Her Fake Christmas Eve Billionaire Boyfriend

by Chelsea Hale

  Her grandpa entered and pulled them both into a hug. “It’s good to see you smiling, Sunshine Emery. You both look happy together.”

  James spoke up. “Your granddaughter is a remarkable woman.” He squeezed her hand.

  James’ compliment boosted her. He didn’t have to say it, and yet he had said it anyway. Emery could feel the heat rise into her cheeks.

  Her grandpa smiled. “On that we can agree.” He settled into the high wing-backed chair close to the twelve-foot Christmas tree that blocked most of the view from the center window in the room.

  Her parents, who always came in last, entered the room. Emery breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe her sister wasn’t coming tonight.

  “I have some unfortunate news,” her mother began, taking a seat on the couch opposite Emery and James.

  “Unfortunate news is not a way to announce oneself into a room,” her grandpa said. “Besides it’s Christmas, and Emery is here. Let’s only have happy news.”

  Her mother shook her head. “It’s not too bad, I suppose. I called the box office to purchase two extra tickets to the Nutcracker tonight. But they’re sold out for tonight and for the rest of the run.”

  “How is that possible?” her grandpa asked. “You bought tickets weeks ago. Why aren’t there enough?”

  Emery could see her mom wanting to say something about her strict R.S.V.P. deadline, but her mom just shrugged. “It’s not too bad, though. Roger and I don’t have to go this year. You can have our tickets.”

  “Who needs tickets for what?” Emery's sister Kristi’s voice could be heard from the doorway. She burst into the room as everyone turned to look at her. She was holding hands with Emery's ex. No. Emery should think of her Owen as her sister’s boyfriend, not her ex.

  A pit grew in Emery's stomach as the nausea hit her. Her mom hadn’t mentioned that Kristi would be here today, so she’d left the subject alone. But it now made sense why they were still talking in the sitting room instead of the dining room.

  Kristi’s eyes widened. She squealed on her way across the room and threw her arms around Emery.

  It was as if the entire room held its breath, waiting to see how Emery would respond. She hadn’t seen Kristi since last Christmas, when Emery had found her boyfriend and her sister locking lips under the mistletoe.

  Emery had had an inkling that coming back here unattached at Christmas time would be hard on her. But even with a fake boyfriend smiling next to her, she thought she could handle the raw emotions that came. She was wrong.

  Emotions flooded through her, all of the hurt and the anger and frustration rushed into her mind and probably showed on her face. She did her best to keep the same expression, but when she tried to break Kristi’s hug, Kristi held on tighter.

  “I’m so glad you came. I was so worried you wouldn’t.”

  “I’m here,” was all Emery could manage. It was only for a week. She didn’t want to dwell on the fact that her ex had chosen her sister over her. It was only a week that she was here. She could handle it for a week because James was here. She moved closer toward James, his presence a comfort to her as she introduced him to Kristi and Owen.

  “I’ve heard almost nothing about you but thank you for being here with my sister. We’ll have to hear all about you.” Kristi attacked James with a bear hug too, not giving him time to even respond.

  James smiled at Kristi, of course he did. He didn’t even look awkward about it. He was going to be the super awesome boyfriend, and he had no clue what her sister had done last Christmas. “I look forward to catching up,” he said, his smile genuine.

  Her ex came up after Kristi to give Emery a hug, but she stuck her hand out, giving her an arm’s length of distance between them. “You look great, Em,” he whispered quietly so only she and James could hear. She cringed at the use of her nickname that once was a source of joy on his lips.

  James wrapped a protective arm around her shoulder, and Emery silently thanked him for the perfect timing.

  “Don’t break my sister’s heart,” she managed to say.

  “I don’t plan to.”

  The words felt a little icy, accusatory. Whoever planned to break hearts? Had he planned to break her heart last Christmas? She had always hoped he hadn’t planned to. James shook his hand politely, but she could see the unanswered question in his eyes when he looked at her again.

