Seven Books for Seven Lovers

by Molly Harper, Stephanie Haefner, Liora Blake, Gabra Zackman, Andrea Laurence, Colette Auclair

  AFTER A night of broken sleep, Mia arrived at the shop just before eleven. When she’d volunteered to take the Sunday shift the day after the party, she hadn’t expected to be so exhausted. But it was only a half day. In four hours she would be out of there and crawling back in her bed.

  She entered the showroom and flipped on the lights and the neon Open sign. Turning, she was smacked with a life-size photo of Oliver. Her stomach swirled, a combination of rage and misery. It had been the same all night. One minute she was furious over how stupid she had been, the next crying because she had finally found a guy and he’d been too good to be true.

  Part of her wanted to rip the poster down and tear it to shreds. The other wanted to pull it down, wrap it around her, and cry.

  Enough of this. You are a strong woman. Strong women don’t let men get to them. Forget him. Move on.

  Easier said than done.

  The first customer of the day headed right for the dildo display, now only a quarter full. “Oh good! You still have some.”

  She approached Mia, setting the Oliver on the counter while she rummaged through her purse.

  “I was so bummed I had to miss the party yesterday. Any chance Oliver will be doing another meet and greet soon?”

  “We haven’t planned any yet, but after yesterday’s response, I’m sure we’ll do something soon.”

  “Oh good. I so wanna see those abs in person. He’s pretty hot, huh?”

  “Um, yeah.” Mia tried not to picture his bare stomach and how it felt to run her hands up and down it. Concentrating on the task at hand, Mia rang the purchase into the register and wrapped the box in tissue and set it in a plastic bag. “Is there anything else I can do for you today?”

  “Oh, no. This is all I need.” The woman lowered her voice, even though they were the only two in the shop. “I can’t wait to get this home. Is it really an exact replica of his . . . parts?”

  Mia nodded. “Yep.”

  “Wow. I can’t even imagine what it’s like to have sex with the real thing.”

  Mia could. But she preferred not to think about it.

  She ran the women’s credit card though the machine, then handed her the slip to sign. “Have a great day.”

  “Oh, I will,” the woman said with a wink and took the bag, finally leaving the shop.

  Mia breathed a sigh of relief as the woman walked away. Only three and a half more hours to go. She walked through the shop, tidying up the few things they’d missed the night before, and rearranged the dildo display. The door chime rang and three younger women strode in, making a beeline for the toys.

  Mia ducked out of the way as the women chatted.

  “You should have come with us yesterday,” the one said. “You missed a great party.”

  That comment made Mia smile.

  “Yeah, the guys were so hot,” another said. “I bought the Logan, and used it last night. OMG. It was so awesome.”

  “I have the Oliver,” the first said. “It was very nice. I actually slipped the real Oliver my number. Maybe he’ll call and I can try out the real thing.”

  As the girls giggled, a spark of jealousy punched Mia in the gut. But she had no right to feel that way. He could have sex with whomever he wanted. All he was to her now was a work acquaintance—an employee. She shouldn’t have gone against her better judgment to begin with. If he’d stayed just an employee, none of this would be happening right now.

  The afternoon continued, a bit busier than a normal Sunday. Most of the purchases were Logans and Olivers, women who’d been unable to make the party. A few others were so happy with theirs, they brought a friend back, insisting they buy one, too. One woman was in love with her Logan and needed to have the vibrating version, too.

  Mia cashed out the last customer of the day, one more Oliver. As she bagged the purchase, the door chime sounded. This always happened. Someone came in at the last minute, probably needing a bra fitting and trying on a dozen bras. Mia just wanted to get out of there. Her bed was calling.

  But when she looked up, it wasn’t a woman needing bras. It was Oliver.

  Mia handed the customer her bag. The woman thanked Mia and turned, looked at Oliver, then the poster, then back to him. She squealed and threw her arms around him. The middle-aged woman completely fawned over him, pulling out a pen for an autograph. She then handed Mia her cell phone to snap a photo.

