Page 16 of Gossip Game

“But we’ve interviewed twelve qualified candidates this week and I don’t feel right giving any of them control of my company.”

Bridgett chuckled as she sat back down. “Now you know how I felt interviewing nannies.” She sobered up and reached across the table to grab Charlotte’s hand. “You aren’t giving your baby up. You’re just putting her in the hands of someone with a bit more experience managing a company that’s had a meteoric rise. And you’ll always have me looking over the shoulder of whomever you choose.”

“Yeah, but I can’t keep asking you to fly back and forth between here and London.” Charlotte shook her head. “You put practicing law on hold for a while to be a more hands-on parent. And these past three years, it seems like you’ve worked harder than ever.”

She didn’t mention the fact that she suspected Bridgett was staying on out of guilt. As some sort of compensation for Charlotte carrying her children. The idea that her sister-in-law might be feeling obligated to help at Truly didn’t sit well.

Bridgett waved her hand around the conference room. “And during that time, my kids were right upstairs. Your brother built-out these offices so we could both work from home. In fact—” Her lips curved up in a mischievous grin. “There is plenty of office space here. You could always move your headquarters back to the States. We’d love having you around more.”

Charlotte would love that, too. But watching Jay and Bridgett with their beautiful children—the Christmas card worthy family she helped create—was just too painful. Not when she wanted that for herself.

Her brother and her sister-in-law would be crushed if they knew she thought that way. They were always enthusiastic about including her. But she didn’t want to be the fifth wheel for the rest of her life. Besides, deep down, she believed Jay and Bridgett did it to thank her. And their kindness felt a lot like pity sometimes.

“And give up my friends and fans in London?” she quipped. “I couldn’t.” No need for her sister-in-law to know that Charlotte’s friends didn’t understand her need to do something with her life besides living off her father’s fortune.

“We’ll work something out, then.” Bridgett withdrew her hand.

Charlotte didn’t have time to contemplate the flat tone of her sister-in-law’s voice because Gray and Vivi were bounding into the room, Jay on their heels.

“Mom, we stopped and got cookies on the way home,” Gray announced as he crawled into his mother’s lap. “I got you a peanut butter cookie.”

“I got you a lemon one, Aunt Charlie.” Vivi scrambled into Charlotte’s lap, nearly dropping the bag containing the cookie.

“Cookies?” Bridgett arched an eyebrow at her husband.

Jay dropped two backpacks into an empty chair. “It was a special occasion. They finished their first week of school.”

Grayson shrieked with laughter when Jay tilted Bridgett’s chair back so he could kiss her. Charlotte looked down at her niece, who was ignoring her parents’ display, instead dissecting her chocolate chip cookie, and putting it into her mouth, piece-by-piece.

“This doesn’t look like your school uniform.” She tugged at the Blaze jersey Vivian wore with her uniform skort and white sneakers.

“Friday is Spirit Day,” Grayson explained as he snuck a taste of his mother’s cookie. “Everyone wears jerseys for their favorite team.”

“Ah,” Charlotte said. “I’ll bet there were a lot of Blaze jerseys.”

Vivian huffed out a frustrated sounding breath. “All the girls wore Noah’s jersey.” Her bottom lip curled. “Even the teachers.”

“Yeah, our teacher said she didn’t even like football, but Noah is now her favorite player,” Grayson added. “She even got Noah’s jersey for her nieces, and they live in Florida.”

Charlotte exchanged a puzzled look with Bridgett.

“What did Noah do to become so popular?” she asked.

“It’s ‘coz you’ve got lots of fans. And he kissed you,” Grayson said. “Mrs. Ruttle told the class you’re going to get married.”

Her brother muttered something that sounded savage.

“What?!” In her shock, Charlotte almost dumped her niece onto the floor. Her stomach was already there. “Who started that rumor?”

Jay’s long-time assistant, Lincoln Harris, strolled into the conference room carrying a stack of folders. “It’s everywhere,” he said. “And we can’t keep Noah’s jersey in stock. Neither can the league.” He grinned at Charlotte. “Your Trulies have all become instant Blaze fans.” He gave his boss a thumbs up. “The network has made Sunday’s game its game of the week. Everyone is interested in the Blaze QB now that Charlie is his main squeeze.”

This time her brother groaned.

“Hey, man, more eyes on your team means more money in your pocket.” Linc shrugged. “I say let the fauxmance play out. While they are all speculating when the wedding will be, they’ll be scooping up jerseys and boosting our television ratings.”

Vivian grew stiff in Charlotte’s arms. “You promised you wouldn’t marry him,” she whimpered.

“No one is marrying Noah Hudson. Least of all me.” Charlotte gently transferred her niece to one of the other chairs before standing. She aimed a death glare at Linc, her friend and confidant for nearly a decade. “Shame on you for helping to perpetuate this nonsense.”

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