His Naughty Lessons
Chapter 59: Festive Excitement

Chapter 59: Festive Excitement

** Eli **

It was an innocent, friendly kiss, no more than a mere peck and no different from what Eli was used to getting from a good number of his lady acquaintances. But somehow, this one made him feel ... shocked, and he even forgot to kiss her back in a state of daze.

One couldn’t quite blame him though. Harper was never the type for intimate greetings like this. Was she really that excited about the book fest?

She pulled away before he could dwell further on the question. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, she smiled and glanced over at the busy tents. "Where should we start?" she asked. "This is much bigger than I expected. I can’t believe I’ve never heard of it the past couple of years."

"Ah. It’s been growing, slowly." Eli pulled his attention back — no, he certainly wasn’t still staring at her lips for no good reason. "There were only a couple of stands for the first year, but now it goes all the way to the other end of the harbor walk. May’s booth is closer to that end, actually. We’re currently at the center of all the art vendors."

"Perfect, then we can browse everything while we stroll that way and save the surprise of her favorite collections for the last!" Harper exclaimed merrily. "Let’s get going!"

She nudged on his elbow and pushed them into the crowd.

It was a busy event for sure. Even Eli was surprised by how much things had changed from the previous years. It wasn’t quite a "book fest" as much as a full-fledged summer street fest, with a huge offering of street art, souvenir stands, food trucks, and a live band on stage. People were everywhere, and the two of them kept having to dodge as they weaved their way slowly through crowd traffic.

Harper bumped into him a few times. Their shoulders brushed, then their elbows touched. He apologized at first, but when she only smiled back without looking annoyed at all, he stopped mentioning it, and they simply moved closer to each other to make more convenient space.

She must be distracted by the festive excitement indeed, to not have noticed that they were almost walking like she was on his arm. And even though she had never been a fan of big crowds, her spirits looked unusually high despite all the hustle.

"This is the best type of summer weekend," Harper commented as they passed a group of teenagers with huge yard cups of lemonade. "Grab an icy drink and some fair food, chill in the ocean breeze ... Great way to get people to come out and discover a new beach read while having some fun."

She tilted her head back, and the sun sneaked around the brim of her hat to fall onto her face, kissing her skin in a soft radiant glow.

The image gave Eli pause. Had she always looked so strikingly pretty, or was the festive excitement getting to him too?

"Yeah, they’ve changed things quite a lot since the first time two years ago," he pushed aside the distraction and said. "At the beginning, it was just a small event to showcase local publishers and indie writers. But the free books and swags got beach-goers hooked, so it quickly turned into a big street festival."

"Interesting." Harper pondered that. "So when you said your editing team runs a booth here, part of the purpose was to attract interested writers as well?"

"Precisely. It’s a good opportunity for building career networks. If you ever want to take a stab at traditional publishing, you should come talk to us." He gave her a half joking wink.

Harper chuckled. "I’ll remember that offer. Though I do enjoy writing on the web novel platform. It’s got a different type of vibe, and I like how easy it is to connect to my readers that way. Oh, I should show you this—"

She plucked her phone out of her pocket and opened her web novel app, clicking on the notification bubble.

[ Notification: You received 21 new kudos on your book: Secret Crush ]

[ Notification: You received 10 new comments on your book: Secret Crush ]

[ Notification: mepope has just sent 7 Golden Tickets to your book! ]

[ Notification: q_minus_n has just gifted a Pizza to your book! ]

[ Notification: raindrupss has just gifted an Ice Cola to your book! ]

[ ... ]

"Wow, your readers truly love you." The familiar sense of pride that Eli had gotten used to feeling around Harper rose once more.

"I know. I feel so incredibly honored every time I see these notifications." She tucked her phone back. "For me, that’s the best thing about writing web novels. I get to share stories I love with people who love it back. They are not just readers to me, but more like friends, because they understand me and cheer for me and make the whole writing journey so much more fun."

She smiled brightly again, and it dazzled his eyes. This was Harper — the smart, passionate, adventurous girl who always knew what she wanted, who always knew how to do things right to get herself there. She had already shown everyone that side of her with the presentation at work, and now she was proving it again. How could anyone not admire an incredible spirit like this?

"But anyway," she added, "I like reading physical books just as much as web ones. They are good for a different mood, and the feel of paper is nice in my hands. So I’m still looking forward to seeing your team’s booth ... as well as May’s curated collections." She winked at the last reference.

They continued strolling through the crowd. Before long, they drifted closer again, this time almost brushing their knuckles together. Eli wondered if he could simply hold her hand out of reflex — he certainly wouldn’t mind, to let everyone see him walking hand in hand with such a beautiful, amazing girl.

Yeah, it must be the festive excitement getting to him now.

"Oh, popsicles!" It was a surprised exclamation that snapped him back from those thoughts. The amazing girl pointed at a popsicle stand, and when she looked back at him, something seemingly mischievous gleamed in her eyes. "The sun is getting a bit hot. Shall we get some?"