  Oliver smiled, albeit a forced one, and humored the woman. After all, he was a gentleman. A lying, cheating gentleman, but still. He walked her to the door and wished her a lovely afternoon. He turned the lock on the door and flipped off the neon sign.

  “Can we talk?” he asked when he faced Mia.

  “No.” She turned off the lights in the shop and headed toward her office. Probably not the best idea. He stood in her doorway, trapping her. She had no choice but to hear what he had to say.

  “I never loved her. I was forced into asking her to marry me after one night of drunken sex. She told me she was pregnant.”

  Mia stared at her computer screen.

  “When you’re part of a society that only cares about money and reputations, a man doesn’t get a woman pregnant and not marry her. I knew she was faking, but I couldn’t find a way to prove it.”

  Mia shut down her computer and fidgeted with the things on her desk. She tried ignoring him, but she couldn’t mute his voice.

  “Before I met you, I was miserable, but was going along because I had nowhere else to go. Then I saw you in that bar. And you were so different, so relaxing and effortless. I wanted to be with you.”

  Tears flooded Mia’s eyes as she read a letter they’d received earlier in the week about advertising rates for a local women’s magazine. The text blurred as much as she tried to blink them away.

  “I told her I wanted out and she refused to listen to me. Finally I’d had enough. I told her I was calling off the wedding myself. Obviously she didn’t like that and brought our parents here. She’s trying to destroy my reputation . . . and . . . well, it worked. The wedding’s off, but she came out looking like the injured party. Everyone hates me. But you know what? I don’t even care. I only care what you think about me.”

  “I think you’re a liar. And an asshole.” Mia stood and walked toward him. “Now can you please move?”

  “Not until you hear what I have to say.” He reached for her hand, and for some bizarre reason she let him take it, but kept her face turned away from him. “I’m falling in love with you.”

  Mia yanked her hand away. “I don’t care. Now move.”

  “You can’t tell me you don’t feel it, too.”

  “All you’re going to feel in five seconds is my knee in your crotch.”

  “Please don’t leave it like this.”

  “Five . . . four . . .”

  “You have to let me make this up to you.”

  Mia met his eyes for the first time since he’d arrived, clouded with moisture. He’s a filthy liar. Don’t let those sad eyes pull you in. “Three . . . two . . .”

  He stepped back and turned without another word. Mia waited until the back door had opened and shut before letting the dam of tears burst.

  MIA SOBBED the whole way home, but when she got there, she couldn’t get out of her car. She put it back in drive and drove to Bryn’s house. No one home. Mia used her key and let herself in, crashing on the couch and crying some more.

  An hour later, after Mia had cried so much she couldn’t cry anymore, Bryn’s front door burst open and the kids ran in. “Aunt Mia!”

  They all jumped on her, which usually would have turned into a free-for-all tickle fest, but not that day.

  Bryn came to her rescue, her tone the one she used when one of her kids was sick or had come home crying after a bully had pushed them down. “Let me settle the kids in the other room with a movie and I’ll be back.”

  All Mia could do was nod. When Bryn came back, two glasses in her hands, filled with what Mia assumed was some kind of liquor, she reached
for one and gulped. When she’d downed half, she told Bryn everything Oliver had said.

  “Wow. I don’t even know what to say.”

  “It means nothing.” She took another sip, the liquid burning her throat, but it felt so good. “Right?”

  “I can’t decide that for you. He seems like a decent guy who made some really bad mistakes. I guess some of it wasn’t his fault. I mean, what else was he supposed to do in that situation?”

  “Uh, not lie might have been a good thing to do. How do I even know if anything he said is true?”

  “Do you think he was lying today?”

  Mia closed her eyes and took another sip. “I don’t know. I guess he seemed sincere.”

  “You of all people know what it’s like to have family members pushing you to do things you really don’t want to do.”

  Damn. She had a point.

  Bryn continued. “If he never loved the woman to begin with, and was trying to get out of the situation, that has to earn some points, right?”

