A Night of Desire

Seth Quinn hooked her chin with his hand and smiled. "What’s this? Are you jealous?"

Uncharacteristically, Clara Grant pouted at him. "That’s right, I’m jealous. I’m your wife. Some other woman has a crush on you—am I not allowed to be jealous?"

"Of course you can. I love it when you’re jealous," Seth Quinn said, pecking her on the lips again before returning to their earlier topic. "Whether or not Autumn Shelby betrays me is meaningless at this point. Besides, I already warned her today. So, let’s not bring her up again."

Clara Grant nodded. ’To be honest, I feel kind of sorry for Autumn Shelby. No matter how you look at it, she developed depression because of Seth, and she truly suffered a great deal.’

’So, as long as Autumn Shelby doesn’t do anything else out of line, I don’t want to continue being her enemy.’

Seth Quinn seemed to recall something. "Oh, right. How did your meeting with Rhys Ryston go today?"

The question soured Clara Grant’s mood. "Don’t even ask. It was going so well—Ryston had already agreed to sign—but then River Sterling showed up. The second he appeared, the whole deal collapsed."

Clara Grant briefly explained what happened to Seth Quinn, finishing with a few complaints. "He’s the one who was rushing me to talk to Ryston, and he’s also the one who ruined everything! Can’t Brother Sterling rein in his temper just a little? What he said was so disrespectful. Ryston is a girl, after all!"

Seth Quinn just chuckled. "That’s River for you. He has a temper and can be pretty reckless with his words sometimes. But when it comes to women, he’s always had his ways. He and this Rhys Ryston... they’re probably just one of those couples destined to bicker."

"Don’t you worry about it. Just give it a few days. If River is really willing to go apologize in person, we can let him give it a shot once Ryston has cooled off."

Clara Grant nodded. "Yeah, Ryston isn’t really that stubborn or inflexible. If Brother Sterling is willing to apologize, I think there’s still a chance to salvage this."

"Oh, right, today I..." As she spoke, her mind shifted, and she remembered running into Poppy Vance. She stopped herself midsentence.

’So much has happened today, and every last thing has been tricky.’

’Take running into Poppy Vance, for example. I have no idea whether I should tell Linden Jennings.’

’I don’t even know if I should tell Seth.’

’After all, if I tell Seth, it’s the same as telling Linden Jennings.’

’Part of me wants Linden Jennings to find Poppy so they can have a proper talk and resolve their misunderstanding.’

’But I’m also afraid that if I tell him, Poppy Vance will really disappear again, and they’ll never find her.’

’If the second scenario happens, wouldn’t I be the reason Poppy can’t even stay in Novaria anymore? She’s not going home, and she’s avoiding Linden Jennings—she’s already so isolated and alone. How could I have the heart to make her pack up and leave everything behind again?’

’Forget it. I won’t say anything for now. I’ll just go visit Poppy more often and put in a good word for Linden Jennings while I’m at it. Maybe with a bit more time, Poppy will come around on her own and forgive him.’

When Seth Quinn saw Clara Grant stop midsentence, he looked up at her, puzzled. "What’s up with you today?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just going to say... the coffee at that café I went to with Ryston today was actually pretty good. I never used to like coffee much, but after having some today, I think it’s not bad."

In reality, she hadn’t taken a single sip of the coffee. It was just an excuse she’d scrambled to come up with.

"Really? Well, if you want to go again, I’ll take you."

Seeing that he didn’t suspect a thing, Clara Grant breathed a silent sigh of relief. "Okay."