Celeste.
They were chatting, unaware of me watching them from the doorway, but as Goldie tried to step out around the woman to come back into the bakery, Celeste moved deliberately into her path.
My feet started moving again instantly, without thinking, as I watched Celeste lay her hand on Goldie’s arm, smiling at her as if they were familiar, giving her the right to touch her. Goldie’s smile slipped, concern etching between her brows for a second as Celeste’s thumb gently started stroking her skin.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I snapped, making them both jump and turn my way.
Goldie looked relieved instantly when she saw me, but to her credit, Celeste’s same unphased face changed little as she watched me approach. I may be a woman, an equal to them both in a lot of ways, but I was a menace on a good day, and I could feel the seriousness of my face aimed her way as I crossed the room. Yet still, she didn’t flinch.
She didn’t back up or make any extra space between their bodies either. It was as if she liked living dangerously on the edge of safety and danger, one wrong move away from falling off the wrong side of that story.
Was it because she didn’t understand how quickly I could wipe the floor with her face if I wanted to? Or was it because she was prodding me, hoping that I’d try?
“I’m sorry?” She asked with a smooth expression, acting completely obtuse.
Stepping between them, I used my body to create a space that she wasn’t willing to give Goldie originally, forcing her backthree steps. Goldie’s hand tangled in the back of my shirt, gently pulling me back away from the other woman. “You’re making her uncomfortable.” I replied, staring directly into Celeste’s calculating eyes.
And that was the problem.
She wasn’t obtuse or unaware at all, like she was acting.
Celeste was watching me very closely, analyzing me as she played some sort of character, like a part in a play. Only women understood that ingrained intuition that burned deep in our guts about other women like Celeste. Women who said and did one thing, but meant an entirely different thing deep down inside.
Vile women.
Snakes.
Fakes.
“Me?” She scoffed slightly, dismissively. “I was congratulating Goldie on her successful reopening.”
“You were touching her.” I accused her firmly, letting her know she wasn’t fooling me. “And she was trying to leave, but you kept her cornered like a predator.”
Celeste’s face morphed in surprise, though it didn’t look genuine. It almost lookedexpected. Like she expected my accusation of that. “I was just being friendly.”
“Friendly doesn’t corner someone,” I replied, my voice steady even as my heart thundered.
Goldie smoothed her free hand over my back, grounding me to her. “Let’s just go back out to the bakery. It’s okay.” I could hear the smile on her face and hated that she felt like she had to be polite to the woman even when Celeste didn’t deserve it.
“It’s not.” I argued, controlling my voice to keep her from thinking I was frustrated with her. “But you need to go, regardless.” I said, nodding to Celeste. “This area is for staff only.”
“Right,” Celeste nodded once, taking a step backward with a slight crease in her Botox-filled forehead. “I’ll be honest,” she said, and for the first time since meeting her, I felt like I was seeing some real fire in her eyes as she looked me up and down slightly. Instantly my fingertips burned with energy from the move. “They all say you’re intense. Like a junkyard dog on a chain, but I just thought it was all boy talk. You know how it is when men talk about the woman they’re all forced to work with. When they have to handle her emotions like a ticking time bomb. At least that’s what I thought it had been, but maybe they weren’t wrong after all.”
I opened my mouth to tell the woman exactly where she could shove her opinion of me, but she turned and walked away without another word, and Goldie’s grip on my shirt tightened as if she fully expected me to give chase.
“Let her go.” Goldie pleaded, and I clenched my teeth so hard I thought they’d crack, but I didn’t want to give the vapid woman any validity to her words. So, I stayed still, firmly planted in my place to keep from tearing into her like the attack dog she thought I was. “She’s wrong, and she’s not worth it.”
When the click of her stupid heels disappeared, Tanner popped out of the hallway, glancing over his shoulder at her in surprise before turning to see us standing there, both tense and on edge.
“What happened?” He asked instantly.
“Nothing.” I snapped at him and took a step away from Goldie, untangling her from me as I fought to calm my hot-head down.
“Celeste followed me back here and kind of cornered me.” Goldie stated, and Tanner’s whole demeanor changed as he got protective. “And then Rhea walked in like a savior and told her to fuck off.”
She giggled as she said it, like swearing was hilarious to her, even though we both knew the filthy words we could make fall from her lips when we were making her orgasm, but it broke the tension either way.
“I don’t like her.” I said plainly, with my hands on my hips. “Something isn’t right with her.”