The bell above the door tinkled indicating someone had entered Beauty & Beast. Chloe made her way from the back of the store and saw a tall, slender woman with a long overcoat stamping the snow off her boots. "Cold out, huh?"

The woman smiled at her as she undid her scarf. "I'd say so. Nice shop," she observed. "I'm surprised you're open, with the weather and all."

Chloe pointed upwards. "I live upstairs. Plus, I'd need to be here to take care of the animals. Which is what I was doing when you came in." She lifted the thin cardboard box she was holding and rattled it. "Mealworms. But they can wait. It's not getting any better outside. How can I help you?"

"Because of this shit show of a winter storm, I can't drive to my regular shop. And like an idiot, I ran out of food for my snakes. Do you happen to have any pinkies?" The customer's smile was captivating. "I need about three dozen."

"I do. I keep breeder mice for a steady supply of pinkies for the bearded dragons and smaller snakes, and for customers of course." Chloe went back to the freezer and started putting the small, hairless mice in a baggie. "What else can I get for you?"

With a sheepish grin on her face, the customer asked, "you wouldn't happen to have anything larger like rats or rabbits? I'm a bad mama and didn't stock up for my big baby."

Chloe chuckled. "It happens. I have a few frozen rabbits I can spare to get you through the storm."

After she'd gathered the food items the customer needed, she took the woman's credit card and swiped it. Peering at it, she said, "Stacie Conrad. Well Stacie Conrad, I'm Chloe Beale. Owner of Beauty and the Beast."

"Nice to meet you, Chloe Beale. I'm so glad you were open." Stacie signed the credit slip. "And now that I know you are in the neighborhood…"

"Oh?" Chloe perked up. "You live around here?"

Stacie wrapped her scarf back around her neck and pulled on her overcoat. "Yeah. A few blocks over. When I realized there was no way I could get to my normal store, I found you on the internet. Who knew there was an exotic pet store in the area?"

"You walked? In this?" Chloe said in amazement.

Stacie held up the bag of frozen snake food. "All for the love of pets. Nice to meet you, Chloe."

"Same here, Stacie. Thanks for your business."

After the customer left, Chloe locked the front door and flipped the sign to Closed. The winter storm was getting really bad, and she doubted any more customers would be coming in. Besides, she was almost finished feeding for the evening.

A few weeks later, Chloe again heard the bell above the front door of her pet shop tinkle indicating a customer had arrived. She came around from one of the side aisles to see Stacie standing in front of the reptile display admiring the variety of cold-blooded animals on display.

Chloe watched for a few moments, unconsciously letting her eyes drift up and down the customer's body before speaking. "Well hello. Stacie, wasn't it?" Stacie turned and Chloe was able to get a full look at the woman. She was as tall as Chloe had remembered and had on the same scarf and overcoat.

"Hi, Chloe."

"Need more food?" Chloe asked as she moved towards the freezers in the back of the store.

"No," Stacie chuckled. "I didn't get to look around your shop before. Now that I'm shopping local," she made quote marks with her fingers, "and all. I didn't get to take a good look around last time.

Chloe clapped excitedly. "Yay," she exclaimed. "So you said you had snakes, right?" She sidled up to Stacie.

"My big girl is an albino Columbian Red Tail Boa." Stacie pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Wanna see?" Chloe emphatically nodded her head as Stacie unlocked her screen and pulled up a few pictures.

"Ooooh, she's gorgeous. Yellow. I always thought an albino would be more pink or white." Chloe continued to ask questions as Stacie flipped through the pictures.

"And these… are her babies," Stacie proudly said.

"Wow! That's a lot of babies." Chloe pinched the screen out to get a closer look.

"Fifteen. I'm kind of snake-obsessed. But I don't discriminate, I like all reptiles." She motioned to the wall of cold-blooded animals on display.

"My customers do, too. But me," Chloe put her hand on her chest as she spoke, "I like mammals, too." She walked over to the opposite wall. "Sugar gliders, prairie dogs, hedgehogs…"

"You can have a prairie dog for a pet?"

"They are adorable." Chloe unlocked the cage lid, dipped in her hand, and pulled out one of the prairie dogs she had and nuzzled it with her face. She held it out to Stacie who cautiously gave it a small pet.

"But mammals are so… hard to take care of. Snakes are so less demanding."

Chloe put the prairie dog back up and pointed to the hedgehog. "Not all of them. Take hedgehogs, for example. Get them a terrarium, some wood shavings, and a large wheel. They will run miles and miles at night."

Stacie bent down to peer into one of the hedgehog cages. "Is that… duct tape?"

