Martinez waslate for roll call, and I was just manic enough worrying about Goldie and Tanner and their night together that I was likely to snap his head off, just for the principle of being late.
His being late wasn’t anything new, it was, however, becoming more frequent. And him rolling up to the front of the station almost twenty minutes later, in a flashy black SUV, witha flashy blonde in the passenger seat, literally made my head want to pop off my shoulders.
The man was gross, even when he remembered to shower. But even he could find love.
While I had to compete for it.
Fucking unfair.
The SUV came to a rest, parked in front of the bay as the rest of our crew stood around drinking our coffee as the sun came up finally, and I almost choked on the caffeine when the two of them got out together.
She was tall and polished, wearing neutral colors with minimal but high-end makeup done to her obviously surgically enhanced face. The boring fabric of her professional clothing was one thing, the height on the shiny heels she obviously didn’t walk far in was another.
Something was just… off about her.
Her expression when she came up to us was pleasant. It wasn’t warm or affectionate, just pleasant. She was giving high-end sex doll facial features, and I couldn’t unsee it after the thought crossed my mind. There was just no emotion there.
Martinez jogged around the front of the SUV that he would have had to work three years straight, without being late, to afford, and he looked like a kid showing off a brand-new toy.
I just wasn’t sure if it was the car or the woman he was so giddy about.
“Sorry, Sarg!” He called out. “Traffic into the city for coffee was a bitch,” Martinez threw his arm around the stiff woman standing before all of us. “But worth it.”
I felt my jaw tense even more at his very public display of affection, which pissed me off even more. Since when was I such a hater of others?
“Everyone,” Martinez called out as if we needed to gather around for whatever stupid thing he was about to say, “this is Celeste. Celeste Howard.”
And that clicked it into place, the missingthingin my mind. The thing that was off about her. Her name. It was a name you’d read on a business card somewhere but never hear in normal day-to-day conversation.
“My girlfriend,” Martinez pushed on, squeezing the woman around the shoulders. “She’s incredible.”
Celeste smiled on cue, but it didn’t move her face at all.
“Hi,” She said with an unnatural purr to her voice, “I’ve heard so much about all of you.”
Her eyes skimmed the group of us, not lingering on anyone, but touching on each and every person somehow. When her gaze landed on me, it flickered somehow, with something different. It wasn’t interest or recognition, but there was something there, and it put me on edge.
Assessment, maybe.
Martinez kissed her on the temple as a few of the men said hello, making small talk with her, but I didn’t miss the way she stiffened as his lips left a smear in her perfectly polished hair line.
No one else noticed. But I did.
“I forced her to come meet you all,” he went on, unbothered by the awkwardness burning through the air like dense smoke. “She’s practically part of the family now.”
Celeste’s smile didn’t meet her eyes as she turned to him, “You’re so sweet.”
“Since when do you bring dates to roll call?” I asked, voicing what everyone was thinking but not saying.
Was it a bitch move? Yes.
Did I care? Not today.
Martinez laughed, tightening his hold on Celeste. “Jealous Dalton?”
His girlfriend turned back to me, head tilting just slightly. “You must be Rhea.”
Something about the way she said my name made my skin prickle and my ears tune in like satellite dishes on my head. So, I clapped back in true Rhea form. “And you must not be from around here.”