Page 5 of Gossip Game

He jerked his chin toward the whimsical excuse for a car. “Nice ride.”

She smiled and shrugged. “My midlife-crisis toy.” She patted him on the biceps. “Your idea of the cereal drive is a great one. We’ll run the contest at the end of the month once everyone is settled back into school. I’ll be in touch to set up the details.”

Noah reached behind the principal to open the car door for her. “No need for parent chaperones, either. The team will provide them.”

Her laugh rang out through the night as she got into the car. “Well played, Mr. Hudson. Well played.” She waved at him through the driver’s window as the little car sputtered away.

He heaved a relieved sigh while making his way over to his truck. His relief was short-lived, however. As he rounded the hood, he nearly collided with none other than Charlotte Davis, leaning her perfect ass against the side of his Bronco.

It figures.

Noah scanned the parking lot warily.

“Jay has gone home, if that’s what you’re worried about,” she said.

“Your brother doesn’t scare me.” Nope. It was his potent physical reaction to this woman that gave him the willies.

She stepped away from the truck, the light from the lamppost behind her casting a halo around her head. Noah almost laughed at the incongruity.

“He’s not mad at you,” she added quietly. “He’s—” She made air quotes with her fingers. “—disappointed with the situation.”

She huffed out a breath. It was so desolate sounding, it riled up all of Noah’s nerve endings. He crossed his arms over his chest, tucking his fingers firmly beneath his armpits, so as not to act on the strong urge to reach out and comfort her. That would be a mistake.

And Noah Hudson never made the same mistake twice.

“Although I’m sure he’s pretty pissed at me for making a scene,” she continued. “Apparently I haven’t quite buried my impulsive nature.”

Noah could have told her that three years ago when she’d pretended that he was her date and kissed him senseless in a London elevator. Only to walk away hours later as if they’d never even met, much less touched. He didn’t trust his words, though, giving her a noncommittal grunt instead.

Her chin rose slowly as her big blue eyes locked with his. Hers narrowed. In fact, she was beginning to look a little ticked-off that he wasn’t fawning all over her like every other dude in her life.

Too bad.

“Wow,” she said, her tone clipped. “Not even a ‘thank you, Charlotte?’”

“For what?”

An ugly sound escaped the back of her throat. “For saving your ass back there!”

He scoffed. “My ass didn’t need saving, Princess.”

Her pique kicked up another notch. He’d obviously hit a nerve with the “princess’ remark. Not that he cared.

“Are you kidding me? Surely even you understood what those women were intimating when they were bidding on you?” she retaliated.

Noah absorbed the hit without letting his body react. He wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.

“My agent would have taken care of it,” he bit out.

“Of course he would have. And that would have given your reputation a boost.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

“It’s not like it’s the first time a woman used me as a plaything.”

It was a low blow and Noah regretted it the instant the words left his mouth, especially seeing the devastated look on her face.

“I was attempting to pay you back,” she snapped. “For London. When you...helped me out of a difficult situation.”

Just as he suspected, he had been “the help.” A convenient male body when she needed a decoy. Nothing more. It’s what he’d figured for years now. Still, it stung to hear her say it out loud. And that feeling pissed him off.

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