"Yeah," Chloe chuckled as she bent down with Stacie. "Their little feet fall through the slats in the wheel, so I duct tape both sides of the wheel." She closed her eyes and breathed in, taking in Stacie's smell. Chloe recognized it although she couldn't quite put her finger on the unique odor. Woodsy? Smokey?

Realizing how close she was standing to her customer, she quickly stood up, stepping away from Stacie. Chloe turned, straightening something on a nearby shelf while Stacie looked at the mammals. In the short time that Stacie had been in her store, Chloe found her easy to talk to and certainly easy on the eyes!

She peeked behind her, trying to get a glimpse of Stacie's left hand which was thankfully devoid of a band on her ring finger. She is pretty sexy, Chloe thought. I wonder if she's a lesbian. Chloe began to hum as she wandered around the store randomly moving things on the shelves.

"Chloe?" Chloe turned towards Stacie's voice, eyebrows arched. "I asked how long you've had this store open."

"Oh, I'm sorry. About two years now. I love animals."

Stacie tilted her head sideways as a strange look crossed her face. "Would you…" she paused before continuing. "Would you be interested in getting some coffee sometime? Lunch maybe?"

Chloe's smile brightened. "I'd like that."

The women exchanged phone numbers, and Stacie promised to message Chloe soon to make plans.

Chloe's shop was closed on Sundays, so she and Stacie made plans for lunch which would give Chloe time to feed the animals that morning. An outside stairwell led up to Chloe's apartment. Stacie trotted up the stairs and straightened her shirt before knocking.

She was actually feeling a bit nervous about lunch with the pet shop owner. Chloe was stunning in a cute kind of way, images of her red hair and blue eyes had settled into a spot in Stacie's mind. Not to mention her hot body, not that Stacie had been looking. Stacie had been quite nervous when she'd initially asked Chloe out. Well, she didn't ask Chloe out, like on a date. Because this was only lunch.

When Stacie knocked on the door, she heard the various locks being turned and the chain sliding out of its slot. "Hi," Chloe brightly chirped. "Oh, you look cute." Stacie was wearing a tan long-sleeved shirt with a puffy green vest, ripped jeans, and brown suede boots. Chloe bit her lower lip as she thought, actually you look hot.

Chloe was wearing an oversized red sweatshirt with a large black G on a background of white over jeans, and snow boots. "University of Georgia?" Chloe nodded. Despite the snowstorm a few weeks earlier, the sun was shining brightly today, so neither woman wore a heavy coat, depending on their layered outfits to keep them warm.

Stacie had picked a casual restaurant that was easily within walking distance of the pet shop. They started with sharing a spinach and artichoke dip. While they munched on their appetizer, easy conversation flowed between the women. They discussed where they both grew up. Stacie found out that Chloe had an undergraduate degree in biology and was going to pursue becoming a vet at the University of Georgia but dropped out when her mother passed.

"I love animals, and opening a pet shop seemed right at the time. I still stand by my decision. What about you? Did you go to college?"

Stacie flushed. "Ummm, yeah. My undergraduate degree is a double major in mathematics and chemistry while I have a graduate degree in chemical engineering." Chloe teased her for being a brainiac. "I wouldn't go that far. School has always been easy for me."

Before long, the server was placing their orders in front of them. Stacie took one bite of her shrimp and grits and dramatically rolled her eyes back in her head. "This is delicious. And since I'm from North Carolina, that's saying a lot. Want to try some?" She offered Chloe a forkful of thick cheesy grits and a shrimp.

"No thanks. Vegetarian here. I'll stick to my portobello swiss burger."

Concern flashed across Stacie's face. "Oh no. I'm sorry; I didn't know. Will this bother you?" Chloe assured her that her dietary choices were personal preference and she wasn't bothered by other people's choices. Stacie looked relieved as she put another forkful into her mouth. "Good. Because this is delicious."

After finishing their meals, both women ordered coffee then split a creme brulee with berries on top. Neither could remember laughing so hard or talking so much with someone they had only met. Stacie glanced at her watch. "Oh shit! It's almost two."

"Really," Chloe giggled. "I hope I'm not making you late for another engagement."

"No, not at all. But do you realize we've been here almost three hours? Our server must hate us." Stacie caught his attention and motioned for the bill. Chloe tried to grab it but Stacie's arms were much longer and kept it out of her reach. "I've got this. Why don't you get the tip?"

Soon they finally gave up their table at the restaurant and began towards the pet shop. "I had a great time," Chloe admitted, bumping Stacie with her hip as they walked.

Stacie looked down at her, smiling. "Me, too. I'm glad we could get together today."

Before either woman realized it, they had arrived at Beauty and Beast. "I guess this is me," Chloe lamented. She had her back leaned against the outside stairs door. Stacie planted one hand against the door and leaned over her.

"Would… you be interested in going out again?"

"Going out?" Chloe's voice was teasing. "Was this a date?"

