His Naughty Lessons

** Harper **

It took lots of beating around the bushes and a bit of casual swearing to get Chelsea to stop probing. An hour later, when Harper finally got out of bed and freshened up, settling back down at her desk with a cup of coffee, she couldn't tell if she was more mortified or amused.

There was no way she was sharing the full story of what happened last night, not even to her closest friend. She still wanted to blush just from thinking about it herself. The whole thing felt a bit too surreal … and the high from that moment had struck her so hard that traces of it were still lingering, tugging at the edge of her senses.

To think that this was only their very first attempt …

Could it get even better than this?

She really was too inexperienced to know though. No wonder it was such a challenge to write a decent intimate scene, with her limited knowledge how overwhelming those sensations could be. But now, with her horizon abruptly broadened, it was as if her whole mind had been levitated to a new dimension. That dry well in her head was now overflowing, flooded with thoughts from new ideas for her book to wild imaginations of what Eli would show her next …

Harper chewed her lips as a few dirty scenarios crossed her mind.

Then she instinctively squashed them. No no no, she wasn't going to let her head go there so early in the day already. Deciding that she needed some distraction from these unwanted imaginations, she opened up her laptop instead. She should probably use the time to do some chapter edits and help herself regain focus.

The browser she had left open last night popped into view, landing on the homepage of her web novel.

[ Notification: You received 15 new follows on your book: Secret Crush ]

[ Notification: You received 12 new kudos on your book: Secret Crush ]

[ Notification: You received 6 new comments on your book: Secret Crush ]

Harper stared at the screen, dazed. She looked at the numbers again and confirmed that she hadn't read them wrong. It'd usually take her about a week to gain this many new follows and likes, but today, barely twelve hours has passed since she posted her latest update. Did the new chapter really turn out that good?

With slightly nervous anticipation, she clicked on the comments section.

[ Woah author, why did you hold back such a delicious scene from us for so long? More plz! More!!! ]

[ Aww this is so lovely and so hot. I ship these two so hard <3 ]

[ Damn I wish I have a man who does this to me. ]

[ Gif: need holy water ]

…

Harper couldn't believe her eyes. She couldn't even dream of receiving comments like this — her readers were praising her new chapter! They liked it! They didn't find it awkward at all!

And honestly, it was just as unbelievable how easy it was. All she'd done last night was to self-insert into her main character and lay out a scene not unlike her own experience. Apparently, everyone else agreed with her that her practice episode was utterly hot and— did one of the comments use the word "panty-melting"?

Harper almost squeaked in thrill. After struggling for months, this was the first real success she'd had with her book. The joy and pride of her work being acknowledged felt so big that her heart swelled in happiness. She needed to share this monumental moment with someone … Without a second thought, her hand darted to her phone, and she scrolled down to her texts with Eli.

[ Guess what? I wrote a new chapter after you left yesterday and everyone is loving it! My web novel is coming back to life! ]

She hit send, then belatedly regretted not calling him instead. Ugh, blame their awkward call last week — which ended up with the even more awkward meeting at the movie theater — that made her instinctively wary of dialing his number again. But now, she actually wanted nothing more than to hear his voice and feel its vibration rumble through her just like last night.

The reply came almost instantly. [ Congrats! Told you your story was pretty darn good to begin with :) ]

Harper found herself smiling. Eli never missed a chance to encourage her and make her feel more confident about her new work. Nevertheless, she knew better than anyone else that it was his "lessons" that did it. She owed him a big thanks.

[ Only thanks to you being a great teacher. ] She paused and considered. She would've added that she'd recommend him to any of her friends who needed an editor, if not for the fact that his editing services for her had been … arguably nonstandard.

A small flush of heat crept up her cheeks as she recalled the nonstandard lessons again. She brushed the thought aside and added, [ This means so much to me. I feel like my life is complete now. It's amazing to see so many people enjoy the story I share with them. ]

That probably came out a bit cheesy, but she sent it anyway. Surely, if Eli was an editor worth his salt, he would understand a new writer's sensitive feelings.

A smile tugged at Harper's lips when he replied: [ We should celebrate. Let's make it a champagne dinner when you come over next Saturday? We'll toast to a great chapter and more to come. ]