Someone more famous than us arrives and thankfully, the photographers’ attention moves behind us.
“Wasn’t that your date at my brother’s wedding?” Victoria asks as she points toward a crowd of good looking people by the fence.
I laugh when I see who it is. It’s Brooke. She’s there with a few friends, posing for the cameras. She looks right at home in the spotlight. She’s always wanted to be a famous actress and right now, that’s exactly what she looks like.
“That’s my younger sister,” I say with my nose scrunched up. “You thought she was my date?!”
Victoria laughs. “Maybe a little.”
I bring her over to Brooke and I’m so proud to show her off.
“Look at you guys,” Brooke says as she smoothes out my lapel with her hand. “I must admit I do have some good taste. And look at you, Miss Brown! I love that gold dress!”
“Please call me Victoria. And thank you. I love your outfit too.”
I stand back and watch as the two women in my life chat about fashion. It’s clear that Brooke is way out of Victoria’s league when it comes to clothes and designers, but she’s trying to keep up, which I love.
“I’ll see you guys inside,” Brooke says when we’re ready to go in. “Enjoy the show!”
“She’s nice,” Victoria says as we walk into the building.
I’m glad they’re starting on the right foot. If I have my way, they’ll be sisters-in-law one day soon.
Victoria stops when we step inside and her whole body goes rigid.
“Are you okay?” I ask, turning to look at her.
Her face is pale and her mouth is hanging open.
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
Chapter Four
Victoria
It’s way worse than I thought.
My brother is out of control. There must be two thousand people here and they all seem to be holding a glass or two of expensive champagne.
“Shrimp?” a beautiful blonde wearing furry lingerie and bunny ears asks me as she holds out her tray full of shrimp.
“Why not?” I ask as I take the largest shrimp I’ve ever seen. “I’m paying twenty-six thousand dollars for it.”
I dip it in the cocktail sauce and the gorgeous waitress scampers away with a furry bunny tail bouncing on the top of her ass.
I have to give Westin some serious points. He didn’t look at her once. It’s like he’s only got eyes for me.
“How is it?” he asks after I swallow my first bite.
“It’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted,” I say, nodding in disbelief. He grabs us two champagne flutes off another bunny’s tray as I finish the sucker off.
“What kind of champagne is this?” I ask the bunny before she leaves.
“Special edition Diamonde,” she says with a smile. “Mr. Brown had it specially made for this party.”
“Of course he did,” I say as I down half of it. I’d gulp the whole glass down but it probably costs the weekly salary of one of my workers (plus the bubbles are burning the inside of my nose).
“I see what you mean about your brother,” Westin says as he looks around at the enormous displays of roses twisting up to the high ceilings. “Your father would not have approved of this.”
“Nope,” I say with a shake of my head. “Even when my father was a multi-millionaire, we still lived in the house that he grew up in. He could have afforded to live anywhere, but he kept us in the suburbs around the ‘salt of the earth type of people’ that he grew up with. He didn’t want us living with materialistic snobs who bought their kids Ferraris on their sixteenth birthdays and looked down on everyone else who didn’t.”
“Talk about your ultimate backfire,” Westin says as someone in a top hat walks by.
I burst out laughing, nearly spitting my champagne out all over him. “Yeah, I don’t think his plan worked out too well.”
Gabriel always wanted to be in with the rich crowd, I just didn’t realize how much until now.
Westin’s hand finds the small of my back and I get shivers all over even though he’s only touching my dress. We start walking through the crowd and my eyes start wandering around, trying to find my brother.
Westin on the other hand is only focused on me. There are gorgeous people all around us. Models, actresses, playboy bunnies/waitresses, and he’s not looking at any of them.
No man has ever made me feel so beautiful before. I feel like I’m the only girl in the world according to him.
I like it. I like him.
I just wish our first date wasn’t somewhere that’s making me feel ill. One more thing my brother is ruining for me.
“Oh no,” I say with a gasp when I see three mannequins on display. Each one is wearing an outfit from Gabriel’s new fashion line and each one looks more ridiculous than the last. I thought the mock-ups were bad, but this is just horrific.