But it was too late.
She'd looked for too long, with too much heat in her eyes. And Ruby had seen it.
Ruby's eyes widened, shock rippling across her face, followed quickly by something else. Recognition.
“Like what you see?”“
It wasn't a question. The tease in Ruby’s voice was obvious.
Celeste's heart slammed against her ribs. Denial rose in her throat like bile, but the words wouldn't come. She shook her head instead, her voice coming out strangled.
“I don’t know what you mean. Just go to the bathroom and get dressed.”
But Ruby didn't move. She stood there, half-dressed, watching Celeste with an intensity that made her want to bolt from the room. “I’m just saying, the way you’re looking at me makes me think you’d like a photo for memory’s sake. Or do you have something to talk to me about?” She chuckled, but there was something more to it, Celeste just couldn’t put her finger on what.
“There's nothing to talk about.”
“I think there's a lot to talk about.”
“Well, I don't.” Celeste moved past Ruby, keeping as much distance between them as possible, and grabbed her suitcase. She rifled through the neatly folded items, pulling out clothes without really seeing them. “So drop it.”
Ruby stood there for another moment. Celeste could feel her gaze and sense the questions she wasn't asking. Then she wagged a finger, her mouth curving into something between a smile and a smirk that Celeste absolutely refused to find endearing
“Alright, if you insist,” Ruby said
The door clicked shut behind her, and Celeste sagged against the dresser, her legs suddenly unsteady.
Oh God. Oh God oh God oh God.
She'd been caught. Years of careful control, of hiding and perfecting the art of looking without appearing to look—all shattered in one unguarded moment.
And Ruby knew. In fact, she had seen Celeste stare at her like she was starving and Ruby was a feast.
Celeste pressed her hands to her burning cheeks. This was increasingly turning out to be a complete and utter disaster.
She dressed in record time, her fingers fumbling with buttons and zippers. Her reflection in the tilted mirror looked flushed, like someone who'd been caught doing something illicit.
What did Ruby think of her now? That she was some repressed closet case who couldn't control herself, probably, and that she was pathetic for hiding her entire life.
She was all of those things, indeed, but at the same time her circumstances were justified.
The bathroom door opened. Ruby emerged fully clothed—thank God—and looking annoyingly composed. Like she hadn't just upended Celeste's entire world.
“Ready?” Ruby asked.
Celeste nodded, having managed to wrestle her features into something approaching calm. They headed downstairs in silence, the tension between them thick enough to cut. Meanwhile her mind was still racing as she tried to figure out some damage control. Maybe she could claim exhaustion or stress. Or temporary desire brought on by, what? The full moon?
Noah was already in the shop, surrounded by wooden crates and bubble wrap and looking like a kid on Christmas morning. His face lit up when he saw them.
“Perfect timing! Come see what treasures I've unearthed.”
Ruby dove into the inspection with enthusiasm. She examined jewelry laid out on velvet cloths, asked questions about provenance and ran her fingers over the spines of leather-bound books with reverence.
“This is an 1887 edition of Oliver Twist,” Noah said, delicately lifting a volume from its protective wrapping. “Original binding, remarkably preserved. The previous owner kept it in a climate-controlled case for forty years.”
Ruby leaned forward to examine the spine.
“The gilt work is incredible. You can still see the details.”
