His Naughty Lessons

** Eli **

Eli spent the next few days reexamining the undesirable situation he had found himself in. But the more he pondered it, the less certain he felt about what Vanessa could possibly want from this.

As much as he despised his father, he didn’t think the old man would be capable of carrying out a stunt such as promising a marriage arrangement to the Voyager president. That would just backfire in too many ways, and judging from Vanessa’s attitude at the baseball game, it wasn’t likely that she would merrily agree to such an outrageous proposal either.

So that shouldn’t be the type of "regret" waiting for them at the gala. But then what could it be? Was it some kind of plan to retaliate against the embarrassing scene at the baseball game ... by making Harper feel uncomfortable at the event?

The thought of such a possibility didn’t sit well with Eli at all.

It was quite a likely possibility, though. Harper wasn’t part of the finance circle, nor did she come from a rich business family. This was her first time at an event like this, and it wasn’t hard to imagine that a number of "elite" members born into this society would see her as an unwelcome outsider. If anyone wanted to make a scene to let her feel awkward, this could very reasonably be a good crowd to do it at.

But then again, if Vanessa thought Harper could be bullied so easily, she was delusional. Eli trusted his ability to protect his girl. More than that, he trusted the girl herself. She was smart, and she knew her own self worth. A few words from a shallow rich heiress wasn’t going to daunt her.

Having reassured himself of such, he decided against mentioning to Harper the troubling news from their annoying adversary — with the deadline right within reach, the poor girl had enough to deal with on her plate already, and he really couldn’t bear to bother her with any more distracting news.

So instead, he bothered her with an extra large bundle of flowers to add to their bedroom. Not really for the romantic vibe this time, but for the natural oils to help with their sleep and remind them of the relaxing weekend. He felt accomplished when Harper slept so well the very first night of its arrival that she actually snored.

In the middle of the week, they took an hour out of their precious short evening and paid a final visit to the designer salon, where Harper picked up her dress. Even after multiple fitting trips, Eli still couldn’t stop feeling overwhelmed by how stunningly gorgeous she looked in that personalized gown. Despite the slight unpleasantry coming from Vanessa, he was looking forward more and more to the evening of the gala, when he could finally see her fully dressed up to take his breath away for the entire night.