I’m the best potential boss ever, I want you to help me put together your job description. The voting’s already started on the properties, and we’re all surprised Vermont’s jumped out to an early lead. I would’ve gone for the ghost town, and I think the network would’ve picked Detroit. This is why we did the vote. I’d love to see some mini-segments on the other two properties, but it looks like you’ll be spending some quality time in Vermont. It’s gorgeous if you’ve never been.”

  I took some time to think about my answer. I want to make sure I had it right. “I know we have before pictures, but I’d like to really get in there before the renovations start. Chances are, whoever sent in the entry had an agenda. They might be missing some really good stuff. We’d want to do research. More than what the people assigned to it would do. I’d like to see what they’re looking at to make sure we don’t miss anything cool, the stuff that makes the project sing. I want to take pictures of the renovation process, too. You probably wouldn’t be able to use them on the show, but it would be great for publicity, websites, and stuff like that.”

  Leah scribbled in her notebook, nodding as I spoke. “That’s perfect. Pretty much what I had in mind, but your ideas are more in-depth, which is exactly why we need you. I think we’ve come up with enough to justify the position. Worst case scenario, they’ll hire you as an independent contractor. But once they see what you have to offer, I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t bring you in full-time.”

  “I’m excited.” This was the first time I’d actually planned something and started it, instead of stumbling into it as a last resort.

  “Ecstatic doesn’t even begin to explain how I feel. This is going to be amazing. I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know what they say. I can’t wait to work with you, Jagger.” She blew me a kiss like she did every night, then she was gone.

  I’d made the right decision. Outside of working for myself, I’d never have this kind of freedom anywhere else. At another job, I’d be lucky to start at entry level, if they even took me seriously. They wouldn’t give a fuck what I thought. I was glad there was actually an interview. I’d get the job on merit, not because I fucked my way into it.

  Barry left a voicemail. Jagger. Call me.

  Hell no. Delete.

  He called again about an hour later. I almost let it go through to voicemail, but I was curious what the fuck he wanted bad enough to call me twice in one night. I hadn’t heard from him at all since I quit.

  “Beth Barnes filed the lawsuit. Pencil in some court time, buddy. Anything you need to tell me about the time you were with her?”

  I told him every detail, from when she picked me up at the airport to when she threw my suitcase at me. Barry had taught us well—pay attention to details. Not only did it make us better escorts, picking up on all the little cues clients gave us, but we’d had clients go sour on us before, and usually it was the littlest thing that we wouldn’t give a fuck about that set them off. It was my word against hers. When I got to the part about Leah, I had an awful thought. “Think they’ll drag Leah into this?”

  “I don’t see any way around it.” Barry sighed. “She’s a high-profile ex-client, directly involved with whatever fuckery happened that night. From what I can tell, she’s not named in the suit. Just you and the agency. She might have something special in mind for your girlfriend, who knows. But unless you have seven figures that you want to hand over to this bitch to settle, this isn’t going away anytime soon.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Leah

  “Did you tell the producers about the lawsuit?” Jagger swallowed hard, his eyes huge as he tucked his dark blue shirt into his dress pants. I was pretty sure he was wearing the same outfit that he wore the first night of the reunion to his interview. He’d taken my breath away that night, and he still had the same effect on me.

  “No.” I straightened his collar, not being able to resist a quick kiss. The car would arrive any minute to bring us to the airport. “Remember what you said about letting things that didn’t exist get in the way of what you wanted? Nothing’s happened yet. I’ve let that crew bully me my entire life. I’m done. Any lawyer worth the money spent on his degree will see this for what it is. And if anything does come of it, I’ll countersue. That’s all. Kari will skin them alive.”

  We had too many good things happening to let this get in the way. I’d be dead if I wasn’t terrified of the consequences of this...fucking bullshit. I couldn’t call it anything but that. Even though I was on network TV almost every morning, I wouldn’t go as far as to call myself a celebrity since most people asked me if I was that girl on TV who did the makeovers when they approached. But this was the type of juicy story a show like Great Start Today sunk its teeth into regularly. I wouldn’t let this ruin me.

  Both of us were nervous on the flight. For the first time, I wondered if my feelings for Jagger had obscured my opinion of what he brought to the table. I’d read over the proposal so many times before I’d given it to the rest of the team that I couldn’t even see it anymore, and they approved it. We had nothing to worry about. Jagger squeezed my hand, neither of us had said much since the plane took off. I wanted to put my head on his shoulder, but then he’d walk into the interview with makeup on his shirt.

