His Naughty Lessons

** Eli **

Eli could feel his heart thrashing violently against his ribcage. No matter how many deep breaths he took, it wouldn’t calm down the slightest bit.

The idea for the ring had come to him three weeks ago, back at Sean’s salon. While Harper was trying on those lovely evening gowns in the fitting room, the designer had casually mentioned a jeweler he met at a fashion show, who was known for a large collection of high quality work crafted for celebrities and art exhibits. The thought of making an engagement ring for Harper had immediately taken root in Eli’s mind at that moment, and he wasn’t one to procrastinate once he made his decision.

He had worked on the design with the jeweler himself, all the way from the initial idea to the final details. The ring had turned out beautifully, truly one-of-a-kind, and he had let out a sigh of relief when he picked it up earlier this week. But now that he was holding the tiny box in his hand again ... he suddenly had a moment of nervous self-doubt.

What if Harper didn’t like it? For how well they knew each other, Eli thought he had a pretty decent idea of what kind of styles she might be into. But what if he was wrong? What if the diamond wasn’t her favorite shape, or if the size didn’t fit?

And what if she thought tonight wasn’t romantic enough for this? As far as dates went, they had done many more swoon-worthy things than hiking up a mountain and watching the stars. He had decided to pick this evening because it felt right to him — because these simple, homey, nostalgic moments were when it all started, when the story of their lives was first written down in the stars — but what if she wanted something more different? What if his choice of timing wasn’t perfect, leaving them with the regret that it wasn’t as memorable as she wished it could be?

Or, worse than all of the above ... What if she simply wasn’t ready to say yes?

Eli suspected that his palms were starting to sweat a little. He wiped it a few times on the inside of his pocket, afraid to leave ugly fingerprints on the ring.

Yes, he was scared. He closed his eyes for a second, hoping that shooting stars could really grant wishes, and he wished for good luck with this biggest moment of his life.

"So gorgeous ... this is so many more shooting stars than we saw here last time and in Hawaii combined!" Harper, having finished her long whisper of wishes right then, turned around to look back at him. "Are we going to—"