Clara froze. Seth didn’t move either, looking like he was desperately trying to restrain himself and suppress the fire that had ignited within him.

After a moment, he finally released his arm from around her. Clara immediately shot up as if her pants were on fire and scrambled away.

Seth Quinn watched her flustered retreat. He wanted to laugh but couldn’t bring himself to. He cleared his throat and said calmly, "Since you’re at the office, I’ll take care of some work. We can go home when I’m done for the day. It must be boring for you here, so why don’t you go rest in the lounge for a bit?"

As he spoke, he gestured toward the lounge. Clara glanced in the direction he was pointing, gave a haphazard nod, and hurried over.

Once inside the lounge, she slammed the door shut and leaned against it, patting her own flushed cheeks. Thinking back on how Seth Quinn had been trying so hard to hold back—he was obviously struggling, yet he’d pretended to be composed—she suddenly let out a snort of laughter.

Outside the door, Seth Quinn glanced down at the noticeable bulge in his trousers. He let out a self-deprecating sigh and shook his head with a wry, helpless smile. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

’Seth Quinn, you’re really losing your self-control!’

’But what could he do? He was utterly powerless against her. Whenever he was around her, he was just too easily aroused.’

...

Worried that Clara would be bored, Seth Quinn decided to leave work a little early. When the two of them emerged from the president’s office, holding hands once again, the employees they passed were no longer as flustered as they had been earlier. It seemed they had accepted the fact that President Quinn was in a relationship.

In fact, every employee who greeted them would first say, "President Quinn," then turn to her and add a respectful, "Miss Grant."

Clara smiled back at every employee who greeted them. By the time they reached the main entrance downstairs, she felt like her face had gone stiff from smiling so much.

She glanced over at Seth Quinn, who wore a perfectly calm and detached expression, and she came to her own conclusion about his cold demeanor. ’Well, a president has to maintain that cool, aloof image, right? Otherwise, if he smiled at every single employee, he’d probably collapse from smile-exhaustion.’

She followed Seth Quinn down the steps. Chase Childs had already brought the car around from the parking lot, and when he saw them approaching, he opened the back door for them.

Holding Clara’s hand, Seth Quinn was just about to get into the car when she suddenly pulled him back.

Seth Quinn turned around and looked at her, confused. "What’s wrong?"

"I... when I came back to the city, I was actually planning to visit my mom. I even called and told her I was on my way."

In truth, she hadn’t called her mother at all. The idea of visiting her was just an excuse she had cooked up in the lounge to get out of spending the night with him.

Seth Quinn frowned. "You mean, go over there now?"

"Yes, I already told her I would," she said, though her voice lacked conviction.

"Alright, let’s go now."

Hearing him agree so readily, Clara was secretly delighted. She beamed at him. "Thank you! In that case, you can head back..."

But before she could finish her sentence, Seth Quinn was already pulling her toward the car.

"Hey! Seth Quinn, what are you doing? I thought you said I could go see my mom?" Clara said, starting to panic.

"We *are* going to see Mom. I’m coming with you." Seth Quinn paused again, halfway into the car. "Since we’ve already gone public as a couple and we’ll be announcing our engagement soon, don’t we need to meet the parents before we get married?"

Of course Seth Quinn knew why she was trying to ditch him, and he certainly wasn’t going to grant her wish. How could he possibly bear to let her leave his side, even for a moment?