Page 37 of Gossip Game

“For crying out loud, Meemaw. Not this again.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why don’t you focus on doing what the medical staff tell you to do so we can all celebrate your birthday this weekend. I’ll be home first thing in the morning. If you’re good, I’ll take you to DQ for lunch.”

“I’ll promise to be good if you promise to bring your girlfriend with you.”

“Meemaw, we talked about this?—”

His grandmother moaned. “My head is starting to spin again. I should probably stop yapping and get some rest if I want to enjoy my birthday party this weekend. It could be my last, you know.”

She ended the call before he could talk to his dad.

Christ.

The woman was incorrigible.

But she’s also not getting any younger. What if this is her last birthday?

Noah swore as he pocketed his phone. Brody and Charlotte looked at him with concern.

“She’s fine,” he told them. “Just ornery.”

A fond smile formed on Brody’s mouth. “My grandpa Gus was like that. Annoying as hell. What I wouldn’t give to have one more conversation with him, though.” He looked between Charlotte and Noah. “Alrighty then. I’ll let you two get back to . . . whatever it was that you were doing.” He shot Noah a cat-ate-the-canary grin. “But you’ve got some ‘splaining to do when I see you next.” He backed out of the door with a bow before closing them inside the training room.

Charlotte rolled her eyes at Brody’s antics before refocusing them on Noah.

“I’m glad she’s okay,” she said.

“Mmm.”

Her teeth found her bottom lip again as she studied him for a long moment. With a sigh, she dug her hand into the bag slung over her shoulder and pulled out a folded piece of pink construction paper.

“From Vivian.”

She placed it on the training table between them and turned to leave.

“Charlotte.”

One eyebrow shot up in question when she looked back over her shoulder at him.

“Remember that favor I did for you in London?”

She jerked her chin up and down.

“Good. Because I’m going to need you to help me out this weekend.”

The early morning flight was rowdy, surprisingly. A crowd of college students and alumni were headed to Asheville for a football game. Noah and Charlotte tried to remain as inconspicuous as possible, hanging back as everyone else boarded, before taking the first two seats in First Class.

“This is really all you brought?” he asked as he hefted her carryon into the overhead bin.

Charlotte slid into the window seat. “You keep asking that. You told me we were going to a high school football game and a family party for your grandmother’s birthday. Were you expecting me to bring a trunk full of ball gowns and designer shoes to wear to both?”

She hated how waspish she sounded. But she was tiring of him treating her like the high maintenance princess everyone assumed her to be. Especially since he should know better by now.

It didn’t help that she was operating on very little sleep, either, after spending the night tossing and turning, reliving their steamy interlude in the training room. She shouldn’t have agreed to this. What was she thinking spending a weekend with a man who could turn it on and off at will? One minute, he had her melting in his arms. The next minute, he was succinctly explaining that she “owed him” and he needed her to join him in North Carolina for the weekend to pay off her debt.

Sighing, he sat down beside her. “I only meant that I’ve never traveled with a woman who packed so economically, that’s all.”

Well.

It was a back-handed compliment, but she’d take it. And that was not jealousy bubbling up in her chest. He’d enjoyed a few romantic getaways with other women before. So what?

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