  They resumed sitting. Kristi sat next to Emery with Owen on the other side. Emery increased the space between her and her sister, snuggling closer to James. She tried to ignore the way her stomach tightened at the way her ex drew small circles on Kristi’s knees and thighs with his hand.

  She was glad again for about the hundredth time since walking through the front door that she had James by her side through this whole week. No way would she have been able to handle this without him.

  After a few more minutes of stilted conversation her mom clapped her hands, commanding the room as she stood. “Well, now that we’re all here. Let’s go into dinner.”

  Chapter 14

  James wasn’t blind to the undercurrent of pain in the room. Emery had clenched her hand around his more than once as he met her sister. What was going on? Emery didn’t seem to be on good terms with her sister, if the cuddling close to him was any indication.

  He put his arm around her, stroking her shoulder, and she leaned into him. His senses heightened as he tried to pay attention to the conversation and the smell of her shampoo intoxicating him.

  They moved to the dining room, and James felt the formality of the moment.

  When they were all seated and the first course was served, Kristi continued the conversation from before. “Now, what were you talking about tickets? Something new on the schedule?”

  “The Nutcracker is sold out,” her dad said. “Your mom and I were just about to offer our tickets to Emery and James.” Roger addressed them. “How about it?”

  Emery looked to James, seeming to ponder the offer. “That’s really nice of you, but I don’t want you to miss,” she said.

  Kristi spoke up again, her smile widening. “Take our tickets. Owen and I have some friends in town and we were trying to figure out how to align our schedules. Tonight is one of the only nights we can get together with them.”

  Emery nodded. “That’s nice of you, thanks.”

  James could tell that the Nutcracker was important to Emery.

  “So how did you guys meet?” Kristi asked between bites of her salad.

  James sensed Emery's hesitation as her hand stiffened against his under the table. He didn’t want to rush in with all of the answers so he waited to see if Emery would stay on the facts or if she’d embellish.

  “Through a mutual friend I work with,” Emery said. She didn’t seem to relax as she said the words.

  James knew he needed to join in the conversation, but he didn’t know what information Emery would normally offer in a family setting.

  What would she prefer to say when asked about it? Should he give more detail?

  Emery continued eating her salad and the silence through the room seemed deafening.

  “How did you two meet?” James asked Kristi and Owen. An awkward silence hung in the air, and James wasn’t sure how to fill it. They were only one question into this whole thing and already he could see that if silence lasted much longer it would be an unbearably hard week.

  Emery threaded her fingers through his, and he played with the ring on her finger.

  Kristi coughed and her boyfriend’s eyes widened. Roger leaned back away from the table, just observing, but Sharon was wringing her hands so hard James wondered if they’d stay as white as they looked from here.

  “Uh, Emery? Didn’t you fill your boyfriend in?” Kristi’s eyes seemed to plead with Emery but Emery only adjusted in her seat, leveling a stare at her sister as she held her fork in mid-air.

  “Fill me in on what?” James whispered quietly.

  “Apparently, she didn’t,” Owen said. He glanced at Emery
and then cleared his throat before answering James’ question. “As it turns out, we met through a mutual friend too.”

  Emery squeezed James’ hand until he wondered if there would be anything left of his hand when she was done with it. Her vice-like grip didn’t let up. He glanced at her but she kept her gaze pointedly in front of her, not looking towards him.

  “It’s always nice to have a good friend in the mix,” James said, not knowing what else to say.

  Emery's mom’s hands didn’t stop their rapid movements, and her dad’s eyebrows rose. Even her grandpa seemed to be interested in the discussion.

  Kristi cleared her throat. “Right. Good friends are … hard to come by.”

  “Especially when they’ve been stabbed in the back,” Emery muttered.

  James’ hand stilled on Emery's shoulder. What did that mean? “Are you okay?” he whispered right into her ear. She didn’t make any motion at first.

