The Barefoot Groom: Bachelor Billionaire Romance (A Last Play Companion) (10 page)

As she hurried out of the hotel room and down the hall, she didn’t know if she really liked having all this “self-realization.”

Her mind flashed to earlier. Dante. The easy way they had talked and joked. Finding out that there was more to him than the “seven circles of love.” It was stupid, but when she was in his arms, she’d felt a … connection. Maybe it was the adrenaline after almost choking combined with the fact that he’d been the one to save her?

Then Cooper showed up.

The look the men had exchanged had been strained. Weird.

She got to the elevator and focused on the questions she had prepared. It bothered her that she had to write these articles even though it was admittedly her own fault.

She had to figure something out, and quickly, if she was going to satisfy Marcia. She had to find something else she could write about Cooper, and tonight was the best opportunity she would have.

C
ooper stood
on his rooftop watching one of the security guys usher London up the stairs.

Stunning, that’s how she looked. Wearing a blue summer dress with flip-flops, her blonde, curly hair and red lipstick matched the earrings and necklace. It was all perfect.

Summery, light, slightly dressed up, but still casual. Seriously, had he just thought those words? What was wrong with him?

Sterling would call him a total pansy.

Moving toward her, he stuck his hand out. “Good evening.”

She was only a couple inches shorter than him. At six foot, he hadn’t dated many women close to his height.

Nadia had been around five foot two, so London felt pretty tall to him.

Refocusing his thoughts, he was assaulted by her light, flowery perfumed scent.

Unable to stop himself, he bent and kissed the back of her hand. “Welcome.”

Tentatively, London stared up at him, not removing her hand as she slowly smiled. She looked out over his property. “On top of an empire. The life of Cooper Harrison.”

Honestly, he hadn’t thought about his life in those terms. “My autobiography title. Thanks.”

London pulled her hand away and swatted his arm.

He asked, “How come you seem so amused?” He led her to the lounge chairs and fire pit that overlooked the outdoor dancing area.

“I’m a bit in awe really.”

A dinner spread waited for them. Moving behind her chair, he pulled it out for her.

She looked embarrassed, but she took her seat. “Thank you.”

He sat across from her. “You’re welcome. I didn’t know what you’d like so I had them bring a bit of everything.”

Mira, his chef, came forward in her simple black serving outfit. She pulled the tops off of the serving dishes, revealing steaming brown rice, chicken, salmon, green beans, and a plethora of veggies. “You take what you like, ma’am, and I’ll take the rest out of the way.”

“Wow, so fancy.” She leaned back into the chair.

Cooper smiled at her, thinking she appeared comfortable here.

She took a couple of helpings of various things, and he did the same.

Mira cleared the rest away.

“I like it.” She looked out over the people mingling below. “Gives you a bird’s eye view.”

Cooper liked it too. Being up here with her beat hanging with the guys any day. “It does.”

For a few seconds, both of them quietly took in the scenery and ate.

“It’s really good.” She sipped her drink. “But I thought you were a vegan.”

He grinned. “I tried it. I still like to stay mostly vegetarian. But after much consideration, I realized I had to eat meat.”

“I could never be a vegetarian, especially not vegan. My parents would disown me. We are ranch people. We eat meat.”

He grinned.

She pointed to the food with her fork. “It’s good.”

“Mira’s the best.” A nervous stir went through him, and he thought about seeing her earlier in that man’s arms in the ballroom. “What happened earlier?”

“Oh, I choked on my apple, and Dante helped me out.”

“Dante?”

The edges of her smile widened. “Yes, Dante.”

“The seven circles of—”

“Love.” She finished for him and laughed. “Yes, it’s funny because I was trying to avoid people during lunch today.” She gave him a side-glance. “I was finishing your book.”

This made him both slightly nervous and slightly happy. “I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”

Clasping her hands together, she gave him her full attention. “It was good.” She grinned.

And he hated the fact he was getting more and more lost in this woman.

“Anyway, Dante just wanted a place to do some work. He convinced me to let him sit, and then he was telling me how his family actually owns the De Luca restaurants.”

“De Luca?” Cooper was impressed. “I go there every time I’m in New York City.”

“Of course,” she said, exasperated. “I’ve never been able to get in there. Even when …” She broke off. “Anyway, I had to tease Dante that he seems more like a stupid frat boy than the owner of a multi-million dollar company.” She sighed. “All afternoon, I kept thinking about why he would be here. Ya know?” She glanced at him. “Do millionaires really have that hard of a time finding someone to date? Both of his brothers are single too.”

