His Naughty Lessons

** Harper **

"So he just ... left?" Chelsea asked in disbelief when Harper returned to the lounge alone.

Harper shook her head. She was still in a state of shock. What Eli had said to her was too much, and she needed time to fully process it. Then she realized that her friend was staring at her, confused by the answer, and she nodded instead.

"What the hell?" Chelsea bristled. "At least he apologized? Tell me he apologized. Though to be honest, an apology is quite far from enough for something as serious as this."

"He did, and he said sorry again for making things awkward between you and your boss." Harper slumped into the seat next to her friend. "I know what you’re thinking, Chelsea, but it’s more complicated than that ..." She shook her head again. "Eli has a hard relationship with his father. For all the years I’ve known him, he’s never talked much about his family, and when you asked him about it just now ... Well, I can’t blame him for feeling down and needing some space."

Chelsea snorted. "You’re too weak for the brooding bad boy trope, Harper. I feel sorry for him too for having a troubled family, but that doesn’t mean he gets a free pass from it to fuck around! How could he go on a date with someone else when he clearly has a thing for you? That’s such an asshole move."

Harper was grateful that her friend felt so indignant on her behalf, yet at the same time, she couldn’t resist the urge to defend Eli. "It was only dinner, not a big deal," she argued, "and in a way, he was doing it for my benefit as well. He made a deal with his father for a business partnership that meant a lot to my project—" Abruptly, she cut herself off, realizing a detail that she had missed in this conversation. "Wait, what do you mean by he ’clearly has a thing’ for me?"

Chelsea darted over a withering look. "You’ve really got it bad if this is the most important thing you want to know right now." She tsked when Harper responded with a sheepish face. "Can you really not tell? The way you guys looked at each other when you painted that chicken on him was the textbook definition of moon eyes. And that smoldering chemistry! If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought he wanted to ditch the game and drag you to a bathroom for some good personal time instead."

Harper’s mouth fell open. Surely Chelsea was imagining it. Had Eli really been looking at her like that? How could she have not noticed?