Page 42 of Seeking Happily Ever After

“It really did. Thank you for leaving the cabins this afternoon. I know you have so much work to do and—”

“Hey.” She turned a little so she could look up at him. “That’s what this is all about, isn’t it?” She felt a pang in her chest even as she spoke the words. It was very quickly becomingnotwhat it was all about. Of course, Amelia was the number-one concern, obviously. But every day that passed, she couldn’t help that her feelings were growing for both of them. It was getting harder and harder to remember that it was all supposed to be temporary, and they’d agreed to easy, with no feelings. It was gettingreallyhard.

Nick hesitated and stroked her hair off her face. “It is,” he finally agreed. “And I do think it went really well today. We answered all her questions, and Amelia was extra smiley and happy today.”

“She was,” Char agreed. “And do you think it helped when she walked in on us earlier? Like…maybe it gave her the feeling that we were a real couple with real feelings?”

He stiffened under her.

Did she go too far? Did he think she was searching or digging for more?

Dammit.

The last thing she wanted was for Nick to think that she was going back on her promise to keep things light and easy, with no expectations. She didn’t want to spook him now. Especially when things were so critical. Susan said she was going to put her recommendation in right away and then the whole case would have to go to the courts. Of course, Char didn’t hear all the details because Nick had asked her to put Amelia down for her nap while they finished up. Not that she minded, but she couldn’t help but feel like she missed some details about the case and what was going on.

“Char, about—”

“I thought we nailed it.” She interrupted him and put a bright smile on her face before he could say anything that might end their fake relationship prematurely—or worse, do anything to hurt Amelia’s chance of staying with her father. “And don’t worry about me,” she continued. “I’ll keep doing my part and playing the role of devoted and madly in love fiancée.” She pushed up enough to give him a quick kiss and then flipped over to turn off the bedside light. “I’m exhausted. Good night.”

Shewasexhausted. But it wasn’t playing the role of devoted and madly in love fiancée that was hard work; it was pretending that it wasn’t exactly how she felt that was taking its toll on her.

ChapterTwelve

“She really isthe sweetest little girl in the world, isn’t she?” Hope Langdon tickled under Amelia’s chin until she giggled and squealed in delight, causing Hope to laugh, too. “So interactive. I can’t wait until Cole gets to that stage, too. Not that I’m rushing it,” she added quickly as she glanced over at her own baby with loving eyes. The little boy was fast asleep in his Auntie Faith’s arms. “I’ll keep him tiny as long as I can.” At only a few months old, Cole was still pretty small, and a perfectly sweet baby. “But I could do with some more sleep at night, you know what I mean?”

Charlotte smiled in understanding, despite the fact that she had no frame of reference about how a baby slept at night. Amelia was an excellent sleeper, and as far as Char was concerned, was the best baby in the world. It hadn’t taken her long to completely and totally fall in love with the little girl. Not that it was hard; Amelia captivated everyone with her bright-blue eyes and sweet smile.

When Hope had called to invite her over for tea and a little girl time, Charlotte had jumped at the chance. She’d known the twins in school when they were kids, but Char was older than them, so they didn’t really hang out at all. Still, growing up in a small town, everyone kind of knew everyone. And a baby playdate sounded like a fantastic opportunity for them to reconnect.

Katie had come, too, and she’d brought along Natalie Collins, who was one of the firefighters who worked with her brother at the station and was new to town.

“I wish I could tell you our secret,” Char said with an apologetic shrug. “But I can’t take any credit for how well she sleeps. Nick said she’s always been…” It wasn’t a secret to any of them that she and Nick were faking their engagement; still, it felt strange to talk about it. Especially because more and more, whatever was happening between her and Nick was starting to feel very real.

“What is going on there?” Faith asked the question with a tilt of her head and wink in Katie’s direction.

Char spun around and glared at Katie.What had she said?

“Don’t get mad at Katie,” Faith said, picking up on what Charlotte was thinking. “All she said was that the two of you look really cute together.”

“That’s not all she said.” It was Natalie who chimed in with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

Hope laughed, causing Amelia to join in, too.

Charlotte took her time looking around the circle of women in turn. Finally, she swallowed hard. “You all know that we’re only pretending to be together for the caseworker, right?” She focused on Katie as she spoke, but her friend said nothing in return, only winked.

“Faith?” She turned to the blonde-haired beauty. “You know that, right? I mean, Nick and I are just…” There was no easy way to finish that sentence. Not one that made sense, anyway.

“You’re what?”

Char spun around to look at Katie, who’d asked the question.

“We’re doing this for Amelia.” Charlotte could feel herself growing frustrated. How was she supposed to explain to her friends what was going on between her and Nick in a way that they would understand? Especially when she herself didn’t understand it. “We need it to be believable,” she explained. “It’s important that Amelia can stay with Nick. We had a really good visit with the caseworker the other day. She surprised us at the cabins and…well, it all ended up really positive. I think she’ll put in a good recommendation, which is important because the courts don’t often rule in favor of a single father and…well, they do. But it’s harder and having a stable home situation makes it more—”

“And you two are stable?” It was Natalie who asked. “I mean, if the engagement is fake, is it really stable for the baby to be—”

“She belongs with her father.” Char cut her off and forced herself to swallow hard. She was almost positive that Natalie’s opinion of what was happening was at least partly swayed by her brother. After all, Jeremy had made no secret of how he didn’t approve of Charlotte and Nick’s arrangement. No doubt he’d let that opinion be heard at the fire hall, too.

“I don’t doubt that, Charlotte,” Natalie said. “And honestly, I didn’t mean to imply anything else. I’m sorry if it…well…I can’t imagine the stress Nick’s under, trying to make all this happen and—”

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