Chapter 128: A New Title
** Harper **
It should probably be no surprise that the presidential suite had two bedrooms, which came with two full baths. Harper was slightly disappointed that the abundant amenities meant a lack of excuse to share a shower, but she had to admit it was probably for the best.
When she was done with the quick rinse, she returned to the living room wrapped up in a bathrobe, only to find Eli still amiss. Assuming he was probably going to take a while dealing with his "situation" on his own, she grabbed a soda from the fridge and lounged back down on the couch, giving herself some time to cool off and think more carefully about everything that happened in the past couple of hours.
The scent of sex was still strong on the furniture she was sitting on. But with her heart rate gradually settling into the normal range, it was getting easier to think around the physical distractions and focus on the other important issues. That was when she finally recalled the various details that turned out way differently from her expectations today.
Apart from Eli’s admission of feeling such a strong attraction to her — which already shocked her in all the best ways — the revelation that caught her off guard even more was the fact that he seemed ... genuinely surprised by how much she reciprocated the sentiment. But how was that possible? Eli was a chick magnet, or "the most sought-after bachelor in Davenshire’s finance circle", according to Vanessa. Even if Harper hadn’t seen that part of his reputation play out in front of her eyes, she could imagine that for anyone as handsome and successful as him, effortless attention from women should be a daily regularity. So why did he seem so convinced that she would be an exception?
It could just be because he knew she was a relationship girl, and he never gave off the vibe of a suitable candidate. That was the reason he had given her. But there seemed to be ... something else. A more hidden answer that she caught a glimpse of through the almost reverent way he had kissed her and touched her, the almost awestruck tone as he whispered praises into her ear like he truly meant every word of it.
Somehow, he seemed to think that she was ... too good for him? That she wouldn’t be interested in him simply because ... she shouldn’t have any reasons to?
It was ridiculous and borderline self-conceited to even think about such a possibility. But after what happened at the baseball game, Harper couldn’t be so sure to rule it out. Childhood tragedies like that tend to leave a deep mark on a person, and for Eli, it seemed to have affected him with a sense of insecurity and self-loathing unbefitting the image he showed in front of everyone else. Could it really be that he was subconsciously judging himself so harshly, to the point that he didn’t think anyone could truly fall for the person he was on the inside?
Harper let out a small sigh as she tried to wrap her head around her own ridiculous theory. After their four years of lack of touch, Eli had reentered her life as a more complicated person than she ever remembered. He was the heir to a company and a person he despised, the successor to a lifestyle he had no interest in, and a self-proclaimed playboy even though he clearly wasn’t proud of the title. He lived at the whirlwind center of so many conflicts, in a way that he barely seemed able to reconcile with himself.
The contradictions made him hard to read. But at the same time, they only made her heart grow softer for him. Maybe she did have a thing for troubled badboys after all.