The woman scoffed. She glanced around, noticing the other people wandering the nursery, shooting peculiar looks in her direction. She huffed.
“Just give me the flowers,” she grumbled.
Amber’s customer-service smile returned. “Fantastic. I’ll check you out.”
The woman’s lips remained pursed as Amber rang up the flowers. She hummed as she took the woman’s credit card, acting as though she didn’t have a care in the world, as if nothinghad happened whatsoever. The woman snatched the bouquets and walked off.
“Wow,” Alex muttered, staring after the woman. “Thanks, Amber. That woman was a nightmare. I didn’t know what to do.”
“She was trying to get a discount,” Amber muttered, rolling her eyes. “I’ve dealt with women like that plenty of times before. They think if they push you around, you’ll cave and give them whatever you want.”
“Well, thanks,” Alex said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I really appreciate it.”
“No need to apologize. Next time you have someone pester you about it, feel free to call me over. I’ll take care of them.”
“You don’t need—”
“I’m not going to let someone bully you,” Amber cut her off. “It’s fine. Really. I would rather you tell me than try to deal with it on your own. No one should have to deal with that on their own.”
“Still, I’m going to keep thanking you.”
Glancing around, Amber’s lips twitched downward. Something about the situation bothered her, though she couldn’t begin to understand why. It was as if some internal part of her was scolding her. Not about challenging the woman, but about how easy it had been to stand up to her. It felt contradictory somehow, but she couldn’t put her finger on what. It swirled uneasily inside her, nagging at her.
She swallowed and shook off the sensation. She didn’t regret arguing with the customer or for standing up for a friend. At the moment, that was all that mattered. She could decipher her feelings about it some other time.
“What are you doing later?” Amber asked. “Some girlfriends and I are going out to a bar for some drinks. Why don’t you join us?”
Alex beamed. “That sounds great!”
Amber smiled and nodded. “Excellent! Though for now, it looks like we have another customer. Hopefully they’ll be more reasonable.”
Alex smirked, then turned toward the man who had just entered the store.
***
Later, Amber and Alex sat at the same booth as Nikki and Flora, Camden’s mate, along with Izzie and Dana, two other women from their time in the Ironbrand pack. A colorful cocktail stood in front of each of them. Currently, Alex was regaling the other three with the story of how Amber had handled the “atrocious customer,” as Alex christened her.
“You should have seen her,” Alex said admiringly. “I would have sworn she was my guardian angel swooping down with a vengeance.”
“That sounds like Amber,” Nikki said, laughing.
“I’m impressed you let the woman walk away with all her teeth,” Flora responded.
“God, I know I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of one of Amber’s trademark death glares,” Izzie chimed in. “I think I’d rather dig my own grave at that point.”
“As long as you aren’t a horrible person to everyone you come across, then there’s no need to pick up a shovel,” Amber responded cheerfully.
“I still remember what she was like when we were under Sier,” Dana chimed in. “Sometimes she was openly antagonistic toward him or one of his goons just to take their attention off one of the other girls.”
Amber flapped her hand dismissively. “That was nothing,” she said. “I just can’t stand bullies. I’ve had to deal with them nearly my entire life. So if I see one going after someone else, I can’t just let it slide.”
“Well, I still can’t thank you enough for sticking up for me,” Alex said. “I owe you big.”
“No, you don’t owe me anything,” Amber insisted.
It wasn’t just that she was more than happy to help Alex without any sort of reward for common decency. Part of it was that she didn’t feel like she deserved the praise. Not just because she felt that people should do that sort of thing without saying, but because of something else, something she couldn’t put her finger on.
She explored that thought, trying to get to the bottom of it. It didn’t take long to figure out what had unsettled her, and it shot through her with a painful jolt that made her insides twist: if she could stand up to difficult customers to defend her friends and herself, then why couldn’t she stand up to the men in her life trying to control everything she did?
