Jamie's first meeting with Phineas feels unexpectedly personal when he openly asks her out during what should be a simple publishing meeting. Though drawn to him, Jamie senses something possibly risky beneath the romance. She even voices it plainly asking, "But promise you won't kill me or hurt me?" Phineas replies with a disarming "Not in the cards today, ma'am," leaving the reader with a flicker of tension under the budding attraction, and Jamie has to decide whether to trust that feeling.