“What? No! I just…” Anja trailed off since she couldn’t very well admit that she’d wandered around upset because she had overheard what she had said to Nobby.

“You what?” Susanne pierced her with those gunmetal gray eyes.

Anja squirmed. God, this woman could push her off her stride much too easily. But enough was enough. She wouldn’t be able to bear the strain of waiting for days until someone finally told her what the heck was going on, so she decided on the direct route. After all, Susanne already planned on firing her, so what else could she do to her?

She firmly planted her feet on the cobblestones, bracing herself. “Why do you want to take over Paper Love if you don’t even like stationery?”

“What? Who said I want to—?”

“Oh! I get it now!” Anja put her hands on her hips, leaned forward, and glared at her. They were almost nose to nose now—well, nose to chest because of their height difference—and Anja did her best to focus on her anger and not on the distracting closeness of Susanne’s admittedly nice breasts. “You want to toss out the pens and paper and sell smartphones or sushi or something.”

“I don’t even like sushi,” Susanne said with an annoying calmness.

God, this woman was maddening. “That’s not the point! You—”

“Let’s get one thing straight. I don’t have any intention of staying here in Freiburg to take over the store, not for sushi and not for anything else.”

“Then why do you want Nobby to fire me?”

Susanne slid her hands into the pockets of her slacks and rocked back on her heels to give Anja a disapproving look. “Do you always eavesdrop on your boss’s conversations?”

“No! Of course I don’t.” For some reason, Anja didn’t want her to think that. “I just… I couldn’t help myself. I needed to know what’s going on.”

“Oh, come on. Surely you knew it was coming.”

“How was I supposed to know? Nobby was always happy with my work, and our customers really seem to like me. It was only when you came in and—”

Susanne cut her off with an impatient wave of her hand. “This isn’t about you or me. Don’t think I’m having fun doing this.”

“Could have fooled me,” Anja muttered under her breath.

Susanne fixed her with a sharp glare. “I get that you need to be angry with someone, but that kind of attitude won’t help save the store.”

“I’ve worked at Paper Love for fourteen years. Of course I’m angr… Wait a minute! Did you just say…?” Anja couldn’t breathe. Tunnel vision set in, and all she saw were the clear gray irises in front of her. “S-save the store? Are…are you saying…?”