“Right. Totally. I mean, the only ones who come to these things must be losers, right?” Cooper quickly added.

For a minute, she didn’t say anything. “Man, I’m already putting my foot in my mouth. I’m sorry.”

Cooper tried to play it off. “If you think you’re the first one to think that, you’re not.” He tried to force himself to relax, not understanding why this woman could pull him out of his Zen so easily.

For a few seconds, neither of them spoke. The awkwardness grew.

“I’m not really sure why you asked me up here.” Her voice was soft.

He let out a fake, almost self-pitying, laugh. Right now, he was wondering the same thing. Maybe it’d been the fact he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind. He didn’t know. All he knew was that he hadn’t known he was going to ask her until he’d seen her in Dante’s arms.

“Cooper?” she asked.

Jerking himself from his thoughts, he shook his head. “Sorry.” He reached for his drink.

“I mean it. I don’t think this is for losers.” She snorted. “It costs too much to be for losers.”

Cooper nearly spit the water in his mouth across the table.

London held up her napkin like a shield, and suddenly, he was fine again.

Peeking out from behind her shield, London asked, “So? Why?”

He shrugged and leaned back, taking his drink in hand and trying to measure his answer. “Would it be pathetic to say I need a friend, and the other night in the hot tub felt like one of the first honest conversations I’ve had with a woman in a long time? The same after the helicopter ride.”

“That was nice.”

“Yes, it was.”

London narrowed her eyes and then copied his pose, picking up her drink and leaning back. “Honestly, I don’t really have friends either. I mean, who has time for friends?”

He didn’t want to add especially the kind who cheat with your fiancé. “Tell me what you like to do, London Bridges.”

“What do you mean?”

He laughed. “Your hobbies.”

“Oh.” She looked thoughtful. “I’ve never told anyone this, but I love murdering people who make fun of my name in their sleep.”

He grinned. “Ooh. That sounds fun.”

“Keep it up, and you’ll see exactly how fun.”

“What else, besides burying the bodies and all?”

“Well, you know about my nonprofit.”

He nodded. “Yep.”

“I do Pilates every other day.”

She looked like she did Pilates. He grinned. “I like yoga better, but I’ve studied Pilates.”

Narrowing her eyes, she looked interested. “Why do you like yoga better?”

He felt himself relax. “Well, I decided a long time ago I don’t believe in any certain religion, but I do believe in the universe. Yoga tends to fit that view for me.”

“So it’s your religion?”

He grunted. “No, but I guess it is the closest thing I have to one.”

Cocking an eyebrow, she smiled. “Hmm.”

“You sound like you disapprove.”

She shook her head. “No, I just can’t fathom that.”

“What?”

“I grew up with a firm belief in God, Family, and Country. My father served in the military, and it was ingrained in us.”

Cooper wanted to know more. “Okay.”

“Church every Sunday. Prayers morning and night. I think the thing I like most about your book is its emphasis on values. I believe in the Ten Commandments. I grew up being taught honesty and your relationship with God is important.”

Once again, he found himself liking her more and more. He had a hard time with people who didn’t stand for anything. Here she was, sounding a bit preachy for him, but he found he liked it.

London looked around the rooftop then leaned closer. “Now here’s something personal. I am a
textbook
case for your book. I didn’t budge on my standard of sex before marriage, and my boyfriend left me. Cheated on me.” She snorted. “So would you say I made him wait too long?”

He couldn’t believe she’d said that. “You have got to be kidding me. Any guy not willing to wait until a woman is ready to be intimate, is not worthy of the woman.”

This stunned her. And she found herself blinking away the emotion she instantly felt.

“London?” Cooper said softly. “Are you okay?”

Hesitating briefly, she looked down. “But he left. He left me. Standing there looking like an idiot in front of everyone.”

The hurt in her eyes showed just how not over the old boyfriend she really was. He didn’t say anything.

She blinked and looked away. “He left, but I guess I still have my standards.”

Cooper sighed. “Aren’t you glad you have more than your standards? You have self-respect. You have integrity.”

Looking down, she turned her pinky ring. “Yeah.” She said softly.

She looked sad, and he felt like there was something she wasn’t telling him.

