Page 54 of Gossip Game

“I was pregnant. It was almost six years ago.”

His eyes narrowed for a moment before he made a sound deep in his chest. “The twins. You were their surrogate.”

She nodded, too delighted and relieved to form words. God, she loved this brilliant, patient man.

“Come here,” he commanded.

Noah lowered himself down onto the bench. She walked over to stand between his knees. Gripping her waist, he pulled her in so that he could press his lips to her stomach. She stroked her fingers through his hair.

“You do know there’s no shame in that, right?” he said against the flannel of her shirt.

“I’m not embarrassed. I’m angry. He had no right to tell that story before the twins were old enough to hear it from their parents.” She tugged on his hair. “And how dare he make it sound so tawdry.”

Noah carefully untangled her fingers from his scalp, moving her hands to his shoulders before he maneuvered his thighs between hers and repositioned her so that she was straddling him on the bench. He brushed a strand of hair from her face. “It’s a precious gift you gave them.”

Charlotte nodded. “They are precious. I can’t imagine my life without them.”

He kissed her nose. “They are a part of you.”

“I like to think they get their sense of wonder from me.” She sketched a finger along his jawline. “They definitely got their dislike of broccoli from me.”

The chuckle rumbling through his chest went a long way toward calming her. Yet, there was still a rather large elephant in the yard with them. Especially since Bucky’s words echoed everything Noah feared might happen to their relationship down the road. That she would get bored with him and move on.

“That BS he said about me being flighty. Or fickle. He’s wrong, Noah. I meant what I said the other night. You are enough. You’ll always be enough.”

She kissed him, trying to convey to his senses the words she’d just spoken. Noah had no trouble interpreting her moves. He responded with a delicious kiss of his own.

“The media will not leave us alone,” she murmured against his neck. “They will always want to invade our privacy.”

He fingered the buttons of her shirt open. “You’re worth it.” He cupped her breast. “I can’t say I like the idea of you walking away from Truly, though. I thought you were going to bring in someone to help. Not sell it.”

“I wasn’t. I’m not.” She huffed. “I’m bringing in a CEO. We’re announcing it next week. That’s proprietary information, though. Only a handful of people know. I have no idea how Bucky found out.” She leaned her forehead on his shoulder. “But maybe I should let it go. It will make things easier. For us.”

Noah gave her shoulders a shake. “You are Truly. And Truly is you. I’m not coming between either.”

She wasn’t sure how to interpret his words.

“You don’t have to choose, Charlotte. We’re both living extremely privileged lives. We’ll make it work. Together.”

Tears burned the back of her eyes. “I love you, Noah Hudson. So very much.”

He closed his eyes and released a relieved sounding breath. “Good. Because I’ve been in love with you since that first night in London.”

“You have?” she said, not caring about the squeak in her voice.

“I let you win at backgammon, didn’t I?”

Her brother sent his jet to ferry them back to Baltimore. Noah was grateful for the privacy. Charlotte was putting up a good front, but tension still bracketed her mouth. She had a lot more practice maneuvering through a media gauntlet than he did, but that didn’t mean he wanted to subject her to one today. Thankfully, her security detail was on the same page, meeting them on the tarmac in an SUV.

“Is there a back entrance?” Noah asked the driver when he spied the throng of reporters camped outside the building housing the McManus penthouse.

“Already on it,” the driver responded.

Charlotte squeezed his hand. “Still think I’m worth it?”

He answered her with a kiss, letting it linger despite their audience. She sighed into his mouth, only pulling back when the car came to a halt. They hurried inside and up to the penthouse.

The elevator doors opened to a spacious living room featuring a wall of windows overlooking the Inner Harbor. An animated movie was playing on the big screen television. Four little heads turned at the sound of the elevator.

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