Page 56 of The Hang Up
“You already paid me in lasagna,” Miriam said.“Besides, it sounds like you’ve already got most of it set up. What are you selling?”
Ellie glanced down the hall toward Henry’s bedroom door, which was closed tight. The grown-ups had already doled out hugs and kisses, and Jason noticed Miriam had earned an extra pair from the little boy. At Henry’s urging, she’d even taken a turn reading a page from his favorite bedtime story about dinosaurs and underpants, and it had taken every ounce of self-control Jason possessed not to let his libido surge each time she spoke the word “underpants.”
Watching his nephew throw his arms around Miriam’s neck had left Jason feeling warm all over. It was almost a shame they’d agreed not to let things get too serious between them.
You don’t have the bandwidth for that.
He shook his head and tipped his chair back on two legs, trying to focus on the conversation between his sister and Ellie. It was nice seeing how quickly the two had clicked. Ellie hadn’t gotten the chance to make many friends since they’d moved, and he knew she’d been eager for some girl time.
His sister was still talking, and he realized he’d missed part of the conversation.
“…and they have the largest selection of vibrators in the entire?—”
“Wait, what?” Jason felt the legs of his chair hit the floor. “How’d you end up talking about sex toys?”
Ellie rolled her eyes at him. “Because that’s what I’m selling, Jason. Haven’t you been listening?”
“Apparently not,” he said, not sure how he felt about his baby sister peddling dildos. Okay, fine. She wasn’t exactly a baby, and had in fact welcomed her own baby a couple years before she turned thirty. Still.
“Sex toys,” Miriam said, giving Ellie a nod of approval as she kicked Jason under the table. “Terrific choice for a home-based business. Very high demand.”
Jason frowned. “Wait, when you told me you were starting an online business, I figured it was candles or Tupperware or something.”
“You figured wrong,” Ellie said. “This is much more fun.”
“But what about Henry?”
Ellie rolled her eyes.“What about Henry? I’m not having him upload images of nipple clamps or take inventory of dildos. I do all my work when he’s napping or after he’s gone to bed.”
“Sensible,” Miriam said, giving Jason a look. It either translated as,shut up and be supportiveor maybeyou have spinach in your teeth. Women were hard to read.
“I’ve been very discreet,” Ellie assured them. “Everything’s set up under a pseudonym, so they can’t trace anything back to my big brother the CEO.”
Jason knew he was probably being an overprotective dumbass, but he still found himself glancing around the room, half expecting to see a paddle sticking out from under the couch. Not the canoeing kind, either.
“You don’t have the sex toys here, do you? Where Henry can find them, I mean?”
“Of course not,” Ellie said.“Not that there’d be anything wrong with it if I did. Why are you being such a prude all of a sudden?”
“I’m not,” he insisted, trying not to look at Miriam while talking with his sister about sex toys. “I’m just worried about Henry.”
“Henry sounds like he’s more familiar with human anatomy than most grown-ups,” Miriam pointed out. “I doubt he’d be too traumatized by the sight of a rubber penis.”
“Which he won’t see because there aren’t any here anyway,” Ellie said. “They’re all in the storage area at your place.”
“My place?” Jason said. “You stuffed my closet with dildos?”
“And lube. And vibrators. And?—”
“Wait, what’s the difference between a dildo and a vibrator?” Jason asked, not sure he wanted the answer.
Miriam gave him a knowing look before exchanging a smirk with Ellie. “I see your brother has a lot to learn.”
“And I’m quite certain you’d be a good woman to teach him.”
Miriam laughed and clinked her wineglass against Ellie’s water glass, and Jason felt an odd sort of warmth in his chest. Which was ridiculous, really. Did he really want his sister and Miriam bonding over sex toys?
“Come on,” Miriam said as she stood up. “Jason can work on the dishes while you show me this website of yours. We’ll worry about educating your brother later.”