Looking up, she gestured to his watch and shook her head. “Okay, enough about my sob story, tell me more about why you wear the broken watch.”

It was an abrupt change of conversation, but he didn’t blame her. He sighed. “Watches represent time. And, after my dad left, I tortured myself. Of course, looking back I can see that it’s normal for kids to do that. But, when I turned eighteen and was moving out, the only thing my mom gave me was this watch.” He shook his head. “I was so angry she did that. Why would I want this watch? He left. I didn’t know him.” He paused, surprised at the emotion surfacing from thinking about his dad. “But one day I thought about how the broken watch was a perfect representation of all the time lost between me and my dad. And how it was the perfect representation of how, if I dwell on the past and what my dad did and allow negativity in…I lose the present. And I lose the future.” He shrugged, feeling nervous.

She squinted at him, looking thoughtful. “That’s not in your book. Or online in any interviews.”

Feeling pleasure at the fact she’d done her homework, he looked away. “No, it’s not.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s good.”

He didn’t say anything.

“It’s good and you know it and you didn’t use it. Why?”

He met her pointed stare. “Because it’s mine.”

For a second she didn’t move, then she nodded and blinked.

“Personal pain.” He scoffed. “That’s what it’s called. And, yes, I know I recommend people share their pain to release it. They should.” He insisted. “But…I guess I haven’t been able to let it go.”

Cocking her head to the side, she seemed to evaluate him. “It’s okay, my dad always told me that if you look hard enough at your trials…you’ll eventually find the seed of good that wouldn’t have been able to get planted any other way.”

Cooper gave her a half smile. “Spoken like a true farmer.”

She nodded.

Once again, everything seemed slow and sticky between them and he wondered if all the pain in his life had somehow brought him here. To this moment. With her. To deflect his thoughts, he refocused the conversation. “Plus, you have your new guy.”

Quickly, she shook her head. “You’re right.”

That nagging suspicion that she was lying to him wouldn’t go away. He wanted to demand she be honest, but he stayed silent.

Silence reigned, and they stared into each other’s eyes.

All Cooper wanted to do was demand answers from her. He’d never felt this kind of attraction and empathy for anyone in his whole life so quickly. He licked his lips. “So you still believe in God?”

Confusion filled her face. “Why would you ask that?”

“Well, because you obviously don’t feel like things worked out. Or maybe you do with the new guy,” he said quickly. “But you were hurt. Dillon hurt you. Why would God let that happen?”

She shook her head. “Our life is to be tested. Part of that is not knowing why. You should know that. You’re the guru.”

The center of his heart warmed. “I guess. After Nadia’s … after she left the first time, I was heartbroken. When she came back, I began looking for answers. I actually still believed in a God then. In a father who cared for his children. But after she died, I just … I just felt like if there is someone in charge, it can’t be a father. It can’t be a man. Because he would know it hurts. Too much. He wouldn’t be able to do that. So I guess that’s why yoga feels so good. If we are all just here to have an experience, like it’s impersonal to our creator, that feels … possible. We’re all connected as energy. I can handle that.”

She cocked her head to the side. “So do you pray now?”

He flashed a grin. “I manifest.”

She smiled back. “Right.”

“You don’t believe me.”

Hesitating briefly, she let out a breath. “At your talk on manifesting, I kept wondering why I manifested a fiancé that left me.”

The answer was clear to him, but he didn’t want to say it. He bit his bottom lip and looked up into the dark sky.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“What were you going to say?”

Cooper couldn’t stop himself. “Whatever we manifest, we feel. So the feelings of losing him must have been buried deep inside of you.”

She narrowed her eyes. “So you manifested your wife leaving you and dying?” The way she said it showed she clearly felt angered by his statement.

He shrugged. “I guess I did.”

More anger and passion filled her eyes.

He loved watching her emotions fluctuate across her face. “Obviously, you don’t agree.”

“I don’t agree.”

“Then what? An angry God did it?”

Waiting for a few seconds, she held his eyes. “No, a God who loves us. Who might not like what happens to us but knows it’s part of our experience and it will make us better people.”

He rolled his eyes. “Sounds sick to me.”

She threw her hands up. “You’re telling me it sounds better to believe we’re just manifesting what we’re feeling? How is there order to that?”

Mimicking her, he threw up his hands. “Why does there have to be order to anything?” Man, he wanted to grab her and kiss her. His adrenaline was rushing through his system. He liked debating with her.