Wedding Date with the Billionaire Page 7

Billy was at the end of the aisle, shooting everyone on their return walk. “Let’s have a cheek-to-cheek photo of the maid of honor and the best man.”

  MacKenzie, Amber and Divya craned to get a good view.

  “I can’t stop thinking about what you must have gone through, with me disappearing into thin air and you not knowing why,” he said, resuming the conversation Erin thought was over. She brought her cheek against his, which was warm and clean shaven. “You asked me to forgive you for thinking that I might have accepted your parents’ money. Now it’s my turn to ask you for forgiveness. For not coming to you back then, for choosing to silently run away.”

  Erin was dumbstruck by the simplicity and humility in his request. Given all of the circumstances, she thought she could forgive. Although she’d never forget.

  After the rehearsal, the wedding party joined other guests, who mulled about on the lawn and on the large patio with its firepits. Some people made s’mores with the fixings provided, toasting the marshmallows over the open fires with long sticks. Others enjoyed green appletini cocktails from the bartender’s station. Kento got called into conversation by some flashy women. Erin saw Bunny coming toward her. Her mother was just plain fortunate that there were a lot of people around, or else she might have started a shouting match. As it was, she shot her mother a vicious glower.

  “Erin, there’s someone I want you to meet.” Bunny charged in, obviously not reading her daughter’s mood. Or, more accurately, not caring.

  “I had a little chat with Kento this morning,” Erin spat in staccato. “It seems there were some events from the past I had no knowledge of.”

  “Mmm, yes, well, your father and I made some choices at the time that we thought were in everyone’s best interest.”

  “Yeah, I heard. You threatened and intimidated a twenty-one-year-old whose only crime was loving me. Great decision.”

  “Do you see that gentleman over there?” Bunny ignored Erin’s words and pointed one spindly finger in an indiscreetly discreet way to a small man in a black suit standing with a group of suited men. Erin estimated him to be fifteen or so years older than her. His upper lip curled under as he rapidly shook his head in agreement at what someone was saying, making him look like an eager mouse. “That’s who I was telling you about. Humphrey Colder. Big oil money. His family worked with the Alaskan pipeline and all that implies. They own half of Fairbanks.”

  “Mother, do you hear me? I am livid, not to mention heartbroken, about what you did to Kento after graduation, and that you lied to me about it.”

  “And don’t you understand me, dear? Humphrey Colder is the type of match we need to make. You and Kento had your college fling, fine. But we certainly weren’t going to let you continue to associate with a young man unsuitable as a marriage prospect. It just wasn’t prudent.”

  “Prudent! Good heavens, can you hear yourself? Are you heartless?”

  “Barclays look forward, not back. Go introduce yourself to Humphrey.” Bunny put her brittle hand between Erin’s shoulder blades to give her a push in the man’s direction. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kento watching the entire exchange, too far away to hear them but seething nonetheless. Surrounding him were several women trying to get his attention, but his eyes were on her.

  * * *

  “Didn’t she know his reputation? He never stays with any woman for too long.”

  “I heard they lasted six months. That must have been a record for him.”

  Kento overheard two of the wedding guests talking about Erin as she walked by. This crowd certainly loved gossip. He’d been overhearing comments left and right about poor Bunny, whose daughter hadn’t been able to find a husband. And when he watched Bunny steer Erin toward a man who was clearly too old and stodgy for her, Kento snarled in disgust.

  Not that he was faring much better. As soon as the rehearsal was over and the bridal party joined other guests, the glamazons surrounded him in a swarm. The discussion seemed to center on how many carats Christy’s diamond ring had and did he know where Lucas had bought it? Once he saw Erin break from the man her mother insisted she meet, Kento pulled away and toward her, along the way grabbing a couple of the pretty green appletinis in stemmed glasses.

  “Fed to the lions?” he asked as he handed her the drink.

  “My mother simply could not wait another moment to introduce me to a bore who smells like garlic.”

  “Helpful to ward off vampires?”

  “Very funny.” She took a sip of the sweet and tart drink. “This is good.”

  “In everything we’ve said to each other, I don’t know if I’ve stated clearly enough how sorry I am that I didn’t confront you seven years ago about what your parents did. It’s something that has haunted me for years, even without all of the new information. If I had, then neither of us would have spent all of this time with hurts and resentments based on falsehoods.”

  “That’s for sure.”

  He was startled by her bluntness but almost proud of her for it. “How can I make it up to you?”

  “You can’t. It’s too late.” She was right, yet her words cut like a knife. Another thought occurred to him. How much had his leaving influenced the way she related to men in general? Was she expecting to be disappointed by any man she might date, therefore creating a self-fulfilling prophecy? Had his own actions not only held him back from developing any meaningful relationships but done the same to her? Guilt racked through him. Bad enough that Erin had merciless parents who controlled her, but Kento had come along and made everything worse with his desertion. What could he do for her that would be a gesture of repentance, some way he could be of service to her?

