Page 39 of It Starts With A No

If he hadn’t seen her photo in the newspaper, he would never have guessed that she was the new CEO.

Her suit looked nice on her. She was tall enough to pull off whatever she was wearing, but it clearly wasn’t anything expensive.

In fact, there was a dullness to her suit that made it appear rather worn, which only compounded the puzzling connection she had to the Eolenfelds.

Edward Eolenfeld clearly cared about her. Seth would even bet that the old man would be more than willing to be generous with her. Yet here she was in normal off-the-rack working clothes that she probably had been wearing for years.

He understood, even respected—just mildly—her choice.

Seth only invested in his tailored suits and BMW because he’d seen and learned from Holly Eolenfeld that the presence of shiny, expensive things blinded people to what was truly there.

In his case, how messed-up he truly was.

What baffled Seth was the reason for Clary’s choice when one of the richest men on the planet was more than willing to spend money on her.

Clary squared her shoulders as she adjusted her grip on her laptop bag.

Before Seth knew what he was doing, he opened the car door and stepped out.

The moment she spotted him, she broke into a jog.

He held a hand up and strode toward her. “Don’t run.”

How was she even doing that while wearing those high stilettos?

Seth took the laptop bag from her when he got closer, and she paused, surprised by what he’d done. “I’m averse to being touched, not to holding things.”

“I’m just surprised to have someone do that for me. I’m usually the one offering to carry other people’s stuff.”

He frowned.

“I worked with children, women who’d been abused.” She strolled alongside him.

“Are you okay?”

“Why?”

He shrugged. He truly wasn’t sure, but he instinctively felt her tension. “Did something else go wrong?”

She laughed softly. “Everything is always going wrong. Just had a rather contentious meeting with the HR department.” She shook her head. “Never mind. You’re not here to listen to me whine. I’ll complain to Jesus.”

Seth shook his head, but his lips couldn’t help but curl.

He hated the name Jesus, hated everything to do with God. He never understood why anyone would want to have anything to do with a God who did nothing but condemn and punish the world. A God who made people sick and lame just to teach them humility.

All for a passport to heaven?

Why would anyone want to spend eternity with such a cruel God?

But the silliness of how Clary related to such a God seemed … silly. “You’re kind of old for an imaginary friend.”

She tipped her head to the side to look at him. “Don’t you talk to yourself at times?” She pursed her lips. “For instance, when Elton’s annoying you, don’t you complain or whine about it in your head?”

“To myself.”

She pulled her corners of her lips down. “That must be lonely. I, however, always have Jesus with me.”

“You’re weird.”

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