His Naughty Lessons
Chapter 138: True Foodie

Chapter 138: True Foodie

** Eli **

Harper clearly meant what she said. Curling up cozily against the cushions, she made herself at home on the sofa and showed no intention of ever leaving. "Should we order some snacks for dinner while we’re at it?" she mused when her eyes landed on the room service ipad sitting on the end table beside them. "I’ve always wondered what kind of specialty goodies come with a presidential suite."

Eli was still grappling with the protective brother situation when she merrily reached over him, snatching the tablet. "Oh, they have chocolate lava cakes! And frozen strawberry lemonade! Hmm ... How about a fried calamari too, and a loaded nachos?"

"... Very Hawaiian," Eli couldn’t help but remark drily. The call with Tyler was still affecting him with a snarky mood.

Harper laughed. "Hey, don’t ever underestimate the power of good old sugar and unhealthy finger food. They are essential for your soul, especially when you’re battling an existential crisis where your best friend suddenly became your girlfriend’s angry brother." She proceeded to place the order, though she paused then with a thoughtful look. "Hmm ... What if you give it a try to impress Tyler with some good food? I think there’s a high chance that he’ll let anything and everything slide, if you cook him a dinner half as amazing as the one you made for me the first time I went to your place."

Oh dear God.

Eli almost groaned out loud at the suggestion. Tyler was a true foodie — hopefully a little less so now, after all the miserable years being trained by a college cafeteria and quick-grab work lunches — but when they were younger, he was always the one who demanded weekend trips to the newest eateries in town, and always the one who had the strongest opinion on which dishes were most worth the price. Harper was probably right in her suggestion, because there were arguably few things in this world that could buy an easy pass from Tyler as effectively as an impressive meal.

But for a guy to make dinner for a guy ... kind of felt uninviting to one’s male pride? Not to mention that, depending on how pissed Tyler would end up being, the act of cooking might just inspire him to chop up a certain body part of his host and roast it for breakfast.

Eli shuddered at the thought. "I think I’d prefer to keep the cooking as a special treat only for you," he hugged Harper closer and replied with the best excuse he could think of. It was also an honest statement though. "Besides, what if it ends up serving the wrong purpose and makes him think I seduced you with that dinner?"

Harper glanced up at him. A slow smile curved her lips. "What if there’s some truth to that in the first place?" She batted her pretty lashes. "It was one of the best dinners I’ve had in my life, and I thought it was romantic ... even at the time."

... For the second time this evening, Eli gaped, but for a completely different reason. Did she just say that she had been having romantic thoughts ... since as early as the dinner from a month ago? What could she possibly be suggesting by that casual confession?

She only grinned again, leaving the rest to his imagination. "Anyway, no homemade dinner for Tyler then. He’ll never know how much he’s missing out on." She shifted her attention back to the tablet in her hands. "And as to dinner for ourselves, shall I place the order?"

Eli nodded, head still reeling from her earlier words. Then a thought came to him. "Wait, let me get that so I can put it on the right bill." He took the tablet from her. "Maybe add two Blue Hawaiians too?"

Harper beamed at the suggestion, and he squibbled a quick note onto the order before hitting "done".

~ ~

** Harper **

Room service was a bit slow, much to Harper’s unpleasant surprise. Half an hour later, she checked the clock again and wondered whether there happened to be a fire in the kitchen. What could make it take so long otherwise? Shouldn’t a luxury resort like this be more or less instant when it comes to orders?

When the doorbell finally rang, she let out a small yawn, straightening from the couch as Eli strode to the door to get the order. "They’ve better prepared something amazing," she whined, "with all that t—"

The word "time" died on her tongue when she saw the cart Eli pushed in from the entrance.

A large silver tray sat at the center of the cart, laden with generous portions of their food and drinks, draped prettily around the rim with a lei of blue plumerias that matched the Blue Hawaiians perfectly. But what caught her eye wasn’t the crisp ocean color of the lei or the cocktail. It was the chocolate lava cake, perched elegantly on a heart shaped cake stand, surrounded by a circle of gorgeous chocolate roses. The delicate flowers came in varying shades of cream and dark, their soft petals so intricately made that it looked almost alive. On top of the cake itself was a beautiful swirl of whipped raspberry mousse, decorated with a real white rose in full bloom and glistening with dew.

No wonder the order took so long ... Was that the reason why Eli had taken the tablet from her earlier?

Harper was still staring at the cart wide-eyed when a warm hug closed around her from behind. Apparently Eli had slipped behind her back while she was lost in shock. "I’m sorry for how the evening turned out," he said softly, burying his face into her hair. "Not that it isn’t great to simply cuddle up with you on the couch ... but I was hoping to give you some better quality time that didn’t involve being in a grumpy mood, or feeling as if someone else is looming angrily over us. I hope this makes up for it a tiny bit."

Harper melted at the tenderness in his voice that was half guilt, half pampering affection. "There’s nothing to make up for." She clasped her hands around his. "Like I told you yesterday, every minute I get to spend with you is special. I have zero complaints no matter how the evening turns out ... though I do have to admit that these roses make it even better."

He chuckled against her neck in a sound of relief. Turning around in his arms, Harper proved what she said, softly with a sweet and slow kiss.