Her Fake Christmas Eve Billionaire Boyfriend

by Chelsea Hale

  “I’m not swooning over him,” Emery protested. Besides, it was all an act, wasn’t it?

  Kristi looked genuinely confused. “Uh, yeah you are. And it’s cute in a completely twitterpated sort of way. I mean, Owen and I are engaged and we don’t make faces like that at each other.”

  Emery set another paper bowl of soup on the serving table. Her mom had mentioned Kristi was engaged but they hadn’t talked about it yet. Had it been with any other guy besides her ex, Emery would have been first in line to hear all of the details of how it happened and what their plans were, but she wasn’t in the mood.

  Emery didn’t really care what Kristi and Owen were doing, but she swallowed some of her pride anyway and said, “I don’t think I’ve given you my congratulations yet, so congrats, and I hope you two will be happy together.” She tried to focus on their positive characteristics instead of feeling betrayed every time she thought of both of them.

  Kristi looked like she was about to cry, and Emery refrained from rolling her eyes. “Thank you. You don’t know what that means to hear you say that.”

  Emery was uncomfortable but glad for the distraction of the soup kitchen that kept her busy.

  “And speaking of, our engagement,” she said, pausing dramatically. “We’re getting married next August, and I want you to be my Maid of Honor.”

  “You do?” Emery was completely shocked. They hadn’t even spoken since last Christmas when Kristi and Owen had gotten together.

  “Of course I do. You’re my sister. I already talked it over with Owen, and he says he wants to invite James to be one of the groomsmen if that’s okay with you too.”

  It was one thing to be the Maid of Honor, but she and James weren’t going to be faking their relationship all the way until August for her sister’s wedding.

  It was one thing to bring him for Christmas so she wasn’t pathetic and quite another thing to pretend for almost a year.

  “This is a lot to take in. I’m going to need … some time to think about it.”

  Kristi nodded, her smile small. “I understand. I told Owen not to ask James until I’d gotten a confirmation from you.”

  At least that was considerate. “Thanks,” she said, wondering how much would be ordered for the wedding plans before she and James staged their breakup fight. Her gaze wandered toward James again as she took him in from a distance. He looked up at her and smiled. The thought of a pretend breakup sounded terrible. She needed to focus on something else, instead of the inevitable.

  She pictured James in a tux at her sister’s wedding, being a groomsman for her ex … no, for her sister’s fiancé. She was done with thinking about Owen as her ex.

  She and James would be paired up for dancing. They’d walk into the ceremony together, the entire way down the aisle. They’d be a pair, a couple. She could see it, down to the color of the flower he’d wear on his jet black tuxedo lapel—a lily with a rose—what she’d always pictured for her wedding flower arrangements.

  Except it was Kristi’s wedding, not hers. Her mind ran with the new thought and immediately James stood in the groom’s place, and she was walking down the aisle, not Kristi. Her cheeks heated.

  Kristi’s voice cut through her daydreams. “Do you think he’s the one though? I mean you guys are so cute together.”

  Emery blushed as the idea sunk in, trying to keep her mind from picturing the wedding scene again. “I mean, we barely know each other.”

  “Sometimes that’s all it takes.”

  The splash of cold reality surrounded her. They were just pretending. This wasn’t real. But she wanted it to be.

  * * *

  “Did you enjoy yourself today?” Emery asked through the bathroom door. She zipped up her black sequin gown then opened the bathroom door.

  “You’re stunning,” James said. “Now what was your actual question because I have no other thought in my head except how pretty you are.” He took her hand and kissed it.

  Tingles spread from her hand through her entire body. She blushed. “Boy, when you lay on the charm you lay it on thick, don’t you?”

  “It’s not charm. It’s just the truth.”

  “Yeah, we need to get back to the conversation from yesterday where you explain to me how multiple women have tried to snag you up and failed because it still makes no sense to me. My question was if you had fun today.”

  “I did. You have a very nice family,” James said. He was already in his tux. She wondered if he’d rented it or if he owned it. The tux fit him perfectly and every part of his attire was exact. His cufflinks were red and green for the holiday. He looked like he jumped off the page of a Christmas magazine, and she couldn’t stop staring.

  “How was talking with Owen?” she finally asked.

  “It was not awkward, if you can believe it.”

  “That’s a step up from where I was today with an awkward conversation.” She smiled. “Kristi asked me to be her Maid of Honor today in the middle of serving soup.”

  James’ eyebrows rose. “Well, that’s progress, right?”

  “Is it progress?” In her mind it would be hard to accept it and at the same time explain why she didn’t want James to be a groomsman. It would be awkward.

  “You want to patch up the relationship, right?” he asked, straightening his already perfectly straight bow tie in the mirror.

  “I do,” she said finally. She really did want things to be better between her and her sister.

  “Then this seems like a no-brainer.”

  “A very hard no-brainer.”

  He nodded, placing his arms around her waist and kissing her on the cheek. The whole moment felt so romantic with them dressed up that for a moment Emery forgot what they were talking about and the stress associated with it. “But you’re amazing, Emery. You can do hard things.”

  “They want you to be a groomsman,” she said.

