Page 34 of The Holiday Ex-Files

“She’s gorgeous and intimidating.”

“She’s more than intimidating—she downright scares the hell out of me. Don’t tell her I said that.” He genuinely sounded frightened of her.

I laughed at him. She was a little scary at times. Don’t tell her I thought that either. But she was the best friend a girl could ask for. She would totally bury a body for you—or sign them up for the most annoying email list of all time.

“So, it’s not Mara.”

“No.”

“Who is it?”

He stepped closer and leaned in, his snickerdoodle scent making Miss Sparkly take a huge whiff and giggle. Thankfully, silently to herself. Or you know, myself.

“You really want to know?” he sang.

I nodded—the suspense killing me. Meanwhile, Miss Sparkly was thinking things like, It’s kind of a shame we will never get to kiss him. Seriously, look at those lips. Why didn’t we ever make a play for him?

Uh, hello, we were married to his best friend.

I’m not taking the fall for that.

Oh, yes you are. You were all over Ben.

You were too, Miss Handsy.

Okay, so she kind of had me there. He used to be very touchable, but that was neither here nor there. Seriously, stop talking to me. I need to find out who Noah’s mystery woman is.

It’s weird, I kind of want to claw her eyes out, Miss Sparkly mused.

That was the end of that conversation. We could never, ever, think like that. I rubbed my chest. I was having some strange sensations there.

Meanwhile Noah was taunting me with his enigmatic smile. His lips parted as if the name were on the tip of his tongue.

I held my breath.

“Her name is . . . ,” he held the last syllable like it was clinging to life support. “You’ll find out when we’re best friends again.”

I let out a huge rush of air and snarled at him. “How old are you anyway?”

“Old enough to know better.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means when the time is right, you will know her and love her.”

I don’t think so. I still want to claw her eyes out.

I ignored Miss Sparkly. “I’m sure she’s great.”

“She’s the best,” he said so wistfully, I was a little jealous. I’m not sure a man, not even Ben, had ever spoken so in awe of me. Not that I wanted a relationship, but there were things I missed. I could at least admit that.

“I’m happy for you,” I said hastily. “Let me grab my bag and turn on the TV for Neville.”

Noah narrowed his eyes and looked between me and Neville. “Your dog watches TV?”

“He loves Beverly Hills, 90210.”

Noah busted out laughing. “Are you serious? This explains so much.” He held up Neville. “Listen, buddy, you are going to watch a man’s show today. How about SEAL Team?”

“That’s too violent. You’ll give him nightmares.”

Noah chuckled. “You think Beverly Hills, 90210 doesn’t? I think I would poke my eyes out if I had to watch that every day.”

“Neville has a sensitive soul,” I retorted.

“I think she’s brainwashing you,” Noah spoke to my pooch before addressing me. “Can he at least watch something like How I Met Your Mother? That’s somewhat respectable. We’ll move on to the hard-core stuff later.”

I thought back to the many nights of watching the reruns of that show with Ben and Noah. We had laughed and laughed. Ben loved the character Barney, who was a major player. I probably should have taken note of that. Instead, I used to tease Noah that he was the player. Come to think of it, he never appreciated it. “I don’t know. I’m not sure he’ll get the humor.”

Noah’s brows knitted together. “I think you need to get out more. Go get your bag and I’ll take care of Neville. I might have to sue for custody at this rate,” he teased me. “Luna needs a manly dog.”

“Neville is neutered by the way.”

“Perfect. Luna is spayed.”

“I still don’t think she’s Neville’s type.”

“Are you saying he has something against big-boned women?” He smirked.

“I’m saying he’s a gentle soul who needs his safe place.”

“Cams, I promise to keep you and your dog safe,” he said without a hint of sarcasm.

There was that word safe again. Could Noah keep me safe? Even from myself?

My vote is yes, Miss Sparkly sang in my head.

Of course, she thought that.

Chapter Eleven

Okay, Ex-Filers, I think I finally picked my costume. What do you think of this? Too gothic? Too sexy? Thanks again for all your suggestions.

Lots of love,

Cami

Before I clicked publish, I attached a photo of the witch costume I planned to order.

“Posting again for all your worshippers?” Noah glanced my way while he carefully drove us to his sister’s house to pick up his nephews.

I was more than nervous about it. I hadn’t seen Shanna or her kids in a long time. And there was the whole ‘I never even paid my respects to their dearly departed mother’ issue. Not even a card, I lamented to myself before Miss Sparkly could berate me again. It was the reason I hadn’t jumped out of the truck screaming. Guilt does weird things. Like getting me out of the bubble I had created to keep myself protected at all times. The thing about bubbles were that they eventually popped. I was already feeling mine starting to burst. I mean, I was in a truck with Noah going to do who knew what today. And I was in Carson City, a place I tried to avoid as much as possible, even though Jenkins & Scott Realty’s headquarters resided there. Carson City was the place Ben and I had called home. These were all major breeches to the bubble.

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