" I’m actually here with Crispin. You didn’t forget about your tutoring date with him, did you?”
I wrinkle my nose. “I thought I told him no?”
Just then, Crispin comes into view on his way up the walk.
“I thought I told you no,” I call out to him.
“Ah,” he replies, joining James in the doorway. “You did. But I’ve been told that when a woman says no, she really means yes. So I read between the lines.”
“Well, whoever told you that was wrong,” I say, trying to regain my composure. “Unless you’re asking that woman if Brad Pitt is sexier than you. In that case, no always means yes.”
Crispin looks faintly amused, but James arches an eyebrow. “Always?” he asks.
Personally I’m not overly fond of Brad Pitt. But I unconvincingly reply, “I’m just telling it like it is.”
James shrugs carelessly. “Well, there’s no accounting for some people’s taste.”
“Amen,” I murmur. "

― Haley Fisher , Rising Calm (Rising Calm #1)