Page 38 of Gossip Game

Except this was most assuredly not a romantic getaway. He’d made that fact perfectly clear last night when he told her she was coming along because his Meemaw wanted to meet her.

You’re not his type, remember?

“So how is this going to work?” she demanded when the plane was taxiing down the runway. “The whole world thinks we are an item. Are we pretending in front of your family?”

He gave her a pointed look. “I don’t lie to the people who matter the most to me. My family is everything. I’ve told them we’re just friends.”

Charlotte huffed. “Do you always kiss your friends like you’re the last two people on Earth?”

Holy hell, she needed coffee. Or duct tape.

His eyes darkened as his gaze drifted to her lips. The plane lurched before banking sharply left. She slammed her eyes shut. As much to avoid his penetrating gaze as to keep her equilibrium while the plane made its ascent.

Noah’s fingers found hers on the arm rest. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. She squeezed back.

“I don’t know what we are,” he said once the plane leveled out. “But you can always count on me.”

Tears pressed at the back of her eyes. Damn, she was tired. Tired of never being enough. Never being the right one. The right type.

Especially since he’d acted like she was his type last night. And the other times he’d kissed her. In fact, she’d never felt more like a man’s type. For some reason, the pigheaded guy next to her refused to see it.

No matter. She’d be his type for the weekend. His “friend-zone” type. It was the least she could do for continually dragging him into her messy life. Later, she’d worry about the repeated hits her heart was about to take these next few days.

ELEVEN

Noah took it as a sign of good luck that they managed to make it through the Asheville airport without a camera being shoved in their faces. Not that anyone had a chance to. He set a pretty fast pace as they hurried from the plane to the kiss and ride. Fortunately, Charlotte’s long legs matched him stride for stride.

He really needed to stop fixating on those damn long legs of hers. Sleep had been impossible last night. Not when all he could think about was her legs wrapped around his waist while he lost himself inside of her.

Christ.

This was a dumbass play. Spending the weekend with a woman he couldn’t keep his hands off of. Inviting her into his inner sanctum. Letting her see the real Noah Hudson, in all his simple glory. Well, better now than later. This way, it wouldn’t hurt too much when she realized she preferred worldly playboys to small town jocks.

“Yoo-hoo!”

Noah froze at the sound of the familiar voice. Charlotte stopped short behind him.

“Noah! Over here!” A horn honked.

“I think the woman in the minivan is trying to get your attention,” Charlotte deadpanned.

He pinned her with a look. “Ya think?”

It was too late for second thoughts. Charlotte was here now. Less than half a football field away from his sister and his two little nieces. The horn honked again.

“Brace yourself,” he warned her before trudging toward the minivan idling by the curb.

Squeals of “Uncle Noah” floated through the passenger window. Alex shushed her daughters before racing out of the driver’s door and around the hood of the van so she could throw her arms around him. Her enthusiasm was over the top. More suited for a guy who’d just returned from a year’s deployment overseas. Not a brother she’d seen in person a month earlier.

“Hey, you! What a game you had last night.”

His nieces were chanting his name, accompanied by the pounding of their fists and feet in their car seats.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. “I thought mom was picking me up.”

Alex’s brown eyes sparkled with mischief. She brushed her long blonde hair back from her face. She’d kept it long once it had grown back, explaining to Noah once that her hair was a badge of honor as a cancer survivor. And motivation for the young patients she cared for. The only time she pulled it into a ponytail was when she was working a shift at the hospital.

“The girls and I were packed up and on the road from Winston-Salem earlier than I expected. Chris decided to come down separately after his morning meetings.” She bounced up on her toes. “I offered to swing by and grab you since Dad spent most of the night at the hospital. Mom is taking Meemaw home as we speak. The tests were all negative for anything major, by the way. She was dehydrated.” His sister peeked past his shoulder at the woman standing behind him. “And I’m not gonna lie. I was dying to meet your guest.”

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