Rosie: Roads are horrible on the west side of city. Hope you’re not out being wild.
Sasha: I’m wrapping up a Lady Robin’s party. Will leave soon.
Rosie was a worrier and a pessimist. Sasha was sure their little brother, Benji, had received a similar message.
Rosie: Who the hell plans a sex toy party right before X-mas? You need to get home now!
A laugh worked its way out of Sasha’s throat, surprising her.
Sasha: The dirtiest and coolest book club ever, that’s who. Sex toys make the best stocking stuffers.
Rosie: Very funny.
Sasha: I am. I’ll text when I leave. This place is out in the boonies, so I have at least an hour drive to get home.
It wasn’t really the boonies. There were plenty of other properties around, but to a city girl like Sasha, it might as well have been the great frontier.
“Sasha?”
She jumped at Perry’s deep voice and bobbled her phone until it slithered through her fingers and skittered across the floor. Thank God for super-protective cases.
“Baby Jesus! Stop making me drop things.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
He swooped down and picked up her cell phone. Their fingers brushed when he handed it back, and she shivered. He smelled of cedar.
She liked it. A lot.
Maybe he was a lumberjack. He was wearing flannel.
He smiled, his eyes bright. “I feel like I crashed your sales pitch. I’m sorry if I made it awkward.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not shy.”
His gaze landed on her lips before jerking away. “I think half the book club is heading out soon, and the rest are staying at the inn to wait out the storm. They’re drawing names for a book exchange rather than playing Dirty Santa.”
“Oh, that’s good. I’ll go get their orders, so I can head home too.”
He took a deep breath. “This might be out of line but would you go to dinner with me sometime this week?”
Her pulse galloped off like a herd of reindeer. She hadn’t been on a date date in ages. Dates led to expectations and crossed boundaries. She hadn’t dated since … well, since the worst Christmas ever had soured the idea of relationships for her forever. Being left at the altar on Christmas Eve did that to you.
Rather than spill her issues on an unsuspecting hot guy, she said, “A date? All you know about me is that I sell sex toys for a living.”
Some people thought that made her available or even a slut.
“No. I know you’re smart and confident, and I like your voice. There’s this lilt when you speak, like you’re always having a great time and everything is funny. And your hair. I like your hair.”
“Wow. Thank you.”
A few of her regular lovers had not been fans of her hair when she’d chopped it into a pixie cut a few months ago. Needless to say, they weren’t her lovers anymore.
He ran an unsteady hand across his chin and lips. In the darkness of the hallway, she couldn’t see his eyes clearly. She wondered what color they were, wanted to see them alight with pleasure. She had a feeling Perry would be delightfully expressive and genuine in bed.
“I’m not the best at this,” he said, voice shaky.
“You’re actually doing pretty awesome.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really, but I’m not the dating type. And regardless, don’t you live in Topeka?”
His smile withered, and she had the irrational urge to cup his cheek.
What was happening to her?
She wanted to blame her sudden soppy, sweet feelings on the Christmas cheer in the air. It was like those parasitic spores that latched onto everything, multiplied, then smothered their host.
“I did live in Topeka. I, uh, I’m not … My living situation is complicated.”
“I’m not in the market for complicated,” she said. “Though, you’re super cute, so I’d probably be game for a night together. A one-night stand, basically. But not tonight because, you know, snow and ice and rear-wheel drive. I need to get home.”
His mouth had gone a little slack, and she inwardly cringed. She tended to steamroll people. Men especially expected her to be more circumspect about her sexual appetites and romantic boundaries, but that wasn’t her problem. It was theirs.
“I’m sorry. I can’t tell if you’re rejecting me or propositioning me,” he finally said. The corners of his eyes crinkled.
“Both.”
“I like you,” he said decisively, and she laughed.
“I’m a bit much, I’ve been told. I like to fuck, eat, masturbate, and read, and I don’t do any of those in moderation. Still interested?”
She had no idea why she was unleashing all her sass on him. Maybe to scare him off. Or to see if he’d stick around.
