“My fiancé is here,” she declared loudly.
“Congratulations,” the hostess said, picking up two menus.
“We’re not—” I gritted my teeth.
“You want that property?” Camilla hissed. “You better get on board.”
Jaw tense, I followed the hostess to a booth, Camilla hanging on my arm the entire way.
“I have us a couples counselor booked,” Camilla told me. “She’s really good. She’s one of the Kardashian’s marriage counselors.”
“I only said I was going to come to dinner with you,” I reminded her.
Camilla pouted. “Daddy said you were going to give us another chance. I need to see you put in the effort if you want me back. I cheated on you because I love you. I just wanted to make you jealous so you’d notice me.”
“I invited you to event after event, and you refused to go,” I reminded her.
“They were work events,” she whined. “You never planned anything special for the two of us.”
“I am a very busy man. I work a lot,” I said.
“Your dad doesn’t work that much,” she complained.
I saw red.
Camilla seemed to realize she had messed up. “I didn’t mean it like that!” She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. “It was a onetime thing,” she breathed against my skin. “I thought it was you. I drank a lot, and I was so happy that you wanted me back.”
I grimaced and looked around the restaurant, wanting my eyes to land on anything other than the crocodile tears and clumped mascara on Camilla’s fake eyelashes. My eyes did find another target. There, across the restaurant, was Ivy, glaring at me. I could feel her disapproval wafting over the restaurant.
Fuck.
The server came by, breaking our connection. Camilla, determined to draw this dinner out as long as possible, ordered us the three-hour tasting menu.
“You’re not even going to eat any of that.”
She gave a braying laugh. “I can pick parts of it. You’ll eat the rest. I’m back on a diet for our wedding.”
Through course after course, Camilla drank and ate maybe five bites of food while I sat there listening to her go on and on about the new wedding she was planning. In my head, I tabulated how much money I was going to make on the land deal. I decided it wasn’t anywhere near enough to endure Camilla.
We weren’t even halfway through the tasting menu when Ivy and her friends stood up from their table. Camilla’s face went sour when she saw them.
“How dare you come here!” she slurred when they walked past. “You ruined my wedding!”
Ivy cocked her head and gave Camilla a fake smile.
“I’m sorry about that, Camilla. But do keep in mind that we ask all our brides that you be completely truthful so that we can head off any disasters and make sure that your wedding goes off without a hitch. That’s why we need to know if your weight is fluctuating so that your dress fits correctly, if you or any guests have food allergies so no one is rushed to the hospital during the reception, and if you’re sleeping with anyone who is not the groom so we can ensure that your side piece either isn’t in attendance or that a jealous girlfriend doesn’t ruin the ceremony. Unfortunately, you never told me that you were sleeping with both the best man and the father of the groom. If you had mentioned it, I would have been able to run interference. On your next wedding, please keep that in mind!”
I hid a laugh in my napkin.
“You bitch!” Camilla screeched, swiping drunkenly at Ivy, who skipped backward. “You’re never getting a dime from me. You can forget about my paying that last bill.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Ivy said with fake brightness. “Evan already paid. You’re all settled up.”
“You did?” Camilla growled at me.
I glared at her.
“I can’t have people saying I don’t pay my bills. You were reflecting badly on me.”
