Marrying the Billionaire - Macie St. James Page 0,42

the most beautiful ceremony?” Donna pulled her chair out and gracefully slid onto it. “I can’t believe my son is now a married man.”

“Soon both of them will be,” Caroline commented, not taking her eyes off Nicholas.

Nicholas’s mom didn’t even seem to notice. She was busy greeting the rest of their tablemates, which included half of the wedding party and their plus-ones.

“Charlie, dear, I’ve been meaning to talk to you.” Donna abruptly addressed her as Charlie was halfway through her salad. She’d been worried that with all the stress, she wouldn’t have an appetite, but as soon as she took the first bite, she realized just how hungry she was.

Rushing her chewing so she wouldn’t have a full mouth, Charlie nodded. She just hoped Nicholas’s mother would continue without Charlie’s input. The last thing she wanted to do was talk with her mouth full right now.

“We should schedule a lunch date, just the two of us. Maybe this week?”

Charlie nearly choked on the bite of salad she’d managed to chew up and swallow quickly. She didn’t know how to answer that, mostly because she had no idea when Nicholas would tell her they weren’t really engaged.

“Sure.” Her gaze immediately went to Nicholas, which was no easy task. He was all the way to the right of her, which meant she had to turn her head all the way to the right.

“Maybe next weekend,” Nicholas jumped in to say. “During the workweek, it’s so chaotic.”

“Oh, pish posh. There’s always time for lunch. I’ll pick you up at your office Monday. Does noon work?”

Pish posh? Did people actually say that? It sounded like something you’d see in a dialogue balloon coming out of a cartoon character. A wealthy cartoon character. But then, everything about Donna Baker Shaw seemed like a wealthy-person character, right down to her three names.

“Wednesday would work better,” Charlie blurted.

There. That would buy Nicholas a couple of extra days.

But Donna couldn’t make things easy on her. “No. Monday’s the only day I have free. If you don’t have time…”

Charlie took a deep breath. “I have time. I’ll see you Monday at noon.”

“Perfect.” The self-satisfied smirk on Donna’s face made Charlie immediately regret giving in so easily.

As a server swept plates out from in front of them, then another server placed down a plate full of sliced steak and roasted potatoes, Charlie snuck a look at Nicholas. It was a look that said he needed to take care of things before Monday.

As she turned back to her food, though, she noticed the nonverbal exchange between her and Nicholas hadn’t gone unnoticed. Caroline was still watching them from across the table.

18

Nicholas stood in front of the mirror, scrutinizing his appearance. It was the last morning with Charlie. After brunch—followed by dropping her off at her place—he would have no reason to spend time with her again. He could drop by Justin’s office, sure, but if she didn’t want to see him after this, he certainly wasn’t going to push it.

His phone buzzed. He didn’t even have to pull it out of his pocket to know that it was his mom again, this time reminding him they were waiting for him. He wanted to reply that they should get started without him. It wasn’t like he couldn’t order his brunch when he arrived.

But his mother wouldn’t start without him. He had to be there so she could show him off to whomever would be at this brunch. That was what it was all about, anyway.

Sighing, Nicholas grabbed his hotel room key and headed for the door to his room. He supposed if he was really pressured to talk about it, he’d have to admit he was delaying because he didn’t want this morning to end. He wanted to prolong his time under the same roof with Charlie as long as possible.

They were all in the dining room and seated around a ridiculously long table when he entered. His mother had rented the same room they’d had for the dinner Friday night, so it felt like it was a repeat, only the wedding was over now. A couple more hours and they’d be free and clear.

Nicholas tried not to think about that as he sat down next to Charlie. She was deep in conversation with one of his mother’s friends. Betsy or Bitsy or Mitzi—he couldn’t remember the woman’s name. Didn’t matter anyway.

“You will have to join us. I know it sounds like something only older people do, but if you start now,