His Naughty Lessons

** Eli **

"I still can’t believe he’d remember a thing about me." When they were done with lunch, which was a surprisingly friendly affair filled with lively discussions and conversations, Harper couldn’t stop marveling as the two of them took the long way around the lobby to get back to the conference rooms. "Did you make that up? Because from all I can recall, your father said at most two sentences to me when we met. He shouldn’t even remember my name!"

"Trust me, he hears your name from me plenty. You and Tyler were one of the few topics I could bear to talk to him about." Eli didn’t typically like to discuss his father, but at this particular moment, he smiled thinking back on those conversations about their special neighbors all those years ago. "Whenever things got bad between us — which was probably about every time he came over on the weekends to visit me — I would tell him to just send me to the McKenzies and let your parents adopt me."

"... Seriously?" Harper asked incredulously, darting him a glance of curious amazement. Though that look lasted for only a fleeting moment before it was replaced by something softer, something ... a little sad.

"Hey, no need to feel bad for me, I’m not complaining either way." Eli reached for her hand and squeezed gently, not wanting the casual mention of past drama to get to her otherwise bright mood. "Now that I think about it, I’m lucky that it didn’t actually happen. I much prefer being your boyfriend than your adopted brother."

That earned him a chuckle, and the smile he loved was back on Harper’s face. "I see you’re getting used to the new title fast," she said teasingly.

"Of course I am. I’m still not a hundred percent convinced that this isn’t a dream yet, so I have to start using the title as much as I can before I wake up." Glancing around them, he abruptly pulled her into a side hallway that led to a quiet dead end. "And by using the title, I meant executing the privileges it comes with—"

The next moment, he pressed her against the wall and sealed his lips over hers.

He had half expected her to gasp in shock. But oh, he did not expect her to reciprocate the kiss just as eagerly as he did, like this was precisely the same thing she wanted to do to him all along. Her arms immediately looped behind him, tightening around his shoulders, and the sigh leaping out of her when he parted her lips was so happy and content that it electrified his whole body, drawing a low groan from his own throat.

Damn. He wished he could simply trap her in this little hallway all day, claiming all the boyfriend privileges that he desperately wanted to cash out.