His Naughty Lessons

** Harper **

The biggest deal-breaker Harper had to confirm was that Eli was single. Surely, she wasn't going to date him, but she still preferred to avoid the risk of coming off as seducing someone else's boyfriend.

With that question out of the way, she let out a tiny sigh of relief. Now, time to get to the real business. Her eyes landed on the laptop Eli placed on the coffee table. "So, about that new Chapter I sent you ..."

"Yes. Do you want to go over it now?" He reached over to open the lid. "I made some notes and suggestions—"

"Wait, let's back up just a little bit." Harper pressed her own hand on top of his, pinning the computer in place. "I was actually wondering ... Well, is it possible that my biggest problem isn't in the writing itself? Could it have to do with ... perspective? As in how I envisioned the story in my mind before I even started typing it down?"

Her heart was already starting to race at this opening section of her speech. Oh yes, she had practiced the whole drill many times last night and embarrassed herself plenty in front of the mirror. But no, it didn't help much. She still felt like a fool making a terrible cover story for a new profile on The Hookup App.

Eli only looked at her thoughtfully. "You don't like the way the story is going?" he asked.

"Oh, I do. It's just that ..." Harper drew a deep breath. "It's just that I've been out of the dating scene for too long. Maybe that's making it harder to ... get these more detailed Chapters right. Don't they say you should write what you know?"

Eli shrugged. "To a certain degree. But a murder mystery writer doesn't need to kill someone to learn their craft. You don't have to feel disadvantaged just because you don't have enough experience with the subject in real life. There are many other ways to learn."

Darn. Why was he acting all business? Why couldn't he take this conversation into the direction she wanted? Fortunately, Harper was prepared. "But romance isn't trying to invoke something out of the ordinary like a murder mystery does," she countered. "A love story is supposed to invoke something that everyone can relate to, and it'll be harder for me to connect with the readers that way if I don't share the same feeling."

Subconsciously, she rubbed her thumbs together, fidgeting a little. She'd made her point pretty clear now ... Would he get the hint?