  I hadn’t told the rest of my team about our relationship. It would be obvious soon enough, but I wanted them to evaluate him on his strengths and talent. They knew he was a friend, that was all. We wouldn’t be working together in the same place most of the time, and I didn’t think it mattered. Half the Great Start Today crew had hooked up at one time or another. And I’d declined plenty of offers.

  They were already talking about budgets and didn’t notice we walked into together. Everything boiled down to money with them.

  “Hey, everyone.” They looked up from their computers and tablets. “This is Jagger Holiday. He’s interested in an associate producer position, and as I mentioned in the proposal, I’d like to put him in charge of property research.”

  Everyone at the table asked Jagger questions as they passed his portfolio around. I watched each one of them carefully, trying to gauge their reactions. From the raised eyebrows and nods, they seemed to like what they saw. After they checked out his work, they had a lot of questions for him.

  Jagger was pure magic. If anyone knew how to work a room, it was him. I knew he was nervous about his lack of professional training, but he had the thing so many professionals sorely lacked. Charisma. He lit up when they asked him about his portfolio, and his passion for the project was obvious. I held my breath on some of the questions, but he handled them all beautifully.

  At the end of the interview, he shook hands with everyone at the table, even me. I’d never seen his eyes sparkle like that. He knew he nailed it. I wanted to pull him against me, hug him, let him know how proud I was, but I’d ruin the whole thing. We already planned our exit strategy. He’d wait for me at the coffee shop on the corner, and I’d meet him there when I finished the rest of the meeting. Our flight back to DC was a couple of hours later.

  “What did everyone think of Mr. Holiday?” one of the network people asked. My tongue was thick in my mouth. I wouldn’t jump in and answer, even though it was torture to keep my mouth shut.

  “He’s not a behind the scenes guy.” Diane was the first to pipe in. Leave it to her to hate him. She hated everything good. “We have to get him on camera.”

  What did she just say?

  “That’s exactly what I was thinking,” one of the other network people said, with the most excitement I’d ever seen in this room. “The original proposal is brilliant, but he’s got to be a part of the show. His pictures are great, but we’d get way more value if we had him talk about the research and his artistic process on camera.”

  Holy shit. This was the last thing I expected. “Do I st
ill have a job?” I asked.

  “Of course you do, you’re the designer.” Diane shook her head like my question was ridiculous. “Jagger adds another layer to the project. He’ll bring in a whole new demographic.”

  “Like every woman in America.” One of the network women fanned herself. “The only thing left, besides drawing up a deal memo and offering him the job, is to do a screen test with the two of you. Make sure you have chemistry.”

  I bit my lip to keep myself from laughing. Chemistry was the least of our problems.

  “We definitely have to get him on the Great Start segments with you, Leah,” the same woman who fanned herself said. She’d never given a crap about any of my proposals before. “Introduce him the audience, and the two of you can talk about his role on the show. From the number of entries and votes we have, we’re already expecting high ratings. This might be what we need to move from affiliate to network, which means more advertising money and a bigger budget. America is going to fall in love with Jagger Holiday.”

  **

  Jagger had his laptop open on a little round table in the corner of the cafe. A cup of coffee sat untouched beside him.

  “Hey.” I startled him when I approached. He looked young and vulnerable. Jagger wanted this. More than he’d ever admit. “They loved you.”

  He shook his head slightly like he didn’t think he heard me right. “They did? What did they say?”

  I nodded, and he stood and hugged me tightly. “They want you on the show,” I said.

  “That was it?” He pulled away, confused.

  “No. They want you on the show. In front of the camera. With me.”

  Jagger was speechless. He sat, and I gave him a minute to process the whole thing. I needed it, too. This was the last thing I expected to happen.

  “What do you think about this, Leah?”

  “It’s amazing. I should’ve seen it coming, the way you handled that interview. You had them eating out of the palm of your hand. But it’s not what either of us expected. It changes everything. You’ll have a much bigger part of the show if you’re a co-host. You don’t have to worry about me being your boss since we’d be equal. Before anything happens, they want to do a screen test with the two of us, you know, to make sure we connect to each other.”