So why does it feel so much more significant?
I was going to meet his family, that's why. Not as his friend. But as his girlfriend, his fake-fiancée.
I was checking my reflection one last time when someone knocked on the door. I opened the door to find an elegant woman in her fifties with Derek’s blue eyes and warm smile.
“Paige!” Charlotte Peterson pulled me into a hug. “Oh, look at you! You look absolutely stunning!”
“Mrs. Peterson… Charlotte—hi!” I said, hugging her back, surprised by how genuinely happy she seemed to see me. “Thank you. You look beautiful too.”
“Please.” She waved a hand dismissively but was smiling. “I’m just so glad to finally see you two together. I always told Derek he was an idiot for not asking you out years ago.” She squeezed my hand. “You were always my favorite of his friends. So much more lovely than the other girls he used to bring around.”
Heat crept up my neck because it felt wrong to lie to her.
“Oh, I… we are?—”
“I have eyes, dear. The way my son looks at you?” She said, smiling knowingly. “That boy has been smitten since you were children. I’m just glad he finally got smart enough to do something about it.”
If only she knew the truth. That this was all pretend and that Derek was just helping me through my divorce. That?—
“Come on,” Charlotte said, linking her arm through mine. “Let’s go find my son before the ceremony starts. I want to see his face when he sees you in that dress.”
We walked through the hotel gardens where the wedding was being held, past roses and ivy-covered arbors, and toward the ceremony site. Charlotte chatted easily about family gossip I had forgotten, and I tried to ignore the growing nervousness in my stomach.
Then I saw him.
Derek stood near the entrance, Lily perched on his hip in the adorable yellow dress I had picked out for her. He was wearing a charcoal suit that fit him perfectly, his dark hair slightly tousled like he ran his hand through it.
When he turned and saw me… everything else faded away. His eyes went wide, his lips parting slightly. And the look on his face made my heart stutter in my chest. Like he was in a dream.
“There’s my boy,” Charlotte’s warm voice snapped me out of my trance. “Derek, doesn’t Paige look absolutely beautiful?”
He didn’t answer, but kept staring at me like I was the only person in the garden.
“I’ll just take this little angel,” Charlotte said, plucking Lily from Derek’s arms with practiced ease. Lily went willingly, already reaching for Charlotte’s pearl necklace. “You two enjoy the ceremony. We’ll be right up front if you need us.”
She disappeared into the crowd, leaving Derek and me standing there staring at each other.
He moved first, crossing the distance between us. His hand came up to cup my face, thumb brushing my cheekbone, and he leaned in close enough that I could smell his cologne.
“You look so fucking beautiful,” he whispered, his voice husky and low. He pressed a kiss to my cheek, his lips lingering against my skin. “It’s going to be really hard to keep my hands to myself today.”
Blood rushed to my cheeks and I glanced around, very aware that we were surrounded by his family.
“We’re at your cousin’s wedding,” I whispered, trying to sound stern. “Behave.”
His grin made my stomach flip. “No promises.”
His hand found mine, fingers intertwining, as he pulled me toward the ceremony seating. I couldn’t stop sneaking glances at him. The way the afternoon light caught his profile, the proud way he introduced me to relatives as ‘my perfect and beautiful girlfriend, Paige,’ the way his thumb kept tracing circles on the back of my hand.
During the ceremony, we sat in the back, his arm draped casually across my shoulders. When the bride and groom exchanged vows, promising to love each other through everything, Derek’s hand tightened slightly on my shoulder. I felt him looking at me, and when I turned to meet his eyes, there was something in his expression that made my breath catch.
“What?” I whispered.
He shook his head slightly, his eyes glancing at my lips for a flicker of a second. “Nothing. Just—” He paused. “You’re beautiful, Paige. I don’t tell you that enough.”
“Derek, we?—”
“I know we are pretending,” he said, his voice so low only I could hear it. “But sometimes it doesn’t feel like pretending. Does it?”
