Page 5 of Burning for the Billionaire 7

Hands on her hips, Grace scoffs. “Why not, Belle?”

“Calm down, Gracie, I just didn’t think you were dating. I mean, you’ve always...” She sighs. “Never mind.” She gives me another assessment. “You’retogether?”

I frown. What’s she trying to say?

“Oh, you think you’re the only one who can catch a man’s eye?” Grace grumbles.

Isabelle rolls her eyes and prepares to respond, but Elizabeth intervenes.

“Girls, none of your antics. We have a guest. You both know better.”

Isabelle angles her chin upward and Grace huffs.

I’ve summed up the sisters’ relationship by watching just a minute of interaction. They squabble like typical siblings, but Isabelle is entitled and thinks she’s somehow better than Grace.

“Where’s Dad?” Grace asks.

“In the dining room,” Isabelle says. “Probably starving to death because somebody had to be fashionably late.” She swipes Grace from head to toe. “Or should I say unfashionably?”

Grace’s eyes narrow to slits, and I’m surprised Isabelle doesn’t burst into flames.

“Everyone to the dining room. Rowan, welcome to our home.” Elizabeth beams at me but scowls when she looks at her daughters.

Giving me a tight-lipped smile, Isabelle wheels around and saunters away.

Grace and I are alone in the foyer. Rubbing her forehead, she says, “You see why I hate coming home?”

I take her hand encouragingly. “Come on, we just have to get through a couple of hours. One thing, though—I feel underdressed.”

“Don’t feel bad. Mom and Isabelle dress like they’re competing in the Miss America pageant all the time. Even for a simple family dinner at home. I’d be exhausted having to dress up and put on full makeup every day. Then again, neither of them has a job, so they have the time.”

“Look at you being snarky. It’s sexy.”

She looks skyward. “I can only snark behind their backs. I’m a coward.”

“You’re not.” Grace likes to keep the peace, that’s all. “Come on, let’s go. You’ll be fine.”

She shakes her head. “No, I won’t be. Because my mother flirted with you, and I’msodisturbed by that.”

“You and me both.”

She groans and leads me through the foyer.

“It’s going to be a long evening,” she mutters.

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