Harper finally stopped eating and looked at Sean. Once again, she opened her mouth and pushed her mind to speak, but nothing ca out.
"Miss Harper, please, there’s no need to feel shy or hold yourself back around ," Sean’s casual words surprised Harper.
’Oh, my God! Does he know? How could he know!!’ Harper blinked several tis, looking into his brilliant green eyes, which fluttered her heart.
After forcing her racing heart to calm down by breathing slowly, she said, "Uhm, it seems you know what I’m trying to say to you. How do you know that there’s sothing I want to tell you?"
’What did you just say, Harper? Stupid, stupid Harper! Stop saying those useless and awkward words!’ She vents her frustration. She couldn’t believe her nervousness made her act like a teenager with zero dating experience!
Sean placed his chopsticks on the empty plate. His calm eyes stared at Harper. Despite feeling nervous about eating alone with a woman, he calmly said, "I just know."
Harper smiled at his answer. She said, "Your observational and deduction skills are excellent, Sean Spencer. No wonder you beca a General at such a young age."
Sean didn’t comnt on her words. He turned his gaze to his ocha* and sipped it slowly and calmly.
He wanted to ask her why she was following Sam, but the words stopped at the tip of his tongue. Clenching his fists tightly, he turned his gaze elsewhere, avoiding her eyes.
It didn’t take long for Harper to speak up, "How’s your day, Sean?" she asked but scolded herself simultaneously. How could she ask him such a la question? How embarrassing!
"Uneventful. But that ans a good day in my line of work," Sean answered calmly, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back in his chair, waiting for another question.
Harper was getting frustrated with his brief, focused answers, as if he carefully chose his answer to prevent her from asking more.
Frustrated with the situation, Harper decided to go straight to her goal and express her feelings toward him.
She swallowed silently before revealing what had been tornting her mind.
"Sean, do you know that I like you?" she asked calmly, trying to suppress her nervousness. But the warmth on her face scared her. She could tell her face must be red by now.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Five seconds.
Ten seconds passed, but he did not react. His silence was enough to make her heart feel like it was about to explode into thousands of tiny pieces. Harper was too nervous to say any words to follow up on her question.
’Please, please, answer now, Sean! Any answer will do!’ Harper muttered in her heart while daring to look into his eyes. However, Sean’s expression remained the sa. There was no surprise or displeasure. He was making her even more confused.
Sean looked straight into Harper’s eyes with his usual calm gaze. But no words ca out of his mouth; he just stared at her, confused about how to respond to her sudden confession.
Harper began to worry; this man either didn’t hear her or pretended not to.
Feeling her face hotter, the resourceful Harper pushed her mind to focus on slow breathing, forcing her heart to calm down and, at the sa ti, be braver. Her hands were under the table, clenched tightly, waiting for him to say sothing.
She would give him a few more minutes before concluding.
After so ti, she suddenly said with every courage she had, "Sean, I assu your silence ans YES."
Instantly, Sean frowned at her conclusion. But still, he didn’t say anything to refute her because he had known since the first ti he t her in Bella’s cabin in Sweden that this girl liked him.
The way Harper saw him was completely different from how Bella saw him. Knowing that Harper liked him scared him because he didn’t want Bella to lose her best friend.
Sean knew that Harper was soone Bella considered part of her family, so he always drew boundaries between them whenever he saw her. He didn’t want to give her hope.
All this ti, Sean thought he had succeeded in pushing her away, but when they t again in Bella’s office, she still saw him as she used to.
This made him worry because even though his relationship with Bella didn’t work out, he didn’t plan to open his heart to soone else, especially Bella’s best friend.
"Miss Harper—" His voice halted when she asked him to stop.
"Please, just call Harper. No need to add Miss before my na." A sweet smile appeared on Harper’s lips. She was pleased to have caught Sean’s attention. "And you don’t have to say anything back to what I just said, Sean... I just want you to hear ."
Sean could only frown at her words.
"I like you, Sean Spencer. Since I first saw you in Bella’s cabin several years ago. But, at that ti, I didn’t dare express my feelings because I knew you only liked Bella." Harper’s voice was calm, even though she felt like her heart was about to explode.
"However, when I found out that you had no hope for Bella because she finally chose to return to Tristan—" She paused to give Sean ti to calm his emotions; she could see a flash of annoyance in his eyes.
She continued, "I dared to express my feelings for you, that I like you and intend to pursue you... to beco my future husband."
Harper swallowed silently, wetting her throat, which suddenly felt dry.
"And, as I said, you don’t have to answer now, Sean. I’m not in a rush. Just consider if you’re trying to move on. Or, if your parents force you to marry the girl they choose, please consider too. I’m the woman who likes you, and you already know that."
Having said what she wanted to, Harper felt the heavy burden on her shoulders lifted.
Sean was unable to say anything, too speechless to comnt on her bold confession. This wasn’t the first ti a woman had expressed her feelings for him, but she was the first to do so openly, without any embarrassnt.
____
*Ocha ans TEA in Japanese.
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