"Did you want it to be?" Stacie's smile stretched across her face.

"Hmmm. Well whatever it was, the answer to your question is yes. I'd love to do this again." Chloe stretched up on her tiptoes and kissed Stacie on the cheek. "See you soon, snake girl."

As Stacie watched Chloe disappear up the stairs, she lifted her palm to cover her cheek where Chloe's lips had touched. She gave a smirk, turned, and walked towards home.

Stacie made a point to drop by the pet shop periodically throughout the week, once under the guise of purchasing rodents and the others because "she was in the area." She insisted it was the truth that she only lived a fifteen-minute walk away, so she was always in the area.

Each time she showed up, Chloe got a little more attached. Chloe hadn't made many friends since moving to the city since her shop took up so much of her time. She was convinced that Stacie would make a great best friend. And if more happened, well, she was okay with that, too.

But she kept reminding herself that she didn't even know if Stacie liked women. Or even if she did, if she liked Chloe that way. She tried to make her brain stop from going in all sorts of directions, well that direction until she knew Stacie a little better.

"Do you like board games?" The question came out of the blue on Saturday. Stacie looked at Chloe with a blank look on her face. "You know, Stacie. Board games. Monopoly, Clue, Battleship. Well, not Clue because you can't play that with just two people."

"Yeah, I like games." Stacie chuckled at how adorable and sexy Chloe could be at the same time.

"How about you come over to my place tomorrow for Game Night, well Game Day. We can play board games, cards, watch Netflix (she almost added and chill but chickened out), and whatever. I'll make sandwiches." Stacie agreed that would be a great plan and offered to bring drinks and other snacks.

"Oooooooooooh, snap. Boardwalk with a hotel." Stacie roared with laughter. "That's two large. Pay up," she cackled. Both women were sitting cross-legged on the floor with the Monopoly board on the coffee table between them.

"You suck," Chloe pouted as she counted out almost the last of her money.

"In your dreams." Stacie gave her friend a wink. "Oops, this bottle is empty. I'll get another." Stacie got up and opened more wine. "Are you ready to say uncle?"

"I have what," Chloe counted her money, "three hundred dollars and two measly properties that aren't mortgaged. I guess we can call it."

Stacie hooted in delight. Chloe had beaten Stacie in two out of three games of Battleship but Stacie was the Monopoly queen. "This is great." She helped Chloe box up the game and stack it with the others. They both climbed to their feet and plopped on the couch. "You won't let me overstay my welcome, will you?"

"Absolutely not." Chloe was having a great time. The longer she spent around Stacie, the more comfortable she became. She just wasn't in the headspace yet to ask Stacie about her sexual orientation. They had shared some stray touches here and there, and Stacie often got this certain twinkle in her eye when she looked at Chloe, but those could all be Chloe's wishful thinking.

After watching a comedy-action movie that kept them both in laughter, Chloe went to the refrigerator and peered in. She offered Stacie another sandwich or said she could get the veggies and dip out again. "It's creeping up to dinner soon. You need to eat."

"Are you sure you don't want me to go home?" Stacie's voice sounded right behind Chloe, spooking her. "Yipes. I didn't mean to make you jump."

Chloe took a deep breath, steeled herself, and shut the fridge door. When she turned around, Stacie was standing literally two feet away from her. Chloe could have stretched up and kissed Stacie; she was that close. Chloe froze, unsure what to do. Slowly Stacie stretched out her arm, around behind Chloe, and retrieved the last bottle of wine on the counter. She then moved to the small island to remove the cork and pour two more glasses. Chloe released the air in her lungs and tried to act nonchalant.

"Of course I don't want you to go home. I'm having fun. Unless you want to go home, that is." Both women moved back to the couch, this time sitting a little closer.

"I kind of like it here, Chloe. With you." Chloe wasn't sure how to respond in a way that didn't betray her desires. So she simply nodded her head. "We've known each other, what, a month now?"

"From the time you stupidly walked through a blizzard to get rodents for your snakes, yeah. Maybe a little longer." Chloe resisted the urge to lean against Stacie.

"Hmmm," Stacie contemplated.

"What?"

"Oh nothing; it feels like longer." Chloe felt Stacie was being coy about something. "I know I've said it before, but I've really enjoyed our time together." Stacie shifted her body where she was facing Chloe. "May I ask you a personal question?"

Chloe moistened her dry lips. "Aren't most questions personal? Besides, how else are we going to get to know each other?"

Stacie locked eyes with the redhead. "Are you seeing anyone?" Chloe's breath hitched as she shook her head. Stacie gulped. "Ummm, well if you wanted to see someone, would I be your type?"

Fighting a smile, Chloe leaned forward and whispered, "you'd be exactly my type."