His Naughty Lessons

** Harper **

The blank look on Harper's face was probably just what Eli expected to see.

"You might have noticed a very tall building on State Street with a very glaring and very pretentious mirrored-glass facade," he continued in a sarcastic tone. "It's kind of hard to miss if you ever pass by that area. There's a ten-story-high sign on top of it that says 'Sterling Trust'."

It took Harper a moment. Then her eyes widened, and her hand slapped to her lips. "I can see the sign from my office window," she gasped. "Gosh, I thought that was referring to the silver."

Eli huffed. "I wish. Unfortunately, that Sterling is my father. And he's been working on getting me adapted to taking over his little empire since … I don't know, before we met as kids. I never wanted to, but he doesn't really care."

He sipped his seltzer, giving Harper some time to process the bomb he'd just dropped.

Or maybe, considering his nonchalant expression as if he was only talking about the weather, he didn't seem to even realize how much of a bomb it was. He didn't seem to recall that although Sterling Trust might be only a regional bank, its name had grown almost insanely fast in the past decade, and being the heir of this monolith of an enterprise might as well mean that he was already a billionaire in the making. In some people's imagination, it pretty much also meant that he should be flying in private jets to hang out at secret elite clubs, with a row of bodyguards in tow.

Which probably explained why he was so familiar with The Balconies, Harper thought as she slowly recovered from the shock.

But he was talking about such a coveted life as if he wanted none of it.

"Why didn't you want to?" she asked. "I thought you've always liked finance since high school. And your first job was at an investment bank too, I remember you were quite excited about it."

Eli stared at the can in his hand, running his finger in absentminded circles along the top. "It's not finance that's the issue. As you might recall, I don't get along too well with my father."

Oh. Yeah, there was that.

Eli rarely ever talked about his father, nor did he seem remotely interested in including the latter in his personal life. Even after having him over for numerous holidays and vacations, Harper and Tyler had only been to Eli's home once, and his father didn't speak much to anyone. The house felt quiet to the point of repressiveness, which Harper thought was probably the reason why Eli grew up to be so attached to her family instead.

She never knew why the father and son's relationship was so strangled though, and it seemed too private of a question to ask.

"I did want a career in finance," Eli continued, still staring at the seltzer can as if studying it intently. "And I was indeed excited to get that job on the west coast. It was one of the largest banks in the country, with lots of opportunities for me to grow. But when I never got a promotion after four years …" His lips quirked mockingly. "Suffice to say that you never know how far daddy's control can reach until it happens. It's pretty clear at this point that unless I give in to working for him, he can sabotage my career elsewhere quite easily. So here I am, back in town."

Harper frowned. "That's … really manipulative," she said disbelievingly.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Eli took a big gulp of his drink. "But on the bright side, I'm making my time enjoyable. He and I have completely different visions about the future of the company, so it's kind of fun to just do things the way I prefer and watch him burst into flames when he disagrees. Maybe that'll eventually teach him not to force people against their will."

Harper didn't know what to say. That sounded like a great way to ruin an aspiring man's career … But she was sure he knew that already.

"You are not planning to do this forever, I hope?" she asked cautiously.

Eli let out a small laugh. "We'll see. I mean, I'm probably complaining more than I should be — things aren't all that bad, and how else do I get to be the director of a multistate venture capital group in my mid twenties? It's an experience I can brag about for the rest of my life, so I think I can deign to live with it."

He was trying to sound playful, Harper noticed. Knowing Eli, that was his way to get around talking about uncomfortable topics. Back when they were kids, he would always have a smooth joke or two to divert the conversation whenever someone mentioned his parents.

"Anyway, enough about my job." A perfect smile was back on his face now. "For as far as we're concerned here, it's only my side gig as an editor that matters, isn't it? Unless you're thinking about writing the domineering CEO trope, then perhaps I can play my other role harder to help you get more plot ideas." He ran a hand roughly through his hair. "Do I look smoldering enough to pass as one?"

Harper couldn't help but chuckle. There, his smooth trick worked — she couldn't possibly resist the distraction of how hot he looked with those slightly messy chocolate-brown locks. But she wasn't going to comment on that. "Um … You are really the last person I'd think of as domineering," she said instead.

An eyebrow rose. "Oh, little dove. Someday you might just be surprised."