How Cassie Got Her Grind Back(Divine Creek Ranch 23)(52)

What? It’s not as is I’m wearing a sign on my back that says, “I’m a foodie freak!”

She bit her lip as she looked at the vast rainbow-colored display of condom choices. Ribbed, lubricated, textured, colored…glow in the dark? Then her eyes happened upon the row beneath those to the magnum-sized condoms. Did they need those?

Get a grip, girl. You’ve birthed two normal-sized babies. You can take ’em.

And that was when her face turned hot. But she wasn’t leaving until she found what she needed.

She took a deep breath and glanced in both directions. “Nothing to see here, folks,” she said under her breath in the blessedly deserted aisle.

She zeroed in on the box marked “most recommended by doctors,” made sure they were just regular plain-colored and not flavored but lubricated. She tried to feel normal standing there with condoms in her hand, as though she was perusing the fine print.

Why am I looking at these? I’ve had a hysterectomy. Would they expect me to have them if we um…yeah? Would they be shocked to know I have them? Do they carry them in their wallets or something?

Wait, why in the fuck are they carrying condoms in their wallets?

You idiot, they’re normal men with probably normal sex drives. I’ve heard men their age have better-than-average staying power.

Whoa, I definitely need to get more lube.

But will they think I’m of loose virtue if I already have them?

Silly, better to be prepared because of STDs.

And where could they have gotten STDs from?

Do I ask them when the last time they had sex was, or do I wait for them to ask me—Shit!

She threw the box of condoms in the basket, where they bounced off of the crawfish.

The lubricants were the same, all manner of scents. Flavors. Cooling gels. Warming gels. Warming? Then she remembered they might enjoy anal play and put the warming gel back.

Nope.

She picked out two brands she recognized from television commercials and slid them in under the crawfish. Now her ratio of sexual aid products to necessary food products was skewed, and she thought about getting a loaf of bread until she saw the packaging on the shelf between the condoms and the lubricant.

Dude. Jerry Batson sells vibrators?

Making sure the aisle was still deserted, she peeked around the end and saw Mr. Batson’s wife, Betty, was the only cashier on duty. She’d known Betty for forever. Betty hated the way gossip traveled in the small town, and Cassie was pretty sure if she could trust anyone to get through that cashier stand without her purchases making headlines at the Divine Courier, it was Betty.

Chewing her lip, she looked over the packages hurriedly before Betty took a break, and while there wasn’t a line at the register, and selected a purple box proclaiming, “Five different settings, three intensity levels, phthalate-free and hypoallergenic! Doctor recommended!”

She could almost imagine Emma winking and nodding and slid the purple box into her basket and hurried past the Depends and feminine hygiene products.

Betty greeted her, her grin growing perceptibly wider as she ran each item over a scanner and slipped them discreetly into a shopping bag. When she made eye contact with Cassie, she tipped her chin as she made change, to draw her closer and said, “Hey, have you read Veronica Benedict’s Bound by the Bonfire?”

She’d heard of it, but she was still busy working her way through a historical series and shook her head. “Is it good?”

Betty mouthed, “Oh my God,” as her husband stepped out of his office and headed to the back after nodding at them. “It is so hot. You should Google it and buy it. The next one in the series, Bound at the Bed & Breakfast was just released, too, so you can read them back to back!”

Veronica Benedict was pretty much out of the closet as a romance writer living in the community, but Cassie didn’t know how much Betty knew about Grace’s and Rachel’s writing careers so she said, “Well, I’ve read everything by Caressa McFarland and Jane O’Malley. Are they like that?”

“Oh, yes!” Betty said with big eyes as if she had a secret of her own to share and nodded. “You’ll love all of the Bound books.” She pointed at the packages of batteries on the peg next to the tabloids and whispered, “You’re gonna need some of those in triple-As for that toy.”

Cassie nodded and grabbed a package as another customer entered the store, and Betty rang them up and put them in the bag and chirped, “Have fun,” as Cassie thanked her profusely and hurried out the door, wondering why she felt so scandalous.

I’m a woman of the new millennium. I can buy a vibrator if I want. Or condoms and lubes. I can even have sex or read erotic books if I want. Why, I can even have anal sex or double up if I want to.