The Billionaire's Temporary Bride (Scandal, Inc #3)(57)

"Charlotte," Ellen said, "just tell them what you want. This is your wedding, not any of ours. What you want, you'll get."

I just want this over with, Charlotte thought.

Before she could say anything, Veronique arrived, respondent in a flowing violent dress. She was thin and lively. She was also deeply tanned with silver streaks through her black hair, all of which emphasized light blue eyes so bright they almost glowed. She looked to be about sixty years old, and something in the way she carried herself reminded Charlotte of a European version of her own mother. She was not at all what Charlotte had expected.

"Where is the bride?" she asked. "We don't have a minute to spare." Without waiting for a response she marched up to Charlotte. "Ah yes, there you are. This is close to one of my dresses from last season. You have good taste."

Veronique walked around her slowly, molding Charlotte's body with her hands to get a better feel for her posture and dimensions.

"Yes, this is a starting point. Straighten your posture and take a deep breath. Gut in. Shoulders back. Perfect. Thank you."

Charlotte had thought she was already standing up straight, but she pulled her shoulders back and held out her chin a little further. As for the gut comment, she didn't know what to think.

Veronique made eye contact with Charlotte for a moment before looking her over again. She spun on her heels and turned to Angela.

"The dress will be ready in two and a half weeks."

She turned around, pulled a measuring tape out of a pocket hidden in her dress and nodded to the dressing room.

"I need to take a few measurements before I begin. Charlotte, come with me."

Before Charlotte knew what was happening, she was back in the dressing room, and Veronique was taking quick measurements.

"Tell me what you think about the groom," she said.

"His name's Jack. I don't know how well you know the family, but he's a congressman."

"Congressman Jack," Veronique mused. "I remember him when he was baby Jack."

"We met at a friend's wedding," Charlotte said. She realized she was talking just to fill the silence. "This has all happened so fast, and everything is so new to me."

"And how far along are you?" she asked. She tapped Charlotte's stomach.

Charlotte froze. She felt her heart stop. "What?"

"The baby," Veronique said. "I ask because of the dress. Do your families know?"

Charlotte's cheeks blushed with embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I'm not pregnant. What would make you think that?"

"A prominent man, a quick wedding. It happens all the time," Veronique said. She slipped the tape around Charlotte's midsection, and then measured again.

"Oh, no," Charlotte said. "We're just trying to…" She stopped as she wondered how to explain. This was someone Jack's mother had hired, and anything Charlotte said in front of her would be sure to go straight to Angela's ears.. "We just don't want to make a big deal out of it. Some people wanted to turn it into a big production."

"I'll keep this between us," Veronique said. "Madame Coburn has always been a bit strong-willed. If you ask me, with a few small alterations, the dress you had on would have been perfect. My job is only to accentuate your beauty, not to run, how do you say, slipshod, ah, run roughshod over it, but your mother-in-law paid for a one-of-a-kind dress, and that is exactly what she and you will get. That is my job. Sometimes it's hard to remember that." Veronique scribbled something down in her notebook and smiled. "I promise you will love it."

Just as quickly as she had arrived, Veronique left, and Charlotte was back in her regular clothes, heading across town in a limo. Angela and Caroline had insisted on bringing everyone to Caroline's favorite lunch spot, and Charlotte had agreed. This day was turning out to be a lot more about Jack's family than about Charlotte.

Angela Coburn was getting exactly what she had paid for, and so would Jack. After all, that was Charlotte's job. It didn't matter what she wanted from her relationship with Jack. Her job was to be his doting wife until he no longer needed her. Any frustrations over how their arrangement was turning out were her own fault for not having talking to him about her real feelings yet. "If you won't let me chip in for the dress, and I can't help pay for the wedding itself, at least allow me to bring everyone out to lunch," Ellen said as they made their way out of the limo and into a private room at a restaurant downtown.

Three bottles of champagne were waiting on ice, and Caroline ran over and popped one of them open.

"To the newest member of the Coburn family," Caroline said as the cork bounced off the ceiling and a plume of champagne sprayed from the bottle. She poured everyone a glass and clanked her champagne flute against Emily's.

"To new family!" Emily said. She leaned over to Charlotte whisper into Charlotte's ear. "You know, I've never had caviar."


"Please don't," Charlotte said.

It was one thing to spend time with Jack's family. It was something else entirely to use them as an excuse for extravagance. She couldn't let herself get swept up in it. Charlotte felt like she was drawing a line for herself. Even though her circumstances had changed, she didn't have to become someone else.