His Naughty Lessons

** Tyler **

If Tyler had thought that the wakeup moment in bed was awkward ... Well, he would need a new word for the brunch that followed an hour later. A better word than "a shit ton more awkward".

Since Harper and Eli’s honeymoon flight wasn’t until the afternoon, the newlyweds had invited a small group of guests — mostly family and the bridal party — to a sendoff brunch before they left on their merry way. So after turning to his room briefly for some clean up and a shower, Tyler found himself back at the hotel restaurant, staring right at Chelsea again, who was apparently saved a seat next to him by his thoughtful sister.

... This really wasn’t a good time to play matchmaker, Sis. Especially not with how tightly the chairs were crammed together around the table that was too small for the number of people, making him literally brush elbows with the woman next to him. Which felt strangely suggestive, after the wakeup incident.

"All packed up and ready for your trip yet?" Their mother was enthusiastically hugging her daughter and her new son-in-law as Tyler sat down. "And I hope you both slept well — it’s still a long flight from here to Hawaii!"

Chelsea, who Tyler was not paying attention to — definitely not — had just started drinking her mimosa and suddenly coughed from a bad choke. When the happy mother was done with hugs and returned to the other side of the table, the girl cleared her throat and inched toward Harper. "I thought the better question would be — did you guys sleep last night?" she asked in a low voice.

Now it was Tyler’s turn to start coughing from his water, all the while Harper swatted at her friend with a feigned indignity that suggested the answer to be "nope, not at all".

That’s Chelsea for you though. Funny and snarky, oftentimes indecently so, which could take some getting used to if you don’t really know her. But once you do ... that kind of personality can be positively contagious and even a little addicting.

Tyler had learned that gradually over the past year. His impression of this woman had changed quite a few times, from the casual curiosity back when she pretended to be a stranger giving him relationship advice at a bar, to the suspecting interest when he realized that she was both his sister’s best friend and a capable employee of his company’s major competitor, to the eventual slow attraction as they ended up spending more and more time hanging out together. She was definitely one with a character, and to his own surprise, that character was growing on him every day since he moved to Davenshire.

But that didn’t mean he had planned on sleeping with her ... on a drunken night out of all times!

"So how long are you guys staying there for the honeymoon?" One of the bridesmaids from the wedding asked Harper, cutting off Tyler’s musings. Good — he much preferred his head clear of those messy thoughts.

"Six days. We’ll be back home next weekend."