Page 25 of The Holiday Ex-Files

The gorgeous woman sized Noah up and dramatically flipped her gorgeous hair. It was like watching a cheesy Hallmark scene. Man, did I miss those shows. Mara would be appalled if she knew.

They were far enough away now that I couldn’t hear what they were saying, so I made up my own conversation based on their body language.

Beautiful Woman: “Is that your dog?”

Noah: “No. See that psychotic lady over there who has conversations with herself? He belongs to her.”

Beautiful Woman: “Oh, so is she your girlfriend?” She batted her eyes.

Noah: Laughed out loud. “Cami? We’re friends. Hardly even that anymore. I just like to annoy her. In fact, it’s becoming a new hobby of mine. But I have plenty of time to take you out and break your heart. Do you like photo shoots? I have the perfect spot and outfit already picked out.”

Beautiful Woman: “Oh. My. Gosh. You’re hilarious. I’m like photo shoot ready. Just name the time and place. And we’ll see about you breaking my heart.” She giggled loudly and pawed at him. “I have a good feeling about us.”

Noah: Shrugged and knelt with my dog, making my poor Neville come face-to-face with the German shepherd, who was just as beautiful as his owner.

I tensed, knowing this probably wasn’t going to end well. Though I had to give props to Neville for even going to Noah. He’d never let anyone besides me hold him, much less venture off with him.

The beautiful woman knelt, too, and tried to pet my dog, but to Noah’s credit, he seemed to let her know it wasn’t a good idea. Yet, when it came to her dog, Noah inched my little guy forward and let the big dog sniff him all over. Poor Neville froze. I waited for him to have a heart attack and keel over. But . . . to my ever-loving surprise, Neville cautiously started to sniff him back. After a few minutes, Noah set Neville down, and Neville did his business female-dog style in front of an audience while the gorgeous redhead and Noah flirted. Or at least that’s what I assumed, given how many times she touched him.

I kept waiting for Noah to pull out his phone and get her number. He never did, but I bet he just memorized it. Show-off. I wanted to yell out that he was already in love with someone else and to save her breath, but I knew it would do no good. Noah Cullen had a way with women, and this stranger would risk the heartbreak. Little did she know that she would soon become a victim to Photoshop.

After several minutes the beautiful people parted ways, but not before she glared at me like I was Satan or something. What had I done? I had no idea, so I just smiled and waved. That seemed to irk her more, judging by her curled lip. I shrugged it off. The redhead had nothing on Claudia’s condescending treatment of me.

Meanwhile, a smug Noah walked my way while Neville pranced on his leash toward me, acting like a whole new dog. That was until someone slammed their car door nearby. Neville immediately hit the ground and played dead. That was my boy.

Noah chuckled and scooped him up. “Hey, boy, you did real good. We’ll keep working on your issues. Before you know it, you’ll be brave, just like your mommy used to be.” Then Noah gave me a poignant look.

My jaw dropped. How dare he be so right. “I am brave,” I whispered.

He stepped closer. “Prove it.”

I blinked several times, not knowing what he wanted.

“Tell me what’s wrong. Maybe I can help you fix it.”

“I don’t understand why you would want to.”

He squeezed Neville tighter. “You’re one of the best friends I’ve ever had, Cams. I miss you,” he sheepishly admitted.

Oh. Wow. That was sweet. Honestly, I missed him too, but it was complicated.

“I know it’s hard for you to be around me because of Ben,” he growled his name, “but the woman I used to know wouldn’t let that get in her way.”

Yeah, well, Miss Sparkly wasn’t as brave as he thought she was. “I saw Ben today,” I admitted.

Noah’s jaw tightened while he cleared his throat. “Did he do something to you?” He got all protective like my big brothers.

I shoved my hands into my pockets. “Other than telling me I’m beautiful and amazingly talented, no.”

“Damn him,” Noah snarled. “He has no right to talk to you like that.”

I didn’t expect Noah to be so incensed by his best friend’s actions, but I couldn’t agree more. “Right? Can you believe him?” I was still fired up about it.

His ears pinked. “Honestly, it doesn’t surprise me.”

I tilted my head. “Why?”

He pressed his lips together as if he didn’t want to say, but eventually relented. “I don’t think he’s exactly happy.”

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