His Naughty Lessons-Chapter 178: VIP Show

** Eli **

Harper stiffened noticeably in his arms. Apparently both of them had been too blissfully lost in the scenic two-person time to remember that they weren’t alone ... until the light cough reminded them that this was a cruise ship packed with coworkers who they wished didn’t exist. Such as Eli’s assistant, who was standing right next to them right now.

"For God’s sake, Justin," Eli all but hissed as he turned around to face the intruder. "Do you have a wish to get fired right on the spot?"

Harper blinked at the unfriendly threat, though Justin has obviously grown used to such temper from his boss by now. The guy beamed nonchalantly. "I did suspect that you might be busy ... But the cruise host is looking for you all over the place. You’re scheduled to give a pep talk at the beginning of brunch, remember?"

Oh, that.

"... You’re giving a speech for the cruise?" The girl in his arms shifted and looked up at him. "Um, you should go then—"

"No, I should not." Eli only tightened his arm further. The corporate propaganda might sound grand, but there was no way that he’d leave his girl here to do that dumb thing. "Justin, go tell the host that I have much higher priority business to tend to at the moment. Our VIP guest on this trip is feeling unwell, and it’s my job to look after her."

Harper blinked again, as if just reminded of something by what he said. "Oh, I’ve completely forgotten about that ..." she murmured, turning her eyes to the ship’s bow. "You know, getting fresh air here really does help ... I’m actually not feeling dizzy at all anymore!"

Um ... It was a relief to hear that she was feeling much better, but the revelation didn’t seem to have the best timing, given how Justin’s eyebrow lifted as he darted his boss a meaningful glance.

Alright then. Time to be shameless. "Good, so you’re not unwell." Eli chuckled as he secured her within his clasp. What better time than this to truly level up their PDA? "How about we’re just enjoying the scenery then? Watching dolphins? There’s so much to do on a beautiful cruise like this, and I need to make sure to introduce every one of them to our precious VIP."

"... Dolphins?" Her eyes widened.

Justin coughed again. Though this time, the assistant got the memo. "Right, right. I’ll tell the host to go ahead without you, because our VIP guest isn’t feeling well and needs a break to ... um, get some dolphin therapy. Or something along those lines?"

He darted over another meaningful glance before slipping away.

Harper watched the guy disappear back into the dining hall. Then it finally registered on her. "Wait, are there really dolphins in these waters?" She turned around to stare at Eli suspiciously.

Eli shrugged as innocently as he could. "Well ... Wildlife sightings aren’t uncommon on cruises ... If we only stay here a bit longer ..."

He ouched when Harper jabbed him with a finger. "So you seriously just made that up and got me excited for nothing?" she chided. "Eli! You’re so—"

"Oh wow, look! Dolphins!" Someone’s delighted exclamation cut her off. "Look everyone, there are dolphins following us!"

"..." Growing even more suspicious, Harper turned her eyes to the direction where a crowd of people were quickly gathering, gasping and eagering shoving forward to get closer to the edge of the deck.

There, near the back of the ship, a small handful of light gray shadows were dipping in and out of the water, riding the waves near the ship’s rudder. Eli raised his free hand to block the sun from his eyes, and when his eyes adjusted to the light, he could start to make out that the shadows were cavorting in graceful arcs, their smooth skin reflecting the sunlight and their wide fins waving in the air ...

Dolphins. It really was dolphins!

He looked down within his arms. Harper’s mouth had fallen open, and she was clutching him excitedly, pointing at the silvery figures like the wide-eyed girl he always remembered her to be. "Oh my goodness, it’s real!" She pulled him closer to the railing as her whole face lit up with fascinated joy. "There are so many of them too! And they are swimming right with us!"

Eli laughed, squeezing her hand. "See? Since when have I ever lied to you?"

Harper was still entranced by the sight, her eyes wide with wonder as she watched the lovely creatures play and dance, their movements synchronized like choreography as they leapt and dove around the ship. "They are so beautiful," she breathed, her voice filled with awe. "I can’t believe we are really seeing this right now."

Right at that time, one particularly energetic dolphin leapt high into the air, twisting its body in a playful spin before plunging back into the sea, sending a splash of water sparkling in the sunlight. Harper gasped, clapping her hands in delight. "Did you see that? It’s like they are putting on a show just for us!"

Eli winked. "I think they are. They must know we have a VIP guest on board."

She gave him a sideways glance. "You mean that we have a smooth talker who can turn the most baseless excuses into the sweetest sounding fairytale?"

He accepted that title gladly, and they leaned into each other as they watched the spectacle continue to unfold. Behind them, a crowd had already gathered, more and more people rushing out of the dining hall to join the rare blessing of a nature show. Some were gasping at the dolphins just like Harper was, some were snapping pictures, some were reaching for binoculars ...

And some were darting curious glances at the two of them — the supposedly busy event speaker and the supposedly unwell VIP guest — who were standing leisurely by the side rail hand in hand.

Well, that last part would certainly make the rest of this cruise very interesting, for the both of them.