The Barefoot Groom: Bachelor Billionaire Romance (A Last Play Companion) (14 page)

C
ooper stood
in the wings getting his microphone hooked up. His heart beat wildly, and all he could think about was the quote in London’s article, “Cooper Harrison, is not only a bad kisser, but also a man who takes the heart of a woman then gives nothing back. Women everywhere think he is some type of Savior, but what they find is he is nothing more than a child who came from a broken home with a wife who never loved him.” It’d been a long time since he’d been this upset. He’d worked hard to keep complete calm all the time. The past few days London had done a good job of shattering the illusion he admitted to himself.

On impulse, he took his phone out and texted Sterling.
I need to talk.

Immediately Sterling texted back.
What’s wrong? I’m out of town.

Cooper put his phone back. Of course he was. During all the most critical moments in his life, he was always alone.

It was the first time he’d been this hurt, this grief stricken, since standing over Nadia’s grave, dropping the last handful of dirt across the top.

He took the stage, and the room quieted.

Alana had told him not to worry about presenting, but he’d come, as if on autopilot.

As he stood surveying the crowd, he saw mixed looks on their faces: some with sadness and some with smug appreciation that he clearly wasn’t what he’d professed.

Commanding his body to relax, he took two steps closer to the front of the stage. Lifting his hands, he shrugged. “That’s right. I’m a fraud.”

Silence.

“I tell you the only thing you have control over is your focus, your thoughts and therefore your feelings. But I’ve been slipping the past few months. I don’t know when it started.”

Alana was at his side, taking his arm and trying to pull him off. “No, Cooper.”

He shrugged away, feeling slightly crazed. Looking down, he noticed he hadn’t even taken off his shoes.

He scoffed and leaned down. “I forgot them.” He took one shoe off and looked it up and down. Then he laughed a crazy laugh. He looked at the audience. “I have no idea what I’m talking about.” He laughed derisively. He suddenly found the mini-breakdown he was having hilarious. He took the shoe and threw it high into the air. “I am a fraud!”

Before he knew what happened, a woman screamed.

The crowd seemed to part, and he saw her holding her head, blood coming down her face.

Alana was immediately off the stage, running toward her. The moment seemed to unfreeze, and he followed Alana off the stage to the woman.

Loud cries wailed out of her. As he got close to her, anger shone brightly in her eyes. She shook his shoe at him and yelled. “I’m suing you!”

L
ondon sat
in her hotel room. Her bag was packed and unstoppable tears streamed down her face as she stared at the article on the
Rage
website.

She couldn’t believe it.

Well, strike that. She could believe it. Marcia was a … her mother wouldn’t have even allowed her to think those words.

And what was she? Regret, self-loathing, anger at herself washed over her and she cried some more.

She stood, trying to call Tom again. It immediately went to voicemail. Dang it. Why wasn’t he answering?

The image of the brunette grinning at him like a hormonal teenage girl went through her mind. She knew why he wasn’t answering. He was impressing the girl.

Clutching her phone tightly, she typed in a message to him.
Come back NOW. We have to leave.

She sent it and then went to the window, peering out over the property. She looked at Cooper’s house, thinking of being on the rooftop with him just last night. More tears washed over her. She’d lied to him. She’d used him. She’d … lost her soul.

The very thing she’d been so angry at Dillon for.

Being a total fraud. She’d thought it wasn’t bad because she was pretending to have a boyfriend. She thought … She wiped her face, gasping out sobs. She didn’t know what she’d thought. It’d been wrong, and she knew that.

Sudden anger filled her. She pressed Marcia’s number.

Marcia answered on the first ring. “Have you seen the response? Isn’t it awesome?”

“We had a deal.” She was tight lipped.

Marcia hesitated for only a moment. “When I took over
Rage
magazine, I made a deal to myself that I would make it the best magazine with top ratings. When you hired on, you told me you could do that. You lied. I realized that last night. I realized you didn’t have the guts to do what needed to be done, and I wasn’t going to sit around and wait for some series of articles about how amazing the pampered, prissy billionaire was. No, I couldn’t do that to myself. We’re both just being true to who we are.”

“I quit.” She uttered with determination.

Marcia gave her a wicked laugh. “Oh, baby, you just did me a favor!”

