Page 12 of Billionaire's Fake Bride
“Hi, to you too?” Nate turned the words into a question, stepping back in tandem with me.
“You smell like that deodorant. The one that you did in the commercial.”
Nate blinked. “Oh, yeah. I wouldn’t do a commercial for a brand I didn’t like.”
“That’s very upstanding of you.”
Nate shrugged airily. “Nah, it’s more like I have enough money to pick and choose what brands I promote.”
“Ugh,” I groaned, leading the way toward the restaurant door before Nate could get any more full of himself. His chuckle followed me all the way to the door, and I pretended to shut it in his face before holding it wide open so he could come inside.
“Two?” a waitress asked. After we nodded yes, she got us seated in no time, took our requests for glasses of water, and left us with two menus.
“This is kind of like that place we used to eat lunch at home in Kentucky,” I commented. “Similar artwork and such.”
“Well…” Nate leaned toward me and beckoned me to meet him halfway across the table. “Don’t tell them I said this, but I liked the place in Somerset better.”
“I’m sure they wouldn’t be that offended,” I chuckled. “They’ve probably never even heard of it.”
“I wouldn’t have heard of it either if not for you. You were always trying all the little hole-in-the-wall restaurants and bringing me around to the ones you liked.” Nate unsheathed his straw and took a sip of his water. “I always wondered how you managed to explore a tiny town with nothing to explore and find things that no one else knew about.”
I shrugged. “It’s a talent. I just put that talent toward finding likely venues to offer my clients for their weddings nowadays.”
“Oh yeah. How’s the business going?”
For the first time since our conversation started, I hesitated. Coming here today, I wanted this to be all about mending our past, putting aside any differences - burying the hatchet once and for all. My business had lasted this long without the Hamptons filthy rich, and I figured that it would continue to last long enough for me to reestablish a friendship with Nate. Well, if I wanted a chance to jump organically into my business’ dilemma, Nate just dropped the opportunity right in front of me.
I gave a mental nod and jumped into it, deciding I had worked in a dynamic environment for too long not to grab a chance when I saw it. After all, I didn’t have to say everything or specifically ask for Nate’s help right now. “Actually, not as well as I hoped. I’m finding plenty of business, just not the business I hoped for when I moved here.”
Nate paused to order from the menu, then asked, “What business were you hoping for, exactly?”
“A lucrative one… millionaire’s and billionaire’s weddings. I haven’t been able to book any of those yet, though.”
“Well, they’re happening,” Nate assured me. “I went to one a few months ago and heard about another one the month after because the bride fired the entire orchestra… and… can you believe this.” Nate shook his head. “The groom’s best man had to play music from a bluetooth speaker he happened to have in the trunk of his car. And the music had ads.”
I winced, although it wasn’t anywhere near the worst or wackiest wedding story in my repertoire. “Ouch. Did the groom agree with the bride’s decision?”
“Well, I heard they filed for a divorce last week, so probably not. I’ll throw your name at the bride if she decides to get remarried,” Nate smirked.
“I’m not sure if I want to plan that wedding,” I said wryly. “I do need to get my foot in the door, though, so it could be an option.” There, that was probably good enough. For now, all I wanted to do was mention my troubles to Nate so that he wouldn’t feel like a request for his help would be out of the blue.
Since our food arrived at that moment, I didn’t have to change the subject. We both dropped it in favor of steaming bowls of pho, so freshly made that we could see thin pieces of beef still cooking in the hot broth.
“Still pretty good,” I said with a full mouth. “I mean, it might not be the place in Somerset, but it’s still pretty good.”
“Mhm.” We finished our pho in silence, both feeling the direction the conversation would take when we finished and not wanting to rush things.
“Do you ever miss Somerset?” I asked, pushing my empty bowl away.
“Sometimes. But I don’t think I really miss the town, just what it means to me. My, um… my mom passed away when I was in college. I don’t know if you know that?” Nate had gotten the teasing and jokes out of his system, and now he sat with his brows slanted over his serious brown eyes.
“Yeah, I know.” When I found out from my mom that Nate’s mother had passed, I almost called him. I thought about it, I dreamed about it, and I even held my phone in my hand with his number on the screen more than once, but I never did. Nate may have left without saying goodbye, but I wasn’t blameless either. I couldn’t imagine how hard that must have been for him, and I couldn’t even find the courage to get over my fears and make a call that could have helped him a lot.
Or, he might not have wanted to hear from you,I reminded myself firmly. Nate couldn’t possibly vanish on me like he had and then expect me to be there for him when he needed someone.
“Yeah. Anyway, I think I just miss that Somerset isn’t a home I can go back to anymore. It’s the place I was born, but there’s nothing there for me now.”
My eyebrow raised in recognition of the familiar story. “Same here, actually. I moved back to Somerset for a while after college to be close to my mom, but then she met someone and moved to be with him. The Hamptons was more of a home to me at that point because Claudia and I used to drive to her mom’s every other weekend, so I came back. Somerset just didn’t feel the same without my mom.” My pulse quickened, and I looked down at my hands clasped in my lap, unable to meet Nate’s eyes. “And you?”
