Darby
Oh my god.
Oh my god.
Oh my god.
I watch, horrified, as the Day-Glo orange dildo tumbles out of my messenger bag, lands on the ground, and rolls along the wooden floor until it disappears through the small gap under the door.
It's eerily silent.
After a few seconds, Kip lets out a quiet cough. "I speak Spanish, and I know a little ASL, but I'm afraid I'm not fluent in dildo."
His deep voice is surprisingly steady, but that doesn't stop me from sizing up if there's any way I can crawl into the air conditioning vent to curl up and die.
"I am so sorry about that," I wheeze. "I… I… I…"
"It's for your personal protection, I assume," he says calmly. "Carrying this thing around so you can clobber a would-be attacker is a smart move."
"Yeah, exactly." I sag against the wall as a whoosh of air leaves my lungs, appreciating his attempt to play this off so graciously. "But, actually, it's a gift from Sky."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Do you listen to his pod?"
"Never miss it."
"Did you listen to last week's episode?"
The one I missed.
There's a pause.
A rumbling chuckle.
Then he clears his throat. "I see. So, Sky was just being a good friend?" he ventures.
"In the most Sky way possible, yes."
"And you're carrying it around with you because?"
A wave of embarrassment washes over me. "Because it got delivered as I was heading out, and I didn't know what to do with it, so I just threw it in my messenger bag. I wasn't thinking. Clearly."
"So it's new then?"
"It is."
"You haven't used it yet?"
I turn away from the full-length mirror because I do not want or need to see how red my cheeks are. "No. I was texting Sky about it before I came in here. He was trying to get me to do just that."
"In public?"
"That's what I said. Sky and I are very different like that."
"Like what?"
"Like when it comes to sex. I'm not as open as he is." My shoulders droop. "Or as attractive as he is."
"I doubt that."
I manage a small smile. "How would you know? You haven't even seen me."
"That's not true…" he says, and I'm not just listening with my ears, my whole body is acutely tuned to him, eagerly anticipating the next words out of his mouth. "I spotted you when you walked into my store. In all my forty-three years, Darby, no one has taken my breath away. Until today."
He can't be serious. "You can't be serious."
"I am. You have a presence, a way about you I found captivating.
Like you had a grand plan before you came in, and you went about executing it methodically.
First, pants. Then a shirt. I saw you hesitate, and at first I thought it might be a price issue, but when you looked around for the dressing room, I pegged you as a buy then try guy. Is that accurate?"
"It is," I reply. "I buy most of my clothes on the internet. I'm not a huge shopper," I say with a dry mouth then grimace when I realize I just confessed that to the owner of a high-end fashion boutique.
"Sky may be very attractive," Kip says, unbothered by my faux paus, his booming voice carrying through the door, sinking into my skin like sunlight. "But he's got nothing on you."
I turn on my heel, watch myself helplessly in the mirror as my mouth opens and closes like a damn fish out of water, and spin to face the door again.
"Did I make you uncomfortable?" Kip asks when I say nothing because I'm incapable of saying anything.
"No. It's just…"
I turn to face the mirror again.
Maybe I'm not as unattractive as I think I am? Maybe comparing myself to my gorgeous best friend my whole life has eroded not only my self-confidence, but also my ability to see myself properly?
My hair is nice, although I do prefer it when I grow it out in the summer and it naturally lightens a bit.
My face is okay. I'm no model or actor, but my eyes are bomb, and I'm honestly not that bothered by my slightly too big nose. It's straight, at least. Grandma Elsie used to say that my freckles and moles add character, and maybe she was right and they do.
My body could benefit from seeing the gym from the inside as opposed to just walking past it every day, but I'm somehow in pretty decent shape regardless.
And my ass?
Now that I know is fan-fucking-tastic. It's bubbly, peachy, and can take a pounding like it's nobody's business.
I turn back to face the door again. "It's just that I've never taken anyone's breath away, that's all."
"I'm sure you have," Kip replies, a firm conviction underpinning his deep voice. "You probably just don't know it."