Her words served two purposes. They both quashed Heidi's attempt to paint her as conniving and also graciously sidestepped the men asking for her contact information, turning them down easy.

Someone stepped in to smooth over the awkwardness. "Look, the main thing is we finally get to see who CC really is. Let's move on and take that group photo, shall we?"

Claudia turned to Heidi, her smirk devoid of any pretense of courtesy. "That's where the champion stands."

Cornered, Heidi felt a surge of irritation. As she locked eyes with

Claudia's mocking gaze, she snapped, “I know, okay? Novalee, over here!"