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."
