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The two men shook hands.
“What are you doing here?” Harper asked.
Bradley placed his hands in the pockets of his suit jacket. “I had some business in Philadelphia, so I thought I’d stop by and catch up with my favorite model. When I realized you weren’t here, I decided to have a drink and wait for a bit. I was just about to leave when you walked in.”
“Great timing then. I’m about to grab something from my suite for Luca before he heads home. Want to join us? I have a bottle of red wine up there.”
“That sounds perfect.”
Harper took her purse off her arm, rummaging for the keycard for the elevator. She really needed to put the damn thing in a dedicated pocket or something because she was no stranger to this digging nightmare every time she stepped into the elevator.
“Here.” Luca flashed his keycard. Conor had gotten a card for Luca so he didn’t have to wait for the front desk to call for permission to allow him up.
Luca tapped the card against the reader, then pushed the button to her floor.
Bradley gave her a knowing look before glancing over to Luca. So it appeared part of their catching up would include questions about her love life. Not that she was going to go into any of the details about that with her former manager.
By the time they reached her door, Harper had located the key to her suite. She opened it and invited both men in. Luca followed her to the kitchenette, where she reached into the refrigerator to pull out the large to-go container of empanadas.
Luca’s phone pinged. He pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at the screen. “That’s Joey. He’s at the restaurant for our walk-through. Wants to know when I’m getting there.” Luca fired off a response, then placed his phone on the counter next to hers so he could open the lid on the empanadas. Lifting the container to his nose, he closed his eyes as he inhaled. “Harper, I swear to God, your cooking is as good as my nonna’s.”
She smiled. “Wow. Best compliment ever.”
He grabbed his phone, shoved it in the back pocket of his jeans, then walked to the door. “It was nice to meet you, Bradley. You two have a good time catching up, and I’ll see you tomorrow night, Harper?”
She gave him a quick kiss before closing the door behind Luca as he took his leave.
“So,” Bradley said. “That was the contractor.”
Harper laughed. “How about a glass of wine?”
“Nice deflection. And yes, please.”
Harper opened the bottle of wine, pouring them both a glass and taking them to the living room area. Bradley claimed the couch, while she took the oversized chair on the opposite side of the coffee table.
“You look happy,” he said after taking a sip.
“I’m very happy.”
“You’re gaining weight.”
She had expected that to be the first thing he’d said after hello, so she was impressed by his restraint. “Yep. I sure am. I’ve spent the couple months refining recipes I plan to include on the menu at Harper’s Dining Room. Requires a lot of taste-testing.”
“Everything still on track for opening the restaurant in August?” he asked.
Harper nodded. “We’ve had a few bumps in the road, but nothing dire.”
“Oh?”
“You know about the fire. Someone also stole a lot of electrical wiring, which Luca says is common, given the copper in it. There was a near flood too.”
Bradley frowned. “Near flood?”
“Someone poured cement down a drain and turned on the water. Fortunately, Luca, Conor, and I stopped by and heard it running. If we hadn’t caught it quickly, it could have set us back weeks, maybe even more.”
“Sounds like you’ve been fortunate.”
“To have someone trying to sabotage my business?” she asked.