  Christy swooped in and said into Erin’s ear loud enough for Kento to hear, “Do you see that man making the s’more over there?” She gestured to a beefy bald guy who was frustrated when he set his marshmallow on fire so badly it turned to black ash. “He’s another excellent prospect. Scooter Markinson. Of the Markinson department stores! Go talk to him.”

  Erin looked at Christy with wide eyes to try to indicate she didn’t want this conversation to be happening in front of Kento, which he could understand. It would be humiliating to have people trying to matchmake right in front of someone important from your past. Didn’t these people have any tact? That was something he could say about Japan—people were for the most part polite in front of each other regardless of what they might be thinking inside. In any case, the marshmallow torcher was nowhere near good enough for Erin—he could tell that from first glance.

  An idea popped into his head. It might not have been a smart one, in fact, it probably wasn’t, but it was a notion nonetheless.

  “I can’t undo the past, but I just thought of a way I could help you out now,” he said after Christy moved on.

  “With what?” She took a sip of her drink and then licked her lips. Instant proof that what he was thinking wasn’t a good plan, because it would involve not wanting to kiss the drops of appletini right off her. And he wasn’t sure he was capable of that if she insisted on having such a sexy mouth all the time.

  “Remember you had said you wished you had a date to the wedding so that the marriage brokers and gossip mongers would see that Harris didn’t trample you? That you’re still a catch.” To say the least.

  “Yeah.”

  “What about me? What if you and I pretended to be back together? That would get everyone off your back, wouldn’t it?”

  “You and I?” Her eyebrows furrowed. “That would be too weird, wouldn’t it?”

  “It would just be pretend, right? Only when we were around people. We could pull it off.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Almost everyone here knows we have a past together. And they must assume we’ve remained friendly, or else how could we stand as maid of honor and best man? And...”

  “Slow down a minute, will you?”
She was trying to grasp the concept even as Kento reeled at his own crazy suggestion. The two of them posing as a couple was a terrible prospect. Unless it wasn’t. What if it even benefited him in his initial quest for this weekend? To get over her, once and for all. Maybe the proximity of pretending to be a couple would be the final capstone on feelings that had lingered for too long. Playacting for a short time could help him find the closure he was seeking.

  “It would get the leeches off me for the weekend as well, right?”

  “I suppose so,” she pondered. “What, we’d just tell people that we’d gotten back together?”

  “Yeah. Things like that happen to people all the time at weddings. The romance brings it out in them.”

  He sounded like he was reading from a promotional brochure.

  “I see.”

  “Then what? After the weekend is over?”

  “We’ll leave telling everyone that we’ll be traveling back and forth to see each other as much as possible.”

  “I’m not sure pretending like that would be a good plan.”

  “What about your parents? They would be vehemently against you and I getting back together. The mere idea of that would infuriate them.”

  A cat that swallowed the canary’s smile slowly widened across Erin’s face. “Now, that it would.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  JUST AS KENTO’S proposition was starting to sink into Erin’s brain, the photographer sidled up to them. “I need to test some light at the wedding altar. Christy and Lucas are visiting with some family that has just arrived. Can I get you to come with me and stand in for the bride and groom?” Naturally, they obliged. As they walked across the lawn to the site, she contemplated the proposal.

  “Harris Denby. The crazy one who drinks champagne from the bottle.” She watched a less than subtle couple point at her with no shame whatsoever.

  Although Erin appreciated Kento’s offer, especially as he meant it as a peace offering, she was very skeptical. While it might make the weekend outwardly easier, it was already a lot to see him again, let alone act as if they were back together.

  A number of guests looked on while Billy positioned them as bride and groom for the ceremony. Grabbing the practice veil that Christy had rehearsed with earlier, he placed it on Erin’s head with the top layer cloaking her face. He also handed her the plastic bouquet, which she held in both hands like a proper bride. “Great. Gaze lovingly at each other and I can check for shadows.”

  Gaze lovingly was not a hard command to fulfill. What took concentration was how hard she had to work at not picturing the moment differently. Billy was looking for shadows. She knew exactly where they were. It was as if all the secrets and lies that had just come forward had served to bring her and Kento closer to each other than they’d ever been, even more than seven years ago. With the maturity of adults, they could analyze the damage that had been done to both themselves and each other. The disappointment and melancholy were all the more profound when shared by two people who were too shattered to ever stand at an altar in wedding clothes.

  “Kento, can you lift Erin’s veil as if you were the groom?”

  But what if this was real? That she’d get to have Kento, to have and to hold, for the rest of her life? Something that was never going to happen. He dutifully raised the tulle and smoothed it behind her head with a tenderness that was almost tragic.

  What about his offer, though? If she took him up on it, presumably she wouldn’t have to be galloped around like a thoroughbred for the rest of her time on the island. Nor be pitied by the snobs who laughed at her gullibility in partnering with Harris. It would help Kento keep the gold miners away, too. And most importantly, it would incense her mother, and a little revenge would taste sweet in Erin’s mouth right about now. All short-lived, but what did she have to lose?

