Page 24 of Falling for My Billionaire Fake Date

I sigh inwardly, ready to clear the air and escape to my office. Alex’s presence be damned, I have no plan to make small talk with him like a long, lost best friend, nor do I have the desire to become girlfriends with his fiancée.

“Mom, Isabella, meet my girlfriend, Aurora Blaze. She’s the owner of this pastry shop, the coffee shop beside it, and the bar on the opposite side of the street,” Jake butts in, before I can open my mouth, shocking me.

I whirl my face to stare at him, but he is already looking at me with the most loving expression on his face. He holds my hand and kisses it.

“Babe, meet my family—my mother and my sister.”

What the heck just happened?

Chapter seventeen

Jake – Getting the Situation Straight

After dropping the bombshell, there are mixed reactions. Aurora stares at me with so much shock, her jaw is slacking open. She sits there frozen, her hand still held in mine, and I debate on slowly closing her mouth or just leaving her to deal with the shock how she deems fit.

Or you’re just scared she’ll bite you after the stunt you pulled.Yeah . . . that too. I rub soothing circles on the back of her hand.

Bella squeals and runs to our side of the booth, having switched sides when mom made Aurora sit beside me.

“It’s nice to officially meet you! Welcome to the family, Aurora! Can I call you Aur? Or Rory? Maybe Rora? Will you attend my wedding? I’m sure Jake has invited you, hasn’t he?” She pelts Aurora with questions, while hugging her tightly.

I still haven’t let go of her hand, and I’m really beginning to worry about her still-frozen reaction. She clutches my handtightly as if it’s the anchor holding her, helping her realize she’s not in some crazy dream.

She stares blankly at Bella, who keeps asking questions. Mom notices her shock and mistakes it for discomfort, so she steps in, rescuing Aurora from Bella’s onslaught of questions.

“Bella, that’s enough. Don’t scare her away,” Mom says gently, while smiling fondly.

Bella pouts and goes back to her seat, wiggling her brows at me as she sits beside her mom.

Mom turns toward Aurora—who, thankfully, has managed to return her jaw to its rightful position. I’m a minute away from requesting smelling salts from her workers to jolt her back into ‘consciousness' when my mom softly smiles at her, her eyes crinkling with kindness. “Hi, darling. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Melissa Reynolds. You can call me Melissa, Mel, or Lisa, as it suits you, darling. Mrs. Reynolds makes me feel old.”

Aurora blinks herself back into the situation, and I inwardly breathe a sigh of relief. She smiles weakly and politely, reaching out to Mom with her other hand for a handshake.Because you’re still holding on to her right hand.

I scowl inwardly at the small voice in my mind. It’s absolutely normal for couples to hold hands, especially when you’re currently introducing them to your family members.Yeah, right.I inwardly narrow my eyes, refusing to ponder on the tiny conversation I just had with myself.

“It’s a pleasure to officially meet Jacob’s family. He speaks highly of you and Bella. Congratulations on your engagement, Bella. Thank you for coming, Melissa,” Aurora says, timidly and politely, and I can see she has captured Mom’s heart already.

Bella practically has excitement written all over her at the prospect of having a new sister.

“Call me Bells,” Bella says, then she bursts into a fit of giggles. “You call him Jacob? He hates it. Oooh . . . someone’s smitten,” she says, laughing, and my mom beams.

I’m about to reply to her when I hear the sound of a throat clearing. I look up to see Sophia with a sweet smile, but her eyes tell a very different story. They are stony hard and I realize she is glaring at Aurora. Alex has an unreadable expression on his face. He looks almost . . . constipated.

“Congratulations, Jake. You’ve finally moved on. How did you guys meet again? Because it’s barely been two months since you’ve moved down to Birchwood,” Sophia says, with a razor-sharp smile, crossing her arms, her red, manicured nails reminding me of drops of blood.

Mom sighs tiredly and glares at her. “Are you not tired of standing here and keeping your fiancé waiting? As you can see, this is a family moment, and we’d love to keep it that way,” mom says coldly, placing emphasis on the ‘fiancé.’

“But Mel—” she begins to say, but mom cuts her off.

“It’s Mrs. Reynolds to you, Sophia.”

Bella begins to protest at mom’s actions, but mom shoots her a look, and Bella keeps quiet, looking away with a sigh, her expression silently pleading with Sophia.

Sophia huffs and walks to a nearby table, her heels clicking angrily after her. Alex strolls after her and pulls out a seat for her. I don’t know why, but I turn to look at Aurora watching Alex’s action.

Herface is an aloof mask, but her eyes do nothing to hide her real emotions—anger and a little hint of hurt is hidden there. She whirls to face me and clenches my hand painfully tight.

Aurora smiles at mom politely and nods sideways at me. “Could you excuse us for a minute?”

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