Marrying the Billionaire - Macie St. James Page 0,39

they began the walk. The music just happened to start when they were halfway up the aisle.

“I don’t think we’re supposed to be doing this,” Charlie leaned over to whisper. “People think we’re an official part of the whole seating thing.”

“They’ll get over it.” Nicholas smiled at the one woman staring at them. Everyone else was either talking to the people around them or facing forward. “I try not to worry about what people think.”

Charlie looked over at him, a puzzled look on her face. He was sending a clear message. His mother was obsessed with impressing all these people. He was not. Never would be. His goal over the past few years had been to take the opposite approach of his mother.

“This is your seat.”

Arriving at the front pew, he gestured for Charlie to slide on in. She was sharing a pew with Justin and Brooke, along with his cousin’s family. Third row back. Not quite immediate family, but close enough.

Nicholas’s job was to turn and head to the back of the church for the next person he was assigned to escort. That person was his mother. She’d taken her spot in line, just behind the bride’s mother.

“Did you see Betsy Eadby?” his mother asked as he stepped into place beside her. “She’s green with envy.”

Although he knew exactly what his mother was getting at, Nicholas turned a confused look on her anyway. “What do you mean?”

“Her daughter is in her thirties and still hasn’t married. Her son still lives at home. He’s twenty-eight.” She whispered that last part. The sad thing was, she was one hundred percent serious. A large portion of the hard work she’d done planning this wedding had been to impress these people. It was beyond a hobby for his mother. It was her life.

“I have a feeling she thinks far less about you than you think. People are weird that way. They tend to be more worried about their own lives.”

“That’s silly. We all compare ourselves to others. It’s how we know we’re doing well.”

The couple in front of them reached the pew, which was Nicholas’s cue to start moving. As he walked his mom to her seat, he thought about what she’d said. Yes, comparison was human nature. He was guilty of it himself. How often did he look around at all the other founders in Silicon Valley to see how they were doing? He spent plenty of time monitoring valuations and acquisitions to keep an eye on everyone else in town. And he and Justin had been in direct competition for years.

No, he wasn’t all that different from his mother. She just put pressure on him and Nate to make her look good. She also measured people’s success by whether their children checked off items on a list that existed in her mind. Get engaged—check. Have an elaborate, society-approved wedding—check. Live in a nice house with expensive belongings—check. No doubt next up would be having a set number of grandchildren that she could then brag about to her friends.

It was an exhausting merry-go-round ride, and Nicholas wanted off.

17

“I think his mother is buying it,” Brooke whispered as they stood near the entrance to the ballroom, watching guests stream in.

The family had stayed behind at the church to snap pictures—an obligation Charlie was glad to escape by being the fiancée, not the wife, of the best man. The last thing Charlie wanted was to be in the official wedding photos, only to have his mom find out after the event that she’d known all along she wouldn’t be part of the family.

Charlie shrugged. “Just have to make it another twenty-four hours.”

As they stood there, Charlie realized Brooke was watching her, seemingly studying her expression. She didn’t want to be studied.

Finally, Brooke spoke. “Exactly what happens in twenty-four hours?”

That was a tough one. Charlie sipped her drink to delay answering. Although she and Brooke had formed a friendship, it was more of a work friendship than a personal one. She felt like she could confide in her, but something still blocked her from doing so.

“I guess we go home and go back to life as normal. I’m not sure what else is supposed to happen.”

Brooke’s eyes narrowed. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

Charlie gasped. “No. Of course not. This was a business arrangement. He helped me with my reunion, and I help him with this wedding. Everyone wins. We walk away even.”

A laugh escaped Brooke’s mouth. “Do you really believe that yourself? Or