Page 36 of Vera Stein Is Fine
He came up beside me, and for a second, his composure was obliterated. His Adam’s apple bobbed and his tongue brushed his lower lip before grabbing the first box. And then his expression was completelyblank. If I hadn’t known Eli before, I would assume it was something they taught med school students. The face of an ER doctor who’d seen it all.
“These all for you?”
“Yes, Eli,” I said. “I’m a prepper and you just happened to catch me during my sex toy stockpile.”
The pink of his cheeks dipped a slight shade darker as he smirked. “You got room for one more in that doomsday shelter?”
After we loaded up his car, I ran back across the street and scribbled a note on the back of an old receipt from my purse before tucking it under my windshield wiper.
Please, please don’t give me a ticket. My car was being a jerk and wouldn’t start. I promise to get it towed ASAP.
Sincerely,
A Forty-Year-Old Woman with a Meager Savings Account
“Did you just write a note for parking enforcement?” Eli asked as I buckled my seat belt.
“Parking attendants are people too, and I’m hoping whichever one walks down this street is feeling generous, because I can’t afford a towanda ticket in the same week.”
“I’ll light a candle for the patron saint of street parking when I get home.”
“I’ll take all the help I can get,” I said as he pulled out of his spot. “Thanks,” I added. “For rescuing me and all my sex toys.”
He slid his Ray-Bans on and with genuine sincerity said, “Anything for sex toys in need.”
Chapter Fifteen
There was a hair tie in the cup holder with two strands of blond hair wrapped around it.
And I could not stop staring.
“Vera?”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
“The boxes,” Eli said as we pulled out of downtown. “What’s up with the boxes?”
“Good Vibes Only. I don’t know if you’ve heard of them, but it’s—”
The corner of his lip twitched upward. “I’ve heard of them.”
My mouth was dry and I was still sweating even though his air-conditioning was cool enough to give me goose bumps. “The owner is coming out to do a seminar on sex toy safety and those are for her pop-up shop.”
“So you’re bringing out someone to sell sex toys to our residents?” he asked skeptically.
“Well, you thinking it’s a bad idea is the least surprising thing ever.”
“I didn’t say it was a bad idea. Did you hear me say the words ‘bad idea’ even once?”
Reluctantly, I shook my head. “Well, not technically, but I heard it in your tone.”
He turned right down the long residential street leading to Starlight Palms. “You think you really know me, don’t you?”
“I do, don’t I? Or at least I did.”
“College was a long time ago, Vera.” The security guard named Amanda, who I’d snuck past that first day, waved us through the gates.
“I like the idea,” he said as he parked just outside the main entrance in a reserved staff spot. “Definitely not what people expect when they set their parents up at a retirement facility.” He took off his Ray-Bans like they were armor and looked at me, his gaze earnest and steady. “That’s a good thing.”