  Part of Mia really wanted to be a sap and fall into his arms and forget everything that had happened, but that wasn’t possible. “No. He shouldn’t have had sex with me. He should have been up front and taken care of his problems before becoming involved.”

  “True. But you are so irresistible, he probably couldn’t help himself.”

  That got Mia to smile. “You are so full of crap, but I love you for it.”

  Bryn pulled Mia to her and rubbed her back. “It will all work out. Maybe you can find a way to forgive him. I think you guys could really be good for each other.”

  “I don’t think so. How can you ever learn to trust someone who has done nothing but lie to you since you met him?”

  “Time, I guess.”

  “I don’t think a decade will make me change my mind. It’s probably best if I avoid him. You can deal with him as far as his modeling duties go. And everything else, I’ll just keep it completely professional.”

  “If that’s what you really want.”

  It wasn’t. She really wanted Oliver to be the man she thought he was—a great guy without secrets. “It’s the way it has to be.”

  CHAPTER Twenty-One

  Oliver sat at his desk, staring at his computer screen. It was Tuesday, and after two nights of broken sleep, he’d been unprepared for his boss’s knock on his door earlier that morning. Mr. Goldman had been his father’s and Mr. Ryland’s golf buddy for the last four decades. No doubt he already knew what had happened with him and Alexiana.

  “What you do in your personal life is none of my business,” he’d said. “But if even one second of bad publicity comes to the company because of you, you’re fired. Got that?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Oliver tried to get some work done. The last thing he needed was to slack off and give his boss a real reason to be angry, but he couldn’t focus. He stood and left his office, telling his assistant he was taking an early lunch. But he wasn’t remotely hungry. Hadn’t eaten much in days, actually. What he needed he wasn’t going to get.

  He drove and ended up at Classy ’n’ Sassy, knowing Mia wasn’t due in until three. Bryn was at the front counter when he walked in.

  “Why are you here so early? You’re not usually here till six.”

  “So I still have a job?”

  “Well, yeah. We kinda need you.”

  “Oh. Good. I was actually hoping to talk to you.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “What about?”

  Her guard was up, and rightfully so. She might not like what he wanted to talk about. “Mia.”

  “This really isn’t any of my business, but since you asked, what you did to her was really shitty. She has enough assholes in her life. She doesn’t need another one.”

  “I never meant to hurt her.”

  She sighed. “I think I believe you, but why didn’t you tell her about the fiancée right from the beginning?”

  “I was trying to get out of my obligation so I could be with Mia. I’d hoped I could take care of it and she’d never have to know. We could be together and my past would cease to exist.”

  Bryn evaluated his statement. “You seem like a good guy who got trapped in a bad situation, but unfortunately for you, Mia doesn’t see it that way. You should have been honest with her. Or at least kept it in your pants until you figured it all out.”

  “I know that now. But it was so hard to stay away. I’ve never met anyone like her before. No one in my world is real. It was wrong to cheat on a woman I didn’t love while lying to the woman I do love. But I know she feels something for me, too. And I’m going to prove I deserve her.”

  A slow smile bowed Bryn’s lips. “That’s what I’d hoped you’d say.”

  MIA SLEPT in late, finally getting a decent night’s rest. She made it to the shop by two thirty. She, Bryn, and Penny needed to talk about the future, now that the dildo venture had worked out as they’d hoped.

  “We’ve received no less than a dozen calls just today from women asking when the next appearance will be. And who knows how many yesterday.”

  “The Web site has been nuts and the social networking sites, too,” Penny added. “People keep asking about the guys and the product.”

  “Good,” Mia said. “I guess we should schedule another in-store appearance. Why don’t we do a big Cinco de Mayo thing? Sombreros, salsa, mariachi music.”

  “I really like it, but that’s more than a month away. I don’t want to be out of the spotlight that long.” Bryn flipped through the calendar. “What about running a contest online and only a select group of winners will be allowed in for a red carpet party? Keep it small and intimate, like fifty women.”

