Page 22 of Billionaire's Fake Plus One

Day 3 – Fun day of activities.

“What exactly does a fun day of activities even mean?” I wonder out loud, shaking my head. Rich people are really something. Why even stretch out a wedding for five days? Lucien doesn’t answer me, so I continue perusing the itinerary.

Day 4 – Spa day in the afternoon for the girls. Bachelor/bachelorette party. Ugh. I guess I’ll have to attend that too.

Day 5 – World Special Zattany Day (AKA our wedding day!! #Zattany).

“Wow. The hashtag is for social media posts?” I ask Lucien. Because no way they made a ship name for themselves just because.

“I suppose,” he answers.

“Okay. So, dinner tonight. How are we handling it? People will definitely have questions. Some of them probably met me when I was dating Zane.” Ugh. They’ll probably think I’m a gold digger like Lucien did when we first met. Thankfully, I’m not going to meet any of them again after this week, so I don’t have to worry much about it.

“Yes, some probably did,” he allows, generously. “But it doesn’t matter, none of them matter.”

“So, what’s our story Lucien? What’s our couple's origin? We can’t have a meet-cute because they’ll assume we met through Zane, which is true. But bringing it up might be awkward.”

“What’s a meet-cute? You know what? Never mind, forget I asked.” He shakes his head, and I grin at him. Men. Ugh. “As for ourcouple's origin, I assume that’s how we started dating?” He waits for me to nod before continuing, “I want us to stick to the truth as much as possible, so we say we met when you came to nanny for my girls.”

“No, that won’t work.” He raises a brow in question, so I elaborate. “That was a few weeks ago, and you don’t strike me as the type of guy to bring home a woman he just started dating.”

“I suppose you have a point. What do you suggest?”

“How about this? When Zane introduced us two years ago, you fell in love with me at first sight. You were so dumbstruck that you decided to be mean to me to hide your profound feelings. You gritted your teeth with jealousy anytime you saw me with Zane and secretly hoped we would break up.” I’m grinning widely, getting into it now. This is like a scene from one of my favorite books!

“After we broke up last year, you decided to give me a year to heal from our messy breakup and relationship. But when you found out my mother had died, you needed to be close to help me heal, so you fired your girls’ previous nanny and reached out to Zane about looking for a new nanny.

You planted the seed in his head to tell me. And when I inevitably agreed, you pursued me aggressively until I had no choice but to say, yes. You love me so much and can’t wait for us to get married.”

His brows start rising as I get into my story; now both his brows are so high up his forehead that his hair is nearly covering them. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

I raise my finger up, thumb and index finger an inch apart. “Just a little.” We go into more details about our fake relationship to get our stories straight in case we’re asked any questions. How he asked me out. Our first date.

It’s surprisingly fun going over it with him, even though it’s mostly me doing the talking. The embarrassment about my drunken behavior and nervousness about the coming dinner momentarily take the backseat as I plot out our relationship.

I’m so good at this, I could probably write a novel! Maybe that’s a profession I should keep in mind for when the summer is over, and I no longer nanny for the girls. You know, since I’m supposed to befinding myselfright now. What am I going to find in Half Moon Bay… with him?

16

Rachel! Did you know that Half Moon Bay got its name because of the crescent shape of the ocean? Cute right? ??

“Ready?” Lucien asks, knocking the bedroom door. He got ready first, then spent the past hour in the library getting some work done while I dressed. I inhale deeply. I’m as ready as I’ll ever get. I open the door and step out. Lucien blinks at me, once, twice. His lips part sexily and his eyes go liquid as he takes me in.

“You look stunning,” he breathes as he watches me through a hooded gaze. I blush hotly and look down at my feet. I’m in the expensive turquoise, cross wrap halter dress with ruched details that Lucien picked specifically for our first dinner when we went shopping. I put on some makeup, which was actually fun. I haven't done so since I lost Mom. Didn’t realize how much I missed it.

My hair is pulled back in an elegant chignon that took thirty minutes to get right, with a few strands loose on either side to frame my face. The sparkly diamond bracelet and stud earrings I was gifted from Rachel for my last birthday complete the look. I look like an elegant, richer version of myself.

“Thank you. You look…handsome.” But handsome is too tame a word to describe him. He’s wearing the hell out of his tailored three-piece suit and a tie that matches the color of my dress. His hair is parted at the side and slicked back from his face. His scruff is neatly trimmed. Simply put, he looks drop dead gorgeous - and intimidating as hell.

He flashes me a small smile, then offers me his arm. We walk out of our room and get into the elevator. The dinner is at a hall in one of the detached buildings of the lodge, and it is massive. As big as it is, it’s teeming with people. There has to be almost 500 people, if not more, in attendance. I tighten my grip on Lucien’s arms, and he gives me a reassuring smile. The hostess greets us warmly, and I swallow hard as we walk into the party.

Almost immediately, people swarm us, trying to talk with Lucien to get his opinion on this and that. The smile fades from his face, and he scowls as he answers grumpily. His foul mood doesn’t deter more people from coming over, though. He introduces me to everyone who walks up to us as his girlfriend; and after the customary polite small talk, they ignore me to talk shop with Lucien.

I don’t mind though, using the moment to glance around the tasteful hall. People are dressed to the nines and talk in soft murmurs. Lucien occasionally runs a hand softly up my exposed back, sending chills down my spine. If this is all part of the ruse, he’s being very thorough in convincing even those behind us that we’re legitimate. I can’t say I hate it.

A few minutes later, a man in a suit walks up to the stage. The crowd goes quiet as he introduces himself as the MC for the night. Then he announces the arrival of the bride-to-be and her groom. Zane and Brittany strut into the room dramatically, and the crowd claps politely. He’s wearing a tux but doesn’t look half as good as the man whose hand I’m holding on to tightly. His brown hair is longer than I remember and pulled back in a ponytail, mousy brown eyes twinkling as he waves around. I stare at him intensely but don’t feel anything. The hurt from his cheating and lack of remorse have faded over time.What did I ever see in him anyway?

I move my gaze to Brittany. She’s wearing a classy white dress with a Queen Anne neckline that clings to her curves. She’s tall, and her heels make her taller, putting her at the same height as Zane. They walk towards the stage to the elaborate seating area set up for them.

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