Marrying the Billionaire - Macie St. James Page 0,32

you’re excited, Ms. Shaw.” Caroline turned to look at Donna, who was sipping something from a mug. Charlie assumed it was coffee or hot tea. Whatever it was, she made it look regal.

“Sure,” Donna said, setting the mug down. “It’s not every day your son gets married.”

“Twice in one year is pretty rare, though,” the maid of honor said. “How many people can say both their sons got married the same year?”

Someone else made a comment and everyone laughed. But Donna’s eyes were wide as she looked around. There was confusion there, but that quickly shifted as she realized people here knew something she didn’t.

“Both of my sons got married?” Donna asked.

The murmuring and laughter gradually quieted until everyone was staring at Donna. She remained impressively composed, though. It was tough to even read what she was thinking with her neutral expression.

It wasn’t too late to turn back. Charlie could tell everyone that she and Nicholas weren’t really a couple at all. Or she could simply say they weren’t engaged—that it was all a prank they’d played on his brother. That would save Donna from being disappointed later when she realized no wedding would be taking place.

“This is Nate’s night,” Nicholas said as attention gradually turned to him. “Mom and I will talk about this later.”

Nate spoke up then. “I’m tired of all the attention being on us.”

“Me, too.” Elizabeth smiled, looking over at Nicholas and Charlie. She held up her water glass. “To Nicholas and Charlie.”

“To Nicholas and Charlie!” someone else called out.

And then everyone toasted them with glasses of water. Everyone, that was, but Nicholas’s mom, who watched all of it with pursed lips.

She wasn’t happy. That much was clear. Maybe Charlie had been wrong about her. Maybe she wouldn’t be disappointed to hear her son wasn’t engaged, after all. She might be relieved.

“Well,” Donna finally said. “I have to say this is quite a surprise. When did this happen?”

“Just a few days ago,” Charlie blurted out without glancing in Nicholas’s direction. She had to say it. She had to make this situation at least a little better for Nicholas’s mom.

“I didn’t get a chance to tell you.”

Thank goodness. Nicholas was going along with what she was saying to lessen the damage here. Maybe he, too, sensed that this was what his mother needed right now.

“Well,” Donna said simply. Just that one word.

Charlie looked down at her salad, her appetite having vanished at some point. But she picked up her fork and started eating, telling herself it didn’t matter. None of this mattered. She was just here for the weekend. After the wedding, she’d go back to her life and Nicholas would clean up whatever damage they’d done.

“Hey,” Nicholas whispered, nudging her. She’d just set her fork down after taking a shot at eating some of her salad. He looked over at her, smiling while holding his own fork. “Is everything okay?”

The concern in his voice made it tough for her not to answer. She thought about shrugging the whole thing off, maybe giving him a reassuring smile. But no. She didn’t want to pile more lies on top of the ones already circulating here.

“No. I just don’t feel right about all this. Your mom seems genuinely hurt.”

At that, Nicholas lifted his gaze from Charlie’s face to his mother. Following that shift, Charlie looked over at his mother, who was eating her salad and smiling at something the grandmother of the bride was saying to her. She certainly didn’t look hurt right now.

“I’ll talk to her after this,” Nicholas said.

Charlie turned to look at him. “I know you want to put an end to your mom’s behavior…”

“It’s more complicated than that.”

Charlie nodded. Certainly. She could respect that. She even felt bad for intruding here, but then she remembered that he’d pulled her into this. When things went sideways, as they most certainly would, his mother would blame her along with him.

But by then she’d be long gone. That had to be his thinking on it, anyway. If he had even thought for a second about keeping her in his life after this weekend, he wouldn’t want to turn his mom against her.

That realization was a stab to her heart. She’d grown to like this guy, whether she wanted to or not. She could even see herself eventually falling in love with him, provided they set aside this fake-engagement nonsense and took a legitimate shot at dating. But he very obviously only had her around to keep his mother