She was businesslike and seemed to approach every situation from a purely logical point of view, while Anja viewed life from a more interpersonal, emotional angle. Susanne loved cars; Anja didn’t even own one. She had eaten a bratwurst, while Anja had been a vegetarian since she’d been sixteen.

Flirting with her was wrong. But it had also been amazingly fun, especially since she hadn’t flirted with anyone in a long time. No, no, no, no. Stop thinking like that. You’re not even the flirty type. Why start now, with her of all people?

“…open?” the customer asked.

Oh shit. She’d totally missed everything he’d been saying—and Susanne was still in the room and was probably watching her interact with the customer. Anja gritted her teeth. Instead of flirting with her, she should prove to her what a good salesperson she was. She took a wild guess, hoping he had asked her how long the store would be open tonight. “Um, until six thirty.”

He gave her a puzzled look. “I asked if the notebook lies open when you use it. The one I’m using right now doesn’t lie flat but closes on its own whenever I let go of it.”

Anja felt herself blush to the roots of her hair. “Oh. Sorry. I have the perfect notebook for you! We just got a delivery from a little Greek company. They use an entirely new type of binding that allows you to even bend the cover all the way back. It stays open like a dream.”

His eyes lit up. “That’s exactly what I need.”

Phew. “Give me a second. I’ll get you one from the stockroom.” Glad to escape for a moment, she rushed toward the back. As she passed Nobby and his niece, she caught snippets of their conversation. “Paperworld… Two free tickets…”

Anja gave a joyful hop. They had gotten tickets for Paperworld? She had always wanted to go, but one thing or another had always come up that kept her from making it to the trade fair. Maybe they would find a new trend at the fair, something that would draw more well-paying customers to the store. She barely stopped herself from skipping all the way to the stockroom like a kid who’d just found out she’d be going to Disneyland.

But right as she reached the door to the back, Nobby’s voice drifted over. “I thought you and Anja could go.”

Oh boy. She had assumed she and Nobby would go, but, of course, they couldn’t leave Susanne at the store alone, and Felix, their part-time employee, had never covered an entire day on his own. That left her to spend a day at Paperworld with the resident stationery grump. The resident stationery grump with whom she had just flirted, even though Susanne had no idea she was interested in women.