Chapter 140: Open Your Mouth
** Harper **
Harper was glad that her diversion worked, and the rest of the conversation involved no more discussions of Eli or the trip. Though by the time she finally hung up, she couldn’t help but wonder if she had dug a hole too big for either herself or Eli to fill.
Not that she liked to tell her brother far-stretched half truths ... But why did he keep asking such suspicious questions, even going as far as probing about the presidential suite? Was he really imagining her and Eli cuddled up together in the same bed already? It seemed a bit unfair to be the recipient of such speculation, considering she hadn’t even had the luxury to experience that conjured scene for real yet ...
The thought made her gaze toward the foyer turn a bit wanting. And that was precisely when Eli rounded the corner to return to the living room.
He stopped dead in his tracks when his eyes met hers. An eyebrow shot up. "That was not the kind of look I expected from you after a conversation with your brother," he commented.
Oh ... Harper ducked her ogle a bit sheepishly. "Well, blame Tyler for having such a creative imagination ... Can you believe that the first thing he asked after I mentioned the presidential suite was where I’m staying? Even I wasn’t audacious enough to think in that direction when you first told me about the trip!"
A flash of amusement danced across Eli’s face. "Were you not?" He closed the distance between them with the last few strides and took his seat back on the couch. "Somehow I remember pretty clearly that someone asked to be invited to the presidential suite as soon as she heard the name mentioned."
"... Just to see what it looks like! Not to sleep in it ..." Though to be fair, that part of the goal had changed quite substantially since she actually set foot in this suite.
Harper pondered the topic with more seriousness. "Are you going to tell him about that part?" she asked. "I don’t want to lie about it forever ... But then I really can’t explain how I ended up in a VIP suite next door without giving away the backstories. Heck, I could barely believe it myself when I first opened the window and saw that view! Never thought you would’ve taken that joke about a hotel room next door so seriously."
The comment made Eli’s lips curve up in a contented smile, as if the admittance of her surprise was the highest approval he sought. Then the smile slowly turned into a ... smirk? "Was that what you promised him pictures of? The view?" He let out an exaggerated sigh. "You had me wondering what kind of pictures might be on your mind when you said that ... What a disappointment that it was only about the view outside the window."
... Ohhhh.
Back a month ago, Harper would’ve blushed like a lobster at the insinuation. Heck, she might not have been experienced enough to even get the insinuation at the time ... But now, the tease was putting a smile on her face, quickly snatching her out of the dealing-with-a-meddlesome-brother mode and back to the flirting-with-a-seductive-boyfriend mode. "What kind of pictures would you rather like instead?" She put down her phone, deciding that they had earned a little break from the Tyler drama for now. "And how would you want me to pose in them?"