Page 18 of Together at Ruby's

“What the hell?” Liza spat, making the woman with Tate turn to look. Liza sucked in a breath when she saw the woman’s face. She was gorgeous. One of those people who could easily be mistaken for a beautiful celebrity. Big green eyes, beautiful hair flowing to her shoulders, sensual lips, and light skin—qualities the dark-haired Liza didn’t have but maybe Tate wanted.Well, clearly she does, Liza thought.Or she wouldn’t be here with her instead of at Ruby’s with me.

Tate stood. “Liza,” she started. “This is not what you think.” Before she said another word, the stranger with her stood as well and extended a hand. Liza, who still held two bags of food, simply stared at the woman’s gesture.

After a moment of hesitation, the auburn-haired woman dropped her hand, but a big smile still lit up her beautiful face. “You must be…” the woman looked at Tate. “I’m sorry I don’t know your girlfriend’s name.” Liza looked at Tate and her embarrassment was clear. “Or at least I am assuming this is your girlfriend.”

“Yes,” Tate said. “This is my girlfriend.”

“Are you so sure?” Liza asked. “You seem confused.”

“Liza,” Tate started again and reached for her.

Liza pulled back. “Don’t touch me,” she said. “This must be the infamous Aurora Price. Am I wrong?”

“You’re not wrong,” Aurora said. “I’m Tate’s new coworker.”

Shaking her head, Liza lifted her chin. “Right,” she said. “Sure. Well, I’ve seen enough.” The threat of tears made her want to retreat. The last thing she would do was cry in front of Tate or that woman.

Suddenly Nikki was beside her. “Liza,” she said. “We should go.”

There was a coolness in her tone that let Liza know her friend was disappointed with Tate as well. “Yes, let’s get back to our real friends,” Liza said, turning on her heel to storm out of the restaurant.

“Liza, wait,” Tate said and as Liza left the building, she realized not only Nikki, but Tate followed her. “Listen to me.”

When they reached the sidewalk, Liza whirled on her girlfriend. “What more is there to say?” Liza asked and Tate shook her head.

“I am serious,” she said. “It is not what you’re thinking.”

“Sure, my eyes were tricking me,” Liza said, reaching into one of the bags to pull out a container of food. “Here’s your dinner.” The tears from before disappeared replaced with fury. “I got you your souvlaki.” Then she opened the container and, with all her might, threw it at Tate where it splatted against the woman’s chest. “But apparently you aren’t going to need it.”

14

As the Greek food container dropped from her chest leaving a mess of tzatziki sauce and feta cheese, Tate’s temper flared. She had had enough. In her mind, Liza’s attack was unwarranted and throwing food at her in front of the restaurant where anyone could be watching was not acceptable. Her girlfriend was jumping to conclusions, and Tate needed to make her understand, but yelling on the street in Portland was not how to get it done. Yelling was not her style under any circumstance for that matter.And I’m not going to start now,she thought.I need to stay calm and handle Liza gently. She’s hurting, that’s all this is.Taking a deep breath to center herself, Tate looked Liza in the eye. “Please calm down. It is a work dinner. Nothing more,” she said, but before she could continue Aurora Price stepped up beside her.

“Tate,” she said. “How can I help?”

“Oh, I think you’ve helped enough,” Liza growled, taking two steps toward Aurora. Luckily, Nikki responded quickly and took Liza by the arm before the messy confrontation escalated.

Impressively, Aurora didn’t flinch. “I think you should do as Tate advises and calm down,” she said. “You’re overreacting. We were discussing work.”

For a moment Liza’s eyes seemed confused, and Tate felt a sliver of hope things would get straightened out, but then the anger snapped back into them again. “This seems like too much of a coincidence to me,” she said. “And I don’t want to interrupt your ‘work dinner.’” With that she shrugged Nikki off and turned to walk away. Starting to follow Liza, Nikki glanced back and met Tate’s eyes. There was a hint of sympathy, but also a hint of honest doubt. Tate hated seeing that almost more than hurting Liza. She couldn’t stand it if Nikki suspected her too.

Wanting to follow them back to Ruby’s, Tate headed toward the restaurant to get her bag, but Aurora was still beside her. “I’m sorry,” she said, and Tate could not help but stare at her.

“Are you really?” she asked in a quiet voice. “I told you I had plans tonight and yet you insisted.”

A hint of color rose to Aurora’s cheeks. “I assumed you were adult enough to make the best decision,” she said. “And this was important. Perhaps more important than a girlfriend who flies off the handle before there’s an explanation.”

Tate narrowed her eyes ready to tell Aurora she should not say anything about Liza, but then she shook her head, and walked into the restaurant to get her things. She would go to Ruby’s and try to convince Liza to listen. All her friends would be there, and it would take a lot of nerve to walk up to the table if Liza had told them her suspicions.I can handle it, she thought.And I know they won’t judge me without more proof,and there isn’t any more proof to be found. There was nothing but a misunderstanding, and Tate would make sure they all knew it.

Slammingthrough the door at Ruby’s, Liza had never been more hurt and confused than at that moment. Seeing Tate through the restaurant window, having dinner with another woman, and an absolutely gorgeous woman at that, brought back every bit of her fears from her dream.It was as if I somehow had a premonition, Liza thought.That maybe Tate has found someone else. Yet she wasn’t a hundred percent sure of what to think. Tate and the other woman had both insisted it was nothing but work. What didn’t make sense was if Tate was going to have a work meeting why did she not tell Liza.She lied to me.

With Nikki still behind her, Liza walked across Ruby’s to where her friends sat. When they glanced over, Liza saw concern light up their faces. Marty stood and met her a few steps from the booth, taking the bag of food from her hand. “What happened?” she asked, looking from Liza, then to Nikki, and back.

Liza shook her head angrily. “I’m not even sure where to begin,” she said. “It was just horrible. Nikki can explain.”

Nikki sighed. “Liza is right, it is bordering on horrible. We found Tate,” she said. “Having dinner with a coworker.”

Liza saw Rey and Allie look at each other before Rey raised her eyebrows. “Is this the coworker who took Tate’s promotion?” she asked. “Aurora something?”

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