Donna Baker Shaw liked her.


    That much was clear from the instant Nichs introduced the two of them. They were standing next to the table in the private dining area of the hotel’s restaurant. People circted all around, reminding Charlie that this was a high-society group. It felt like she was a teenager again, venturing into the country club with the children she’d been tasked with watching.


    The good news was she’d never had a hard time fitting in with these types. Her mother had instilled etiquette in her from a young age, havinge from a strict country club-style upbringing herself. If Charlie had her preference, these would be thest people she’d surround herself with, but if it meant being with Nichs, she’d do it every day of the week.


    “Charlie?” Nichs’s mother asked after giving her a limp handshake. “Is that a nickname? Charlene?”


    Charlie nodded. “That’s the name on my birth certificate, but I’ve always just been Charlie.”


    Donna nodded. Was that disapproval in her eyes? Probably not. Charlie figured she was being overly sensitive right now, mostly because she wanted this woman to like her.


    “We’ll go take our seat,” Nichs said, grabbing Charlie by the hand and tugging her along. Charlie smiled at Donna, then allowed Nichs to pull her away.


    “Do you think she knows?” Charlie whispered to Nichs as they took their seat next to his brother and the bride-to-be. As best man, Nichs was assigned to sit next to Nate, while Elizabeth’s maid of honor-a woman whose name Charlie couldn’t recall, even though she seemed nice enough -sat on the other side of Elizabeth. The mothers of both the bride and groom sat at the head and foot of the table.


    “Knows what?” Nichs straightened his silverware, then picked up the ss of ice water to take a generous sip. He genuinely looked confused.


    “About us. The South of France.”


    Nichs’s mom was way at the end of the table, but Charlie still felt the need to whisper those words and speak in code. She didn’t want word to make its way down there if his mother didn’t know.


    Shaking his head, Nichs returned his ss to its original spot. “Not yet. Unless someone has told her, but I doubt it. I figured I’d just let the rumor spread.”


    Although she tried not to stare at him, she couldn’t help herself. “You’re going to let her hear from someone else?”


    Nichs shrugged. “Why not? I don’t want to make a big deal out of it. This isn’t my weekend, remember?”


    “Maybe we should announce it at the brunch Sunday. The wedding will be over.”


    Laughing, Nichs shook his head. “You don’t know my family very well. We’ll be lucky to make it through the first course before she knows.”


    The first course, a sd, was already in front of them, so that was fairly quick. Charlie didn’t like the idea of his mother hearing they were engaged through the rumor mill, but she also didn’t like the idea of making some huge announcement that would upstage the bride and groom at this dinner. What was she thinking?


    They weren’t engaged. It was fake. She shouldn’t care if his mother ever heard they were fake engaged. In fact, it would be better if she never learned about it and they could just squeak through this weekend without any drama. Then maybe Nichs could handle his mom drama on his own.


    But, whether she meant to or not, she cared. She was getting a little too caught up in the fantasy of being Nichs’s actual fiancee, and also of being epted by his family. She had to ground herself in reality because once this weekend was over, she had every reason to expect that she’d never hear from Nichs Shaw again. “So how did you two meet?”


    This question came from Caroline, who was the very bridesmaid Nichs’s mom had been trying to matchmake with her son. Charlie had singled her out earlier, but she’d decided that Caroline had no idea about his mother’s ns. Chances were, she wouldn’t even have yed into the matchmaking if Donna Baker Shaw had been able to give it a try. Charlie knew the feeling. The older people in her life had tried to y matchmaker for her a few times, and those had been thest men she would have been interested in. It was just human nature.


    “My boss is his best friend.”


    Again, Charlie decided honesty was the best policy. She liked the romantic spin Nichs had put on it at her reunion. Maybe she shoulde up with something like that herself, especially if Nichs’s brother asked. She’d want to make Nichs look good to return the favor he’d done for her the previous weekend.


    “We met at a party,” Charlie said, devising a romantic story on the fly. “I saw him from across the room and it was like everyone else disappeared. We’ve spent every minute we can together since.”


    “Can’t imagine my life without her.” Nichs leaned forward, put his hand on her arm, and pulled her toward him, startling her. Charlie hadn’t realized he was listening.


    “That’s so sweet.” Caroline wore a huge smile. “I love hearing romantic stories like that.”


    “So do I,” Nichs said. “It took me years to find my soul mate, and here she was all along, right under my nose. My best friend even talked about her, and I had no idea she was the woman I was going to spend the rest of my life with.”


    “You two, you’re going to give us cavities with all this nonsense,” Nate said, apparently listening, too. And suddenly, everyone was looking at the two of them. Charlie wanted to sink down in her chair-maybe even hide under the table. Anything to avoid this scrutiny.


