His Naughty Lessons
Chapter 60: How to Eat a Popsicle

Chapter 60: How to Eat a Popsicle

** Eli **

Being the gentleman he was, Eli bought them each a handmade popsicle from the stand, and they stepped away from the crowd for a break under a tree. The bars were stunningly pretty, swirled through with cream and slices of real strawberries and kiwis.

He soon learned, however, that he had made a terrible mistake.

"Wow, this is almost too pretty to eat." Harper regarded the popsicle with awe, turning it this way and that as if to admire it from all angles. "Do you think it’ll taste as good as it looks?"

She flicked her tongue out and carefully licked the very tip of it.

The image was a bit strange. The popsicle was layered with a snow cap — a thick chunk of cream concentrated near the top — and when she licked it like that, the tip melted and dragged a streak of milky whiteness along her tongue before disappearing into her mouth.

"Mmm, this is good." She let out a satisfied sigh and did it again.

"..." Eli focused his eyes back onto his own bar, trying not to think about how that scene bothered him on an odd level. "You’ve only had one taste," he argued. "That’s not nearly enough to tell."

Distractedly, he took a bite himself. The ice was soft with a crystalline texture, and the cream was sweetened. Condensed milk, maybe? It did seem to be the type of flavor Harper would like.

"Wait, you’re not supposed to bite into a pop like that!" Harper exclaimed in horror when she saw him chewing. "It’s better to lick it slowly. Savor it while it melts in your mouth." As if to demonstrate, she closed her lips around the stick, making a slurring sound as her cheeks hollowed in a hard suckle.

"..."

Now, that strange image was turning wrong, and Eli found his mood abruptly changing. The fascinated excitement he felt from their earlier conversation was quickly becoming ... something else. Was this girl doing it intentionally, or was it truly the way she always ate popsicles?

"Mmm, I like how the flavors mix together so well like this. It’s creamy and refreshing at the same time." She dipped the thing into her mouth again, this time swallowing its entire length, and she let out a happy sigh with her lips wrapped around the end of the stick.

"..."

Eli stared at the bar in his own hand. Suddenly, the whole idea of eating the rest of it felt ... very weird.

And he certainly wasn’t going to bite into it with his teeth again.

~ ~

** Harper **

Seeing Eli’s face almost made her laugh.

Harper had carefully planned everything today. From the greeting kiss, to the "casual touches" under the pretense of avoiding crowds, and of course, to this popsicle show. She wasn’t certain how much of it would turn out the way she hoped, given the limited time she had to research how to do it, but judging from Eli’s reaction so far, she seemed to be catching his attention just right.

Though, even in the farthest stretched scenarios in her imagination, she hadn’t anticipated him to look ... so bewildered, as if he couldn’t fathom what she was trying to do. Did she really have such an innocent image in his eyes? Did it really not occur to him at all that she was trying to make a certain impression on purpose?

That would make this even more fun ... Feeling accomplished and a little wicked, Harper decided to poke him just a bit further. "Um, why aren’t you eating yours?" She nodded concernedly at the bar in his hand that was getting ignored. "Do you not like it?"

"No no, it’s quite good," Eli mumbled. With a hardened face that looked as if he had just made a brave, resigned decision, he followed her example and suckled on his pop.

Harper had to try so hard not to burst into chuckles.

Alright. That was probably enough. Fun as this was, it was a risky game to play — Eli was too experienced in the art of seduction himself, and she didn’t want him to figure out her not-so-innocent intentions behind all of this anytime soon. So she simply grinned back and ended the show with one last sensual lick of her popsicle. "Let’s keep walking then." She saved him from further torture by turning away, blocking her dripping ice bar from his view.

She heard something like a relieved sigh from behind her, and her grin widened.

The rest of their stroll was tame. She still walked close to him, occasionally brushing against his shoulder while picking her way around the crowd, but she made sure not to overdo it. Occasionally, she’d turn their attention toward the various tents selling gifts and cool trinkets instead — look at those gorgeous pressed-flower bookmarks and funny book-shaped mood lights! And the nostalgic book nooks that look like a vast library nested within your bookshelf! Her frequent exclamations seemed to have served as believable proof of her excitement, and for as far as she could tell, that prevented Eli from noticing her real intentions of the day.

It took them a good portion of the afternoon to make it to the other end of the harbor walk. Once they passed the live band staged at the center of the fair, the atmosphere of the event changed noticeably. The colorful art vendors became more sparse, replaced by stands with old-fashioned posters and large stacks of bookshelves, and the smell of food was overtaken by the telltale scent of paper.

"That’s our team’s stand right there." Eli pointed at a tent coming into their view.

Harper turned her eyes onto the booth, and she immediately caught sight of May’s blue hair and leather bodycon. Ooph, that girl really stood out everywhere she went. Must be getting their booth superb business just from the way she looked.

May seemed to have just finished showing her collection to a wide-eyed visitor. She turned to scan the streets casually, and her searching gaze met Harper’s. "Oh hey!" She waved as they approached. "What a surprise, Harper. Didn’t know you’d be coming today."

"I heard good things about your curated selection on sale." Harper smiled. "I see you’ve already caught lots of eyes with that. Got time to show me a few as well?"

May arched a pretty eyebrow, and her eyes darted between Harper and Eli for a moment. "Hmm," she said, somewhat thoughtfully. "I see ... I can certainly make some recommendations. Is this for your own reading pleasure, or is this some kind of learning material that you’re going to— ah, explore together with your editor here?"

Oh. Harper liked where that was going.

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