She closed her eyes, tried to slow her heartbeat. “I expect you to honor your promise and not bring this or my night job up ever. When I see you again, we won’t talk about this.”
“I’ll keep my promise, but Oak—”
“Good night, Pike.”
She yanked off her headset, her blood still rushing through her ears and her body having aftershocks, and threw the damn thing against the wall.
Stupid, stupid Oakley.
NINE
Oakley stared at the collection of personal massagers in the Wicked boutique, already overwhelmed by all the choices and the prices. How could they possibly be this expensive? She’d had a makeshift vibrator once before, but it’d been a simple massage thing she’d bought at the drugstore. One that she could pass off as a non-sexual device. Back then, she’d been young and convinced everyone was staring at her while she made the purchase. Now she honestly didn’t care. But how the hell was she supposed to know which one to pick? It’s not like she could return it after trying it out if it was no good. And after the other night with Pike, she definitely needed one. Pent-up lust made her do idiotic things. She wouldn’t allow herself to be that desperate again.
“Need some help?”
She glanced toward the end of the aisle to find an impossibly good-looking golden-haired guy sending her a friendly smile. Jesus, what was it lately with the hot blonds?
“I, uh …”
He cocked his thumb. “Or if you’d prefer, I can get my assistant out of the stock room and she could help you. Get a woman’s opinion.”
“Um, no, that’s fine. I mean, yes, I guess I need help. But no, you don’t need to bother your assistant.” She could handle a ridiculously hot guy talking to her about vibrators. Sure. She was totally cool with this. Not awkward at all. Nope.
“Great.” He sauntered over and stopped a few inches from her to turn and face the rack she’d been staring at.
Suddenly, the words clitoral and G-spot and anal seemed to go neon on the packages, screaming at them in the silence. The tips of Oakley’s ears burned. She could talk dirty at night, but put her in the daylight and her conservative upbringing came back to haunt her.
“So have you narrowed it down any yet? Any features you’re really after?” he asked, relaxed as you please. Like they were discussing which coffeemaker to purchase.
She cleared her throat and peeked his way. His name tag said Jace Austin, Owner. Okay, well if he owned the place, this probably was about as interesting as picking out a coffeemaker. “Nothing too fancy, I guess. I just—there are a lot of choices.”
He pulled one from the display. “This is your most basic bullet vibrator. It can be inserted, but generally, it’s used for external stimulation. This brand has a few different speeds and the most intensity. It’s one of our bestsellers. And I think if this manufacturer stopped making it, my wife would picket the factory.”
Oakley laughed, some of the awkward tension draining out of her at the word wife.
Somewhere behind her, the bell on the door announced someone else had entered the store. Jace glanced up briefly in what was probably an automatic gesture, but returned his attention to her.
“There are also your multitaskers.” He grabbed a box off the top shelf. The picture of the device looked like a C. “This one can be inserted to hit the G-spot and will press against the clitoris simultaneously. It also allows for intercourse while inserted, which can give your partner some fun, too.”
Well, that sounded interesting. But there was no partner involved for her. She shook her head.
“Then there are anal—”
“I think the first one will probably be fine,” she said quickly.
He smiled good-naturedly and grabbed the one she’d selected. “Excellent. And I’d be a bad business owner if I didn’t mention that this one works great in tandem with one of our realistic dildos, which are twenty-five percent off today.”
She laughed at the bizarre conversation. “I feel like I’m in some X-rated infomercial. Buy a vibrator and get a fake penis for only nineteen ninety-nine!”
He chuckled. “Welcome to my life.”
She shook her head, any awkwardness she’d had early on fading now. The guy seemed well-practiced at putting a woman at ease. “Thanks. I’ll go take a look and see if there’s anything else I want.”
“Holler if you need me.”
She turned her back to him to wander over to the next aisle and look at the display of colorful dildos. It’s what Pike had suggested the other night—something more than her fingers. She’d avoided the aisle because she hadn’t wanted to give in to his suggestion. Hadn’t wanted to think about Pike. But now it seemed stupid not to get one while she was here. Plus, they were on sale. If she was going to take care of herself, she might as well do it right.
She heard Jace greet the other customers and then tuned them out, picking up an entirely too big hot pink rubber dong and wagging it in her hand.