His Naughty Lessons
Chapter 67: Pretentious

Chapter 67: Pretentious

** Harper **

Harper was weak for cliffhangers, and Eli’s words kept her guessing all the way into Saturday evening. She wondered if he would make it another shocking surprise like last Wednesday. What would it be like to work with him in a professional context?

It wasn’t until she arrived at the grand front gate of Le Jardin that she remembered — oops, her curiosity had kept her too distracted, and she had forgotten to plan out the next "seduction game" for the day. Which was very unfortunate, because Le Jardin looked like a perfect place for it.

The restaurant was a chateau style estate tucked into the heart of the harbor, with a magnificent facade centered around an imposing columned portico. Beautiful archways and huge windows graced every wall, adorned with intricately carved cornices and corbels. A blacksuited maître d’ greeted Harper at the entrance and led her into the marble-floored foyer, up the wrought-iron staircases spiraling under a splendid crystal chandelier.

She glanced around her, studying the building with fascination. It was impressive that, despite the palatial grandeur that the venue gave off, the ambiance around her felt ... intimate. Each room along the hallways held its own dining table, giving the guests almost complete privacy from each other. The only thing they shared was the slow, romantic music of a piano playing somewhere, as well as the whiff of flowers and wine drifting in the air. In a way, the style reminded her somewhat of The Balconies ...

Harper smiled to herself. Yeah, this was totally Eli’s style.

She was trying to guess which room the maître d’ would lead her into, when he turned at the top of the stairs and held the door to the terrace open for her.

Harper gasped.

Fresh ocean breeze kissed her cheeks. In the distance, the harbor was a serene shade of deep blue under the sunset sky, where gold and red and pink clouds stretched for as far as the eye could see. Closer in the foreground, directly beneath the terrace, was a gorgeous rose garden spread out in a lush maze, every vine draped in blossoms of ivory and scarlet.

But what made her gasp was not just the scenery. It was Eli rising from his seat at the only table on the terrace, his smile warm and bright against the evening light and the swaying candle flames on the table. He straightened his white suit — a color that both contrasted and blended in with the garden and ocean behind him — and walked up to her.

Harper felt her heart stop. This moment, this scene ... It was too beautiful, too perfect. It was like a wish come true — the man of her dreams from all those years ago, walking up to her in a sea of flowers and candles, and ...

He hugged her and pressed a kiss to each side of her cheeks. "Thank you for coming," he said and turned to pull her chair out for her.

Well, that reminded Harper that this wasn’t a date. Not the type where he’d kiss her on the lips, anyway. It was just the romantic atmosphere of the restaurant getting to her ... A real date, unfortunately, was still something that she had to work toward.

That was ok. She’d just have to start working right away.

"Thank you for inviting me." She smiled back and took her seat. "You look ... fabulous. I like how we match."

She was trying to draw his attention to her dress. It was her first time wearing it, a cream halter top with a pretty bow off the shoulder, and she wondered if he liked it. It was a bit odd that he hadn’t complimented her on her looks for quite a while now ... Eli used to be the best at slipping in praises whenever he could, but ever since some point in the past month, those comments had trickled to a stop. She wasn’t sure what to make of the change.

His gaze flickered. He opened his mouth to say something, though he hesitated a little, and their waiter happened to take that precise time to bring their wine. A brief introduction to the bottle of Cristal they were getting as aperitif ensued, and the moment for that conversation passed.

Oof. Maybe not so good of a place for seduction games in the end.

Harper turned her attention to her wine glass, which the waiter filled up with a practiced movement that was a combination of elegance and flourish. The golden liquid bubbled, and the waiter was saying, "—commissioned by the Tsar of Russia in 1867 for his visit to Paris. It was served at the lavish Three Emperors Dinner, and later named Cristal for the clear bottle it was presented in. It wasn’t until almost a century after, in 1945, that it became available to the public ..."

Fascinating history. Sounded like some serious upper class stuff that she would never have the fortune of seeing otherwise.

Harper marveled at it as the waiter left them with the wine, and she clinked her glass with Eli. "I can’t believe you picked a place like this," she said, taking a sip. The flavor was surprisingly fruity and smooth, just the way she preferred. "Even the wine is so—" She paused to search for a good word to describe what she had just tasted. Exotic? Sophisticated?

"Pretentious?" Eli offered with a lopsided grin. "Sometimes I like to use certain privileges of mine for a life upgrade. Can’t just let it all go to waste, after all."

Harper chuckled. Idly, she wondered how many other "pretentious" things his privileges could bring, but she thought better of asking. Eli didn’t like to talk about being the heir to his father’s company, which was where these privileges came from. So instead, she opted for a different topic. "Will you be taking advantage of those privileges for our new upcoming collaborations too?" she teased. "You said you’ll tell me more today. What new surprises do you have in store for me?"

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