he muttered, plodding over to the bouquet. Each flower had cost him more than he’d ever imagined spending on a plant. And I don’t even know if she likes tulips. What am I thinking? He tapped a fingertip against the thick green stems, shaking his head.The door swung open behind him, with the sound of the street rising up with it. Cooper twisted his head around. Is that—?“Cooper,” Skye said, tilting her chin up at him in greeting. She turned back to close the door behind her, and he snatched up the tulips and tossed them under the counter in a single frantic flash. Her eye caught the movement and she turned back to him.“Hey there,” he said, leaning his tailbone against the counter.“What’re you doing?”“Just cleaning up a little.”“Were those flowers?”“I know, right?” Cooper scoffed. “The messes that get left around here!”Skye opened her mouth, then closed it with a frown. She looked around the room, squinting into the corners. “Upforth made you do a deep cleaning when we’ve got all this Expo work to do?”“It’s, uh. It was implied that I should. There’s a client coming.”Skye raised an eyebrow. Realization slowly set in on her broad face. “Mmm.” She drifted over to the employee cubbyholes on the streetside wall. “Well, I was thinking about doing some machining, but all I really need are my schematics here,”
