Page 68 of My Grumpy Fire Chief Next Door
“Well, isn’t this cozy?”
I recognize the voice even before I turn around. Tara. Her tone is as sharp as the stilettos she shouldn’t be wearing on a field like this, and it cuts through the group like a breeze gone sour.
She approaches from behind with that polished, predatory smile that feels a little too tight. Her sunglasses are perched on her head like a crown, and her manicured fingers clutch a glittery water tumbler that looks out of place.
I can sense the disapproval from Emily, Rachel, and Ava already, but I rise slowly, careful to keep my expression neutral and polite.
She caught me off guard the last time, but now, I’m determined to be polite. My manners were drilled into me since before I could walk. I know how to handle women like her. Or at least… I used to.
“I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of introducing each other,” I smile sweetly, extending a hand. “Hi. I’m Kate Sincl—”
The name catches in my throat like a thorn.
Sinclair.
My real name. One I don’t plan to use in Porthaven.
I blink, my heart thudding too loud as I catch myself.
“Montgomery,” I correct quickly, swallowing hard as I glance toward Emily, Ava, and Rachel, praying they didn’t notice the slip. “Kate Montgomery.”
Tara eyes me with the same expression someone might give a wine stain on white silk. Like she’s already decided exactly who I am and doesn’t like it.
She doesn’t take my hand.
Instead, her gaze drops, zeroing in on my wrist, where my grandmother’s vintage Cartier glints in the sunlight. Then higher, to the delicate gold chain at my collarbone, where my pendant rests—an heirloom from my mother’s side, barely visible beneath the neckline of my blouse.
Her eyes narrow. “That’s a pretty watch,” she says, voice honeyed but laced with bite. “And the necklace, too. Didn’t know art teachers made enough to afford real pieces like that.”
There’s a beat of silence, and it stretches just long enough to be dangerous.
What is her problem?
I smile softly, feigning sheepishness with a breathy laugh. “The necklace was a gift, and the watch… let’s just say I'm really good at finding hidden gems on clearance racks."
Ava snorts into her muffin.
Rachel lifts a brow, amused.
Emily reaches over to casually dust a crumb from my shoulder like nothing happened, but I catch the way her gaze flicks between me and Tara.
Tara doesn’t look convinced, but she smiles anyway. One of those slow, smug grins. “Hmm. Clearance,” she repeats before stepping back, flipping her sunglasses down over her eyes. “Well, some of us know how toworkfor what we have. Enjoy the game.”
She struts off, hips swaying, her perfume trailing behind her like an insult.
I sit back down slowly, the muffin still untouched in my hand.
Emily bumps her knee into mine. “You handled that like a queen.”
“Barely,” I whisper.
Rachel leans over. “Remind me again why she’s always here?”
“She idolizes Noah,” Ava deadpans. “And she would do anything to make him notice her.”
I exhale, letting myself laugh quietly even though I'm still rattled by the exchange.
But even as the moment passes, I can’t shake the feeling Tara’s eyes left behind. The way she saw something I didn’t mean for anyone to see.