  Then Emery jumped up. “I’m not going to pretend that you answering the question like that is okay.”

  Both Kristi and Owen blinked.

  “No, I didn’t feel the need to explain to my boyfriend how the two of you met, because I’ve been trying to forget that for the last year. And I wasn’t going to bring your crappy baggage into my relationships.” Emery’s face was red, her breathing fast.

  “You want to know how they met, James? They met here, at Christmas last year, when I brought my then boyfriend home for Christmas. And my sister kissed him under the mistletoe. And I dumped him.”

  “Mistletoe is a tradition,” Kristi protested. “I want to make things better now.”

  “Yeah, well I hope you stealing boyfriends every Christmas isn’t a tradition.” She took the festive red and green satin napkin from her lap, draping it over her almost untouched plate of food and stood. “Excuse me.” Emery left the room, her heavy footfalls sounding on the wooden stairs.

  Kristi crumbled into Owen's arms. “I’m trying, mom. I thought that once she had her own boyfriend things would be fine.”

  Her mom nodded. “She’s going to need more time.”

  “So, it’s true?” James asked, his stomach turning inside him. Why hadn’t Emery told him? He would never have asked the question had he known what kind of answer he’d get and how it must be ripping at Emery.

  Maybe Kristi had had the right idea that once Emery had a boyfriend she’d be over her sister’s betrayal, but Kristi didn’t know that James wasn’t really her boyfriend—he was her hired help for the week. Emery had tried to keep her family time to just today—stop in and say hi, check on her grandpa and leave. James had thought he was being helpful by allowing her more time with her family. He had no idea what he’d gotten them both into.

  A sudden pit lodged in his stomach. He was going to be the best fake boyfriend for Emery. He wouldn’t let her be exposed to such hurt and pain from Kristi and Owen. He wouldn’t let her face this alone.

  No wonder why she needed to bring a boyfriend to her family’s Christmas. And no wonder why she didn’t want to bring a real boyfriend with her. That hadn’t worked out at all in her favor last year.

  Kristi’s face colored. “It’s not exactly how it seems. I mean, yes, we did kiss under the mistletoe, but nothing else happened until after she dumped Owen. I mean, maybe there were feelings there.” She looked at Owen, who nodded, and then continued, “But it wasn’t like we were sleeping together or anything before she broke up with him. Honestly, it was one kiss and she freaked out.”

  James nodded, though he wasn’t sure how to take Kristi’s story. The fact that they had hooked up right after Emery had broken up with Owen would of course be a low blow. Was her sister even sorry about it? It wasn’t his drama to get into, but he wanted to help Emery.

  “And you want to make things right with Emery now?” James asked.

  Kristi nodded. “I really do. Do you think you could talk to her for me? I know she’ll listen to you. I really didn’t mean to fall in love with her boyfriend. It just happened. But now she has you, and I’m still with Owen. We should be able to work things out.”

  James knew he didn’t want to sit here and have a conversation about his fake dating life with Emery while she was upstairs by herself, taking in this conversation without any emotional support.

  He nodded to Kristi, though he wasn’t sure what help he could offer her or even if he should try to help her. He was focused on Emery. But at his nod the entire room seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief. “I’ll go talk to her.”

  Marta showed him up to Emery's room. A door at the far end of the room that he assumed was the bathroom was shut. He knocked on it tentatively. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

  She opened the door, her face red with tear streaks down both cheeks. “I don’t need an apology from you, I need an apology from them.” Her gaze lingered toward her bedroom door.

  “I’m sorry I opened up a can of worms with my question. I had no idea …” His words trailed off. He should have known though, or even just guessed a little that there would be some tension and drama.

  Why else would he be here? Of course, he was supposed to run the interference, not leave her open to be tackled by the situation all over again.

  Emery shook her head. “I should have told you more about it. It was only supposed to be for a weekend. I thought we could get through it without it coming up. I just didn’t want to bring it up and sound more pathetic than I actually am.”

