The train slid to a stop at the next station, jolting Anja backward. She grabbed the lapel of Susanne’s coat.

Susanne spread her fingers over Anja’s back to steady her.

They stood frozen in this semi-embrace for several seconds, just staring at each other.

God, if she bent her head, she could—

Are you fucking crazy? You’re on a business trip. On a train surrounded by dozens of stressed-out, potentially homophobic strangers. With an employee! She cursed the fact that Anja had told her she was bi. Maybe if she hadn’t, keeping a professional distance—even if it was just a figurative distance—wouldn’t have been so difficult.

Susanne struggled not to sound breathless. “I don’t think this is what Uncle Norbert had in mind when he said we should use the train ride to get to know each other better.”

Anja burst out laughing, making Susanne smile, and the tension between them receded a little.

The doors banged shut without anyone having gotten on or off, and the train accelerated away from the platform.

Slowly, Anja loosened her death grip on Susanne’s lapel and then let go completely. “Next stop is ours.” She sounded a bit hoarse.

Susanne bit back a thank God and just nodded. By the time they made it out of here, the pole she gripped would probably have permanent indentations from her fingers.

The doors hissed open, and passengers popped out of the train like corks from champagne bottles, clearing space so Anja could finally move. While she was glad to be able to breathe more easily, her body protested as it lost contact with Susanne’s.

The four-minute ride from the main station to the trade fair premises had seemed to last an eternity, but her libido insisted that it hadn’t been nearly long enough.

They followed the stream of people to the entrance of the massive exhibition complex, dropped off their coats at the coat check, and then made it through the bag check to have their tickets scanned.

She fell into step next to Susanne as they headed down a seemingly endless hallway. It appeared as if they were entering another world. Her body buzzed with excitement, and Anja had a hard time telling if it was because she was about to enter a hall full of stationery or because she was still overly aware of Susanne’s proximity.

She snuck glances at her from the corner of her eye, trying to figure out if she felt it too, but Susanne had put on her fully focused business mask and glanced at the fair navigator app she had downloaded to her smartphone. “Where do you want to go first?”

Anja consulted the paper floor plan she had grabbed at the entrance. The trade fair was spread out over several floors of four exhibition halls. “How about hall 6.1? That’s where most of the stationery is.”