Page 31 of It Starts With A No

Seth rehearsed his prepared speech in his mind while the elevator at EB Co.’s headquarters crept upwards. The building was old, and the elevator’s speed matched its age, which gave him time to think through his speech.

When the door opened on the seventh floor, he strode out and frowned at the woman standing outside Clary’s office. The woman with straight brown hair tucked neatly behind her ears had an ear up against the crack of the ajar door. She was so focused on eavesdropping that she didn’t hear the elevator or even him walking closer.

Seth stepped harder on the white tiles of the floor. That didn’t work either, so he loudly cleared his throat.

The woman jerked upright, and her eyes widened. “Mr. Anderson.”

Seth stretched his neck to the side. He’d seen this woman before. She worked for Edward Eolenfeld.

Something about this woman made him uncomfortable. Perhaps it was the green eyes like Holly’s, or perhaps it was just because he’d seen her with the old man.

“I’m Miss Fiore’s assistant, Tamara Chambers.” She moved toward him.

Keep walking. Years of pretending that he wasn’t too damaged from his time with Holly made it possible for him to flash a smile. “I thought you worked for Edward Eolenfeld.”

Her smile widened. “You remember.” She dropped her gaze and unnecessarily tucked her hair behind her ear again. “Mr. Eolenfeld sent me here to help Clary. I mean, Miss Fiore.”

He nodded and glanced at the ajar door behind her.

“I told reception to let you come up.” She leaned forward slightly.

Stay. He gritted his teeth—instinctively. Don’t move back. She isn’t Holly Eolenfeld. Despite years of practice, he could never stop his body from immediately reacting to close contact with people.

He had, however, learned to relax his cheek muscles to at least give the appearance of normalcy.

“But,” she continued in a soft voice, “Miss Fiore is—”

“No one is insignificant!”

Seth’s attention snapped over to the door again. “Miss Fiore has a loud voice.”

The assistant chuckled softly.

“Why am I making such a big deal out of this?” Clary continued shouting. “She tried to kill herself!”

That sounded ominous.

Seth stepped around Clary’s assistant. He pushed the door back and stepped in before she could stop him.

A man had his hands splayed out on the desk. “All this tension.” He bent forward, pressing his belly into the desk. “Is your fiancé not satisfying you?”

Seth frowned.

“No ring on your finger today. Trouble in paradise? Did he turn and run when you were attacked?”

Even the boys’ club stops flirting as much. This wasn’t flirting. This was straight-out harassment.

“We lost the ring,” Seth said before he realized what he was doing.

Clary’s gaze snapped over to him, and the man shot upright.

She looked away, seemingly embarrassed to be caught in this situation, while the man turned to Seth with his chin up. Neither of their reactions made sense.

Why was Clary embarrassed?

And how could this man still behave as if nothing happened?

“Seth Anderson.” The man’s lips curled.

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