Marrying the Billionaire - Macie St. James Page 0,31

along. Charlie smiled at Donna, then allowed Nicholas to pull her away.

“Do you think she knows?” Charlie whispered to Nicholas as they took their seat next to his brother and the bride-to-be. As best man, Nicholas was assigned to sit next to Nate, while Elizabeth’s maid of honor—a woman whose name Charlie couldn’t recall, even though she seemed nice enough—sat on the other side of Elizabeth. The mothers of both the bride and groom sat at the head and foot of the table.

“Knows what?” Nicholas straightened his silverware, then picked up the glass of ice water to take a generous sip. He genuinely looked confused.

“About us. The South of France.”

Nicholas’s mom was way at the end of the table, but Charlie still felt the need to whisper those words and speak in code. She didn’t want word to make its way down there if his mother didn’t know.

Shaking his head, Nicholas returned his glass to its original spot. “Not yet. Unless someone has told her, but I doubt it. I figured I’d just let the rumor spread.”

Although she tried not to stare at him, she couldn’t help herself. “You’re going to let her hear from someone else?”

Nicholas shrugged. “Why not? I don’t want to make a big deal out of it. This isn’t my weekend, remember?”

“Maybe we should announce it at the brunch Sunday. The wedding will be over.”

Laughing, Nicholas shook his head. “You don’t know my family very well. We’ll be lucky to make it through the first course before she knows.”

The first course, a salad, was already in front of them, so that was fairly quick. Charlie didn’t like the idea of his mother hearing they were engaged through the rumor mill, but she also didn’t like the idea of making some huge announcement that would upstage the bride and groom at this dinner.

What was she thinking?

They weren’t engaged. It was fake. She shouldn’t care if his mother ever heard they were fake engaged. In fact, it would be better if she never learned about it and they could just squeak through this weekend without any drama. Then maybe Nicholas could handle his mom drama on his own.

But, whether she meant to or not, she cared. She was getting a little too caught up in the fantasy of being Nicholas’s actual fiancée, and also of being accepted by his family. She had to ground herself in reality because once this weekend was over, she had every reason to expect that she’d never hear from Nicholas Shaw again.

“So how did you two meet?”

This question came from Caroline, who was the very bridesmaid Nicholas’s mom had been trying to matchmake with her son. Charlie had singled her out earlier, but she’d decided that Caroline had no idea about his mother’s plans. Chances were, she wouldn’t even have played into the matchmaking if Donna Baker Shaw had been able to give it a try. Charlie knew the feeling. The older people in her life had tried to play matchmaker for her a few times, and those had been the last men she would have been interested in. It was just human nature.

“My boss is his best friend.”

Again, Charlie decided honesty was the best policy. She liked the romantic spin Nicholas had put on it at her reunion. Maybe she should come up with something like that herself, especially if Nicholas’s brother asked. She’d want to make Nicholas look good to return the favor he’d done for her the previous weekend.

“We met at a party,” Charlie said, devising a romantic story on the fly. “I saw him from across the room and it was like everyone else disappeared. We’ve spent every minute we can together since.”

“Can’t imagine my life without her.” Nicholas leaned forward, put his hand on her arm, and pulled her toward him, startling her. Charlie hadn’t realized he was listening.

“That’s so sweet.” Caroline wore a huge smile. “I love hearing romantic stories like that.”

“So do I,” Nicholas said. “It took me years to find my soul mate, and here she was all along, right under my nose. My best friend even talked about her, and I had no idea she was the woman I was going to spend the rest of my life with.”

“You two, you’re going to give us cavities with all this nonsense,” Nate said, apparently listening, too. And suddenly, everyone was looking at the two of them. Charlie wanted to sink down in her chair—maybe even hide under the table. Anything to avoid this scrutiny.

“I’ll bet