Page 66 of Matched with Her Runaway Groom

“Oh, I like that whole look,” I say, pointing to one of the pictures in the magazine as I sit down next to her.

Isabella turns to me with a brilliant smile. “You do? I put it together.”

I blink several times and scan down the page until I see the credits underneath the picture. “Space designed by Isabella Hamilton for the Royal House.”

I raise my eyebrows and say, “You designed this for the Royal Family? Like, in England?”

She shrugs. “I’ve done a lot of design in the past few years. I actually started out on my own with Roman before we started dating. He needed a stager and I told him I could do it, even though I was working for someone else. I’ve got an entire team now who helps us stage all the various apartments and homes Roman’s company builds, as well as another group who decides on the features of the new construction.”

“I thought you were in real estate,” Tiffany pipes up. I turn to glance at her, surprised she knows that much about the woman sitting in front of us. “What? I might’ve read a few things about the Hamilton company before.”

Isabella smiles and nods. “Yes, there are different divisions within the company. It started out solely as a real estate company but then expanded when Roman took the business over from his father. He’s always been into developing, but it’s nice to have the branches all work together. I’m the head of the designers for each of the projects. So it’s kind of a family business.” Isabella pauses and looks at Tiffany closer. “Are you feeling seasick, dear?”

Tiffany gives her a tight smile. “Something like that. Do you mind if I run back to the room and grab something?”

“That’s probably a good idea.” Isabella looks at me and says, “Rachelle, Dani, and I will wait here.”

“Thank you,” she mouths to me as I look up at her from my chair.

“So, how has the trip been for you?” Isabella asks as she flips another couple of pages.

“Fantastic. I mean, I’ve been able to accomplish things I only had nightmares about before.” Which still ended up taking over most of my sleep the night before.

Dani and Isabella laugh and I join in.

“Rachelle has definitely impressed me with her adventurous side on this trip,” Dani says, quietly clapping her hands.

“Isabella told me there was an adventurer trying to break free.” I lean closer and drop my voice when I say, “I went on the skydiving simulator last night.”

Dani stands and dances around, screaming as though I just told her Olivia Rodrigo is on the ship.

I turn to Isabella and shake my head. “Sorry about her. Heights aren’t my favorite thing, but I feel like they’re more manageable.”

“That’s something to celebrate for sure. I’ve never done any skydiving before.” She smiles and watches as Dani finally calms down enough to sit.

“And what’s your story, Dani Higgins? Did you leave some guy pining for you back on the mainland?” Isabella leans forward, looking invested.

Dani sighs and leans back, slouching on the couch. “Nope. No men here. I’m a senior in college and guys are not on my radar at the moment.”

“Really? Didn’t I see you snogging a man downstairs last night?” Isabella teases.

I’ve never in my life seen Dani embarrassed by anything and yet she’s almost as red as Isabella’s lipstick.

“What happens on the boat, stays on the boat, right?” She gives a courtesy smile.

“Dani, tell us what happened. We can’t just have a piece of the story,” I say, staring at her until she breaks. “You’ve conspired against me plenty over the past few days.”

“For you, not against you,” Dani says, laughing.

Tiffany returns and glances among the three of us, trying to put together what she missed without asking.

“Dani’s about to tell us who she’s been snogging.” Isabella says, leaning forward and staring at Dani.

Tiffany gasps and sits down on the couch. “Yes, do tell. Us married women need something to get twitterpated about.”

“Touché,” Isabella grins.

Dani rolls her eyes. “It’s not even like that. He’s the guy who was telling us off on the slide that first day. His name is Cameron and he’s a nice guy.”

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