CHAPTER THIRTY
“Harper, open up. I know you’re in there!” the voice added to the incessant knocking.
How? How did he find out which room she was in?
“Harper Kane, I swear I will bribe the housekeeper to unlock this door as well, if you don’t open it!” Cooper yelled.
So that’s how he knew. Harper frowned and pulled the door open. “You bribed the housekeeper?” she growled, one hand on her hip.
“You’re in the penthouse?” Cooper asked, raising a brow.
She shrugged and walked inside, knowing he’d follow. “You know, I could get her fired for telling you where I was staying.”
When he didn’t respond, she turned around.
“No, you won’t, because I’m not telling you which one it was. And don’t be sexist, it could have been a guy.”
Despite herself, Harper smiled.
“See, you’re happier now that I’m here.” Cooper grinned, stepping closer.
Harper shook her head. Right now, all she could feel was the pain in her heart. Daniel was likely back in New York by now, and the distance between them felt as big as a black hole.
Harper had cried for hours when she’d returned to her room this morning. Screaming into her pillow, then standing in the shower, berating herself for getting involved with yet another man that was wrong for her.
“I can’t do this right now, Coop,” Harper said, and walked outside, plonking down on the wicker sofa.
Cooper sat opposite her in a matching chair.
“I know what happened,” he said, and she glanced up. “I saw the news. Fucking prick.”
Heat flashed across her face. Harper was ashamed, along with all the other emotions she was dealing with. She hated that her three amigos thought she knew about this other woman when she hadn’t.
“Daniel told me he was single. He assured me,” she spat out.
“I’m not judging you.”
“Yes, you are. Along with everyone in this hotel who saw me with Daniel.”
Cooper got up and sat beside her. He looked down at her with such intensity she nearly had to look away. “No, they won’t. You’re too lovable,” he said. “Men like Daniel Dufort have a reputation, so no one is going to judge you. They’ll judge him.”
Harper knew he was trying to make her feel better, but something about the way he referred to Daniel in that way didn’t sit right.
She could clear his name right now by telling Cooper about Daniel’s father pressuring him into the marriage, but that wasn’t hers to share.
Perhaps she was a fool, or perhaps she was just in love, but on some level, she didn’t believe Daniel had really set out to be deceitful. Perhaps he truly thought the marriage wouldn’t need to go ahead?
He had looked as shocked and angry as she had felt.
“You can just tell me I was an idiot. You don’t need to be nice.” She frowned.
Cooper shook his head.
“That’s your problem, Harper. You don’t believe you deserve nice. Once you do, the right man will show up. Anyway, I’m not nice. Trust me.”
She looked up at him and blinked.
Did he really believe that? Cooper was amazing. If she hadn’t met Daniel, Harper knew she would be absolutely charmed by him.