Page 22 of Falling for My Billionaire Fake Date

“Perfect!” Bella exclaims, while picking up the colorful menus from the table.

“Is there anything I can get you started on as you make your choices?”

“No, just be back in a few, dear,” mom replies, as Bella is busy making googly eyes at the menu.

“Bro, what do you want?” Bella asks, facing me.

“Just whatever you’re having, Bella.”

“What about you, mom?” she asks, turning to face mom.

“The same, whatever you’re having.”

She claps excitedly and places a hand on her chin as if making a serious decision. The action makes me smile. It’s a family tradition for Bella to pick out everything for us whenever we go on an outing. It always made her feel special as a kid, and the tradition never stopped. It’s hard to believe she’ll be getting married soon.

Two minutes later, the waiter is back. “Hi! Have you decided?”

“Yup! Three plates of Nutella Delight Pancakes, one espresso with little sugar, a mocha, and a latte,” she rattles off.

“Alright, ma’am. Are you sure I can’t get you started on anything yet? Juice, maybe?”

“No, thank you, Noah. We’ll just wait for our food.”

Bella and mom begin to talk about the ongoing preparation for the wedding while we await our orders, and I zone out, allowing my gaze to roam absentmindedly around the shop.

And before I can stop myself, I catch my thoughts leaning toward that infuriating owner. Bella’s voice pulls my focus back to the booth.

“What did you say, Bells?” I ask, grateful for the distraction. Being in her café, I know why my thoughts have been leaning towards Aurora this morning, and I refuse to dwell on it.

“I asked you when we’ll be meeting your girlfriend. Isn’t she supposed to be here already?” Bella asks, looking at me curiously. “I haven’t even seen you call or text her. Is she coming at all?”

I deflate at her words. It is now or never. I swallow thickly and sigh. I open my mouth to tell them the truth but get interrupted by Bella.

“It’d be great if she could attend my wedding. Then Sophia could bring Alex as her date, and you could bring your girlfriend. Tell me about her. What’s her name? Is she pretty? Of course, she’s pretty. Does she live here? Are you getting married?” Bella fires questions at me in rapid succession, growing more excitedby the second.

I laugh at her excitement, forgetting for a second that I’ll have to break her heart by answering all her questions in the negative, that there was never a girl to begin with.

Thinking of how to start, I get interrupted again, but not by Bella this time around.

“Here is your order! Enjoy your food!”

I look up, surprised to see Aurora, who is staring at me with murderous eyes.

Chapter sixteen

Aurora – What Just Happened?

There are moments in life when you desperately wish you could miraculously go back in time or rethink a bad decision you made. This is one of those moments. I had seen Noah in the kitchen with three orders. He has been here since morning, covering for Emma, one of his co-workers. With the intention of relieving him of waiting on his new table, I collect the large tray from him, chasing him off for a five-minute break or until a new table needs to be attended to.

Now, I really wish I hadn’t done that. Never could I have imagined I’d be serving Jake, not even in my wildest imagination. I notice he has company. Two ladies - a very young woman and a slightly older one. He laughs lovingly at what the young lady says, so fixated is he on her that he doesn’t notice me until I announce the arrival of their food.

His smile freezes, and the young lady looks up to see what has caused it. My eyes zero in on her finger which has a simple butbeautiful engagement ring sitting on it. Are you kidding me? Who the heck does this guy think he is? Asking me to be his fake girlfriend and bringing his fiancée to my shop barely five days later?

I stare at him hard, with disgust and anger warring against each other in my expression.

Jake stares up at me with a weird expression, as if he cannot figure out why I am staring at him with so much anger. The two ladies at the table look in between us. The older one with amusement, and his girlfriend with confusion, probably wondering why I’m murdering her fiancé with my eyes.

Poor girl. She seems nice, and I feel sorry that she’ll be spending the rest of her life with this brute, who, just this week, asked me to be his girlfriend. My eyes keep going to the beautiful engagement ring on her finger. Is he trying to get a girlfriend so he can get out of his engagement? Why not just tell her the truth? Why lead her on?

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