  “That could be fun,” Penny said.

  “Okay, computer whiz, make it happen,” Mia delegated. “What about these invites?” She set the envelopes on the table. The first was from the local bridal association asking them to participate in their biannual show, the second, from an organizer of a women’s expo. “This would get us in front of a lot of women, all ages.”

  “Let’s do them both. At this point, I want all the exposure we can get.” Bryn sighed, a smile spreading across her face as she reached and grabbed both Mia’s and Penny’s hands and squeezed. “This is actually happening, guys!”

  Bryn wiped away a tear before continuing. “So, how’s our supply? Last thing we need right now is to run out.”

  “I did a count this morning,” Penny said. “We have twelve Logans left and only nine Olivers.”

  Bryn laughed. “Logan’s going to be so pissed.”

  “I doubt he even has the money to settle his bet,” Penny added with a giggle of her own.

  “So we’re almost sold out,” Mia said, bringing the others back to business. “What should we do about that?”

  “Reorder, duh!”

  “Okay, I agree, but the question is, how many?”

  “I think we should double our original order.”

  “I don’t know about that.” Mia was hesitant to invest so much money on more product.

  “We sold almost two hundred dildos in less than four days. I think we can increase our order.”

  “That was the initial rush. Don’t you think we should scale back for the second order? Just in case.”

  Bryn smiled at Mia. “You’re right, as always. How about we keep the order the same, but pay extra for a rush delivery? Sound good?”

  “That I am okay with.”

  “Great!” Bryn stood. “I’m gonna go call now.”

  Mia turned to Penny. “Looks like our meeting is over.”

  “Looks like it. I better go get that contest up and running. We only have a couple weeks before the red carpet party.”

  “Good.”

  Penny left and Mia was alone, wishing she could muster even a tenth of the excitement her friends had for all their success. Everything was working out as they’d hoped. At this rate, the shop would be safe and Mia could hopefully get her family off her back about working at th
e dealership. She should be happy, but all her mind, and heart, kept obsessing about was Oliver and his lies.

  Mia tidied up the front counter where they’d had their little powwow and headed to the dressing room for the pile of dreaded rehangs. Arms filled, she took her seat back behind the counter.

  “Oh, I was gonna do that before I left,” Bryn said, reappearing in the showroom.

  “I got it. Did you make the call?”

  “Yep. Easy peasy, since the company already has all our info. Just had to give them the okay to make more dildos. Might have them by Friday.”

  “Good.” Mia went back to untangling bras.

  “So, um, Oliver stopped in earlier today.”

  Mia’s heartbeat sped, but she tried to act nonchalant. “Oh?”

  “He sure as hell seems sorry for what he did.”

  “Spousal abusers apologize, too, after they beat the crap out of their wives. Doesn’t mean they’re sincere.”

  “Stop being so dramatic. Yeah, the guy did a bad thing, but don’t you think he had been a tiny bit justified? He was trying to get rid of his problems, but he didn’t want to lose you. What would you have done if he’d told you he was engaged but trying to dump her?”

  Mia hadn’t thought of how she might have felt had he come clean with her completely, when she’d found out he was Oliver and not Ryan.

  “I don’t know. He never gave me the opportunity. All I got was the ambush by his fiancée and parents on the day of our big party.”

  “I think you should give him another chance.”

  “Another chance to squash my heart? No thank you.”

  Bryn shook her head. “Was he wrong? Yes. I agree with you 100 percent. But I get why he did it. He wanted to deal with his shit without involving you.”

  “Well, he went about it the wrong way and I got involved a whole lot more than I would have liked.”

  “All humans have flaws, Mia, and maybe Oliver’s is bad judgment on occasion. And letting his honor dictate how he lives his life, instead of doing what his heart wants him to do.”

  “Well, I think those are flaws I just can’t live with.”

  “Is there any flaw you can live with? No one’s perfect. And if you keep expecting perfection from every guy you meet, you’re going to grow old alone.”