[He gets it. She's come from an environment where too much easy trust could get you killed -- if not outright, then through theft of any resources that might enable you to survive.

The bite of cake that he's taken is washed down with a sip of coffee before he speaks again, and his fork hangs lazily in the air from his fingertips.]

Couldn't that be why?

Were you good at assessing situations, back at home? Or it might be that people seem quite willing to talk to you. It seems to me that either of those things might be useful in that kind of job.