“Do you want a glass of water?”
She nodded, and he returned a minute later with a cold glass from the fridge. This time, he sat beside her. He watched her drink it and place it on the small table beside her.
“Can I please fucking hug you? My heart is still racing,” he said, rubbing his hand over his face.
Harper launched herself into his arms, promising to hate herself for it tomorrow. For now, she just needed Daniel's arms around her.
He moaned into her hair and kissed her head. Neither of them said anything, and she began to doze. Soon she felt him rearrange them on the sofa, so they were lying down, and wrap her up in his arms.
The next thing, Harper woke up to the heat of the Hawaii sun pouring over her.
Daniel was gone.
Happy damn Valentine’s Day.
––––––––
A FEW HOURS LATER, Harper was back with the three amigos, as she’d nicknamed them. They were out shopping in Waikiki for outfits for the Valentine’s Day party tonight.
When she’d met them in the foyer, they had surprised her with gifts of heart-shaped chocolates and a beautiful bunch of red roses. And three kisses on her cheek.
She had blushed.
“Thank you. Oh my god, you are all so sweet.” Then she’d handed the gifts to a concierge who had taken them to her suite, so they could go shopping.
Now, walking down Kalakaua Avenue with the three tall men, Harper felt like she had a personal security entourage.
“We need to find you some dates,” Harper said. “You can’t hang around me all evening.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I have my eye on the blonde from room 2506,” Luke said, grinning. “She said she’d be there.”
Harper smiled.
“What about you?” she said, nudging Cooper.
“Nope, I only have eyes for you, my darling,” he said, looping his arm over her shoulders. He was doing that a lot lately, and Harper was starting to think he had a crush on her.
Harper glanced at him, and he winked back at her, but this time there was a warmth in it as his eyes lingered too long. She didn’t want to encourage him. After being back in Daniel's arms last night, she could not lie to herself anymore.
She was in love with Daniel Dufort.
Rightly or wrongly.
It changed nothing. She was still going home in a few days. He was still returning to New York and maybe marrying the woman his father had lined up for him, but that was how she felt, and it was going to take time to get over him.
The odd thing about it all was Harper couldn’t imagine Daniel just lying down and accepting being manipulated. He’d told her how he felt about marriage after seeing his parents break up. Perhaps Kristen was right. Rich people married for business connections and convenience.
Maybe there was something in it for him financially.
The thought made her even more sad.
Had their connection meant nothing to Daniel? “Harper, if I could, I would love you forever.” For a man with so much power, he seemed to be giving it away to other people pretty easily.
Or she wasn’t as important to him as he had said.
The right thing for her to do was let him go, and definitely not jump into anything else for a long time. She needed to be single and just focus on her career.
Harper did like Cooper.