His Naughty Lessons
Chapter 70: The Right Ambience

Chapter 70: The Right Ambience

** Harper **

Yeah, she really shouldn’t have asked.

Harper wasn’t even sure how to feel about the answer. Jealous? Duh, of course a little. It’d be hard for any woman not to get jealous after hearing about her crush dating someone else. But at the same time, she also felt ... somewhat glad? If this was a place Eli associated with dates, then did the fact that he invited her here tonight possibly suggest something?

"It was only a one time thing," he added in a quick afterthought. "I never considered the date seriously and wasn’t planning on getting anywhere with it. Probably shouldn’t have picked this spot in the first place, since the atmosphere only made things worse."

"..." How did the atmosphere make things worse? Maybe she should reconsider feeling glad if this was a place he associated with bad dates.

Her expression might’ve shown some of that thought, because Eli quickly added again, "Um, I’m not saying this place is bad. It’s just not the right ambience for that kind of meeting, and I don’t think I’d come here again for a date like that."

"..."

"Um, what I’m trying to say is ..." He ran a hand through his hair, letting out a small curse. "What I’m trying to say, and doing a terrible job at saying it, is that I’d like it more when I get to choose who I want to spend time with at a place like this. It’s nice to be able to share something good with someone I know and enjoy the company of."

Oh. That sounded better. It still took Harper a moment to fully process what he meant though, and when she did, her brow knitted for a completely different reason. "You mean you were on a blind date?" It hadn’t even occurred to her that he could be talking about going on a date with someone who he didn’t "know and enjoy the company of". Then she got it after another moment. "Oh my God. It was one of those things your father made you do."

Eli let out a long exhale. "Yes ... Though they aren’t intended to be blind. It only turns out more or less so on my end because I don’t care enough to prepare."

Harper winced. She knew that Eli’s relationship with his father was rough, especially after his recent job change, but she still hadn’t thought that the conflict would stretch as far as to include this much of his personal life. She wasn’t sure what to say about something so disturbingly unpleasant.

And that was when she realized he had used the present tense.

Were these dates still an ongoing process? A tiny thread of jealousy crept its way back before Harper caught herself. Well, they had both made it clear weeks ago that whatever they were doing right now, it wasn’t dating, so obviously he was free to keep seeing whoever else he wanted. But then she immediately felt guilty for thinking that way, because it wasn’t that he had wanted to do it in the first place. He probably wasn’t left with much of a choice.

"Anyway." Eli was the first to recover from the slightly awkward conversation, raising his wine glass to her. "As pretentious as I frequently come across, it might surprise you that I don’t get along with other people who are just as pretentious as I am, so let’s not spoil the mood by talking about them. Cheers to a much, much nicer evening just for us."

Harper smiled at the words. Right, the billionaire heir full of contradictions. "I know you prefer to use your pretentiousness to impress wide-eyed girls like me," she joked and raised her glass as well. "Cheers, to a much, much more successful evening on that end."

~ ~

The slight uneasiness of that conversation soon dissipated as they went back to talking about the usual random topics, or occasionally nothing at all. Eli kept up with his pretentious remarks, complete with an in-depth appraisal of the filet mignon that was the highlight of the meal, as well as the creme brulée that Harper thought was beyond flawless.

When the evening drew to an end with one last dessert wine, Harper leaned back into her chair, considering the decadent culinary extravagance and how utterly at home Eli seemed to feel with all of it. If impressing a wide-eyed girl had really been his objective tonight, he had succeeded with flying colors.

And it wasn’t just about the food, of course. The atmosphere was simply sublime. Having the terrace all to themselves, there was nothing surrounding them except the sound of ocean waves crashing against the beach and the scent of roses wafting from the garden. The night had fully darkened by now, leaving them to the soft dance of candles on the table and the dazzling sparkles of string lights draped above them, the warm brightness enveloping everything in a dreamy, intimate haze.

It was enchanting, and Harper felt honored that it was her who he chose to share such an evening with.

She should probably thank him for that. But the ambiance was getting to her, and all the words that came to her tongue were turning up a bit sentimental. She didn’t want to make the conversation awkward again, so instead, she marveled, "Remember what I said about how you keep setting the expectation too high, with all these ’celebrations’ you plan for me? I think you’ve reached the peak now. I highly doubt anything else could surprise me at this point, after a feast like this that’s too good to be true."

Eli chuckled. The sound was a ringing spell that topped the romantic ambience with a dash of liveliness. "Is that a challenge?" he asked, his eyes gleaming with bright reflections of the candlelight. "You might be disappointed then, because I was just thinking of surprising you some more" — he reached under his chair — "with this."

He held up a rose in his hand. A stunning beauty in full bloom, its deep red petals unfurling like soft velvet, glistening with a fine mist of evening dew.

"!!" Harper’s hand flew to her lips as she gasped. "What? ... Where did you ..."

He chuckled again when she lost the rest of her words. "From the garden right in front of us." He nodded toward the backyard stretched beneath the terrace. A light breeze stirred past, rustling the dense bushes and vines and carrying more of the garden’s fresh fragrance onto the terrace, mixed in with the scent of the rose between them. "I think it’d look pretty in your hair. May I?"

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