  He pulled back, pursing his lips. “That does change things now, doesn’t it?”

  She nodded, feeling the awkwardness of the situation. “I don’t know how to accept the Maid of Honor and decline you being a groomsman.”

  “It certainly wouldn’t keep up this fake relationship, would it?” His eyes searched hers. They seemed to be looking for something, but she couldn’t quite name it.

  “I suppose I could always tell her in a few weeks that it didn’t work out and that way they wouldn’t have all of the tuxes paid for.”

  He nodded slowly. “We’ll figure it out. But if she asks you again, I’m happy to be involved until we figure out the specifics.”

  “Thanks, James. Now, you need to tell me about all of these hearts you’ve broken in your past.”

  He looked genuinely confused. “Why?”

  “Because it will keep my mind off of my current situation.” And she was more than a little curious as to why he hadn’t found love yet. He seemed like he’d be a dream for anyone. He’d started to give her some information last night, but it wasn’t enough. She hoped she wasn’t like all of the other girls he dated, that she didn’t have the same flaws that they did.

  “Well, as long as I can be useful,” he said.

  “You’re more than useful. You’re … perfect.”

  “Shall we?” he asked, holding out his elbow to escort her out of her room and down the stairs.

  “Here goes nothing,” she said.

  “You’ve got this, Goldleader.”

  She leaned into him. “Sending the good vibes that our Yoda gingerbread house does well tonight?”

  “It can’t hurt. After all, the Force was with us while we were making it. I’m sure it will be good.”

  She laughed. “You really are the best.”

  Chapter 25

  James recognized several people while in the auction room. He should have prepared himself a little better for that. Most of them were just acquaintances, but there was no getting out of this. He knew he couldn’t bow out early, but he didn’t want to chum it up with too many people, especially if
they knew of him.

  Tonight, it would be better to stay low key.

  Thankfully, he was introduced most of the night as James, Emery's boyfriend. That was good enough for him. He didn’t need the connections, not tonight. Everything tonight was about Emery and making a good impression on her family. He talked with each of her family members in turn, met their friends, and spent time just shooting the breeze before the auction.

  Emery squeezed his hand when their Yoda gingerbread house came up for the auction. Several gathered around it. “This could be completely the wrong thing.”

  “Or maybe it could be surprisingly wonderful,” he whispered back to her. “Let’s keep a little optimism here.”

  “Wow. Way to pull out a Star Wars line.”

  He smiled, putting his arm around her waist. “What can I say, sometimes I’m subtle and brilliant at the same time.”

  “It was genius,” she admitted. “Now I have nothing to worry about.”

  “You are a genius. I don’t need to be optimistic.”

  He watched as several people around them held up bidding numbers and the auctioneer kept repeating the numbers faster and faster. Emery squeezed his hand harder as the number grew larger. Finally, the bidding stopped at $18,000.

  “I heard that right, didn’t I? He said 18,000 not 1,800, right?” She sounded breathy.

  James came closer, his lips close to her ear as he whispered, “He sure did, Goldleader.”

  “None of my previous gingerbread houses have ever gone for that much. My Frozen castle with Princess Elsa and Princess Anna topped out just over $16,000. This is huge,” she said, squealing.

  “Then we need to celebrate.” He kept an arm around her waist, holding her close.

  She arched an eyebrow. “How do we celebrate? Dress up in fancy clothes and eat fancy food? Because I’m pretty sure we’re already doing that.”

  “We should go to the new Star Wars tonight.”

  “In our formalwear?”

  He shrugged. “Going to the movies used to be a very formal event.”

  She laughed. “I don’t think the rest of my family will be up for it, but I’d love to see it. Maybe we can catch the late showing after this is over?”

  He squeezed her hand. “Sounds like a great way to celebrate.”

  Chapter 26

  Emery couldn’t remember when she’d had so much fun at the movies. She couldn’t even remember what part of the movie had started her laughing, but she couldn’t stop.

  They were in the middle of the midnight showing of the new Star Wars movie, surrounded by loyal fans who came in full costume, and they were in their formal attire, and James continued to make her laugh.

  He whispered lines from other Star Wars movies or made connections between the characters. She laughed so hard her abs hurt and her eyes watered.

  “Shh,” she whispered. “Don’t disturb everyone around us.”

  “Ten to one this isn’t their first viewing of this movie today. I bet all of these people in costume have seen it three times already today.”

  A man in a Jedi robe in front of them turned around. “Four times,” he whispered proudly. “It would have been five, but the show times overlapped.”

  “See,” James said. “We’re not disturbing anyone.”

  The man in the Jedi robe turned around again. “The force is strong with you two, even though you’re not dressed up.”

  “Next time we go to your parents’ house for Christmas over a Star Wars release, remind me to pack a Star Wars costume.”

  “You actually have one of those?” she asked.

  “Not just one, I have several. You don’t?”

  Emery laughed harder. “Several? Like you have a section in your closet dedicated to Star Wars costumes?” She couldn’t picture it.

  He threw a handful of popcorn at her playfully. “I knew I shouldn’t have told you my secret.”

