Chapter 62: Hone Your Craft
** Harper **
May was extra nice and insisted on giving Harper both books for free, so Harper thanked her again and tucked the gifts into her purse. The two editors chatted a bit more about their work projects before more people showed up at the booth, and May had to shoo them away to tend to her post.
"Well. That was a cool learning experience, Mr. Pro." Harper mimicked May’s tone and laughed when Eli rolled his eyes. "Where did that nickname come from anyway? Professional endorsement?"
"A somewhat embarrassing one." Eli shook his head like it was a truly unfortunate tale. "The first week I joined this team, I called May out on a factual mistake she made with ... a certain type of body accessory. It caused a bit of an upheaval in the office, since she had always been assumed the guru in this matter, and it ended up giving me a somewhat undeserved reputation too. People still make fun of us for that."
"... You called out May on a mistake?" Harper gasped. Damn, he really was interested in kinks then. Not only interested, but experienced as well, to be able to contradict experts like May.
"Not from practical experience," Eli clarified, obviously reading Harper’s expression. "Remember I lived on the west coast? Stuff like this isn’t uncommon there at all. They have street fests and carnivals to celebrate these things, where people would just walk around with all the coolest toys they’ve got. I’ve seen enough to know a few facts."
The more he explained, the more Harper grew curious. So he hadn’t tried any of this for himself ... but he must be fascinated by it, if he had spared the time to go to all those festivals. Maybe this had always been something that he secretly wanted to explore ...
"Anyway, enough about nonsense." Eli dismissed further discussion on the topic. "What did May whisper to you about when I was checking out her featured list? And what was that second book she handed to you? I didn’t recognize the cover."
"Oh." There was no way Harper would tell him the truth about May’s advice. "It’s ... just a book to help me hone my craft. May said it has good scenes and smooth writing, so I could probably learn a bit from reading it." To show that she had nothing to hide, she fished the book out of her purse and showed it to Eli.