  Except for one thing. How on earth would she act as if she was with Kento without conjuring up the longing for something decidedly unphony? Embarking on this could be a cruel make-believe. Looking into his luminous, captivating eyes, she knew she’d have to take care not to be destroyed by him for the second time when this was over and he went back to Japan alone.

  Billy took her bouquet and adjusted the two of them a little closer. “Blah, blah. Blah, blah, you may now kiss the bride.”

  Erin noticed Bunny standing farther back on the lawn with her friends but turning her head toward the altar. The bridesmaids and groomsmen watched in a gaggle, all holding their appletinis. The mousy garlic man, the bald s’mores maker and just about every guest clustered around turned their attention to the scene.

  Kiss the bride.

  Kento took her face in his hands. She reached her arms around his neck. Was she about to playact as Billy had asked them to? Or were they embarking on the more complex charade that Kento had suggested? If they made this kiss convincing, it could kick off the ruse he was suggesting. With so many people’s eyes on them, it could serve as the announcement that the maid of honor and best man were once again a real-life couple.

  If so, it should be a kiss that looked passionate, yet the two of them would know it was only for show. She’d watched enough movie smooching that she could imitate how to press her whole mouth against his and rotate her head a little as if he was rubbing the kiss in. That way it would look like he was giving her a deeply romantic kiss. He’d understand what she was doing and follow along. As a matter of fact, they should remember how they did it, because it was a tool they’d be utilizing throughout the wedding weekend. Okay. This could work, she told herself.

  Unfortunately, though, that’s not how it went.

  In fact, he urged his mouth against hers with a force that made her instantly lose concentration on the task at hand. His lips found hers, certain where to go, as if no time had passed. A two-piece puzzle that easily fit together into a groove. His mouth was even more persuasive than she had remembered, and her resolve to control the kiss was obliterated. His lips insisted hers open, and he circled his tongue around hers. Her knees buckled. She was in big trouble.

  There was no level of pretend going on, no matter which game they were playing. Her body jutted into his, unable to contain her physical reaction. And in pressing herself against him she could feel his firm physique beneath his clothes, reminding her, all but taunting her mind to replay the days and nights of intense, inexhaustible heat that they had once shared.

  She hadn’t had a chance to truly consider how much she would still respond to him. It was too late now, though, as the kiss, in front of everybody to boot, effectively answered the question as to whether or not they were going to enact the charade. In fact, the kiss swirled on far too long, their bodies becoming one being. The world all but disappeared until finally the sound of voices slowly reached her ears.

  “Kento?”

  “Kento?”

  “Kento!”

  * * *

  “So the two of you are a real-life couple,” a man said to Kento with a wink to Erin as he entered the rehearsal dinner. The best man and maid of honor greeted guests as they filed in for the evening, which was to include a show.

  Kento had barely recovered from what transpired on the lawn a few hours ago. Since then, he and Erin had been busy with helping Lucas and Christy rework the table arrangements, as one couple unexpectedly brought their children, who hadn’t been included in the head count. Also, Christy wasn’t happy with the hors d’oeuvres samples, so they met with the chef to modify them to her satisfaction.

  All that hadn’t left him with much time to review his moves. Erin had never even answered him about whether she wanted to playact that they were a couple. He’d decided for them. At the altar, standing in for the bride and groom as they were pronounced husband and wife, he’d intended to give her a kiss that did let everyone know they were back together, but one that would assure the two of them it was only masquerade.

  Instead, reuni
ting with her lips was more intoxicating than he could handle. Blood and arousal had coursed through him in equal measure. The challenge to pulling off the fake-boyfriend act would rest on his ability to be immune to her charms. He was going to need to protect himself at every step. Because Erin was dynamite and could blow right through his plan to keep this phony. Worse still, he could easily envision her doing so. On top of it, he couldn’t get the honeyed taste of her soft mouth off his tongue.

  “I hope we’ll hear wedding bells ringing in your future, too, someday,” an elderly lady said to them.

  “Do you know who she is?” Erin asked after the woman passed by.

  “Not a clue.”

  “There are always a lot of the parents’ friends in attendance,” she whispered out of the side of her mouth. “Weddings are really for the moms.”

  “Don’t tell that to my mine,” Kento shot back as he greeted another stranger. “It’s driving her nuts that I don’t have a woman in my life. She’s itching for grandchildren.”

  “Nice to see you. Take a seat anywhere,” Erin continued her hellos.

  “There’s not a bad seat in the house,” Kento followed along.

  He’d never thought of himself as part of a married couple. After Erin and then, to a lesser extent, Ayaka, he figured trusting someone was out of the question. So what would be the point in marrying if not to have wholehearted faith in the other person? All of these revelations since he’d arrived on the island were making his head throb to the point that he could actually imagine himself taking wedding vows. Maybe it was no wonder why he chose that exact moment at the altar to initiate their supposedly fake union. He really needed to keep his facts separate from fiction.

  Being Erin’s husband would make Bunny Barclay his mother-in-law. Which was never going to happen. There would be nothing that woman would hate more than seeing her daughter married to him. To new tech money, as if those were forbidden words. As if there was something dirty or wrongly gained about his fortune.