His Naughty Lessons
Chapter 71: Roses and Romantics

Chapter 71: Roses and Romantics

** Harper **

Eli was giving her a rose, and he wanted to tuck it into her hair for her ...

Could this moment be real?

Harper could only nod in a sheer daze. She saw him smile as he stood from his chair and came to kneel beside her. Gently, he parted the strands of her braid and tucked the flower into the side.

Harper held her breath, not trusting herself to not say or do something stupid out of reflective instinct. He was leaning so close now, his fingers lightly brushing over her temple, his breath warm against her nape. Oh God knew how it made her itch to turn round and hug him, to squeeze him tight and kiss the air out of his lungs. Even though she knew they weren’t dating, even though she knew that this was only a friendly rose and that he had only given it to her because he was acting like a proper gentleman, it still made her feel so blissfully happy.

And it still made her grin like a silly girl head over heels in love.

With the flower nestled snugly in her braid, Eli smiled again and brushed a stray strand of hair away from her temple. He didn’t rise immediately though — as if appreciating the view, he just stayed there and looked at her. The candlelight fell softly on his face, setting his eyes alight with a lambent radiance.

"Beautiful," he said. And for a fleeting second, it sounded like he wasn’t thinking about just the flower or just tonight.

Harper’s heart fluttered in her chest with all the lost hope of a rhythm. Ok, that was the last straw. There was something so delicate to this moment, something ... intimate, that made it impossible to resist. Even more impossible than the intimate weekends they had already shared together, because this wasn’t physical. It was something deeper, something ... real.

So she gave in to her impulses. Tilting her face up, she leaned forward and pressed a light kiss onto his lips. "Thank you," she whispered.

And then she watched the wave of surprise spread over him like a tide, so much so that he froze in place, staring at her.

Oops. Maybe he wasn’t used to being on the other side of getting impressed by unexpected turns of events. Or maybe ... he was thinking that a rose could be easily interpreted as a friendly gesture, while a kiss couldn’t?

Though of course, being Eli, the usual smile was quickly back on his face. "Well well, looks like my surprise gift has been approved." He got to his feet with his signature lopsided grin. "Now I think I’ve finally peaked the expectation curve. Sorry to inform you that I don’t have any further surprises planned for the beautiful lady tonight."

Harper was a bit discouraged by the fact that he was obviously trying to pretend the kiss didn’t happen. But at least on the bright side, he didn’t seem to have minded it either, so she took that as a good enough sign. It’d take time to get both of them used to intimate gestures like this outside of "lesson" settings, and she was in for the long haul.

That thought snapped her right back into seduction mode. "There are still ways to surprise me, you know." She followed suit to rise from her seat. "It’s such a lovely evening ... Why not end it by offering to walk the beautiful lady home?"

"... You want to walk home?" Eli glanced at her dubiously. "The restaurant has a limo service. I can call them for a ride if you—"

"My place isn’t far, and the weather is nice." Of course, the real reason was that she wanted more opportunities to spend personal time with him, but she wouldn’t say that out loud. "Besides, isn’t this how you’re supposed to end an evening properly at a place like this? To walk the lady out on your arm and bid her goodnight like a proper gentleman?"

She looped her arm around his as she said the words, like it was naturally the most common sense thing to do.

Eli blinked. Then he let out a soft laugh and inclined his head gentlemanly. "As you wish," he said. Raising his arm just so, making her grip more comfortable, he led them down the stairs of the terrace toward the gate at the back of the garden.

The weather was indeed nice as they wound through the backyard paths, the cool summer breeze steadily on the rise. Harper took a deep breath of the rose scented air, marveling at how surreal it was to walk with Eli like this — she had never held his hand or arm before, and she was secretly thrilled at how much it made them look like a couple. It also surprised her that despite the amount of touching and exploring she had done with his body, she still had little idea how hard and solid his muscles were, how little give she could feel through the sleeve of his suit.

Surreptitiously, she gripped him tighter, loving the unyielding strength meeting her fingertips.

"... Is this road too dark for you?" Eli asked oddly, taking her out of the mood.

"... What?"

"You’re clutching onto me quite hard. We can take another route if you don’t like this one."

It took Harper a moment to figure out that Eli thought she was ... afraid of the dark, hence holding onto him so tight. Oops. "No no, I’m fine." She searched for a convincing excuse. "I ... um, was just intrigued by the texture of your suit. I like how silky and luxurious it is to the touch." She ran her hand softly up and down his arm to prove it.

It wasn’t a brilliant lie, but fortunately for her, Eli didn’t seem to have spotted anything out of the ordinary. "Ah. Well, it’s all yours to hold on to if you like it." He smiled and patted the back of her hand with an air of indulgence.

Harper grinned into his sleeve.

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