Marrying the Billionaire - Macie St. James Page 0,14

at the reunion. Are we engaged, married, or just dating? How did we meet? How long have we been together? We have to get all that straight in case they ask us separately.”

Silence from her side of the car. He hoped he hadn’t pushed too far. But finally, she spoke.

“How’s this? We met a year ago at a work event. You proposed on Valentine’s Day, and we’re planning a big wedding for next summer. I wanted a full year to get everything together. We’re going to get married in the South of France, transporting the entire wedding party on your private plane.”

“I don’t have a private plane.”

Should he have pointed that out? Yes. He had to keep reminding himself that she wasn’t interested in his belongings. She was just interested in what her former classmates thought of his belongings. Somehow, that seemed worse.

After another silence, she asked, “But you can rent one, right?”

“Charter, yes. I can charter a private plane for our wedding.” He smiled as he said those words, teasing her by mentioning an event that would never happen. May as well get into the spirit of this if they were going to pull this pretend engagement off.

“But what are we going to tell your family next weekend?” She looked at him as she asked that, but he kept his gaze steadfastly focused on the road. He wished he could say he hadn’t thought about it. But he’d spent the week fixating on how he could possibly convince his mother that the special guest he’d told her he was bringing to the wedding was his fiancée.

“We’re engaged. I proposed in Vegas. No, she won’t like that. Something fancier.”

Laughing, Charlie settled deeper into her seat, resting her head against the headrest. “We ran off to the South of France in a chartered private jet and you proposed in some fancy garden?”

“That sounds better. So we’re engaged. Too late to do anything about it now. Perfect.”

He felt Charlie looking at him again. “What would she do about it if we weren’t engaged?”

“Try to break us up, of course. Push whatever socialite she’s picked out for me between us in the hopes you’ll give up and go away. I told her I was bringing a date.”

“What did she say?”

Nicholas glanced over at her. “I don’t know. I dropped it on her voicemail right before picking you up.”

She blinked. “You’re kidding. She hasn’t responded yet?”

“Beats me. I have my phone set not to disturb me right now.”

“Hiding out, huh?”

“No. I just want to focus on my drive.”

But she was right. He was hiding out. He didn’t even want to glance at his phone right now. If he had a missed call from her, he’d be worried about her reaction. If she hadn’t called at all, he’d probably be even more worried.

Better off escaping the whole thing.

“I’m sure your mom just wants you to be happy,” Charlie said.

“My mom.” He sighed. “She’s always been more about what everyone thinks. My younger brother is in medical school. Did I mention that? His goal is to eventually become a heart surgeon. He’s at UC Berkeley, getting his undergrad. Marrying the child of a society friend of my mom’s. I’m sure they’ll eventually have the perfect home in the perfect suburb near Mom. Maybe pop out a couple of perfect kids.”

Had he said too much? He realized that had come across as a little bitter, but there you had it. His entire life summed up in one paragraph. No matter how much he accomplished, his mother would always point out how much more his younger brother was doing.

“You’ll eventually have to break it to your mom that you’re not getting married, though.”

Charlie’s point was something Nicholas had given plenty of thought to over the past few weeks. He knew the holidays would come around quickly enough, and his mother would expect him to show up with his wife-to-be.

“I figure I’ll just tell her it didn’t work out.” He shrugged. “The point, right now, is to get through my brother’s wedding, and just showing up with someone I’m dating won’t be enough.”

“Because you want to show your mother that you don’t need her to find a woman for you,” Charlie said.

“Exactly.”

But it went deeper than that. He wanted to show his mother that, like his brother, he had his life together. Not just the part where he was set for life and had a big, fancy house with a pool and jacuzzi that he only used when he