Semua Bab Black Ties and White Lies: A Billionaire Fake Engagement: Bab 131 - Bab 140

My jaw drops as my eyes scan our kitchen. He’s got it completely decorated with balloons and streamers. A homemade banner is hung up by large pieces of tape along the kitchen windows. It reads “Happy First Day!” in big bold letters.I let out a small sob, tears forming in my eyes as I focus my attention on Archer. He’s got a silly party hat on, his arms full of a large heart-shaped cake. “Happy first day, baby!” he muses, the most perfect smile on his lips.“Archer,” I breathe, unable to do anything but shake my head in disbelief. I truly hadn’t meant to make today that big of a deal, even if it’s the most excited I’ve been in a long time. I hadn’t realized how bored I was with my life—with the parties and events—until Archer encouraged me to pursue my love for design.“It’s a little cheesy, isn’t it?” he asks, giving me a small shrug as if he doesn’t care how cheesy it is.“It’s very cheesy.” I laugh, walking deeper into the kitchen to get a better look at his decorations. “But it’s

EMMA“I would say I’m shocked, but I’m actually not surprised at all,” my best friend, Winnie, tells me, her eyes narrowed on me from across the small café table.My nose scrunches as I try to decide if I’m offended by her comment. “Listen. I know I don’t have the best history with jobs, but that one was even more terrible than most. My boss was pushing sixty and kept asking me to do private work at his house.” I take a long drink of my iced coffee, remembering the creepy looks he was always giving me. “Private work at his house can’t be good, Winnie.”She shrugs, nodding as she realizes I have a point. “I could always see if we could get you a job at Bishop-Moore.” Her voice is sweet, and I know she’s just trying to be nice by offering a job at the hotel dynasty she runs with her husband, Archer Moore, but working another job that I don’t have a passion for is the last thing I want to do.With a groan, I sit back in the padded chair of the fancy restaurant she’d invited me to. “That’

PRESTON“You could at least pretend to be enjoying the welcome party for my wedding,” my sister, Peyton, jabs before taking a sip of her dirty martini.I grunt, my fingers tightening around the beer I’ve been nursing for the past hour. “I’m sorry, P. I’m enjoying it. You know me and parties—they aren’t my thing.”“I remember hearing all about your legendary parties in college,” she quips.Cheers erupt in the corner of the busy bar as her future husband is coerced into taking another shot. She looks at Jackson lovingly, as if he can do no wrong, even though it takes him about five tries to finish off taking a shot instead of swallowing it down in one gulp.Personally, I think my baby sister could do better than a man who wears a collared shirt even to the beach, but she’s madly in love. So, my opinion doesn’t matter. He loves her dearly, and she loves him.I don’t hate the guy; I just don’t love the fact that the next week will be filled with one party after another before their weddin

PRESTON“Girlfriend?” Emma repeats, her voice tight as she looks intensely at me.“I didn’t know you had a girlfriend,” Marsha whines, her lips jutting out in a pout, which is comical because I’ve never shown her a shred of interest in the countless years she’s been friends with Peyton.“I’m entitled to keeping my private life private,” I answer, reaching out for Emma. I take her hand and pull her closer. She narrowly avoids spilling her shot all over Marsha in the process. I look down at Emma with affection. “My Emma really likes to keep things private. Don’t you, sweetie?”Emma, to her own credit, doesn’t move away from my touch. If anything, she leans a little closer, allowing me to wrap my arm around her.“You know me,” she says through gritted teeth. “I never share my personal details.”My lips twitch as I fight a smile. I don’t know her well, but in the conversation we’ve had tonight, I’ve learned that she’s an open book.“Is this new?” Marsha asks, her eyes bouncing between Emm

“I’m here for the summer. No set timeline. Until I have to find a new job or figure out what I want to do with my life.”“You have the rest of this summer to figure your life out. Spend this week pretending to be my girlfriend, and then we’ll go our separate ways. You can discover yourself, and I can tell my family my schedule got too busy and we didn’t work out.”“Too busy to have a girlfriend?” I ask sarcastically.He lifts a shoulder. “Something like that.”I want to ask him what he could possibly do for his family to think he’s too busy for a relationship, but I bite my tongue. It doesn’t matter. As hot and charming as Preston is, I still don’t want to spend my week pretending to be his girlfriend.“Is she an ex-girlfriend?” I ask, voicing the first question that pops into my mind.A wrinkle appears on his forehead. “Marsha?” he asks incredulously. “Absolutely not.”“You sure? Are you trying to make her jealous? Or did she get too clingy after the two of you had a fling?”Preston