Page 45 of Falling for the Billionaire Best Man

17

DORIE

He was terrible. Absolutely terrible. But there was something endearing about it, the way he frowned in concentration, his brow furrowing as he tried to mimic my steps. Kaisen wasn’t the kind of man who was used to being bad at things. I didn’t know him well, but I knew his type. He was a billionaire playboy that was used to things just falling into place. I bet he woke up winning and went to bed winning.

But not today. Not in this class. I was never going to claim I was an expert, but I was doing a lot better than he was. And for some inexplicable reason, that made me want to laugh. Not at him. With him.

“You’re thinking too hard,” I said softly, tightening my grip on his shoulder slightly to guide him. “It’s just one-two-three, one-two-three. You don’t need to overcomplicate it.”

He let out a frustrated sigh, his hand on my waist tightening. “I don’t know how you make this look so easy.”

“The question is how you make it look so difficult,” I said.

We spent another twenty minutes twirling around the dance floor. I honestly didn’t think it was worth the time, but it made Eliza happy. She was the bride-to-be. Whatever she wanted from now until she went on her honeymoon was what she got. I, as her sister and maid of honor, was determined to make it happen.

“Let’s go get a drink,” Cullen said.

I was going to decline, telling them I had to get up early, but Eliza gave me that look.

“Fuck it, I’ll sleep tomorrow,” I said.

Eliza’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “Dorie!”

“Sorry.” I laughed. “I was up late last night. I’m sleep deprived.”

Kaisen smirked. “I think we could all use a drink after that lesson.”

We left the studio and headed to a nearby bar, where the lighting was dim enough to hide your flaws but bright enough to see the menu. Eliza would call this good lighting.

We found a high-top table near the back. Eliza ordered a round of drinks.

The waiter brought our cocktails a few minutes later. I took a long sip. The tension from the dance studio was still there, humming faintly between Kaisen and me, but the alcohol helped dull the edges. Eliza was already chatting animatedly about the wedding, her hands waving as she described the flower arrangements she’d chosen.

“I told the florist I want peonies,” she said. “But not just any peonies—they have to be blush pink. And they need to be fresh. Like, picked-that-morning fresh.”

Kaisen raised an eyebrow. “Sounds expensive.”

“Anything my wife wants,” Cullen said.

I bit back a retort. I didn’t want to sound like a jealous sister. But Eliza often got what she wanted. It had always been like that.

“Do you remember when Mom got that bouquet of peonies?” Eliza asked me. “I insisted she plant them.”

I sipped my drink and nodded.

“I was obsessed with those flowers,” Eliza said. “I always knew they would be my wedding flower.”

“Did you like the flowers?” Kaisen asked me.

“I didn’t pay a lot of attention to flowers,” I replied.

“She was too busy working,” Eliza said. “She worked from the day she turned fourteen. She was always juggling schoolwork and a part-time job to help out with the bills. I remember her buying groceries one time. I went to the store with her, and she was so frugal and had made a list and everything.”

I cringed as she gushed on and on. She made it sound like some kind of heroic tale, but all I could think about was how it made me sound like a lonely, antisocial recluse.

“Dorie was always so responsible,” Eliza said. She was being complimentary, but all the focus on me was making me uncomfortable. “She gave up playing sports, barely had any friends because of her workload. She was just so focused on helping our family.”

I stared down at my drink, my cheeks burning. I hated when Eliza did this. She meant well, but her compliments always felt like a spotlight I didn’t want to be under. I could feel Kaisen’s eyes on me. I wondered what he was thinking. Was he judging me? Comparing me to Eliza, who had gone to Harvard and was now a successful lawyer? I was just a broke baker without a college degree, surrounded by people who had more money and success than I’d ever see in a hundred lifetimes.