“I’ll sue you. You took what was mine and published it.”

Another cackle. “Really? You signed a contract. You wrote an article. I gave you the money. Transferred the bonus into your account this morning. So court isn’t going to happen for you.” Marcia let out another derisive laugh, and London could see her red lips cracked into a smile over her big teeth. Could imagine her wearing her tall, red heels with her fishnet stockings kicked back on the desk. Could imagine her delightfully happy about the mess Cooper was in.

“I hate you!” She shouted as a parting quip, her hand shaking.

She heard the witch laugh as she pressed end.

Pulling the phone away from her ear, she threw it across the room, not caring about the way it cracked against the wall.

London threw herself on the bed, crying and kicking and having the kind of fit she’d had when she was twelve and her mother grounded her from her best friend’s slumber party.

Suddenly, her phone made the sound it made when a text came in.

It couldn’t be Marcia, could it? Texting her something to rub it in?

Anger surged again, and she jumped off her bed. How dare she?

She picked up her phone and saw a text from Dante. Oh, no, was he still trying to work out a deal? Hadn’t he seen the article?

But the text simply read
I thought you scooped me, Princess, but I got a much better scoop.

There was a video. Not wanting to, but unable to stop herself, she pressed play.

Cooper walked onto the stage. She watched the horrible scene unfold, climaxing in the thrown shoe and then the girl yelling she would sue him.

Dante must have been up front and personal because he flashed the camera back to Cooper whose face looked utterly shocked and mortified.

Trembling, she couldn’t believe it.

He’d broken. Shattered. Come apart.

All because of her.

London caught something out of her peripheral vision. She rushed to the window and saw him running out of the pool entrance, running toward his house, and then diverting and heading toward his garage. A moment later, she saw his Camaro back out of the driveway.

Without thinking, she ran out of the hotel room, taking the stairs and running for Tom’s truck. Ever prepared, he always kept an extra key in the front wheel well. She secured the key and got in the pickup truck, not knowing what she was doing. The only thing she knew was she had to find Cooper.

* * *

T
wenty minutes later
, she found his car at the lookout point. Parking the truck, she sat there for a second, staring at his form. He sat cross-legged on the rock, the valley spread out below him. His facial hair wasn’t quite a beard yet.

She thought about how it’d tickled today when she’d kissed him. Not enough to make her laugh. No, especially not when he pulled her closer and all she could feel was life force flowing through them and around them.

It’d been the most perfect moment in her life.

And now…it’d all exploded because of her lies.

The center of her trembled. Suddenly, he turned and stared at her as if he’d just noticed the truck pull up. Their eyes held, but she didn’t have a chance to read his soul because he turned away, running a hand through his hair.

Filled with uncertainty, she pushed the truck door open and slid out. Tentatively, she shut the door and moved in his direction.

Before she got near him, he said, “I suppose your people are having a field day?”

She stopped. “I wrote that article by mistake. I never wanted it published. I’m so sorry.”

He glanced at her, his eyes hooded. “Please, just go.”

She didn’t move.

Neither of them spoke for several minutes, and she wondered if she should leave.

“The article’s not true. You know that.” She added.

A self-deprecating laugh came out of him. “That’s the problem. It
is
true.” He shrugged. “I am a fraud. You took everything I told you and just … made it a really great article.”

“No, it’s not true. I put a horrible spin on it.” She kept moving, approaching the rock and wondering if her heart could beat so hard it would give her a heart attack. She stopped a foot behind him.

Neither of them spoke. She looked out over the valley, wishing she could change things. Wishing she’d been different a few days ago. “I wish I was Superman.”

Shaking his head, Cooper turned back to her, giving her an incredulous look. “What?”

She nodded, sniffing, trying to hold back her emotion. “Remember when Lois was killed, and he flew into space and—”

“Turned back time.” He filled in for her.

Nodding, she ignored the tears falling down her cheeks. “For so long all I wanted was to leave Hadley, Nebraska. I wanted to be something, become somebody my parents could be proud of. I wanted to find a gorgeous guy and do real reporting and run my nonprofit.”

“So that’s real?”

She hesitated, knowing she deserved his anger. “Yes.”

He looked away.

