His Naughty Lessons
Chapter 63: On the Other Side of the Table

Chapter 63: On the Other Side of the Table

** Eli **

Sunday’s adventure was unexpectedly thrilling. As much as Harper’s popsicle show almost killed him, Eli wished for more, and the image of that shy little dove doing something so sexy kept a grin on his face long after their outing ended.

He found himself still wearing exactly that grin when he arrived at his office on Monday morning. Needless to say, it wasn’t an expression anyone was used to seeing from him during the week.

"Had a good weekend?" Justin popped up at the door right on his heels. "Hmm, positively oozing energy and roughened from lots of sun. That look might pose a certain type of threat to all the young ladies in this building today."

Eli paid no heed to his assistant’s usual style of smartass remarks. "Caught up on some beach time," he said simply and was careful not to let a smile sneak into his tone.

"Perfect for the weather, isn’t it? And did that popsicle girl happen to be the same one we ran into at Miracles?"

Eli stilled in the middle of waking up his laptop. Turning back toward the entrance, he threw over an alarmed stare.

"What? Not like it’s shocking news to see you around with a lovely lady in tow." Justin leaned on the doorframe and smirked. "Though I have to say that it was quite entertaining, to see such a straight look on your face while someone else teases the hell out of you ... What’s it like to be on the other side of the table for once?"

"That girl is a friend, Justin." Eli wouldn’t have normally bothered to clarify, but he felt the need to do so this time. "Save your insinuendos for another day."

"Ohhh, and now you’re getting all serious and protective." Justin cocked his head. "Fine, I’ll behave. But I hope this won’t make things complicated ... when you get around to talking to your boss about the venture candidates."

"... About what?"

Justin nodded at Eli’s laptop screen that was waiting for its password. "I forwarded you the details. Malcolm Smith has made a full technical analysis of all the companies we’ve visited. Miracles and the startup in upstate are the two strongest contenders. Typically that would call for a directors meeting for further discussions, but I heard the CFO has brought up something about your Miracles friend, which somehow interrupted the normal routine."

Ah. Grumpy Old Stephen had predictably seized the opportunity to brandish the news about Harper. But that was fine — Eli had been prepared for this since before the team set foot at Miracles.

"I suppose this means time to have a word with my old man." Eli exhaled. Without wasting time on reading the emails, he went straight for the door to his father’s office.

"Good luck," Justin called from behind. At least he seemed sensible today, to have not poked further about who Harper was.

Eli went down the hallway, his footsteps clicking sharply on the hardwood floor. The sound should’ve served as announcement enough, though he still made it a courtesy and knocked when he reached the french doors at the end of the hall, engraved in gold with "Ronald Sterling, CEO".

"Come in," came his father’s voice.

Eli pushed the door open.

He didn’t like to come into this office. Because he didn’t like to see the man who sat here. Granted, he hadn’t liked seeing this man for most of his life, but the fact that the said man’s role in the said office was the precise reason why he had to leave his hard-earned job on the west coast to return to Davenshire ... made it quite a bit worse. Even the air in the room felt suffocating every time he stepped in.

"Justin has given me a summary of the venture progress." He got straight to the point. There was no need for a fake exchange of pleasantries between him and his father. "Why aren’t we proceeding to the directors meeting?"

Across the large mahogany desk, his father smiled. "You came for this sooner than I expected." He gestured at the armchair across from him. "Take a seat."

So the man wanted a proper chat. Fine. Eli schooled his expression to utter blankness and settled himself into the chair.

It always felt disconcerting, to sit across the same desk with his father as if they had anything of shared interest to talk about. Especially disconcerting when the old man was smiling like that, as if this was just another typical, friendly discussion that they were used to having on a daily basis.

Eli hated the pretense. It was a couple of decades too late for the bastard to play that card.

"I wish we could have talked sooner about your travels for the past two weeks," his father began. "I would have preferred to learn more about our potential clients directly from you, rather than from Malcolm and Stephen."

Eli said nothing in return, silently waiting for the useless small talk to pass.

"Both of them have spoken to me at length about Miracles Gaming, in particular." His father’s tone was still casual, but it was easy to tell from the intent gaze that he was carefully assessing Eli’s reactions. "One of the projects there seems to have caught everyone’s attention ... The one designed by the McKenzie girl, is that right?"

The dismissive reference sounded strangely offensive. "The McKenzie girl has a name," Eli shot over a glare. "Which you might remember, if you cared to pay attention to anything at all for all those years."

He expected a blank look in return, or a disinterested wave of hand to brush off the topic. But somewhat to his surprise, his father nodded. "Tyler and Harper, I remember them. You’ve always been careful and sharp-eyed when it comes to choosing friends, and this is proof of it. The girl is clearly quite talented, if her project proposal was outstanding enough to impress Malcolm."

... Well, that praise was a first. Where was his father trying to take this conversation?