Chapter 113: Roll Your Hips
** Eli **
After introducing Harper to the Future Vision consultants, Eli sat down at the far side of the table, watching them chat and letting his thoughts wander.
He was messing this up again, he realized. He hadn’t even registered the fact that he was holding Harper’s hand until they were halfway to the table. When he saw the suitcase guy pushing that coconut thing at her, he was so shocked and outraged that he barely knew what he was doing. The need to get her out of there was urgent and instinctive, and he wasn’t aware that he had gone right for her hand in the process ... until minutes later.
How many people had seen him make such a scene? Now that he tried to recall, a handful of Miracles employees had darted them odd looks while he stormed away with Harper in tow. Her coworkers must not be familiar with how well the two of them know each other yet, and he wondered what the scene might make them think. Would it turn out awkward or uncomfortable to Harper?
For God’s sake, he’d better not have just done something equally bad as the suitcase guy.
Eli physically flinched at the thought. Thankfully, Harper hadn’t seemed to mind ... But that was no excuse for him. Especially considering that they hadn’t even had a proper conversation about Saturday yet ... Who was he to keep injecting himself into her personal life like that anyway?
He glanced again at the other side of the table where Harper was deep in conversation with the consultants. This would be the last time, then. At least she was getting something out of his excuse of a diversion and building a real career connection out of it. But after this once, it would be time for him to keep his word. He’d have to start getting used to watching her from afar.
~ ~
It soon became painfully obvious to Eli — for two completely different reasons — that he should never have thought about "watching her from afar".
The first was an unfortunate result from the location of his seat. Despite it being the prime spot right in front of the Luau stage, he didn’t like it, because as soon as Harper left his table to return to her own for the show, he lost sight of her behind all the various festivity props. Only an occasional glimpse of the suitcase guy next to her teased him and challenged his patience.
Fate was unfair to him. At least "watching from afar" should involve "watching", right?
Yet the second reason ... was worse.