Page 12 of Billionaire's Fake Plus One

I take the cellphone away from my ear and stare at it in surprise. “Wait, what? Meet you where?”

“You know you heard me.” I can almost hear her rolling her eyes. “Meet me there.” She hangs up before I can ask any more questions. What the hell? It’s Saturday afternoon so she doesn’t exactly have work today. She didn’t even tell me she was coming to the island! Lucien went back to the city this morning, so it’s just me and the girls at home. They’re sprawled out on the floor playing with their dolls.

“Hey, girls, what do you say we go back to the same coffee shop we went to last time?” They jump up in excitement, and I lead them up to their room to change clothes and re-braid their hair. Almost an hour later, we’re on our way.

“Willow!” Rachel screams, waving her hands wildly as we enter the coffee shop.

“Who is that?” Maddie asks cautiously.

“That’s just Rachel. She’s my best friend. Come on.” I lead them to the booth Rachel is sitting in, and as we come to a stop in front of her, she jumps up to hug me tightly. I introduce her to the girls. Maddie, who is more reserved, retreats and lets Millie lead the conversation as we slide into the booth.

“That’s so pretty.” Millie coos, taking hold of Rachel’s left hand to admire her engagement ring. “I’m going to tell Daddy to get me one.”

Rachel grins at her. “I believe every girl should have a bauble or two on her fingers, so go for it, Millie!”

Aria comes over to take our orders and Rachel teases, “So, I hear you called me blondie. Just so you know, I’m a lawyer and can take you to court for reducing my identity to my hair color. I might not win, but still.”

Aria’s eyes pop open and she glares at me. “I can’t believe you snitched on me after I bribed you!”

“Do you know that bribery is a Class B felony offense under Washington State law? It’s punishable by up to ten years in prison or a fine of twenty thousand dollars. And you just admitted to the crime.”

Aria’s eyes go wider, and her jaw drops as she glances from me to Rachel and back again. I let out a laugh hitting Rachel’s hand across the table from mine. “Stop it. You’re scaring her.”

Rachel laughs with me. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” Aria walks off with a huff without taking our order.

“Now see what you did. Andrew is rubbing off on you.” I mock glare at her, and she sobers up a little.

“I forgot she doesn’t know me as well as you do. I’ll fix it, don’t worry.” She gets out of her seat and walks to the register to speak with Aria. Rachel is very persuasive and a persistent little shit; it’s what makes her such a good lawyer. Soon Aria is laughing with her, the potential threat forgotten as Rachel charms her.

When she comes back to the booth, she’s carrying a loaded tray and wearing a satisfied smile. “See, I fixed it.”

“Of course, you did,” I say with a wink. We catch up in the coffee shop for a while, but the girls start squirming in their seats. I know their restlessness stems from boredom, so I suggest going back home. Lucien never said I couldn’t have guests over, so I’m sure it will be fine.

Rachel drives behind us and whistles a little as we walk into the house. “Beautiful home.” Her fiancé owns a beachfront house on the other side of the Island that’s equally as beautiful, so I just shrug. The girls run up to their room to bring down their doll box. They spread it out on the rug like they did earlier to entertain themselves.

“So, you and Lucien, huh?” Rachel asks quietly as she settles onto the couch. I narrow my eyes as I tilt my head to the kids. Their full attention is focused on their pretend play, but I’m still cautious.

“Nope. No me and anyone. How’s Seattle? And everyone at the office?”

She accepts the change of topic gracefully. “The office has been really lonely without you. No one wants to be my office roommate!”

I laugh at her theatrics. When I worked as a paralegal at Kane and Wilson, Rachel and I shared an office. At first, people whispered that she only got the junior associate job because her brother is one of the founding partners at the firm. But as she got assigned cases, rumors spread about the single-minded ruthlessness she used to win all her cases. As she got more and more wins under her belt, the other junior associates started fearing her a little. It’s funny because she’s actually really sweet.

“They don’t know what they’re missing out on.” I assure her. “Besides, their loss is your gain. You get the office all to yourself!”

She sniffs a little. “You’re right, of course. But I miss having you there.”

“What, my daily updates haven’t been enough for you? Do you want me to send the updates twice a day? Maybe more?!”

“Heavens, no! Please. Once a day is more than enough, thanks. And who is this Emma, who’s going to replace me?” She narrows her eyes at me. I grin at her as I tell her all about meeting Emma and her perfect family.

The topic of conversation gradually moves to some funny happenings at the office since I moved here. Apparently, Sandra, one of the receptionists in the corporate law department, got sloppy drunk at a company event and made a fool of herself all night, dancing on tables and flirting outrageously with the senior partners. She even tried to kiss Jake, Rachel’s brother. I laugh, trying to envision his reaction.

“She called in sick the next day,” Rachel finishes.

“Of course, she did. Who would’ve come in to work after that?” We move on to her parents, who are pressuring her about setting a wedding date. They need grandbabies ASAP. I laugh as she dramatically tries to imitate her mom.

Rachel spends the rest of the day with us, leaving close to dinner time to eat with Andrew, who I should’ve known chose to come to Bainbridge Island with her. He never lets her out of his sights these days. They’ll spend a short day on the island tomorrow, then head back to the city in the evening.

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