I slowly shook my head. “Nope. Nothing. Harlee’s going to be working here part time. I’m, uh, I’m going to be, uh…changing up the use of this back room.”
The way he was looking at me made my entire body shiver. “And what are you going to be doing with it?”
I felt my cheeks flame. “I’ll be carrying a special line of…um…lingerie. Some that I helped design with a friend of mine from college.”
His brows shot up. “You designed lingerie?”
“Well, I helped. She did most of the designing. We also did some super cute summer outfits. And, um, well, Harlee and I were thinking that the upstairs loft might make a good spot for the, um…” My voice trailed off.
“For the what?” he asked with a smirk.
“Ahh…” I glanced up and stared at the loft space. The image of Brody using a vibrator on me immediately popped into my head, and I licked my suddenly dry lips.
He smiled, still staring at me. “Where you’ll be carrying the orgasmatrons?”
I brought my hands up to cover my face and groaned. “I can’t believe she said all of that in the middle of my parents’ restaurant!”
Warm fingers touched mine as Brody pulled my hands away from my face. He placed a finger on my chin and lifted it until our eyes met. “You don’t have to be embarrassed to talk about things like that, Sutton. Not with me.”
The way his voice sounded, all deep and husky, nearly had me offering to be his test subject for every vibrator I could find. I blinked a few times, then cleared my throat. “Yes, well…Harlee and Addie seem to think it would be a great idea to carry vibra—um…personal pleasure…toys.”
Oh, dear God, this was humiliating.
He dropped his hand to his side. “Do you like them?” he asked in that same seductive voice, sending chills up and down my spine and giving me that wonderful visual again.
I opened my mouth, then snapped it shut.
“Sutton?” Harlee called out before walking into the room. “Oh—hey, Brody. What are you doing here?” she asked, shooting me a sideways look.
“Just stopped by to make sure everything was okay and that Sutton didn’t need help with anything.”
Harlee stepped closer to me, smiling coyly. “Do you? Need help with anything, Sutton?”
If looks could kill, Harlee would be dead at my feet. “Nope!” I said in a fake cheerful voice. “Everything is great. Fine. Perfect! No issues.”
“A customer is asking about a piece of art you have hung up.”
Smiling, I replied, “I’ll be right there.”
She looked between us once more before turning on her heels and heading back out to the front.
“Do you need anything built for your space upstairs?” Brody asked.
I chewed nervously on my lip. “I think so. Probably. I’m not sure yet, since I don’t… I’ll need to talk to Harlee about it. It was her idea.”
Brody chuckled. “It’s a great idea.”
I crinkled my nose and watched as his expression softened. “You think so? You don’t think I’ll be judged for carrying them, do you?”
“Who gives a fuck what you sell? It’s your store, and you can carry anything you want.” He looked thoughtful. “Maybe to test the waters, you should have a little party up there.”
“A party?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I’ve heard women have those types of parties. But keep it on the down low, or the gossip column will have something new to write about.”
I placed my hands over my heated cheeks and groaned. “God, no.”
We both laughed, and an awkward silence settled between us. “Well, I’d better go help Harlee with the customer,” I said.
He nodded. “I’ll head on up to the loft. Send Harlee up when she’s done. She can tell me her ideas, if she has any.”
“Brody, I don’t expect you to—”
He pressed his finger to my mouth to silence me, then adjusted his hand so he could run his thumb over my lower lip. My knees wobbled, and I nearly reached out and held on to him before my legs went out from under me. “I know, Sutton. I want to help you. Plus, it gives me an excuse to be here.”
What did that mean?
With a nod, I rushed out of the back room and attempted to calm my racing heart, trying hard to push that conversation from my mind.