“I’m definitely still interested, Sasha.”
“Then here’s my number.” She rattled it off for him, and he hurriedly input it into his cell.
They smiled at each other like two dorky teenagers before the sound of someone humming a Christmas carol in the kitchen jolted them apart.
“I’ll be out in a second to wrap up everyone’s orders. I need to hit the road before the Bug can’t make it up the driveway,” she said.
“I wondered whose car that was.”
“My baby brother restored it for me a couple years ago. He’s a little genius.” She grinned just thinking about her brother, who at six foot four was in no way little or a baby.
“It’s beautiful.”
“I know.” She winked and slipped into the bathroom.
The partiers were almost done drawing names for their romance novel exchange when she returned, so Sasha prepared to fill and file their orders.
Once they wrapped up, she clapped her hands once. “Okay, Staunchly Raunchy Book Club, does anyone have questions? I’m ready to take your orders if you have any.”
A stack of order forms were passed in her direction. Her payout for this party would be a nice holiday bonus. Maybe she’d take her siblings out to their favorite Chinese restaurant on Christmas Day.
It took her about ten minutes to distribute the stock she had with her, accept payments, fill out receipts, and file the remaining orders. By the time she’d sold her last Love Bite, the wind was howling and whipping snow against the huge windows of the hearth room.
She didn’t even have an ice scraper in her car. Her grandmother was probably rolling in her grave over how unprepared Sasha was for bad weather.
“Thank you for doing this,” Valerie said with a solemnity that might have been due to too much mulled wine.
Louise nodded and bit her lip. “I’ve wanted to try out a vibrator, but I’ve been too self-conscious to go into a shop, and I wasn’t sure how to pick one online. Some of the companies look sketchy.”
“That’s why I love this job. We want to make it easier and more comfortable for people to find and purchase what they want and need,” Sasha said, dropping her voice to give the three of them privacy. “Sex toys are fun, and they’re essential for some people, particularly women, to get off. There’s nothing shameful or wrong about that. Technology is a wonderful thing.”
“Exactly,” Louise whispered, tucking her long, frizzy brown hair behind her ears. “We read so many sex-positive romance novels where the heroines have all this sexual agency, but here I am—too chickenshit to buy a vibrator. Well, no more. I bought two.”
“Good.” Sasha grinned at her and made a mental note to include a couple of coupons with Louise and Valerie’s orders. “I’m happy you scheduled Lady Robin’s for your holiday party. This was such a fun group.”
“You’re welcome to join the book club! We’re always excited to indoctrinate unsuspecting humans into our romance novel cult,” Valerie pitched in.
“Thank you, but I’m not exactly local. I live on the far side of the city, over an hour away, but I’d love book recommendations. I enjoy thrillers, so maybe romantic suspense? I’ll give you my
email.”
Valerie whooped and rushed off to get a pen and paper. Sasha smiled in her wake. Valerie was beautiful, especially now, when she was flushed, uninhibited, and excited about books. Perry and Valerie both had dark curly hair and killer smiles. They could have been twins. But there was something about Perry, something that hit her right in the chest.
What was that exactly? Chemistry, maybe? Lust? Sometimes she was knocked over by it, by that rush of adrenaline and discomfort, when she wanted someone. When the thrumming in her pulse spiked from, Oh, I like their smile, to, Oh, I want to sit on their face. But this dose of Perry felt exceptionally potent.
Gender had never factored into it for her. She liked women. She liked men. And she liked people who were both or neither or fluid. But regardless of gender, she had a type.
Unexpected. Adventurous. Expressive. Emotional.
She had no idea if Perry had any or all those characteristics, but she couldn’t help but hope he’d call her eventually so she could find out.
Valerie rushed back over with a notepad and pen as Sasha finished packing up her bag of unsold toys. Sasha was writing out her email address for Valerie when Perry materialized beside them.
Sasha, of course, jumped at his sudden appearance and dropped the fucking pen. He picked it up for her.
