Marrying the Billionaire - Macie St. James Page 0,37

and offer help, but that was the part of her she had to hold back. The part that cared about him more than she could allow herself.

“Let’s go.”

That sudden announcement surprised her, but even more surprising was the fact that he took off at a quick pace, not even waiting to see if she’d keep up. What had just happened here? Was he mad at her?

And if he was, as someone who was just pretending to care about her, did it matter?

16

“What’s up with you, man?”

Nicholas looked up at his brother, who was staring at him as though he were the one about to make one of the biggest commitments of his life. Nate was cool as a cucumber. Instead, Nicholas was the one who was distracted and had been since he arrived.

“Nothing.” Nicholas shook his head, telling himself to get back in the game. “Just a little tired, that’s all.”

Nate laughed. “You checked out at, like, midnight, dude. You don’t even know tired.”

“We walked the Lyon Street Steps this morning. Probably a bad idea, but it usually doesn’t wear me out like that.”

“That’s what happens when you get old.”

Nicholas glared at Nate, but it was all in good fun. They teased each other. It was just what they did.

“This is about Charlie, I’m guessing.” Nate sat down next to him.

They were waiting in a roped-off area in the church where the wedding would take place in just under half an hour. People were starting to drift in, and the groomsmen were at the back of the church, greeting people and hanging out.

“Just a little argument, no big deal.”

That was the understatement of the year. Nicholas looked down at his feet, leaning forward with an arm on each leg. Mostly he just wanted to stretch out his back, but it also helped keep his brother from seeing his face.

“Lover’s spat,” Nate said with a nod. “We’ve had our fair share of those. It’s a sign your relationship is on the right track. That’s what the counselor says, anyway.”

Nicholas straightened and looked at his brother. “The counselor?”

“Marriage counselor. It was required to get married here. It’s been a total game-changer. Totally recommend it for you and your fiancée.”

The idea of going to a counselor to discuss his issues with Charlie was almost laughable. The issue was that he was pretending to be with her to get his mom off his case, but somewhere along the way, he’d developed feelings for her. Just when he’d begun to believe she felt the same, she’d taken the wind out of his sails with her mention of telling his mom the truth. She seemed to be more on his mother’s side—but, most notably, she seemed to be more on the side of this relationship being fake when he was starting to feel that it was all too real.

“Can I ask you a question?” Nicholas asked his brother.

Nate, who was watching a group of women gather around their mother at the back of the church, pulled his attention off the situation and looked at Nicholas. “Sure.”

“Did Mom try to matchmake you?”

Nate stared at him for a long moment without answering. “You’re joking, right?” he finally asked.

“No.”

“I thought you knew. She introduced me to Elizabeth. Her mother is in some club with our mom. I don’t know what club it is, but it involves getting together and talking about their money or something.”

That made Nicholas laugh. “Yeah, that’s pretty much what I figure all her clubs are. So Mom set you up? And you liked her?”

“Don’t get me wrong. I was dragged into it kicking and screaming. But Mom had this surprise dinner at her house, and when I showed up, Elizabeth was there, just as annoyed as I was about all of it. We hit it off, and the rest is history.”

“I thought she just did that stuff to me. She’s always comparing me to you, telling me how successful and perfect you are at everything. I guess it makes sense that she’d want to set me up with someone since it worked for you.”

“Hold up.” Nate slid forward on the pew, swiveling to face Nicholas. “First of all, Mom was trying to fix you up with someone? While you’re engaged?”

“She didn’t know I was engaged. She was trying to set me up with that Caroline woman. Until about two weeks ago, everything I said to her led back to some fun fact about Caroline. I could probably tell you everything about her, and we’ve never