  He gathered her into a hug, tucking her head underneath his chin. She was the exact height to fit perfectly against him. “You’re not pathetic.” He wanted to quiet all of her negative feelings and emotions, but he didn’t have the slightest clue how to do that. “We’re going to have the best week, you and I.”

  She looked up at him warily. “Do you follow the mistletoe tradition?”

  “Only with you.” He kissed her on the top of her head and a feeling of comfort settled in around him. Like he was exactly where he was supposed to be during Christmas this year.

  “I think that was the perfect answer.” She wiped at her eyes. “Thank you for being here.”

  James could feel himself being pulled into the realness of the moment. “I’m here for you. And right now, I want to be the best boyfriend around your family. So, tell me what you need? Should we go down again? Stay up here for a little longer? What do you want to do?”

  Emery was quiet for a minute. “I’m here to get over last year. Let’s go down again. Give me five minutes to wash my face.”

  James mulled around her last statement as they walked down the stairs, holding hands. She was here to get over last year. That meant she wasn’t over last year, or her ex. His stomach tightened at the realization.

  Chapter 15

  The ballet. Emery loved her family tradition of going to the Nutcracker right before Christmas. Every year she’d gone with her parents and grandparents and sister. Once they started dating, she and her sister had brought dates along too.

  They walked into the theatre—the foyer which usually boasted open space was filled with a large Christmas tree and oversized presents stacked along the walls. The chandeliers cast light across the sparkling fake snow that stuck out beneath the presents. On the far wall a large Nutcracker over ten feet tall stood at perfect attention. It held the memories of every Christmas she could remember.

  Emery sucked in a breath. Could she do this? Could she be here? It was one of her favorite places, and one of her favorite traditions, but it was all tainted with last year’s memories. She glanced up at the fresh mistletoe that adorned each archway around the foyer.

  James kept his arm linked with hers as she stared at the archway where Emery found her then boyfriend, Owen, lip-locked with her sister under the mistletoe. The memory still stung, bringing the taste of bile rising from her throat.

  How did she think she could get past it? Especially since they were still together—a constant reminder that her sister had beat her and had stolen her boyfriend. A
t least Emery had had the satisfaction of dumping him right then, but realistically that had been her only option after the punch to the gut the whole situation had been.

  At least she was glad that Owen and Kristi had alternate plans this evening. Having them here at the ballet would have been one more reminder of what she’d lost and where she’d lost it.

  “Is everything okay?” James asked.

  She looked down at their arms, where she’d squeezed his arm as her knuckles turned white. She took a deep breath and made a conscious decision to loosen her arm, her hand finding his instead, as she gave it a gentle squeeze.

  She still loved the ballet. The Nutcracker was her favorite, and there was no way that her back-stabbing sister was going to ruin it for her. She was here with James, her fake boyfriend, and she was going to make the very best of this night. She needed a new memory here—one that would erase the awful of last year.

  Pulling out her biggest smile she said, “I am now.”

  He looked at her like he didn’t believe her, but that was okay. He didn’t have to know everything about last year, and her humiliation that followed. He was here and he was a distraction. He guided her through the crowd, keeping his hand on the small of her back as they made their way to coat check. Then they followed the mass of people to the stage door where an usher gave them each a program and tore their tickets.

  “Should we wait for your parents?” James asked.

  Emery looked around. They’d driven separately since there were too many to fit in the five passenger SUV her parents owned, and Grandpa had mentioned picking up a friend on their way. “They should be here soon, but we can find our seats.”

  An usher pointed them in the right direction. They made their way to the aisle and found their seats. When they were settled, Emery turned to James and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

  He blinked at her. “What was that for?” he whispered.

  She shrugged. “It just felt right,” she said, not wanting to admit that she was going to work hard to forget that she’d ever been to the Nutcracker with anyone else besides him.