Real Men Will by Victoria Dahl Read Free Book Online Page B

interested in a toy with a vibrating appendage shaped like a wolf’s head, but werewolves were popular right now. Whatever her personal likes were, Beth didn’t judge what got other people off. The dildos with chillable inserts were especially in demand as well, and if people wanted to fantasize about cold vampire sex, that was fine with her. “You go, girl,” she murmured as she hung the wolf toys up.
    Once the box was empty, she polished the glass cases—nobody wanted to look at intimate toys through fingerprints—and straightened the displays.
    By nine o’clock, she felt better. Solid and nearly okay. And then her cell phone rang. She knew without a doubt that it must be Eric Donovan. He had to get in touch, didn’t he? He had to apologize again and maybe grovel. So it had to be him.
    But it wasn’t.
    “Hi, Mom,” she said, trying to keep the weariness from her voice.
    “Hey, sweetie. Where are you?”
    “I’m at the store.”
    “Oh,” her mother said, that tiny word conveying so much.
    “Mom,” she said, sighing. “I wish you’d come see it sometime. It’s not what you think it is.”
    “Oh, Beth, I couldn’t. I don’t want to see all those…things.”
    “All those things are in the back room. The front room is all pretty lingerie and fun gifts. It’s a place for women, not some sleazy video den.”
    “But you sell…” Her mom took a deep breath, and Beth heard the muffling sound of a hand cupped over the phone. “Dildos.”
    “Yes, we do.” Beth glanced up at the twelve-inch-long black glass beauty they kept behind the counter. “But that’s okay, you know. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
    “No, if your father ever found out I’d gone into a place like that…”
    Right. And if he ever found out that Beth ran a place like that… “I still think you should tell him.”
    “No, ma’am,” her mom gasped. “He’d never forgive either of us.”
    “I’m not sure what he’d blame you for.” Granted, he was conservative. Old Argentina conservative, not to mention Roman Catholic conservative. He still complained that women no longer covered their hair in church.
    “He’d blame me for all of it!”
    Beth rolled her eyes. “Well,” she muttered, “I hope he’s happy thinking I’m managing a women’s under-garment shop.”
    “Oh, he is! He’s very proud of you.”
    She had no idea what to say to that. Sometimes her mom was a little off. Or a lot. “Is anything going on? Are you both feeling good?”
    “We’re wonderful, sweetie. We’re ready for some cool weather, though. It’s been so hot here.”
    “Turn your air conditioner up, Mom.”
    “You know your father hates it when I use it in September.”
    “Tell him you’re a delicate Anglo and you can’t handle the heat. And September or not, it’s still hot as hell.”
    Her mom giggled, even as she chided Beth for her language. Poor Mom. She’d probably drop dead if she heard her baby talking cock rings and anal plugs with customers. Or maybe she wouldn’t even understand what was being discussed.
    “I love you, Mom.” Beth hung up with the same mix of frustration and comfort she always did. Her parents had provided her with love and a safe home and plenty of emotional support. But they couldn’t support the choices she’d made. They just couldn’t. There were lines they couldn’t cross, and she’d found that out the hard way.
    But they still loved her, and that was a hell of a lot more than some of her friends had. So Beth chose to feel a little stronger as she walked into the front room and turned on all the lights.
    The room blinked to life and she looked over it with pride. Fuck Eric Donovan. He was lucky she’d remembered his fake name, much less bothered to find out his real one.
    She wasn’t going to let him make her back into the girl she’d once been. No chance in hell.
     
     
    E RIC HAD BRIEFLY CONSIDERED calling in sick today. After all, he felt sick. He hadn’t gotten one damn hour of