His Naughty Lessons-Chapter 314: (Bonus Scene) Matchmaker Sister

** Tyler **

If Tyler had thought that the wakeup moment in bed was awkward ... Well, he would need a new word for the brunch that followed an hour later. A better word than "a shit ton more awkward".

Since Harper and Eli’s honeymoon flight wasn’t until the afternoon, the newlyweds had invited a small group of guests — mostly family and the bridal party — to a sendoff brunch before they left on their merry way. So after turning to his room briefly for some clean up and a shower, Tyler found himself back at the hotel restaurant, staring right at Chelsea again, who was apparently saved a seat next to him by his thoughtful sister.

... This really wasn’t a good time to play matchmaker, Sis. Especially not with how tightly the chairs were crammed together around the table that was too small for the number of people, making him literally brush elbows with the woman next to him. Which felt strangely suggestive, after the wakeup incident.

"All packed up and ready for your trip yet?" Their mother was enthusiastically hugging her daughter and her new son-in-law as Tyler sat down. "And I hope you both slept well — it’s still a long flight from here to Hawaii!"

Chelsea, who Tyler was not paying attention to — definitely not — had just started drinking her mimosa and suddenly coughed from a bad choke. When the happy mother was done with hugs and returned to the other side of the table, the girl cleared her throat and inched toward Harper. "I thought the better question would be — did you guys sleep last night?" she asked in a low voice.

Now it was Tyler’s turn to start coughing from his water, all the while Harper swatted at her friend with a feigned indignity that suggested the answer to be "nope, not at all".

That’s Chelsea for you though. Funny and snarky, oftentimes indecently so, which could take some getting used to if you don’t really know her. But once you do ... that kind of personality can be positively contagious and even a little addicting.

Tyler had learned that gradually over the past year. His impression of this woman had changed quite a few times, from the casual curiosity back when she pretended to be a stranger giving him relationship advice at a bar, to the suspecting interest when he realized that she was both his sister’s best friend and a capable employee of his company’s major competitor, to the eventual slow attraction as they ended up spending more and more time hanging out together. She was definitely one with a character, and to his own surprise, that character was growing on him every day since he moved to Davenshire.

But that didn’t mean he had planned on sleeping with her ... on a drunken night out of all times!

"So how long are you guys staying there for the honeymoon?" One of the bridesmaids from the wedding asked Harper, cutting off Tyler’s musings. Good — he much preferred his head clear of those messy thoughts.

"Six days. We’ll be back home next weekend."

"Six days? No way! Even your work trip to Hawaii last time was longer than that, wasn’t it? How mean is your boss to not even let you take two weeks off for a honeymoon?"

"Ah, it’s actually not my boss’s fault." Harper darted Eli a look before turning back to the bridesmaid. "Hubby wants to be back in town for a big business convention a week from now. He has some deals to make about the advertising plans for my project ... Which, as you might’ve heard, is currently planning a beta release at the beginning of next year, so the timing is kind of important right now, and a bit unfortunate."

"Aww! If you ask me, I’d actually say that’s such a romantic thing to be so responsible for the work you care so much about. More romantic than a symbolic honeymoon." Chelsea sipped her drink and gave Eli an approving thumbs up. "And personally, I’m all in for seeing Vanessa being pissed all day that she didn’t get to sabotage Harper’s work like she swore she would."

Harper chuckled at the reminder of the shitshow from a year ago. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she looked at Tyler. "I wonder if Vanessa will have the guts to show up at the gala again this year ... Are you going this time, Tyler? You should be invited now that you are a director, right?"

"Um, yeah, I think so." Tyler paused his chewing, a bit unprepared to be dragged into a conversation that involved Chelsea’s participation. What happened to talking about the honeymoon?

And, as if knowing his fear, Harper’s eyes lit up with a calculating gleam. "Oh! Do you have a plus-one for it yet?"

"..."

Even a fool would know where she was going with that.

Tyler opened his mouth hesitantly, though to his great relief, the waitress came at that precise time to bring them their food, and the conversation was quickly sidetracked by various people admiring their pretty waffles and perfect omelets. Pictures were taken, praises were exchanged, and his matchmaker sister quickly lost the opportunity to bring up the topic of plus-ones again.

~ ~

When brunch was over and everyone hugged the newlyweds goodbye, Tyler made an internal grunt and returned to the hotel room he had woken up from in the morning ... and waited a bit uneasily outside the door.

He needed to talk to Chelsea. Not that he was ready or that he knew what he even wanted to say, but the awkward brunch told him that he needed to handle this like an adult before things got even more awkward. Looking up and around the courtyard walkway, he searched half seriously for security cameras, hoping that no one was going to document this upcoming chat of embarrassment on record—

"Ohh, look who’s back!" Chelsea’s familiar voice sounded from behind him while he was distracted.

"..." Eh, that tone ... What the heck did she think he was back for?!