She snorted. “You think Shirley will ever let that expense form make it to Frank’s desk?” It was well known amongst Bloom employees that Shirley the overlord/office manager ate power trips for breakfast, up to and including vetoing expenses that would be standard practice in any other company. As VP of Marketing and Sales, Frank always managed to avoid getting involved, which made Mira all but certain there was blackmail in the mix.

Regardless of Frank and Shirley’s weird dynamic, surge pricing wasn’t the answer to Mira’s problems. She turned and made her way to the revolving doors.

“Where are you going?” Jake asked.

She turned back. “I’m taking the R-E-R train.”

Jake looked confused.

“It’s a train that goes to the airport. Some of them are even express.” Her schedule now faced the slight delay of getting to the airport by public transit, but she wasn’t going to let it stress her out. She noticed that Jake hadn’t moved. “Good luck with the surge pricing.”

“I’ll come with you!”

“Why?”

He headed for the doors. “I don’t trust Shirley either.”

Four

M

The métro station was busy, a fact that instantly stressed Mira out. As she and Jake squeezed their way onto the train, she reminded herself it was only a one-stop subway ride of less than one minute, after which they would arrive at Châtelet, the station that not only connected to multiple métro lines, but to trains that traveled out of Paris. The RER B train passed through the station frequently, and it would get them to Charles de Gaulle Airport in plenty of time. She clutched the nearest metal pole and nodded to herself in affirmation.

“Why are you nodding to yourself?” Jake asked.

“I wasn’t.”

“You definitely were. That must’ve been some conversation you were having in your head.”

“You’re not as tall when your hair is messy,” she said, while secretly deciding his bedhead looked good.

Mira’s comment threw him off, just as she’d intended. He ran his fingers through the mess atop his head. “It’s not that bad.”

The train braked suddenly, propelling Jake’s body toward Mira. The last time she’d been that close to a man was two weeks earlier, when a rollerblader in Riverside Park had stumbled over a rock and crashed into her. In this case, Jake’s hovering presence made her heartrate immediately quicken.

“Sorry,” he said, backing up, but studying her face like he was looking for an opening to flirt.

Unfortunately for Jake, flirting was not on Mira’s agenda. It was getting to the airport that mattered. “I guess you didn’t have time to shower this morning, huh?”

He flushed. “I mean . . . you know how it is.”

“How what is?”

The train resumed its rumbling journey, and in those few seconds, his embarrassment gave way to his usual smarmy vibe. “I didn’t make it back to the hotel until morning, if you know what I mean.”

“Yes, I’m familiar with the construct of time.”