After they finished eating, Clara Grant was afraid that he’d really get... amorous, now that he was fed and warm. She began racking her brain for an excuse to leave.

Being alone together was simply too dangerous for her. Seth Quinn was a raging inferno right now. Even if she weren’t dry kindling, but a thoroughly soaked log, he could still make her burn.

Besides... she wasn’t exactly ’soaked’.

’I keep getting lost in his expert teasing, unable to pull myself away,’ she thought. ’If I wasn’t feeling unwell, he probably would’ve devoured me whole by now!’

’I’ll just say I’m going to see my mom. I was planning on visiting her during this trip anyway.’

"Uh, well, I wanted to..." Clara Grant began tentatively.

But she’d barely gotten a few words out before Seth Quinn’s phone rang. She had no choice but to fall silent and let him take the call.

Seth Quinn was quick on the phone, returning in less than a minute. He picked up his car keys, then grabbed his suit jacket and started to put it on.

Seeing that he was apparently heading out, Clara Grant’s heart soared. She hopped in front of him happily. "You’re going out?"

As she spoke, she reached out and straightened his suit collar.

Seth Quinn looked down, watching her adjust his collar. It was like a wife seeing her husband off for the day.

A warmth spread through his chest, and the corners of his lips tilted up into an unconscious smile.

Seth Quinn suddenly realized something. ’In the two-plus months I’ve known Clara Grant, I think I’ve smiled more than in the past twenty years combined.’

’Especially these last two days. I find myself smiling for no reason, and they’re real smiles, from the heart.’

He reached out and pulled Clara Grant into his embrace. Startled, she instinctively grabbed a fistful of his suit collar and looked up at him.

Seth Quinn looked at her wide, panicked, doe-like eyes and chuckled softly. "I have something to deal with at the office. Clara, come with me."

’So he is going out after all,’ she thought, relieved. ’And here I thought he was about to try something.’

Clara Grant breathed a sigh of relief. While smoothing the wrinkles she’d just made in his collar, she said, "Me? What for? You have work to do. What would I even do there?"

"There’s plenty you can do. Serve tea, pour water, help me with my coat and shoes... and, when I take a break from work, I can steal a kiss or two." Seth Quinn’s expression was completely serious, but his words were anything but.

Clara Grant felt utterly defeated by him. ’Why does it feel like this Seth Quinn is a completely different person from the one I used to know? The old Seth would never say such shameless things.’

’He used to act so high and mighty, so cold and unapproachable. When did he become so... human?’

She couldn’t help but shoot him a look. "Help you with your coat and shoes? What do you think this is, a hotel? You’re going to the office to work, remember?"

Seth Quinn discovered that her big eyes were truly captivating. Even now, when her gaze was tinged with annoyance, to any other man it would look as sultry as could be.

He couldn’t resist planting a soft kiss on her forehead, his mind already scheming. ’How can I keep her from accidentally charming every other man out there?’

"I know I’m going to work. I just mean you can be there to keep me company." Seth Quinn’s expression finally turned serious. "Besides, didn’t we agree we were going to go public with our relationship? We can start by being seen together everywhere. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"I’m sure that within a few days, the news of us being a couple will be everywhere."