Page 71 of It Starts With A No

She nodded. “And you.”

“Still me?”

“Yeah.” She chuckled as she turned to him, and Seth couldn’t stop his lips from curling.

There was something so infectious about her smiles and laughter. “You need to fix your smile.”

“My smile?”

He held her shoulders and turned her to him. By then, she was looking slightly annoyed, which incredibly only widened his smile. “When you take a moment longer to smile, it’ll make you appear more trustworthy.”

Her eyes narrowed.

If he had wanted to lie, he would tell her to stop smiling altogether. Because the thought of her smiling only at him was especially enticing, which was ridiculous. Monopolizing a smile. He would’ve rolled his eyes at himself. “Remember Zane?”

“FBI agent. He has a gun.”

Seth nodded. “He went through a lot of training on body language and negotiations.”

“How do you take a moment longer to smile?”

“Just take a second to remind yourself to smile slowly.”

“Smile slowly?”

“Yes. Don’t just burst into that wide grin of yours.”

“I can’t help it.”

“Yes you can.”

“Who thinks about smiling? It’s as abnormal as thinking about having to move a finger.”

“But doable.” He turned her forward and put a hand on her back. “It’s a lot easier when you’re in a meeting. You’re already nervous then and probably questioning and thinking about what you should or shouldn’t say.”

“And now I need to remind myself to smile slowly.”

“Just when you’re at work.” Because the last thing he wanted was for her to stop smiling around him. “Especially while you’re with the boys’ club, who again, really shouldn’t even be at EB Co. anymore.”

Clary blew out a breath. “I need a plan.”

“You already have one: burn that place down. I love the idea.”

She sighed.

“Yes, you need a plan. Step number one: get an assistant whom you know will have your back.”

“Are you looking for a job?”

He understood she was merely joking, but her response rendered him speechless.

“Are you so surprised that I asked you?” she asked.

“You trust people too easily.”

“You’ve had my back.”

The door to the diner flew open as a group of teenagers burst out, and the door swung right toward Clary.

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