His Naughty Lessons

** Eli **

Eli watched Harper’s expression closely as it changed from shock to puzzlement to ... a hint of grudging annoyance?

He felt simultaneously amused and a little guilty. Amused because he was finally getting the reason why she was here, looking grumpy, and it surprised him to realize that his girl with such a big heart was actually getting jealous over him talking too much to other women. But with that realization came the guilt ... because he should’ve considered this before habitually kissing someone else, even though it was only a peck on the cheek.

He had simply been too stunned to see Cecilia here to be able to think thoroughly at the time.

"I don’t—" Harper chewed her lips as Cecilia waved at them on her way over. "Is it necessary for me to meet your colleagues? I’ll probably never work with her anyw—"

"Harper! Oh my, I thought I wouldn’t get a chance to meet you tonight!" Cecilia was already next to them within a second, and the chatty girl probably didn’t realize she was cutting Harper off mid-sentence with a big hug. "I wanted to come say hi earlier," she added, "but Eli said you were having important work chats with those dudes. I even tried to glare at them, but no one got the hint to move away."

Harper seemed ... caught off guard in a daze, obviously not expecting such an enthusiastic greeting.

Eli chuckled, slipping his arm back behind her back. "This is my cousin, Cecilia," he introduced. "Apparently also known as the catering manager of this resort, which I only found out half an hour ago when she popped out of nowhere."

Now the look on Harper’s face went completely blank. "Your ... cousin?"

"Hey, be more specific." Celilia threw over a stern stare before turning back to Harper. "A cousin on his mom’s side. Not that fucker of a dad’s side. I assume you know the story?"

Eli coughed at the language. Harper continued to look dazed for a few more moments before it finally looked like she had processed the information overflow. "Oh, yes ... I know a little about it." She glanced back at him with a complex look full of questions. "I wasn’t aware Eli had cousins though. It’s a great surprise to meet you," she said to Cecilia.

"Tsk, he just likes to pretend I don’t exist." Cecilia jabbed Eli with an elbow. "We used to be close when we were kids. Before all the shit hit the fan, I mean. We haven’t talked much after my aunt — his mom — passed away, aside from liking each other’s pictures occasionally on social media. He didn’t even know I moved to Hawaii years ago!"