  She threw a piece of popcorn at him. “That you play dress-up? I think it’s … cute. I can just see you in a Wookiee costume.”

  He put his arm around her. “I can always arrange that kiss with a Wookiee.”

  She glanced around the mostly dark theater. Outlines of costumes could be seen with the light reflecting from the screen. “There are a lot of them to choose from,” she said playfully.

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  She knew that, but he was fun to tease.

  Before Emery knew it, the movie was over. No one on their row moved, so they watched through the end of the credits. Finally, as the last Star Wars logo appeared, the entire audience clapped and cheered.

  They took a few selfies next to the cardboard cutouts and the movie poster.

  A Wookiee cardboard cutout stood among several of them. Emery handed her phone to James and put her arm around the Wookiee.

  James rolled his eyes. “You and the Wookiee. I think I might be jealous.”

  Emery just laughed. “But you have a Wookiee costume at home?” she asked. They passed a display full of Star Wars gear. Emery touched the Wookiee costume hanging on a rack.

  “Yeah, I have a Wookiee costume, and a bunch of others.” They walked out of the theater holding hands.

  “I can’t wait to see them,” she said. “I mean … it sounds really cool.”

  “It’s my custom-made light saber that makes everything seem cooler.”

  “You really are a Star Wars nerd, aren’t you?” she asked, standing by their rental.

  “No more than you,” he said laughing.

  “Fair point, but I don’t own a light saber.”

  “You’ll want one once you see it.” With that he opened the car door for her.

  Hope bubbled in her chest. He wanted to spend time with her after this week, even if it was showing off his cosplay and costumes. Still she’d take it. Emery didn’t want to read too much into it, so instead of asking about when they’d get together once they were back, she kept her comments strictly about the movie the entire way home.

  * * *

  That night, Emery couldn’t get to sleep. It was so late it was almost early in the morning, but her brain spun.

  “Are you still awake?” she asked James.

  “Yes,” he mumbled, though she thought he sounded tired.

  “Thanks for taking me on a date to celebrate tonight.”

  “It was my pleasure,” he said. “What’s on the schedule for tomorrow?”

  “We have a Christmas Day brunch. It lasts way too long most years, but it’s fun.”

  “Your family certainly has everything planned out, don’t they?”

  “Yeah. My mom is especially big on tradition. If we do it once, we seem to be committing to it annually for life.”

  It wasn’t a bad thing though. It was nice to have a routine and things to look forward to each year. Aloud she said, “This year I’ve focused on each activity, erasing last year’s memory from my mind and replacing it with this year’s.” Her voice trailed off. What would she do next year? She couldn’t think about that, so she pushed the thought aside.

  “I’m glad I came with you, Emery … I mean, I’m glad that you can replace your memories from last year.”

  “Yeah. You’ve been a huge help with that,” she said. But had she opened herself up for a harder time next Christmas? She closed her eyes in the darkness, not wanting to think about it.

  Next Christmas was a year away. She would stay in the present. She was over her last year’s pain thanks to James, and she couldn’t think about what next year’s pain would look like without him. No. She would stay here right now and wish it would last longer.

  “Do you have any traditions with your family at Christmas?” she asked.

  “Not really. Christmas wasn’t celebrated much. My parents worked a lot.” He didn’t say more, and Emery didn’t push him.

  “On Christmas Eve we used to exchange gifts, but now open them on Christmas Day after brunch and before a huge dinner.”

  “So, about gift-giving …”
He began.

  She cut him off. “Don’t worry about it. It’s an easy thing for us to get around. We’ll just say we weren’t planning on opening presents here, and we shipped our presents to California. Or maybe we left them in Chicago because they were too big to put in our checked bags.” They didn’t have to exchange gifts, right? It would be fine. No one would be suspicious. They’d just say they left them at home to open when they got back.

  “Em?”

  Her heart did that skipping thing again when he used her nickname. “Yeah?”

  “I already got you something. I just wasn’t sure about the timing of the exchange.”

  “You bought me something? You didn’t have to do that.”

  “What kind of fake boyfriend shows up without a gift?”

  “Well, I mean I have something for you too, I just didn’t want you to feel like you had to buy me something.” And hers was mostly just a gag gift. She had picked up a couple of Star Wars things for him, but maybe she should go shopping in the morning before brunch and pick up something else too. Nerves started to fill her insides. What was she going to do?

  “So, you don’t open presents on Christmas Eve anymore, but you used to. How did that change?”

  “We used to open all of our presents on Christmas Eve when we were younger. But now on Christmas Day, we sit around the tree next to the fireplace, and we read the Christmas story from Luke 2. Then we exchange a few gifts. Depending on the year we usually have another service project on Christmas Day or the day after.”

  “I’m looking forward to it,” he said.

  So was she, but she wondered if she should do more.

  * * *

  Emery tossed in restless sleep for a couple of hours. James had done the same. They were up way too early, considering they’d gone to bed only three hours ago.

  Emery and James made their way down to the kitchen for breakfast on Christmas Day. The house was mostly quiet, but Emery had noticed that James was an early riser, no matter how late they’d stayed out the night before.