Page 18 of Billionaire's Fake Plus One

I gapeat him in astonishment. “How can you be so insensitive right now? Yes, he cheated on me. Yes, I have moved on. But that doesn’t mean I ever want to see him again, and certainly not at his wedding where he’ll be especially smug.”

A thought occurs to me,and I glare at Lucien. “Who’s the bride?”

His expression closes off immediately,and he sits upright. “That information is inconsequential right now. What matters is that nothing has changed. We’re already on our way to Half Moon Bay. We’ll proceed as planned.”

I glowerat him in maximum annoyance. It’s just like a man to say something like that! Like attending an ex's wedding with his sibling is a common occurrence. “I hope to God, the bride isn’t the woman he cheated on me with.” Not that it really matters, anyway. He might have cheated on me, but things ended on semi-good terms with us.

He calledwhen he heard about my mother’s death. He listened when I said I needed to leave the city and got me the job to work as the twins’ nanny. “It isn’t,” Lucien reassures me. “Now, come on. We need to strategize.”

I turnmy nose up as I go back to my seat, still a little miffed at being blindsided like that.

“Letme be clear to you. I don’t want to be at this wedding either, but I have no choice. I’m taking you with me because I need you to get my matchmaking aunts off my back, as well as Zane’s mother.”

“Zane’s mother?”I ask, a little surprised. “Isn’t she also yours?”

“No.”His tone is short. “She and my aunts have been on my back about getting married for their nefarious reasons. It will be doubly worse now that my little brother is getting married.”

“So,basically you need me to be on my A game,” I say crossly. “You really should have told me whose wedding this was from the beginning.” He presses his lips together tightly.

It was goingto be hard enough pretending to be his loving girlfriend in front of the people I thought were just business associates, but now that I know it’s family members? The stakes just rose considerably, and it doesn’t help that I’ll have to contend with my ex as well. So much for making easy money for a week. I just hope this week doesn’t all go to shit.

13

Daily Update Rachel! I think I might just move to Half Moon Bay. It’s so beautiful! ??

It’s cool and crisp as we descend the stairs of the plane on the private landing strip. The sun is just setting, and it makes a stunning backdrop against the palm trees lining the strip and the crystal water in the distance.

A limo is waiting for us. After he waves the crew back into the plane, Lucien opens the back door, lowering himself in after me. He buries his nose in his phone as we drive, so I embrace the opportunity to take some pictures of the beautiful scenery we pass by to send to Rachel with my next daily update.

A few short minutes later, the limo takes a particularly sharp turn a bit too fast, and I go careening straight into Lucien’s side. His right hand shoots out in front of me to keep me seated as my phone slips out of my nerveless fingers. “Be careful!” Lucien snaps to the driver through the open privacy partition.

“So sorry about that,” The driver calls, turning his head to the side a little before quickly facing the road. “I was trying to avoid a pothole.”

“Are you okay?” Lucien asks, his protective gaze roaming my body like I might have sustained a drastic injury from simply sliding across the seat into him.

“I’m fine.” My voice is scratchy, so I clear my throat before repeating myself. He doesn’t look too assured, but he slowly drops his hand from my chest. My right thigh and arm are pressed tightly against his, so I shift away, clearing my throat again.

He looks like he’s about to say something, but the driver beats him to the punch. “We’re here.” Lucien doesn’t take his eyes off me, causing my pulse to race and my core to heat from the look in his eyes. What does that look mean? I’m suddenly desperate to know what he wanted to say, but he instead blinks twice and turns away.

I release a shaky breath and glance out my window. The limo is driving through a very tall arched double gate, currently spread wide open in welcome. A huge signboard off to the right displays the wordsWelcome to Half Moon Bay Lodge.

We drive down a winding driveway with tall palm trees lining either side of the tarred road. I gasp softly as the building itself comes into view. With how rich the Baldwins are, I was expecting some kind of high tech, extremely modern resort, but Half Moon Bay Lodge isn’t that at all.

The lodge is a huge L-shaped, one-story, Windsor-style mansion with tall arched windows, and several detached buildings stretched out in the distance. The limo gradually comes to a stop beneath a large carport attached to the front of the main building.

The driver gets out to open Lucien’s door, and when he moves toward my side, Lucien stops him. “I’ve got it,” he says. I sit awkwardly as he rounds the car, feeling a little ridiculous. I mean, I can open my own damn door. But he really was pissed when I did so earlier in the day. I just inhale deeply, projecting calmness. I tend to nitpick when I’m nervous, and boy am I nervous right now.

Lucien stretches his hand out for me after he opens the door, and I let him help me out. Just then the front door opens ,and a young man in a bellhop uniform pushes an empty cart toward us. He executes a short bow.

“Welcome to Half Moon Bay Lodge. My name is Evans.” Lucien and I say hello. At this point. our driver removes our three bags from the trunk and places them in the bellhop’s luggage cart. Lucien nods at him before he gets back into the Limo and drives off.

The bellhop wheels the cart into the lodge as we follow. The door leads directly into a tastefully rustic reception with patterned gray and black carpets and beige walls. Lucien walks to the receptionist desk and gives her his name. The receptionist produces a keycard saying, “Welcome to Half Moon Bay Lodge. We hope you enjoy your stay here and if you ever need anything, do not hesitate to call the receptionist desk. Evans will show you to your suite.”

I give her a small smile as I trail after Lucien and Evans, relaxing a little at the wordsuite. Our sleeping arrangements have been on my mind since we got on the plane. So far I’ve managed not to worry, deciding to cross that bridge when we get here. I worried for nothing. Of course, old money like the Baldwins can afford more than an ordinary, single hotel room. A suite of rooms seems much more likely in this luxurious resort.

“Something funny?” Lucien asks, raising a brow at me. That’s when I realize that I’m smiling. I shrug in response. Evans takes a left turn, and we’re suddenly standing in front of a pair of elevators. He calls the closest one, and the doors slide open immediately. Of course, the lodge is only one-story, so it would be weird if it took longer. It’s odd enough that there’s even an elevator at all, but it’s becoming clear that while the lodge might be rustic and quaint, it caters to a rich and influential clientele.

Evans leads us to the end of the hallway before coming to a stop. “This is you,” he says pointing to a thick wooden door with 104 written on it. “There are only four suites in this wing of the lodge, and they are far apart. The walls are also quite thick, so you shouldn’t have any issues with the other guests.”

---