“Dray is giving a bunch of people a ride home since they have that huge minivan with the all-wheel drive. Andie and Karen are hoping to stay here until the storm clears if you have space,” Perry told Valerie.
“We have enough rooms,” Valerie said.
“Do you have space for me too?” Louise asked.
“Absolutely.” Valerie winked at Louise, which made her blush. Then Valerie turned to Sasha. “Will you be able to make it home? You could stay here. We always have room at this inn.”
“Oh, uh. No, I better not.” Sasha glanced at Perry. It was tempting, but she didn’t think she could survive the Christmas extravaganza going on at this place for longer than a few more minutes. “I appreciate the offer, though.”
“Of course,” Valerie said. “Thanks again for coming. I think I’ve officially hosted the best Staunchly Raunchy Book Club Christmas Party ever.”
“Yeah, those toys will make awesome stocking stuffers,” Perry said.
“That’s what I said!” Sasha exclaimed. “Batteries not included, though.” Perry tipped his head back and laughed, his whole face transforming, opening up with humor and happiness. And oh man, she loved a good laugh. She had to wrench her gaze away from him before she was caught staring. “I’m going to brave the weather and head out.”
Valerie, amazingly, gave her a hug before she hurried away to see the other guests off. An unusual emotion lumped in Sasha’s throat at the two seconds of friendly contact. She wasn’t much of a hugger. Her grandma had been the bearer of hugs in the family, and maybe she and her siblings had been working at a deficit, because a platonic hug from a stranger at Christmas shouldn’t have made her want to bawl.
Perry’s voice brought her out of her navel gazing. “It’s bad out there. You sure you’ll be okay?” He was watching her closely. Now she could see that he had hazel eyes, an intriguing mix of green and brown. The lights from the Christmas tree reflected in them like stars.
“I’ll be fine.”
“All right. I’ll walk you out.”
She donned her coat and trudged out into the snow, pulling her two roller bags of sex toys—lighter than when she’d first arrived—behind her.
The snow was mixed with pelting ice. The door handle on her VW Bug was so cold it burned her hand when she opened it. Perry helped her load the bags.
A solid coating of ice covered the back window, but it wasn’t as thick on the sides and front. She turned the car on and flipped the heater to defrost.
“I don’t have an ice scraper,” she said, embarrassed. She was a strong, capable, independent woman, and it sucked to be caught unprepared. She parked in a parking garage at her apartment and at work, so her car wasn’t sitting out in the elements very often.
“I think I have two. Hold on.” He rushed over to a hulking silver SUV and pulled one long-handled and one smaller scraper out of the backseat. He handed her the bigger one, then without a word, started in on the back window.
She attacked the ice on the front window with a vengeance, taking out her frustration, sexual and otherwise. She was seriously regretting the red velvet dress, thigh-high fishnets, and black stilettos. This was the worst winter-weather outfit ever, and her coat wasn’t doing much to cut the cold.
They finished quickly, which was great, since Sasha was freezing her snowballs off.
Perry took a step closer to her. He had snow frosting his dark curls and beard.
“I don’t feel good about this. The weather is atrocious,” he said.
“I’ll be fine,” she repeated, glancing up the huge hill she’d have to drive to make it out of the Winterberry Inn’s driveway. It was an ice rink. If ice rinks had a twelve percent grade. This was a horrible idea.
“I’m going to text you, so you have my number. Will you call if you have any issues getting home?” Perry asked.
“Sure. It was nice to meet you, Perry. I hope you text me sometime but, you know, not just because of a little winter weather.”
“Oh, I plan to.” He swooped in and kissed her briefly on the cheek, barely a touch. But his lips were warm against her chilled skin, and it sent a shimmery arc of heat through her. She shivered, and he must have misinterpreted it, because he opened her driver’s side door, and said, “Get in before you catch a chill.”
Catch a chill? She was mouthing those words to herself, a small smile flirting on the edges of her mouth, as she put the car into gear. What an old-fashioned phrase. Perry waved at her, and her smile grew. She started the steep climb up the driveway.
