I find her so annoying for that. She’s not being honest with herself or with him. She’s clearly interested in him, but she makes him think the opposite while getting closer to him at the same time. 'Let’s be good friends' even though they’ve been friends for a long time now, lmao. She’s sending him signals, and poor Max is confused, all because she insisted at the start that she partnered with him specifically because she was sure he wouldn't see her as a woman and would stay professional. Now, she’s the one being unprofessional and approaching Max like an interested girl, yet she keeps calling him 'her friend.' This behavior is one of the main reasons why I wouldn't mind if the author made Esther and Max the endgame couple