His Naughty Lessons-Chapter 186: Guard Your Possession

** Harper **

Harper didn’t particularly like what she was seeing.

Sure, she had fully planned to avoid Eli for the rest of the day, or maybe until she got herself drunk enough again to remove everything about last night from her memory. But that didn’t mean she was ready to make her man available for someone else in the meantime ... Especially not when he was topless and oozing sexy sin from every pore of his existence!

She pursed her lips, and her mood grew increasingly dark when she saw a girl in a red bikini pass Eli a towel. He didn’t turn it down. With a courteous smile, he took the towel and swiped it over his hair, in a gesture that was way too manly and hot.

"Well well, I guess you can’t say no to a towel in this kind of weather." Zoe was still chattering, making timely comments as she studied the growing crowd with intent interest. "I don’t recognize half of these girls though ... Who’s that in the red bikini? Are they just random tourists on the beach? Geez, gotta say we really are making quite an eye-catching show here—"

"Where is the rest station?" Harper cut off her coworker a bit too flatly.

"... Where is what?"

"The rest station, where they got those towels and drinks from." Harper was already getting up from her perch, fixing her beach coverup and her hair. She wasn’t going to keep sulking here and let those unknown tourists get in the way!

At the very least though, she was lucky that her headache seemed to be mostly gone at this point, giving her the energy she needed to fix this idiotic situation she had gotten herself into.

"Oh! The booth is right over there, under the big rainbow umbrella." Zoe surprised Harper with a thumbs up. "There you go, run and guard your possession! Gotta make it worth that room-swapping embarrassment I had to endure to ship you guys."

... Harper wasn’t sure if she should take that as moral support or veiled complaint. But for now, she had more important questions to think about, so she took it as moral support either way and strode straight to the rainbow umbrella.

~ ~

When she hiked across the sand to the volleyball field, Eli was sitting in the freshen-up zone with a towel draped over his shoulder, surrounded by a couple of handfuls of bikini chicks. Every set of beachwear entering Harper’s eyes seemed sexier than the next ... and she was quickly starting to regret not putting on her risqué bandeau top today.

She slowed down, debating what kind of expression she should wear to meet such a scene. Though Eli saved her the trouble soon enough by flashing that signature smile of his, so bright that she momentarily lost the ability to think with proper logic.

"Hey. I wasn’t sure you’d come." He stood up and jogged over to her before she could reach the wall of bikinis. "You didn’t reply to my text this morning, so I thought you might still be sleeping in."

... He texted her this morning? Belatedly, Harper remembered that she had been too groggy and distracted to bother clicking on all the missed notifications on her phone today. "Oh, the text? I—"

She didn’t get to finish that sentence, because Eli was already in front of her and greeted her with a kiss.

... Harper’s first reaction at that moment was: damn, this man really was a walking sin. Quick as the kiss was, his masculine scent was branded almost instantaneously into her nostrils, made so much stronger and headier than usual by just the perfect hint of sweat. When she pulled back to look at him, his hair was tousled in the wildest way, and she couldn’t think of anything more alluring to the eye than the glow of his damp skin under the dazzling sun.

Then the second thought that trailed closely behind was ... Wait, wasn’t the point of her coming here supposed to be to guard her possession? How come this kiss felt like ... like he was doing it the other way around?

"How are you feeling?" Eli asked, gathering her thoughts back. The look of tender concern on his face was a comical contrast to the look of disappointment from the bikini girls behind him. "You probably shouldn’t be under this much sun if you’ve still got a headache," he added.

Harper blinked. Oh, right, that was a topic she didn’t want to mention yet. "Um, I’m ... feeling alright," she said, hastily changing the subject by lifting the mini cooler pack she was carrying. "I brought you something to drink ... Not sure if you want water or lemonade or beer, so I got one of each."

She wasn’t feeling awkward about talking to him after last night, not at all ... And at the same time, she certainly wasn’t gloating in satisfaction when she saw the group of girls around them slowly starting to disperse.

"You brought me drinks?" The look on Eli’s face was pure delight. He took the pack from her hand, setting it down like it was a precious piece of jewel. "Thank you, and I’d very much appreciate one of each. Saves me the trouble of choosing."

He reached into the cooler, coincidentally grabbing the lemonade, her favorite. Then he twisted the cap open and took a big gulp with a contented sigh. "Tastes so good coming from you," he commented.

Not that she squeezed the lemonade herself, Harper thought, but his approval still pleased her. "Is it really?" she asked, feeling all the more satisfied when she noticed that their bikini company had mostly relocated to the other side of the volleyball field now, leaving the two of them alone with their drinks.

"Oh yes." Eli gave her a smile that suddenly looked ... a bit suspicious. "You should try it too," he offered, "it’s your favorite after all."

Before Harper could consider that suggestion, he pulled her in and pressed his lips firmly onto hers.