Bidding On The Billionaire (The Sherbrookes of Newport Book 8) by Christina Tetreault

nothing new, but they still stung. Especially considering she’d thought the gown looked rather nice. “I waited until the last minute to go shopping and couldn’t find anything else I liked.” Actually, she’d picked it up on her last trip to New York City, and it had sat in her closet ever since.
    “Well, it is beautiful. Givenchy, right? Milan would look fabulous in it.” Scarlet linked her arm with Brooklyn’s and began walking. “But you should remember to pick gowns with an A-line design. High-waisted dresses are not your friend, sweetie.”
    She battled the urge to roll her eyes and tell her mom she didn’t require her opinion. Thanks to years of practice, she kept the words at bay. After all, her mom was the fashion expert in the family not her. “Next time I’ll remember.”
    “Your father says hello. He made the trip here too. If you have time this weekend, he wants you to join us for dinner before we go home.” Reaching their table, her mom pulled out two chairs. “If you and Trevor have plans he’ll understand, or if you want to ask him to join us that would be wonderful as well.”
    After what went down tonight, she knew her dad would be the last person she wanted to see this weekend. He’d never cared for Derek and tonight his opinion was sure to degrade further. “Um, sure I can join you. Trevor and I don’t have any plans. But he won’t be able to come.”
    She’d met him for coffee Tuesday afternoon but hadn’t spoken to him since. Honestly, she didn’t know if he’d be available and she didn’t plan on calling him to find out. “Did you have a particular day and time in mind?”
    “Tomorrow works best for us and Paris. Right, dear?”
    Milan and Paris joined them as her mom finished speaking.
    “Yes, Seth is expecting me back on Sunday.” Paris took the seat near their mom. “He couldn’t fly out here with me this weekend. He started filming on his new movie yesterday.”
    “What about you, Milan. Is tomorrow good?”
    Brooklyn’s oldest sister took the seat next to her as she answered. “Depends on what happens here tonight.”
    She should have known her sister planned on participating in tonight’s auction. And she knew her sister well enough to realize that, if Milan won a bachelor tonight, there was a darn good chance she’d be inviting him back to her hotel room for the evening so they could get to know each other better.
    “Why don’t we plan on tomorrow around seven o’clock. And if Milan can’t make it this time, your father will understand. That’s not too late is it, Paris? I know your plane leaves the next morning.”
    “Sounds good to me. My plane doesn’t leave until ten on Sunday,” Paris said before she pushed her chair back and stood again. “Tasha just walked in. I’m going to say hello before things get started.”
    Brooklyn glanced toward the doors to where Tasha Marshall stood with her mom, Janet, and another woman she’d seen before but didn’t know. Like always, Tasha looked beautiful. In fact, Tasha along with Paris and Milan were perhaps the most beautiful women in the room. And much like Paris and Milan, Tasha knew it. Any other evening, the arrival of Tasha wouldn’t have bothered her. While she’d never call the other woman a friend, she considered her a friendly acquaintance, and when they ran into each other they’d chat. Tonight though, her appearance had Brooklyn grinding her teeth and attaching every negative adjective she could think of to Derek’s name.
    “I always thought it was a shame Tasha didn’t pursue modeling. She’s not your sisters’ equal, but she could have had a fabulous career too.”
    She didn’t blame Tasha for not wanting to spend her life in front of a camera or on the runway like both Milan and Paris did. Even if she’d inherited her mom’s beauty like her sisters had, she wouldn’t have wanted a life like that either. To have the world continuously scrutinizing everything she did would be pure