Page 16 of All She Wants
Claire picked up her spoon. The oatmeal was already lukewarm and slightly lumpy, and the coffee tasted like it had been manufactured primarily for survival rather than enjoyment. She ate beside Erin as the fire grew and could not remember a better Christmas breakfast.
When both bowls were empty and the shortbread reduced to crumbs, Erin stood and brushed her hands on her pants. She looked around the boutique, then back at Claire, and something mischievous entered her expression.
“How about we make this an even more memorable Christmas? We’re trapped inside a store called All She Wants on Christmas morning. It would be genuinely criminal to let that pass without exchanging gifts.”
Claire raised an eyebrow. “You want to exchange Christmas gifts. From the inventory of your own store?”
“We’re not exchanging money,” Erin said, already moving toward the retail floor. “You choose one product you believe I would want, and I’ll choose one for you. I own the store. I’m declaring this a legitimate Christmas exchange. Think of it as an educational exchange between two consenting adults trapped in the most convenient store in Colorado.”
“Are you certain this isn’t an excuse to learn what I’d choose for you?”
“Of course it is.” Erin winked, then walked backward between the display shelves, her arms spread wide. “I think it’s a good way to show what we have already learned about each other.”
Claire stood from the blankets and brushed a crumb from her sweater. “And if I refuse to pick out a gift for the woman who owns the entire store?”
“Then we spend the next several hours staring at each other beside a wood stove, and we’ll be forced to eat the smoked oysters out of sheer boredom.”
“That’s an unbearable option.”
“That’s motivation.”
Claire pressed her lips together against a smile and followed Erin onto the retail floor.
The boutique looked different in daylight. Products lined the dark wood displays in neat rows, their packaging tasteful and modern. Nothing screamed obscene. Nothing glowed in the dark. It could have been a curated cosmetics boutique if not for the unmistakable shapes visible through several frosted boxes.
“We split up,” Erin said. “No peeking, no consulting, no asking clarifying questions. Ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes is not nearly enough time to make an informed decision.”
“You already know I dunk shortbread in coffee and enjoy the crumbs left behind. Since a U-Haul can’t get through the avalanche, learning which vibrator I’d choose seems like the natural next lesbian relationship step.”
Claire laughed. “Again, we have known each other for less than twenty-four hours.”
“Exactly. I’m trying not to rush you into the U-Haul step.” Erin grinned and disappeared around the far side of a display wall.
Claire stood alone in the center of All She Wants and looked from one display to the next. Erin had given her ten minutes, but she had already spent one deciding where to begin.
A candle felt too impersonal. Claire read its ingredients anyway, then returned it to the shelf. Two massage oils earned a longer inspection before she put those back too. Erin had chosen every product in the boutique. Finding something she might genuinely want required more than picking the prettiest bottle.
She paused at a section of beautifully packaged vibrators, arranged by function. Her fingers hovered over a sleek external vibrator before moving on. Too obvious. Erin owned an entire building full of devices she could use alone. She lived surrounded by products designed for one body. She fell asleep knowing that every variety of solo pleasure sat in her shop and she could use any one she wanted on herself. Claire suspected that what she missed was someone on the other end.
Claire’s hand stopped over a small, elegant box. Inside rested a smooth, curved vibrator designed for internal use while a partner held the remote. The packaging was understated. The product inside was not. She picked it up, read every word on the back, and tucked it beneath her arm.
Across the boutique, she could hear Erin opening a drawer and humming Joy to the World.
“Time!” Erin called.
Chapter Seven
Erin had chosen the blindfold in less than a minute. She spent the remaining nine trying to convince herself that it might be too intimate.
Massage oil felt impersonal. Cuffs required a conversation they had not yet earned. The blindfold asked for precisely the kind of trust Erin wanted Claire to place in her. Erin had pictured tying the deep red silk around Claire’s thick hair. That was the reason she nearly returned it to the shelf. It was also the reason she didn’t.
They met beside the wood stove. Erin held a slim box behind her back while Claire kept her selection pressed against her hip.
“You first,” Claire said.
Erin brought the box forward and balanced it on her open palm. Claire lifted the lid. A deep red silk blindfold rested inside on cream tissue paper. Her thumb moved slowly across the fabric before she looked up.