Maybe Perry was really into those historical romances her sister enjoyed—the ones with dukes and scandals and carriage rides. She could almost see him as a brooding Regency hero, except his smile was too unrestrained.
Next she imagined him shirtless and in a clench with a woman in a beautiful fancy dress, because why not? It was such a pleasant fantasy that the first skid of her baby’s tires came as a total surprise.
Adrenaline exploded in her gut like a pipe bomb.
She was suddenly too hot, and the sticky, bitter taste of fear burst on her tongue.
What if her car’s traction wasn’t good enough to get up the hill? Her engine was a dinosaur. She was a month late on changing the oil because she was obviously irresponsible.
Then her Bug shuddered, the tires stopped spinning, and the car slipped backward.
Chapter Two
Perry watched as Sasha’s clunker chugged up the driveway. He was concerned her car wouldn’t make it up the hill. As kids, he and Valerie had raced skateboards down that slope, seeing how fast they could go, the wind whipping against their faces until it was like they were flying. Surely, old ass Volkswagen Bugs were not built to climb icy, Midwestern hills.
His eyes had adjusted to the darkness, helped along by the Christmas lights flashing from the eaves of the inn and the snow blanketing the ground. Sasha surprisingly made it most of the way up the hill with no problem, and he was about to go back inside, when her taillights abruptly pitched to the right, then slid backward.
“Shit,” he said under his breath, panic shooting his heart into his throat.
Her VW Bug slipped all the way down the hill before her brakes reengaged and she came to an abrupt stop.
She pushed her door open, and he rushed over. Her jaw was tight, her delicate mouth pinched. But it was her eyes that alarmed him. The blue of her irises was nearly invisible—her eyes much too dilated, even for the darkness.
He crouched down next to her. “Sasha. Are you hurt?”
“What? No. I didn’t hit anything. The ice just made my car slide. I think I need more power to make it out.”
He grimaced. The problem with this driveway was that t
here was no room to build up the momentum she needed, especially in the ice. His family had gotten snowed in here for that very reason at least five times that he could remember; though, it had never happened to him as an adult.
“I’m going to try again in a lower gear,” she said. Her hands were shaking on the steering wheel, probably from adrenaline. He wanted to rub them, still them, but he suspected she wouldn’t appreciate that right now.
“Okay.”
“Stand back. If I slide down, I don’t want to hit you.”
“Sure thing.” He stepped farther into the yard and the rapidly accumulating snow. Visibility was getting worse. The thought of her driving home in this weather hurt his stomach.
She accelerated up the hill but only made it about halfway before her wheels locked up, then spun out again, flinging snow and ice everywhere. This time she managed to stop on the hill and not slide down, but she couldn’t budge. She eventually reversed back down the slope and rolled down her window.
“Fuck.”
“Yeah,” he said. “I think Val has some kitty litter I could try spreading at that steepest bit, see if it gives you the traction you need.”
“Yes please, Mr. Winters.”
After finding half a bag in the lean-to garden shed, he climbed up the hill until he reached the problem area and scattered the gravelly kitty litter. With a wave of his arm, he indicated she should try to drive up again.
The ice and snow mixture was hitting him square in the face, obscuring his vision and soaking him through. His teeth chattered as the Bug started up the hill.
No dice.
The car skidded to the right and the wheels spun out. Sasha quickly wrangled the car back under control and guided it down the driveway. She reached the bottom of the hill as Valerie walked out of the front of the inn and waved. The snow was falling harder now, almost whiteout conditions, making it hard to see.
Sasha climbed out of her car as he made his way to her, her bright red skirt and green coat a homing beacon to him through the blizzard.
“I’m screwed,” she said as she pulled out her phone. “I wonder if an Uber could meet me at the top of the driveway. Fuck, that will be expensive. I live so far away, and then I’d be without my car on the other side of the city.”
Stocking Stuffers Page 2
