Page 35 of The Holiday Ex-Files

I worried where I was going to land when the bubble popped. Would I get major road rash from the asphalt, or would I find a soft, safe place to land? Was there any such thing as safe? That was probably the better question.

“Everyone wants to know what I’m going to be for Halloween.” I threw my phone in my bag. It was probably rude to post when I should have been engaging Noah in conversation. Sometimes I forgot things like that. It was easier to be in my world. Or to avoid the world.

“What did you decide?”

“A witch. It seems fitting, don’t you think?” I whispered.

He stopped at a red light in the heart of Carson City and immediately turned my way, his brow scrunching. “No, Cams. Maybe you haven’t been yourself lately, but you’re no witch. Unless it’s like Glinda the Good Witch.” He smiled.

I fished for my phone and pulled up the costume before the light turned green. I held it up to show him. It was definitely not Glinda worthy.

Noah’s eyes widened and he swallowed hard. “Hello. That’s some witch costume. Maybe you should be a witch.” He winked.

“It is kind of trampy.”

“I was thinking more like sexy. But it’s not really you.” He faced the road and sailed through the green light.

“You don’t think I can be sexy?” I was highly affronted.

“No,” he spluttered. “That’s not what I meant. You’re totally sexy.”

“You think I’m sexy?” I teased.

His face turned bright red.

I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him embarrassed. It made me giggle.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Well, yeah. Except for the part when you said the sexy witch costume wasn’t me,” I fake grumbled.

“Cams.” He reached out and placed his hand on my thigh.

He has a nice grip. Miss Sparkly decided to butt in.

I looked down at his masculine hand. She wasn’t wrong.

“I only meant that,” he interrupted my thoughts, which was a good thing, “you are more than you think you are.” He patted my thigh before his hand popped off.

I tilted my head. “What does that mean?”

“It means you’re not a witch.”

I’m glad he thought so, but . . . “Who am I?” I asked more to myself.

“Like I said, hang around with me and follow my plan and you’ll figure it out.”

I looked down at my phone, wanting so badly to believe he could help me figure it all out.

My phone exploded with notifications. I half smiled. “I think you’ve been overruled. Everyone is loving the witch costume.”

Noah shrugged. “They don’t know the real you, Cams.”

I wasn’t sure I did either. I turned my phone off and sighed.

Noah gave me a sympathetic smile as if he knew I was a lost little puppy trying to find her way home. “Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I’m going to be there.”

“What? You bought a ticket for the Ex-Filers’ Halloween Bash?”

“Don’t sound so surprised. I’m a big fan of your work.”

“Uh-huh.” I wasn’t buying it. “You know, there are no couples allowed.”

“You made that perfectly clear.” He chuckled. “But . . . how do you enforce that? Or what if people hook up there?”

“Are you going so you can find your next victim?”

He slapped a hand against his chest. “That hurts. For all you know, the woman I love could be there.”

I grabbed my midsection. It felt a little squirmy all of a sudden. “The woman you love is a member of my Ex-Filers chapter?”

Noah flashed me a wicked grin. “Could be,” he taunted me.

I bet it’s Annika, Miss Sparkly fumed. I never liked her. She’s so fake. Her boobs are way too perky to be real. And please, she has hair extensions. And let’s not forget about her using a tanning bed. She’s going to die of cancer. Do you want that for Noah?

Hey, you’re supposed to be the sweet one out of the two of us. Annika is nice. She worked a deal and got us the civic center for free, I argued with myself, which was so sick and wrong. And her ex-husband was truly awful to her. We are talking prostitutes and clearing out their bank account awful.

I had gone above and beyond cropping and photoshopping her wedding photos. Let’s just say it looks like Annika is stabbing him in a very sensitive area. She had that baby framed and kept it on her nightstand as far as I knew.

That is sad, Miss Sparkly agreed. But do you really see her with Noah? She’s so short, and I think she might cry if someone threw a basketball at her. Have you seen those acrylic nails of hers? You know how much Noah loves the game.

I think they could be cute together. You know, besides the whole her keeping a picture of herself impaling her ex-husband by her bed. That is a little crazy.

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