His brother sighed heavily on the other end. “No, I don’t. I’m trying to keep my focus on the end result, but someone is going to get hurt, and now that all of this is in motion, all I can do is try to take the brunt of the blow when it happens.”
Dane felt sorry for Ethan. For the first time in...well, ever, Ethan was feeling the ramifications of his actions, and Dane was truly worried.
Someone was going to get hurt, but Dane couldn’t help but wonder if they were all going to feel the backlash from this series of events.
* * *
Harper stared over the various marble designs. All were in the same price point, all were equally stunning and all would make a killer impact in the lobby of Mirage.
But she couldn’t decide.
She also couldn’t stop thinking of Ethan’s ridiculous half-assed proposal and her reply. What was she thinking? Sure, she could come up with some very necessary ground rules, but then what? Were they just going to play house and raise a baby like they were a happily married couple without having any kind of relationship beyond physical compatibility and a business agreement?
Sex could only take them so far. At some point, they’d have to actually do things together if they wanted this to succeed for the sake of the baby.
And how archaic did that sound? Was he just marrying her because of the baby? He’d made valid points of how they were both workaholics and they understood each other, but Harper had always envisioned marrying for love. Call her old-fashioned, but she truly believed there was a man out there for her.
Ignoring the marble slats on the desk, Harper pulled out her cell and brought up her texts.
Then she dropped her phone onto the desk and closed her eyes.
This wasn’t the first time she’d started to message her sister for advice. In the past several months, Harper couldn’t count how many times she’d started to call or text. How did she deprogram herself from that? Would there come a time when it would just click into place that this was her new normal? That there was no family to go to for advice?
Her mother had already stated that she’d raised her kids and now it was her turn to live. Her father was...well, not very loving.
Who did she have?
Harper truly hated this moment of self-pity, but she would like just one person to confide in. Someone she trusted to give her sound advice on what she should do.
Who knew when she came to Mirage over a month ago that she’d be in this situation? A baby, a proposal, a project of a lifetime. There was so much change, so much happening all at once, she didn’t know where to direct her focus.
She flattened her hands on the desk, and the lighting caught the gold bracelet. At least she had that reminder of her sister. Little glimpses were warming, especially now when she needed to feel closer to Carmen.
The chime from her phone had Harper pulling from her thoughts and redirecting her attention to the new email. She quickly opened the message from her father’s assistant.
The new budget was a go, and he’d even allotted an additional quarter of a million dollars. Well, that was certainly generous and shocking, but she didn’t believe she’d go that far over.
Still, having a beautiful piece of property to renovate with virtually no top budget was a designer’s dream come true. Carmen would have loved this.
This project meant so much for so many different reasons. Harper’s giddiness rivaled that of a toddler on Christmas morning in a room full of unopened presents.
Harper shot off a quick reply and attached some of the files with her design sketches for the lobby, sample suites and dining areas. She doubted Robert would ever look at them, but she figured she’d show him anyway. He hadn’t asked for an image yet.
Did he even care about the end result? Did he care she was here? She understood that he was a businessman first and a traveler second. She wasn’t sure where father ranked in that list, but she hoped somewhere.
Every part of her wanted him to show up soon so they could maybe have a nice dinner and discuss goals and the future. This pregnancy was going to be a new chapter in her life, and she wanted him to be part of it. Harper just wasn’t sure that he would want the same.
She was well aware of what Ethan wanted, though.
Marriage. A business marriage. How unromantic could a proposal get? Because she was pretty sure this one was up there on the sucky proposal chart.
Still, she might just be falling for the charmer. She’d never admit such things. He didn’t want love, and she couldn’t exactly say what she felt toward him, but the emotion was more than like and more than just sexual.
So where did that leave her? On the verge of saying “I do” to a man she knew very little about in the hopes that they could build some future together? Were futures really built on heated beach flings and accidental pregnancies?
Harper sank down into the leather office chair and stared back at the marble samples. She couldn’t even choose a shade of rock—how in the hell was she going to make a final commitment for the rest of her life?
Ten