“You guess? Either you have or haven’t,” Kristen asked. “Wait, who is Daniel Dufort?”
Oh. Right.
Not everyone on the planet knew who he was.
“Dufort Hotels. The billionaire.” Even as the words came out, Harper hated the taste of them on her lips. She had no problem with the fact he was wealthy but describing him by his bank balance just felt wrong.
“The family from New York?” Kristen asked, as she was clearly googling. “Hot damn, girl, he is, my god. I am so proud of you.”
Harper shook her head, smiling. “That’s a dumb thing to say.”
“Why? He’s rich, hot and successful.” Kristen shrugged. “You could have chosen a bartender instead.”
“Speaking of. How’s Jeremy?” she asked about the guy Kris had been casually seeing for about six months.
“Don’t even ask. All he does is work, go to the gym, and occasionally drop by for sex. It's not a relationship. I know that.”
Harper stopped and looked at her friend on the screen. “That’s good, babe. You deserve better.”
“We both do,” Kristen said.
“How about we come back to Hawaii together in a few months? I’ll have my payment by then and we can do touristy things and flirt with cute American boys.”
“Men, darling. Men.” Kristen winked.
She laughed and dabbed on her lip gloss. “Time’s up, BFF. I have to fly. Wish me luck.”
“Luck!”
When Harper hung up, she’d stood for a moment thinking about their conversation. To Kris, Daniel was a faceless man she was having a fling with.
She didn’t feel like that about him. When he was deep inside her, it felt like he owned every part of her. Sure, she wasn’t very experienced in casual sex, but the way Daniel looked at her, it didn’t feel like nothing. He’d admitted he was dominant and possessive, and he was. Perhaps she was reading into it far too much.
This was the kind of silly thinking that would get her hurt.
Now she stood on the other side of the door, about to step into a meeting with this powerful man. And her business partner, BookFlix.
Both important.
But only one would remain in her life at the end of her holiday.
That she needed to remember.
“Ms. Kane,” Akino said when he opened the door, announcing her arrival.
“Harper,” Denise said, stepping forward and shaking her hand before she could see farther into the room. “It’s so lovely to meet you in person.
“Hello, Denise. Thank you again. This is such a privilege,” Harper said, thanking the network executive for the millionth time.
Denise waved her away. “You know Thomas, Marissa, and Kas,” she said, indicating her team.
“Yes, hello,” Harper said, stepping closer to the table and shaking all their hands. They were all familiar faces from the video conferences and emails.
But it was the face down at the end of the room whose eyes were burning into her skin that held her attention.
“Have you met Mr. Dufort?” Denise asked.
Harper blushed. “Yes.”