Marrying the Billionaire - Macie St. James Page 0,26

years. They’d only left her alone most of the time because they never paid attention to her.

Until they encountered her at the pool, where there was no one else to pick on.

They never paid attention to her.

It hit her then, as Shellie and Jamie gave her blank, but apologetic looks. They were confused, and it was understandable now.

“You have no idea who I am, do you?” Charlie asked.

The confused expressions were displaced by discomfort. Shellie’s smile had returned, and it looked just as plastered on as ever. Jamie’s attention was on Nicholas, who had moved to stand next to Charlie. It felt like a bit of a protective maneuver as though he sensed that she needed him and stepped up to help.

“Sure…you’re Charlie,” Jamie said. “You’re in HR in Silicon Valley.”

Charlie grimaced. “I’m talking about in school. We all were in the same elementary school class in fifth grade. We passed each other in the hall every day from middle school on. Aside from the day you body-shamed me here at the pool, neither of you even noticed me.”

She stopped talking before she could give too much away. She couldn’t believe she’d let these two dimwits take up space in her head all those years. And now, at the reunion, they had one hundred percent only spoken to her because Shellie was making the rounds last night and Jamie…

Jamie had her sights set on Nicholas.

That was still the case, obviously, judging by the way Jamie’s gaze kept subtly sliding over to Nicholas. She also had straightened as Nicholas came around to face them, thrusting her chest out to emphasize her curves.

Yeah. Disgusting.

“We had a pretty big class,” Shellie said. “Plus, it’s been ten years. I’m sure I knew who you were back then, but I’ve had a lot of sleep since then.”

“What’s important is that we’re getting to know each other now.” Jamie stepped forward a little, inching closer to Nicholas. “Listen, if we said something horrible to you back when we were kids, I’m so sorry. You look amazing. I’m sure I was just jealous.”

“Exactly,” Shellie jumped in to say. “I was totally insecure. Let’s just let loose and forget all that. Look—we’re being called inside.”

Shellie and Jamie took off, joining a big crowd of classmates who were cramming through the doorway together. Charlie looked over at Nicholas, gauging his reaction to what had just happened.

“Closure?” Nicholas asked.

The look on his face was so adorably cautious, Charlie couldn’t help but laugh. “I can’t believe I placed so much importance on what those two thought. They’re kind of—”

“Shallow? Self-absorbed? Immature?”

“All of the above.”

“I say we go in and find someone completely different to sit with. Someone who knows how to carry on an intelligent conversation.”

They spotted Bobby Johnson within seconds of entering and Charlie made a beeline for his table. Bobby had been in several classes with her throughout middle and high school, although she wouldn’t have called them the best of friends. Still, she liked that his table seemed to be filled with people who not only remembered her but were excited to see her.

This was what a high school reunion was supposed to be about.

“You never missed Charlie walking into a room,” Marianna Bullock said. Marianna was someone Charlie had hung out with for a couple of years in middle school, before they’d split into different friend groups freshman year. “All the guys had crushes on her.”

“Pretty much.” Bobby held his hands up in an exaggerated shrug when everyone turned to look at him. “Hey, everyone knew it.”

“Except me.” Charlie shook her head. “I just assumed everyone saw me as bones.”

“Bones?” Bobby asked.

“Inside joke.” Charlie looked over at Nicholas, smiling at him.

“I think we should dance,” Nicholas announced as the party music switched to a slow song, leading the group gathered on the dance floor to thin out significantly. Turned out people weren’t as excited about a slow dance as they were about jumping up and down to a song they’d all loved a full decade ago.

“Sure,” Charlie responded, pushing her chair back and standing. She led the way to the dance floor, moving between the tables with her head held high.

Along the way, she couldn’t help but glance in Shellie’s direction. She was standing near the podium, talking to the woman who seemed to be in charge of making sure everyone was fed and happy.

“Thank you for doing this,” Charlie said as she turned to face Nicholas, putting a hand awkwardly on each shoulder.

With similar awkwardness, he