It's All About Eve

Carter jotted down the information. “And you live alone?” He looked up. “Just trying to find out how many people regularly come in and out.”

“No roommate, no pets—no dog, no cat. I live alone.”

“And you like that?” He didn’t bother to pretend to write.

They had strayed from the purely professional again, but Eve didn’t feel troubled. Instead, she closed her eyes and sighed, thinking of his question. “It’s blissful living alone.” For the first time in her life, she didn’t have to look to see if the toilet seat was up or down. She wondered if Simone had to remind him about the toilet seat. Having met Simone, Eve knew she’d only have to ask once.

She opened her eyes and noticed the detective’s puzzled expression. “And your assistant, Melodie is it?” he asked. The pen was at the ready again.

“Melodie Benjamin. She’s my only employee, and she works part-time, fitting her hours around classes. And, yes, she came with excellent references, which I checked out before hiring her.”

“As I would have anticipated.”

His comment pleased her. Maybe a little too much.

“What about your customers?”

“Customers?”

“Who are they? Mostly women?”

“Mostly. Though we occasionally get men coming in—some cross-dressers.” Carter didn’t blink. “But in general, if men come in, they’re here to buy gifts for wives or girlfriends.” She hesitated. “Perhaps there’s something you’d like to purchase? Women cannot live by camisoles alone, you know.”

“They can’t? I learn something new everyday.” He flipped his notebook shut, opened up his jacket and slipped it back in the inside pocket, his particularly taut waist allowing for an uninterrupted motion. “I should also probably talk to Ms. Benjamin, if that’s all right with you?”

Eve shouldn’t have felt a letdown, but she did. She dropped her arms to her sides. “Of course, I’ll just take care of those two customers she’s with. That way you can talk to Melodie and check out the back door and staircase at the same time—not that I’m suggesting how you should do your job.”

“I could talk to her after you show me the exits, if you prefer?”

She did, but that sounded petty. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she protested. “Melodie is perfectly capable of showing you the store’s layout, really.”

“But can she expand my horizons about underwear like you?” His grin was tempting.

She ignored it and walked over to Melodie, nodding back in the direction of Carter. Melodie flexed her shoulders and stood up straighter. All smiles, Eve faced Carter. “Melodie can help you now.”

Eve shifted her attention—well, her partial attention—to the two young women. With graduation scheduled for the coming week, they were looking for a present for their roommate. “What about this pair of boxers with the lips? Too obvious?” she asked. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw Melodie leaning more closely than was strictly necessary. Her hips, in her black stretch pants, were slung so far forward Detective Moran could have done a pelvic exam.

She focused even harder on her customers. “Maybe your roommate is more the playful type? Yes, I know just the thing. Look, these elephants sniffing petunias are great. And they’re the same red as the university’s colors. Or how about the tropical fruits? Very Carmen Miranda.” It was only a matter of time.

A few minutes to be exact. As she finished gift-wrapping the sale—the elephants won out—Melodie joined her behind the counter.

“Just a box is fine,” Carter said, reaching in his back pocket and pulling out his wallet.

Eve watched Melodie fold tissue paper around a champagne-colored silk teddy. It was virtually unadorned except for a small satin bow at the center of the neckline. Something she would have picked out—for herself. She craned her neck to try to get a glimpse of the size.

“Do you approve?” Carter asked her.

Eve hastily readjusted her posture. “I approve of all purchases made in my store, not that you should have felt obligated to buy something.”

“Just trying to expand by horizons.” Carter winked and handed over his credit card to Melodie. He pulled out a business card and offered it to Eve. “Don’t forget, someone will be around to dust the mannequin for prints. But if you think of anything else or have any more problems, give me a call at that phone number. My pager number’s there, too.”

“Thanks.” Eve took the card. It felt warm from being in his wallet. She absentmindedly rubbed it, then looked up. He was watching.

The cash register printed out the credit card slip. “Here you go.” Melodie fished a pen out of a cup.

Carter signed and reached to put the shell-pink pen back.

“Keep it,” Eve said. “It’s got the store’s phone number on it.”

“Thanks.” He slipped it into the side pocket of his pants, near his holster. “The color goes with everything.”

Eve watched, fascinated and somewhat put off by the gun.

He watched where her eyes had moved. “So,” he said.

She shifted her gaze back to his face. “So.” She offered her hand. “Thank you for coming in so promptly, and thanks for all your help.”

His hand met hers. “I haven’t done anything yet.”

But he had. Or rather, he was. True, the handshake itself was brief, one solid up-and-down motion, very brisk. But the separating of flesh—now that seemed to linger a fraction too long to be kosher. And was she mistaken, or had his thumbnail inadvertently—or maybe not so inadvertently—trailed along her palm when their hands parted?

Eve inhaled sharply and lowered her hand to her side. The skin felt hot, tingly hot, as if she’d licked her index finger and stuck it into a light socket. And the line where his thumb had grazed—well, that was like dropping a clock radio into the shower with Howard Stern on the air.

Eve didn’t know what to say. The brief contact had been wildly arousing. Yet surprisingly intimate. Definitely secret. But completely out in public. Had it provoked some latent sexual fantasy she never knew she possessed? If so, she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to go there.

Melodie came out from behind the counter and handed Carter his purchase in a pink Sweet Nothings shopping bag. “I hope we see you again.” She seemed blissfully unaware that she was standing perilously close to a surging electromagnetic field.

Not so Carter. Frankly, he looked a little shocked—and by more than 110 volts. He cleared his throat. “Yes, well, thank you.” He reached for the bag, and slowly turned and walked out the door.

Melodie slanted her head, angling for a better view. “Oh, my God. I feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven. No check that. The way I’m feeling I’ve definitely gone to hell.”

“If you go for the type.” Eve aimed for blasé. What a joke.

“Eve-y, you’d have to be dead not to go for the type.”

How true. Still, dealing with the opposite sex was like taking on a second job. And it entailed far fewer guarantees of a profitable payoff than starting up a new business—a pretty scary thought, especially when you considered that fifty percent of all new businesses failed after one year. Since Eve had no intention of being anything but a success, all her attention had to be focused on that goal. Daydreaming of true love—or even true lust—was out. Definitely out. Especially when the current object of desire appeared to be already attached to one very nice but very scary lady.

Eve walked to the counter. “Did you call in his charge card to make sure his credit was good?” She looked at Melodie who had moved closer to the door.

Melodie didn’t bother to turn around. “Eve, he’s a cop.”

Eve straightened a pair of satin traveling slippers that sat on the glass top. “You can never be too safe.” She paused. “Who picked out the teddy anyway? You or him?”

Melodie had her nose practically stuck to the glass front door. “He did.”

“Hmm-mmm,” Eve murmured—and she wasn’t sure if it was a hmm-mmm good or a hmm-mmm bad. “Who’d have thought Detective Moran had such good taste. I figured he’d do the typical male thing and pick some red negligee with a plunging neckline.” She thought a moment. “You should have shown him the leopard-print pajama ensemble, bottoms for him and top for her.” The top portion didn’t showcase many spots since the amount of skin it covered was less than two whiskers.

Melodie stepped back from the door. The entertainment must have been over. She didn’t bother to wipe away the nose print on the glass either. “Why? You think they’re more his style?”