Chapter Twenty-Two

We're not waiting long before Harper descends the stairs, a look of nervousness flashing across her face when she sees Cordelia standing next to me.

“Oh, my God, Rob,” Cordy whispers. “She's an absolute knockout. Totally gorgeous.”

I barely hear what she's saying because my eyes are riveted on Harper. The dress hugs her curves and falls to just above her knees, the hemline fringed with a black lace. It's made from a crushed blue velvet and has long sleeves and a scooped neckline that makes her ample cleavage stand out. Her strawberry blonde hair cascades down over her shoulders and she is wearing black heels and a black choker with a blue sapphire heart in the center that completes the outfit.

I feel my breath catch in my throat and my pulse begins to race as I watch her descend the stairs, looking like an angel coming down from the heavens. At least to me. She is literally, the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.

“She's stunning,” Cordy whispers again. “Absolutely stunning.”

Looking like she's feeling all kinds of awkward and uncomfortable, Harper crosses the foyer and stands before me.

“Harper,” I say, “This is my good friend Cordelia. Cordy, this is Harper.”

Cordy takes her hand and gives her a warm, genuine smile. “I can see what the fuss is all about now,” she says, making my cheeks flush immediately. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Harper. Let me just say that you are breathtaking.”

The color stands out in Harper's cheeks and she can't quite meet Cordelia's eyes. “Thank you,” she says softly. “It's very nice to meet you.”

“Well,” I say. “I suppose we should be –”

“Having a drink,” Cordy says. “Yes, we should all have a drink and get to know one another a bit.”

I look at Cordelia and want to throttle her. When she says “get to know one another,” she means, interrogate Harper. But Harper, being the sweet girl she is, smiles wide and nods.

“I'd like that,” she says.

Cordy looks at me, giving me a triumphant grin, and takes Harper's arm, leading her to the sitting room. I walk into the kitchen and find Gerald watching something on the TV as he polishes the silver. When he realizes I'm there, he scrambles to grab the remote.

“No need to turn it off on my account,” I say. “Please, watch your show. What are you watching, anyway?”

He clears his throat and looks thoroughly embarrassed. “It's a show about – alien life.”

“I never knew you were an alien life form enthusiast, Gerald,” I say and laugh.

“We all have our guilty pleasures, sir.”

I nod. “Indeed, we do.”

Opening the wine cooler, I pull out a bottle of Pinot Grigio and set it on the counter.

“Would you like me to serve, sir?”

I shake my head. “No, but thank you. I've got this,” I say and give him a grin. “You just enjoy your aliens.”

Gerald laughs, but doesn't take his eyes off the screen. Finding a wine opener, I crack the bottle and then grab two glasses and a bottle of water for Harper. Picking everything up, I head into the sitting room to find Harper and Cordy leaning together talking, laughing together almost conspiratorially. From where I'm standing, it looks like they've hit it off and are getting along famously.

Cordy turns to me and gives me a warm smile – a stamp of approval, of sorts.

“So, what are you two hens clucking about?” I ask as I pour the wine.

“Harper was just telling me about growing up in Blackburn, Georgia,” she says.

“And Cordelia –”

“Cordy, please,” she interrupts.

Harper smiles. “Cordy was just telling me about her time in New York and how she met you.”

“Yes, well, Cordy is a lawyer, so you're going to have to take everything she says about me with a grain of salt,” I say.

“Even the good things?” Harper asks.

“Especially, the good things,” I laugh. “She's my lawyer and is paid to make me look good.”

“It's a tough job,” Cordy says. “But as they say, somebody's gotta do it.”

We laugh as I hand out the wine to Cordy and Harper her water. We spend the next hour talking and laughing together. It didn't take the two of them long to seem thick as thieves – which, I take to be a good sign. If Cordy didn't like her or got a bad feeling about her, she would have made it known.

Eventually, Cordy looks at her watch. “Well, I've taken up enough of your evening and should probably let the two of you get to dinner,” she says. “Lord knows I need to get home to my husband. Harper, it was an absolute pleasure meeting you. Truly.”

“It was a pleasure for me as well, Cordy,” she says.

We all stand up and head for the front door. We walk down to the car I have waiting to take Harper and me to dinner. Jack, my bodyguard for the night, opens the door and Harper slides in. I lean down into the open doorway.

“Give me just a minute,” I say. “I'm going to walk Cordy to her car.”

I turn and escort Cordelia across the driveway to where she parked her black BMW. She opens her door and tosses her bag onto the passenger seat and then turns back to me.

“Now, that is the kind of woman your mom would want you to be with,” she says. “Rob, the girl is absolutely perfect. Intelligent, talented, beautiful – she is the whole package.”

“She's also young,” I say.

Cordy waves me off. “And? You're like twelve years – ”

“Fifteen.”

“Whatever,” she says. “It's not like you're fifty and she's sixteen.”

“No, that's true.”

“Seriously,” she says. “She's great. Absolutely great. And you better not screw up and let her get away.”

“Well, I don't think that's my choice,” I say. “If she chooses Landon over me –”

“Landon won't be an issue once you tell her the truth about him,” she says. “Right?”

I shrug. “Maybe.”

“Definitely,” she says. “I can see how amazing this girl is. And I can see how much you care for her already. I really think she'd be great for you, Rob. I think she can really open up your heart and mind in ways that you can't even begin to fathom right now. Ways your heart and mind desperately need to be opened.”

“I don't know about all that –”

“I do,” she says earnestly. “I can see a difference in you in the short time you've been with her. You just seem somehow lighter. Freer. You don't look so dark and brooding.”

“I don't brood.”

“Like hell you don't,” she says and chuckles. “Seriously, Rob. I think this girl is going to be good for you. I would implore you to do everything in your power to hang on to her.”

“I – I'll do my best,” I say.

“Do better than that.”

Cordy gives me a tight hug and a smile before she gets into her car and starts it up. I give her a wave as she pulls out and heads down the driveway, disappearing beyond the gates. I turn and walk back to the waiting car and slip into the back seat, Jack shutting the door behind me.

He climbs into the passenger seat and leans over, saying something to Tony, who's behind the wheel. Tony nods and pulls the car out and heads up the driveway.

“Sorry about that,” I say.

“Don't be,” Harper replies. “Cordy seems great. Really great. And really protective of you.”

I nod. “That she is – on both counts,” I say. “And she really seems to like you a lot.”

Her smile seems as relieved as much as anything – as if Cordelia's opinion really mattered to her. A lot. Though, I'm not sure why that might be.

Tony merges with traffic on the main highway, and we head for Santa Monica.