disembodied leg, foot clad in skyscraper heels, sprang into
view. There must've been a pole I couldn't see.
'You wanna go check it out?' he asked.
I had been staring, and my cheeks heated, though I
couldn't have said exactly why. 'No, thanks.'
His smile lit up eyes the color of toffee. 'You sure?'
'I'm sure.' I cleared my throat and gestured at the shelves he stood in front of. 'You had something to show me?'
'Oh. Right. Yeah.' He reached to pul a box toward him.
I stepped back, gaping, at the box in his palm. Not
I stepped back, gaping, at the box in his palm. Not
because it had been festooned with pricks and pussies, but
because with its treasure-chest shape and smal, hinged lid,
it was a smaler version of the box I'd spied in Miriam's
shop. It fit neatly in his palm with his fingers open to cradle
it. Butterflies patterned the box's red satin.
'You know what this is?'
'No.' I shook my head and closed my mouth.
He blinked, watching me closely. Then he crooked his
finger for me to lean closer, and I did. I held my breath,
waiting as he opened the box. I didn't know what I'd see
inside. When I saw the smal, stoppered bottle, I looked at
him.
'Ancient Chinese secret,' he said. 'And I'm not talking about laundry detergent.'
The bottle had clear plastic sealing it, so it couldn't have
been too ancient. I had to squint to read the print and
couldn't make out the words, but the picture on the front
was a stylized butterfly. That didn't tel me much.
'It's orgasm-enhancement gel. For women. The ladies go
'It's orgasm-enhancement gel. For women. The ladies go
crazy for it,' he said, as if he was confessing.
An invisible yardstick slid down the back of my shirt. My
shoulders came up, and so did my breasts, which finaly
got more than a disinterested glance from him. He didn't
look long, but he did look.
'What's it do?' I asked.
He held out the box to me until I took it. 'It helps women
who can't come.'
'I—' I had nothing to say to that. I tried, but the words
stuck in my throat. My back went impossibly straighter,
my shoulders squaring. I put my hand on my hip as I tried
to hand him back the box.
He wouldn't take it. 'You said you wanted something for
yourself. You can't tel me you want a crappy piece of
lingerie.'
'I don't need this!' I shoved the box toward him again.
'That's for women who need help!'
Maybe I was primed to be embarrassed. Maybe the idea
had already been put into my head that I would find an
had already been put into my head that I would find an
