His Naughty Lessons-Chapter 236: Therapeutic

** Eli **

Obviously, that conversation didn’t end up the way his father wanted, and the old man was positively fuming when Eli slammed the door on his way out of the room.

It didn’t matter though. Let the manipulative control freak think whatever he wants and do whatever he wants. Miracles had already gotten their contract and funding for the VR project, so there was nothing that Eli could be threatened by anymore at this point. Getting fired? No big deal. Getting disowned? Perfect. Maybe he would even snatch that opportunity and make a memorable scene at the summer gala before disappearing from the city’s finance circle for good. ƒreewebɳovel.com

The dark thought loomed over his mind for the rest of the day, turning his mood snarky enough that more than a handful of unlucky employees got brutally butchered during their meeting presentations. Even the return home at the end of the day didn’t soothe that gloomy grumpiness ... if not for the sight of Harper standing in the middle of his kitchen, wearing his apron and busily occupied with the cutting board.

"Oh, you’re back early!" she gasped, waving the knife in her hand at him before remembering herself and hastily lowering it. "Or maybe I just took too long ... I was hoping to get this casserole ready by the time you come back, but it’s not even halfway there yet."

Eli looked at the mess of a kitchen overflowing with haphazardly chopped veggies, barely defrosted meat, and a bowl of overly soggy rice that looked like a sticky pudding ...

A smile lifted the corner of his lips that had stayed downturned almost all day. And just like that, every last trace of lingering annoyances vanished from his head.

This girl must be an angel, to be able to make a hopelessly chaotic kitchen look so sweet and therapeutic.

"So this is why you wouldn’t let me pick you up from work today?" He took off his suit jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and joined his angel in the middle of that chaotic battlefield with a kiss.

He didn’t forget to take the knife out of her hand and set it down first, of course.

"Mm-hmm. I thought I should celebrate the first day of my official move-in with something special, and you already showed me this recipe last time, so ..." Harper glanced at the scene she had made around her. "Well, I suppose I didn’t expect it to take so much work. You made everything look so easy when you did it."

Eli melted into a puddle at those words. The girl who could only boil pasta a month ago was now trying to make him a full gourmet dinner. Because she was "officially moving in". He couldn’t decide which part of that he loved more ... or maybe he just loved everything that this angel standing in front of him did and said.

"I’ll help you." He turned to the sink to wash his hands. "My fault for not writing down the steps in more detail. The rice, for example, works best in casseroles if it’s long grained. Like jasmine or basmati. It’ll be fluffier that way and mix well with the meat and the sauce."

"Oh ..." Harper chewed her lips. "Darn. I used the risotto rice."

Yep. And also way too much water.

"It’ll still be good, don’t worry. No harm in adding a unique twist to the classic standards." Eli kept the critiques to himself. He’d just have to do some tricky work to salvage that sticky pudding rice. "Next time, I’ll go slow and show you all the tips again from the very beginning."

The girl’s crestfallen look seemed to have brightened up a bit at his reassurance. "I’ll take notes," she promised. Then she chewed her lips again, with a completely different expression this time. "And ... you know I like going slow. Anytime you want."

... Right. And now his angel was turning back into his little demoness once more.

Eli gave her a long glance that promised unfinished business on that topic. She chuckled as he returned to the vegetables, picking up the chopping work that she had left half done.

"So ... How was your day?" she asked after watching him quietly for a moment. "You look like you had a bad one. You don’t have to help here, you know. I can wrap up the rest myself while you take a little break on the couch."

The chopping paused. Eli looked up at her, surprised. "Is it that obvious?"

He hoped he hadn’t taken that grumpiness from work all the way back home for her to see. Especially not when his mood had already done a complete 180-degree flip as soon as he saw her.

"Your shoulders are tight." Harper placed a hand softly on his back. "And you aren’t as precise in your chopping as usual. It looks like something is troubling you ... or was, and left you tense all day."

... Sometimes it was scary how observant this girl was. Or how well she knew him to be able to pick up every slightest clue like this.

"Yeah, I had an unfortunate chat with that fucker of a dad." Eli tried to go for a casual tone. "Nothing serious came out of it, but definitely was a mood killer."

Harper blinked, probably unsure if she should react with a commiserate sigh or a laugh at the title that already carried too many references at this point.

"Ugh," she settled on saying. "Sounds like the definition of a tough day then ... Why don’t you come rest a little with me? The casserole can wait — I doubt it will taste any worse if we let the ingredients sit, since I’ve already ruined it enough anyway."

She untied the apron at her waist and plucked the knife from his hand, setting it down on the counter. Gently but with a nonnegotiable air, she took his hand and pulled him over to the sofa.

... Bossy girl. Just the way he loved.