Page 56 of Gossip Game

Charlotte wiggled her eyebrows and smiled at Linc. “The one with all the moves?”

“Yeah.” Linc groaned. “I found out last week she’s actually a private investigator.” Linc looked sheepish as he turned to his boss. “She was hired to conduct corporate espionage against McManus Industries.”

The air in the room all but crackled.

“What are you saying?” McManus’ tone was ominous.

His wife placed a calming hand on his chest. “Have you spoken to the company’s security team?”

“Yes.” Linc nodded. “They are the ones who caught her. Our firewall is impenetrable, so there’s good news there. She didn’t get anything. I already had a full briefing about this on your calendar for tomorrow.”

“She somehow got the picture, though,” Charlotte whispered.

Linc hung his head. “Yeah. It isn’t kept in the company files for obvious reasons. I had it stored on a flash drive among a bunch of random ones locked in my desk. It was the only one that was labeled.” He sighed. “It had your name on it, Charlie. I swear I only left her in my office for five minutes.” He shook his head. “It was like leaving candy for a baby. Sorry doesn’t even come close to how I feel right now.”

A strained silence settled over the room. Linc pulled a white envelope from his back pocket and held it out to McManus.

“I’ll save you the trouble of firing me.” He waved the envelope. “My letter of resignation.”

“No!” Charlotte cried.

McManus avoided taking the envelope. “We’ll discuss this tomorrow.”

To everyone’s surprise, Bridgett swooped in and plucked the envelope from Linc’s fingers. “Resignation accepted.”

Her husband and sister-in-law both donned stunned expressions.

“What do you think you’re doing?” McManus asked.

Bridgett’s smile bordered on diabolical. “I think I’m creating a win-win situation. Well, win-win for Linc and Charlotte. You, not so much.” She turned to Charlotte. “You need a CEO. Someone, say, with an MBA from Wharton and tons of experience handling multiple companies.” She pivoted to face a wide-eyed Linc. “And do you really want to be Jay’s fixer forever?”

Linc’s eyes darted between McManus and his wife. “Uh . . .”

“Hey, you can’t steal him away from me like that,” McManus argued.

“I’ve been trying to figure out a way to do this for weeks now,” his wife replied. “It’s the perfect solution. The investors all know him already. I may have already floated the idea to a few of them. They assured me they’ll back off about taking Truly public if Linc comes on board. What do you say, Linc? Charlie?”

A slow grin spread over Charlotte’s face. The tension that had gripped her mouth most of the day evaporated. “I can’t think of anyone else I would rather work with.”

Everyone looked at Linc. His conflicted expression relaxed into a slow grin. “I have so many ideas.”

“Yay!” Charlotte threw her arms around Linc’s shoulders. “And you won’t make me feel like an idiot about any of it.”

Linc laughed. “Girl, stop doubting yourself. You’re brilliant. We are going to rock this.”

Noah let out a relieved breath, thankful that Linc saw Charlotte for who and what she really was.

“Oh, don’t pout,” Bridgett cooed to her husband, who was indeed pouting.

“You’re ruthless, you know,” McManus grumbled.

She stretched up on her toes to kiss him. “You knew that when you married me.” She patted his chest. “I’ll make it up to you later. Now go take the twins to the pool. You don’t want Brody teaching our children to swim. The man can barely float.” She linked her arm through Charlotte’s. “I found a children’s book about surrogacy. Come see it before we all sit down with the kids tonight.”

Bridgett led Charlotte over to the sofa.

McManus clapped Linc on the back. “Do I at least get two weeks’ notice?”

Linc nodded. “I’m not really going anywhere.” He gestured at Noah. “I have a feeling the incentive you were searching for to get Charlie to relocate is standing right here.”

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