The Billionaire's Temporary Bride (Scandal, Inc #3)(55)

Charlotte cocked her head. "What exactly did she say? What's in the briefcase?"

"My list," Jack replied. "I want to make sure we get this right. Callie gave me a basic rundown, but I wanted to talk it through with you before making any final decisions."

Did he write down his feelings? Charlotte wondered. Did Callie really go behind her back to tell Jack how she felt?

"Where do you want to start?" Jack asked. He grabbed the briefcase off the ground and sat down at the table.

"I don't know," Charlotte replied.

"How about your friends? We have limited space, but I wanted to make sure you had everyone you wanted there."

"You're talking about the guest list?"

"Of course," Jack said. He flipped his legal pad open to a page full of handwriting.

Charlotte laughed and tried not to look upset. She didn't know why, but she was fighting back tears.

Ok, she thought, we'll do the guest list, and then I'll tell him.

"There's something else I've been meaning to talk about with you," Jack said. "I wanted to thank you. I'm really glad I'm doing this with you. I don't tell you how special you are to me as often as I think it. You're just so different from everyone I know, and it means the world to me."

"Let me guess, because of my hair and my taste in books," Charlotte said.

"No, because you don't ask anything of me. You accept me for who I am without trying to change me or use me in any way, and you're the only one in the world I can say that about. You listen when I talk — really listen — and you are so kind and understanding, and I'm lucky to have you."

"Don't I know it," Charlotte said. She sat down across from him and stared down at the legal pad.

"Hey, is everything alright?" Jack asked. He reached across the table and placed his hand on her shoulder. "I really meant what I said. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't found you. I'm not talking about the election and all of that. You've helped me remember things about myself I had long forgotten. You've helped me remember what I'm fighting for — trying to hold my family together, helping everyone who needs me, building something worthwhile."

He slid his hand down and held her hand.

Charlotte swallowed hard. She wanted to tell him that she needed him. She wanted to say that their time together had been worth more to her than any amount of money or influence or fame. She wanted him, but she couldn't tell him.

He needed her. That would have to be enough for now. He needed her, and she was going to be there for him, even if it meant holding back from getting what she wanted.

"Where do you want to start? I've already talked to a friend about renting his mansion just outside town. It will let us set everything up without disrupting too much of our lives." Jack said, "but we need to go over everything else." He clicked his pen and shifted his attention to the handwritten list before him.

How could she possibly answer with what she was thinking? Where did she want to start? From the beginning again, to make sure she was upfront with her feelings the whole time. She wanted to go back in time to the moment Jack walked in the door and put her heart on the line before he could tell her how much he appreciated her not asking for things from him.

Charlotte looked down at the list Jack had prepared, looking at it without seeing it. Her mind was far away from seating arrangements. "Why don't you go first?"





Chapter 21

Charlotte looked at herself in the mirror and turned around. She had tried on four or five wedding dresses already, but each of them would have been just another costume to help her play her role. Instead, she wanted something vintage, elegant and simple to represent the real her.

The one Charlotte was wearing came the closest to what she saw in her imagination. She loved the delicate lace that rose above the sweetheart neckline and the way the A-line made her waist look. With each passing moment, she was more and more sure that this was the dress. It wasn't fitted to her yet, so the back was held together with clips, but she loved everything about it, except for the price. She knew her mother would love it too, which is why she hesitated to walk out of the dressing room and show her.

"I've been dreaming of this day since Charlotte was a little girl," she overheard her mother telling the attendant. "I can't wait to see her in her wedding dress. I brought tissues for when I cry."

"We have plenty of those on hand," the attendant said.

"Mom, stop getting sentimental," Charlotte called from the dressing room. She didn't want her mother to fall in love with the forty five hundred dollar dress she was wearing, but she wanted her to see it before everyone else arrived and took over the process.

"Is everything alright in there?" Ellen called from the other side of the door.

"Come in," Charlotte said quietly.

She watched the look on her mother's face as she saw the dress for the first time. Tears welled up in the corners of Ellen's eyes, and she held her hand over her mouth. Charlotte tried to distract herself so she didn't start crying too.

"Please don't cry," she said.

"Charlotte, you look so beautiful," her mother said. She paused for a moment and took a slow breath. "If your father were here right now, he'd be balling his eyes out, and at least no one would notice my little display of emotion. Remember your high school graduation? He went through an entire box of tissues. No one even noticed how choked up I was. And now I'm rambling."