Page 54 of Dating the Rebel
He shook his head. “It won’t last.”
She sucked in a breath. And Teo jumped up now.
“Just because you’re in a bad mood, don’t take it out on your sister,” the businessman ordered Grant.
“I’m in a bad mood because of you guys,” he admitted.
And Blair pressed a hand over her heart as if he’d stabbed her. “I didn’t realize you had a problem with us.”
He shook his head, further frustrated that it was all coming out wrong. But he needed to warn them. “I’m not the one with the problem,” he said. “It’s Miranda and those damn sisters of hers...”
Blair narrowed her eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“The sisters are pissed that she set you up with the billionaire there, and since he did that interview, they’re losing clients right and left.”
“How do you know all this?” Blair asked. Then she snapped her fingers. “That’s why you’ve been going to Monaco lately. Not for poker games but for...” She tilted her head. “What the hell have you been doing, Grant?”
“Trying to protect you,” he said.
She laughed. “I can protect myself,” she assured him. “I’ve been doing it for quite a while now.”
Teo was smiling, too.
They didn’t realize how damn serious this was. “Your happiness is at stake here—don’t you realize that?”
“How?” Blair asked.
“The sisters want Miranda to make you give Teo up.”
Blair chuckled. “Of course they do.”
“Doesn’t that bother you?”
“They’ve never liked me,” Blair said with a dismissive shrug. “They’ve always been jealous of how close Miranda and I are.” She stared at him. “I don’t think they’re the only ones who’ve resented our closeness.”
“I didn’t resent it,” Grant said. “I just worried about it because she’s always been able to talk you into doing stupid things.”
She snorted.
“And giving up Teo would be stupid,” he said. “I’ve never seen you this happy.”
“I’ve never been this happy,” she admitted. “And there’s no way anyone could talk or pressure me into giving up the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Teo wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back against him. “Ti amo...”
Grant shook his head. “But you know how persuasive Miranda is.”
“Yes,” Blair agreed. “She talked me into going out with him.”
“So you can understand—”
“No!” she interjected. “I can’t understand why you think I’m such an idiot that I would allow anyone to talk me into doing something I didn’t want to do in the first place. And I can’t understand how you think my very best friend would betray me.”
“Miranda—”
“Miranda loves me as much as you do. Maybe more—because she respects me,” Blair said. “You don’t.”
Grant shook his head. “Of course I do. I know how hard you’ve worked. I know—”
