“I want to get the feel of it on my own,” Gilda got right into the Flying Car after scarfing a muffin and cup of coffee. “I’ll be back for lessons later.”

“It’d probably be better if I went with you,” Henri chuckled at her determination to get away from him.

Jon Gorightly told Gilda to listen to Henri, but trusting him was not something she was prepared to do. Twenty-four hours ago she didn’t know he existed, and he’d already lied to her.

“I’m sorry for lying,” Henri said, as if reading her mind. “Wrench, yesterday, he told me you’d still be upset about that.”

“I don’t like liars.”

“I do need the job,” Henri got in the passenger’s seat without asking. “And a place to stay, if you have the room. The last couple of decades have not been ideal.”

“Look, I’m sorry for overreacting,” Gilda wasn’t happy about apologizing, but it felt like the right thing to do. “It’s just the way I am. So if you’re going to work here, you’re going to have to deal with that.”

“You’re more than a research project to me,” Henri’s eyes shimmered. “Your family is an inspiration.”

Her heart started racing and she felt her blood spike with hormones. “That is going to have to stop,” Gilda pointed up and down Henri. “All those … tricks. Someone is going to end up losing an appendage.”

“It’s not something I can help, really.” For the first time, Gilda saw stress on Henri’s face. “It was part of the enrichment. The ‘Youthful Glow’ finish is a double edged sword. The procedure heightens your level of pheromone secretion. No matter what I do, because of how I smell, you’ll find it completely irresistible.”

Gilda’s eyes turned mutinous. “Where’s the eject passenger button?”