His Naughty Lessons-Chapter 257: Versatile Talent

** Eli **

Eli hadn’t expected the dress shopping day to turn out like this. He knew, of course, that his girl would look beyond gorgeous in anything that she set her eyes on, but the fact that she could come out of the fitting room every time to take his breath away for a completely new reason still bewildered him and made his heart stop over and over again.

When she first appeared from behind the curtains in that silver dress with delicate laces, the dreamy and angelic look had made him swoon like a moon-eyed teenage boy. Then the sublime, awe-inspiring beauty that she radiated with in that starry sapphire gown had almost brought him to his knees. Not to mention the bright red mermaid, which coaxed out every last bit of her sexy and wild side that he almost instantly went hard at the sight ...

The experience was surreal, and Eli wondered if he might end up with a heart failure at some point if they kept going with every style in the showroom, which was clearly what Sean seemed to be intending to do.

Fortunately, after another half a dozen trips to the fitting room, the newly promoted supermodel declared that she was done. She had found a favorite — a lilac fit and flare gown with a delicately embroidered one-shoulder neckline, pleated skirt, ruched asymmetrically at the waist and accented with a flowing armband. It was graceful and romantic, not overly extravagant yet catching the eye immediately with the creative details and asymmetry, which apparently won her heart at first glance.

Eli had to admit that his own favorite was the sapphire high-slit. But at the same time, he had to agree this alternative did fit the closest to the image that Harper typically gave off — sweet, delicate, a precious jewel with a natural charm that didn’t need to be made loud and bold to stand out from the crowd. frёeωebɳovel.com

Sean, on the other hand, insisted that the best choice had to go to the red mermaid, claiming his new favorite model had effortlessly obliterated the "no red for redheads" rule. He even went as far as trying to convince Harper that she should go with a fiery red at the gala, and it was only after multiple rounds of debate that he settled reluctantly for a deep cerulean blue instead.

"I’m more than confident this will be my proudest creation in quite a while." The designer was almost reluctant to let them leave when they finally stepped out the door, hours later than they had originally planned. "Like I said, I have a few recent ideas that I want to incorporate into this design as well. I have a very good grasp of both of your preferences at this point, and I’m quite sure that you’ll like the new changes. I almost wish to attend the gala myself — this gown will make a lasting impression, as I’m certain you will too, Miss McKenzie."

He went on babbling for a while and hinting at Harper to come back more often, obviously just so that she could double as a free model and give him more inspirations for his future fashion shows, before finally letting them off.

"Oh boy. I think I’m starting to see shiny diamonds and embroideries and laces on the back of my eyelids after all that." Harper whined with a chuckle as they got back into their car. "My perception of ’tailors’ has been respectfully refreshed. And now I can’t even begin to imagine what sort of eye-opening red carpet show is waiting for me at the gala."

"Whatever sort it is, you’ll be the last one that anybody can get off of the back of their eyelids," Eli promised. Then he laughed as she rolled her eyes — the girl was so amusingly contradictory, hating pretentiousness yet at the same time, so hopelessly defenseless against pretentiously pretty dresses.

"Let’s remove all those bling-bling from our heads or eyelids for a while." Harper stretched her arms out, exhaling a lazy yawn. "I’ve felt enough like a princess today, and now I feel like ... hmm, maybe lunch at a hole-in-the-wall type of place."

Eli cocked his head. This girl surely had a different type of brain processing power ... How could she switch from looking at her divine self in those gorgeous gowns to thinking about trashy food so easily like it was only a natural train of thought?

"How about this brunch spot near my place?" She fished out her phone while Eli kept pondering that mysterious dilemma. "I’ve met with Chelsea and May there once. Not precisely a hole in the wall, but it’s pretty laid back with a nice all-you-can-eat menu ... Here, this is the address. It’s late but they’re still open for another hour."

Eli liked how quick and easy it was for her to come up with spontaneous plans, even if it meant he had to do his own brain switch and end up at a somewhat-hole-in-a-wall fully dressed up on a weekend. He nodded with a smile, leaned over to buckle her up, and started the car.

~ ~

The brunch place looked like the type of cult hideout tucked into a neighborhood corner, where families would bring their little children in for a weekend morning to stuff them up with too much food in the hope that they’d stay quiet for the rest of the day. Not that it was any indicator of the quality of food or services ... but it did make the two of them stand out quite a bit in their semi-formal clothing.

"Oh, they have chocolate cakes today!" Harper, on the contrary, was delighted enough by the buffet that she couldn’t care less. "I think you are successfully turning me into a foodie, Eli. I’ve been getting addicted to chocolate ever since you—" She paused with a mischievous grin. "Well, even since you did that stunt with a certain chocolate mousse in Hawaii."

"Stunt?" A new voice suddenly sounded behind them. "What stunt? What delicious inspiration did you fail to include in your web novel, my favorite author?"

Both Eli and Harper whipped around, startled by the unexpected interjection.

"... Chelsea? May?"