    “I’ll bet you’re excited, Ms. Shaw.” Caroline turned to look at Donna, who was sipping something from a mug. Charlie assumed it was coffee or hot tea. Whatever it was, she made it look regal.


    “Sure,” Donna said, setting the mug down. “It’s not every day your son gets married.”


    “Twice in one year is pretty rare, though,” the maid of honor said. “How many people can say both their sons got married the same year?”


    Someone else made ament and everyoneughed. But Donna’s eyes were wide as she looked around. There was confusion there, but that quickly shifted as she realized people here knew something she didn’t.


    “Both of my sons got married?” Donna asked.


    The murmuring andughter gradually quieted until everyone was staring at Donna. She remained impressivelyposed, though. It was tough to even read what she was thinking with her neutral expression.


    It wasn’t toote to turn back. Charlie could tell everyone that she and Nichs weren’t really a couple at all. Or she could simply say they weren’t engaged-that it was all a prank they’d yed on his brother. That would save Donna from being disappointedter when she realized no wedding would be taking ce.


    “This is Nate’s night,” Nichs said as attention gradually turned to him. “Mom and I will talk about thister.”


    Nate spoke up then. “I’m tired of all the attention being on us.”


    “Me, too.” Elizabeth smiled, looking over at Nichs and Charlie. She held up her water ss. “To Nichs and Charlie.”


    “To Nichs and Charlie!” someone else called out.


    And then everyone toasted them with sses of water. Everyone, that was, but Nichs’s mom, who watched all of it with pursed lips.


    She wasn’t happy. That much was clear. Maybe Charlie had been wrong about her. Maybe she wouldn’t be disappointed to hear her son wasn’t engaged, after all. She might be relieved.


    “Well,” Donna finally said. “I have to say this is quite a surprise. When did this happen?”


    “Just a few days ago,” Charlie blurted out without ncing in Nichs’s direction. She had to say it. She had to make this situation at least a little better for Nichs’s mom.Published by N?v''elD/rama.Org.


    “I didn’t get a chance to tell you.”


    Thank goodness. Nichs was going along with what she was saying to lessen the damage here. Maybe he, too, sensed that this was what his mother needed right now.


    “Well,” Donna said simply. Just that one word.


    Charlie looked down at her sd, her appetite having vanished at some point. But she picked up her fork and started eating, telling herself it didn’t matter. None of this mattered. She was just here for the weekend. After the wedding, she’d go back to her life and Nichs would clean up whatever damage they’d done.


    “Hey,” Nichs whispered, nudging her. She’d just set her fork down after taking a shot at eating some of her sd. He looked over at her, smiling while holding his own fork. “Is everything okay?”


    The concern in his voice made it tough for her not to answer. She thought about shrugging the whole thing off, maybe giving him a reassuring smile. But no. She didn’t want to pile more lies on top of the ones already circting here.


    “No. I just don’t feel right about all this. Your mom seems genuinely hurt.”


    At that, Nichs lifted his gaze from Charlie’s face to his mother. Following that shift, Charlie looked over at his mother, who was eating her sd and smiling at something the grandmother of the bride was saying to her. She certainly didn’t look hurt right now.


    “I’ll talk to her after this,” Nichs said.


    Charlie turned to look at him. “I know you want to put an end to your mom’s behavior…”


    “It’s moreplicated than that.”


    Charlie nodded. Certainly. She could respect that. She even felt bad for intruding here, but then she remembered that he’d pulled her into this. When things went sideways, as they most certainly would, his mother would me her along with him.


    But by then she’d be long gone. That had to be his thinking on it, anyway. If he had even thought for a second about keeping her in his life after this weekend, he wouldn’t want to turn his mom against her.


    That realization was a stab to her heart. She’d grown to like this guy, whether she wanted to or not. She could even see herself eventually falling in love with him, provided they set aside this fake-engagement nonsense and took a legitimate shot at dating. But he very obviously only had her around to keep his mother from trying to push him toward the elegant, lovelydy seated next to Charlie, who probably would have been a very suitable date for him.


    “You’re right,” Charlie said, nodding to herself. “It’splicated. I’ll stay out of it.”


    “No, I didn’t mean-”


    But whatever Nichs was about to say was drowned out by the groom, who had stood to make a short speech thanking his family for being here. When that was over, Charlie immediatelyunched into a conversation with Caroline and the woman on the other side of her. Anything to avoid continuing the discussion with Nichs. She just didn’t want to ept that he wasn’t as interested in her as she was in him. She didn’t want to face the fact that he was just using her.