Page 25 of Conspiracies and Chemistry

“It’s beautiful.” Her blue eyes looked huge, shaded by mile-long false eyelashes, and her skin sparkled like one of those teenage vampires in the movies. She touched the side of her bob, then flapped her hand away like it had burned her. She puckered her lips like a fish.

“You like the lipstick?” Carly asked. “It’s a new long-staying formula with a bit of gloss. The camera’s going to love it.”

Savannah’s smile looked like her face was about to crack. “It looks great. It’s just a little sticky.”

“Can’t she wash all that off?” I asked. “She should look like herself when she’s cooking.”

“She’s working under lights,” Carly argued. “The makeup will hide any flushing and sweating. But if you don’t like it…”

“No, no, I love it,” Savannah said. She shot me a glance that I understood to mean,Stop causing trouble.

I couldn’t deny Savannah the peace she struggled to maintain in our friend group, so I stayed silent. Fortunately, a buzz in my pocket distracted me. It was the doorbell, and Bridget’s face appeared on the screen. I tapped the button to open the gate.

“Ready, Savannah?” Andrew asked from behind the camera tripod.

“I guess. What do I do?”

“Be yourself,” he said. “Start cooking and tell me what you’re doing as you go. What are you making first?”

“Um. Okay. I’m going to start with an appetizer. Um, baked cheese crackers.”

I slipped out of the kitchen and went to the door. I opened it as Bridget slammed the door of her Jaguar and stomped across the motor court in a pair of towering heels that raised her to average height.

I shut the door behind me. “What’s wrong?”

“Fucking Cole fucking Campion is what’s wrong.” She stuck her fists on her navy sheath dress where it flared at her hips.

“Who?”

“Remember, I told you our CFO retired? Cole replaced him.”

I winced. “I hoped they’d give you the finance department.”

Her lips tightened. “Me too. But they made an outside hire. Young guy, in his thirties. When I took him to lunch, he seemed nice enough—at first. And smart enough that I thought he’d keep quiet for a while. Watch and learn.”

“No?”

“He ripped my proposed budget to shreds. In front of the CEO.”

“What a dick.”

“Right? But”—she shimmied her head and shoulders—“I shook it off. My team and I will take another run at the budget. We’ll present one that’s perfect next time. And I’ll be prepared to defend it.”

“You’re a rock star.” How many times had she told me the same thing? “Remember that. Eyes on the prize.”

“I know. I’ll be the company’s first female CEO.” Her delicate jaw hardened.

She’d busted her ass in college. She’d wanted to be a CEO even then. If anyone deserved it, Bridget did. I held her gaze. “You will.”

Her eyes went glossy, and she blinked. “Dammit. I’m a hard-ass executive. Don’t make me cry.”

“Ew. Wouldn’t dream of it.”

She chuckled, then sniffed. “Something smells…not great.”

I sniffed. It smelled like the time I’d lit a candle Carly had given me, and Anita wouldn’t stop trying to smother the flame with her paw. “Burned hair?”

I led the way to the kitchen, where Carly was patting down the side of Savannah’s head with a kitchen towel. Her blond hair frizzed up along one side.

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