Sebastian only shrugged. “He should’ve turned down the bet, then. He’s too cocky to think he will lose.”
“That is Quentin for you. Looking back, I know I dodged a bullet with that one.”
“I’m sure you did. For all your dating angst, I hear you’re quite the catch. All the gentlemen I spoke to think rather highly of you,” Sebastian added with a smile.
Harper blushed with embarrassment and pushed a stray strand of dark hair behind her ear in an endearing way. He liked the way she was wearing it today. It was down in loose waves, almost like wild morning-after hair. It made him think about how it had cascaded across the pillows the other afternoon as he’d pleasured her. When he’d touched it, it had felt like silk between his fingertips. He wanted to touch it again.
“Do they now?” Harper said. “What did they say?”
“Well, they all congratulated me for winning you over. They said you were an amazing woman and that I would be a fool to let you slip through my fingertips.”
Sebastian knew their words to be true before the men had confirmed it. Harper, however, seemed dumbfounded by the whole conversation.
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“Even Quentin?”
Sebastian nodded. “Even Quentin. I don’t know if it’s all part of his game or not, but he said there were times when he knew he’d made the wrong choice letting you go.”
Harper gasped. “I can’t believe it.”
“I don’t know why. You’re smart, beautiful, funny, sweet...”
“Quit buttering me up.”
“You tend to lie a lot, though,” he added with a smile. “Of course, they don’t know that. They did mention that you have expensive tastes and might be costly to keep, but that you were worth it.”
Harper laughed aloud at the final observation. “That sounds more like I was expecting to hear. How funny. Who knew golf with the boys could be so enlightening?”
It certainly had been for him. He’d already been dreading the end of the trip and their run as a couple, but his chat with the other men had made him wonder if maybe he shouldn’t push harder for something more with Harper. Something beyond the physical. He’d been worried about letting himself get too close, but perhaps in time it might be possible. If he let himself do it. If he could take a step back from his work and allow life to take its place. Balance had never been his strength. He was balls-to-the-wall, all or nothing. Here, a relationship was easy because work wasn’t interfering. Back home, the relationship would interfere with his work.
And that was only if Harper was open to the possibility. Now that he’d filled her head with compliments about how great a catch she was, he might not be what she wanted. He was a great stand-in for a boyfriend in a pinch, but would she want him once
they were back in the States again? Maybe only if her grandfather cut her off.
“I guess the men’s golf game is just as big a gossip cesspool as the ladies’ tea,” Harper said with a smile. “Did my brother say anything embarrassing?”
“Not much. He’d already said his peace to me a few days ago. The first day we arrived, actually.”
Harper’s eyes got big as she stiffened on the bench. She put her hand on him, squeezing his forearm. “What? No. What did he say?”
Sebastian chuckled. “Nothing too embarrassing, just basic big-brother stuff. I think he was just worried about you. He wanted to make sure my intentions were honest. He gave me a little insight into you, too.”
“Like what?”
“Like, I’m not telling you,” Sebastian retorted.
“So unfair. You’ve got all the insight into me and you’re this puzzle box I can’t get into.” With a sigh, Harper pushed up from the bench.
“Where are you going?”
“Back inside to get ready for the rehearsal. I’m a bridesmaid, you know.”
Sebastian stood with her. Before she could get away, he wrapped her in his arms and pulled her close to him. “I forgot to say how nice you look today.”
Harper smiled. “Thank you. You don’t need to lay it on so thick, though. I don’t think anyone is watching us out here together.”