He let the conversation shift, but soon she would discover the truth...and it had to be him that revealed it to her. If she found out any other way, she’d hate him, and he couldn’t stand the thought of Harper looking at him with anything other than infatuation and desire in her eyes.
“After the service, I was still lost. I had no clue what I was going to do with my life. I had little money, just what I’d saved from the army.”
Harper’s fingertips scrolled an invisible pattern over his chest, but her eyes remained locked on his. Did she even know she was silently reassuring him to go on? Did she have a clue that she was the balm he needed to rehash all of this?
“I was in San Diego and ended up at a bar.” Ethan slid his hand over the tie on her robe. “I’d been there before when I’d been home on leave. I’ve always loved that city. The bartender recognized me, we got to talking, sharing our veteran stories, and the next thing I knew, he was making me a partner in business. He had that bar and was looking to open another in LA and in Boston.”
“That’s rather lucky,” she told him with a grin. “And you’re trying to distract me.”
She glanced down to her waist, where her robe had come apart. Ethan smiled as he slid the material even farther from her lush body.
“Did you ever think that you’re the one who distracts me?” he retorted. “You have some power over me that I can’t explain.”
That was the truest thing he’d ever told her.
Ethan’s hands grazed her belly, and the reality of a baby—his baby—being right there reminded him exactly what was at stake. Everything. His future was riding on Robert, on Harper, on himself.
“So are we done with story time?” she asked, easing up to straddle his lap.
“I’d say we’ve talked enough.”
Because he still wasn’t ready to tell her the last piece of the puzzle. Tomorrow. He would tell her tomorrow. He wanted one more night in this fantasy land where everything was all right and there was no outside force that could potentially ruin the way she looked at him.
Because something was happening between them that had nothing to do with the baby and nothing to do with sex. Now Ethan just needed to figure out what the hell to do with that knowledge and how he should deal with these raw feelings that could ultimately destroy this good thing.
* * *
Ethan slid the crucial documents back into the safe in the walk-in closet of his penthouse suite. He’d spent last night in Harper’s bed, but today she was moving all of her things into his space.
Before that happened, he wanted to make sure everything was tucked away, out of her line of sight.
Ethan had several statements he planned on using for blackmail against Robert should Robert not give up the property willingly. There were papers regarding tax fraud and money laundering—just a sampling of charges Ethan would threaten.
He sincerely hoped Robert would just man up and do the right thing, but as that was highly unlikely, Ethan had a foolproof backup plan. He wouldn’t have come here and wouldn’t have collaborated with Dane if he wasn’t one hundred percent certain they were ready to take down Robert.
Once the resort was rightfully signed over to Ethan, he had every intention of turning Robert in to the authorities. There were two other copies of all of these documents. Dane had a set and so did Ethan’s attorney.
Robert should be arriving in the next few days. Ethan wanted everything put away and not a trace of the damning evidence for Harper to see. Not until he had a chance to tell her everything.
Which would be today. He’d already told her he wanted to meet her around lunchtime to discuss something important. He hated having to be the one to tell her that her father was a mani
pulating bastard, but if he didn’t, she’d find out soon enough and likely the hard way...like when Robert duped her for his own selfish reasons.
The thought of Robert stealing anything from Harper was an added layer of motivation for Ethan to take full control over all of this and get ahead of the game.
Ethan punched in the code on the safe and stepped from the closet into his bedroom. He glanced at the time on his phone and blew out a sigh. He had about an hour to kill before meeting up with Harper.
There was nothing with his clubs or potential investment property in France that he could focus on right now. Nerves were getting the best of him, and he needed somewhere to channel all this restless energy.
He pulled up Dane’s messages and shot off a text telling his brother that he was about to tell Harper the truth. He wasn’t sure what sort of reply he was expecting from Dane, but Ethan wanted him to know what was going on. And he wished like hell his brother was here, but they would get together and celebrate once the deal was all done.
Once all of this was behind them, once the resorts were fully theirs and Robert was out of their lives for good, Ethan vowed to spend more time with his brother. If that meant flying to cold-as-a-polar-bear’s-butt Montana, then so be it. He and Dane were both entering new chapters, important chapters, in their lives, and Ethan wanted them to grow together again. He wanted his child to know Dane. What better way to bridge their past and future relationships than with a fresh start and new life?
His cell vibrated in his hand, but when he glanced down, the screen showed a message from Harper.
Meet me in the lobby. I have a surprise.
A surprise? Well, if it was in the lobby then their clothes wouldn’t be coming off. But what could she have for him? When did she have time to plan anything?