She continued her explanation. “When I met you that night in the hot tub and bared my soul to you about Dillon and you laughed … I …” She broke off thinking how stupid and immature she’d been. “I got mad and then, when I got to know you and liked you…I was confused.”

He scoffed. “Remind me not to confuse you again.”

She closed her eyes. Nothing was coming out right. “Sometimes I have to write things just to get them out. To see it. So one night I wrote it, then I deleted it, but it was on the main server. My boss took it and published it.”

Silence.

“I know it’s ultimately my fault. And I’m so sorry.” Her lower lip trembled and her voice faded. She could hardly breath. “I’m…so sorry.” She was crying.

“You thought the lie was better than just telling me the truth?” He took a breath. “Then you ran away from me.”

She didn’t know what to say.

He undid his watch and held it out to her. “Take this.”

“What?” She was stupefied.

“I’ve been holding on to so many things, and I thought this watch was a reminder of what not to do, how to
not
waste my life.” He sucked in a long breath and shook his head. If he were a bull he’d be snorting by this point. “But now I realize it’s just reminding me, every day, of what I don’t want in my life. Maybe somehow holding onto it…gave me the exact thing I didn’t want to manifest.” He frowned and took her hand, then pushed the watch into it. “People who hurt me.”

Her chest instantly felt hollow, jarring pain surged into it.

“Go.” His voice was low, but his eyes were hard.

Every part of her started to tremble, but she backed away. “I’m so sorry.”

She didn’t move.

He clenched and unclenched his fists. “Go!” He roared.

Paralyzed, she couldn’t move. Then the words came out. “A wise man once wrote ‘If the pain is not set free, the pain becomes the thing you express, the thing you give, the only thing you can ever live in.’” Tears fell down her cheeks. “My greatest fears are failing in helping the world and getting my heart broken.” She shook her head. “Now I’ve done exactly that to you. Because
I’m
broken. You aren’t broken, Cooper. You’re … good. But I expressed all my own fears, and you got caught in the crossfire. I’m sorry.” She stumbled back and then began to run to the truck.

London’s phone buzzed in her pocket. When she got to the truck, she got in, not checking it.

Putting the watch down, she started the truck and could barely see from the tears cascading into her eyes.

The truck started and she put it into gear and started to back up, but then stopped when she realized she couldn’t see.

She stopped and held up her shirt to wipe her face.

Her phone buzzed, again.

Then the passenger side of the truck flew open. Cooper slid in and slammed the door shut. “Drive to the hospital!”

She was stunned. “What?”

He frowned. “I just got a text, you’re brother’s been hurt.”

* * *

T
he next eight
hours were a flurry of adrenaline and confusion as Cooper rushed her to the hospital, and they met the ambulance transporting Tom, who was unconscious.

Cooper’s assistant Alana explained, with the frantic brunette next to her, how Tom had gone freestyle climbing up the rocks. As he descended, he had fallen about ten feet from the bottom.

After a series of X-rays and tests, all the doctors would tell her was there was no internal injury or brain bleeding. They didn’t know why he wasn’t waking up.

Utterly terrified, she found herself trying to concentrate on everything the doctors were telling her while trying to focus on praying for Tom’s life too.

Between going from doctor to doctor and calls to her parents, London sat next to Tom’s bed, holding his hand with her head bowed as she prayed. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was about to lose the one person who’d ever really known her and loved her.

Behind her, someone cleared his throat.

Turning, she saw Cooper. He still looked like he’d come straight out of a magazine. Moving toward her, he handed her a bottle of water. “You need to drink.”

Truthfully, if Cooper hadn’t been with her the past couple of hours, she didn’t know what she would have done.

She took the water, but didn’t open it. “Thank you.” She felt numb.

He looked her up and down.

She turned away from him. “Thanks for everything, but you can go now.” Her emotions began to crumble. Tears filled her eyes. “I was supposed to go to Nebraska and be with him this week.” She put the cap on the bottle and put it on the floor. She turned back to Tom, taking his hand again. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered to him.

Cooper didn’t say anything.

It felt like God was punishing her for all the lies she’d told and her messed up priorities. She bent her head and cried harder.

Suddenly, she felt Cooper’s hand on her shoulder. “It’s gonna be okay.”

It meant more to her then she could admit, Cooper’s support. She didn’t deserve it, but she needed it.