Just Sex Read Free

grinned and sat up. “Yes, and like a kid coming home from the toy store, I had to play with my new toy . I want to thank you for introducing me to my new B.O.B.”
    “What about the phone conference and paperwork you had to do today?”
    “The conference has been moved to later this afternoon and the paperwork will still be there tonight.” Kat heard a lawnmower start outside. Shit, that was close. I forgot J.J. was coming today. She really needed to start writing stuff like this down. Excitement fluttered in her belly and filled her sated body with renewed need.
    “Kat, are you still there?”
    “Yes, sorry. The landscaper’s here.”
    “How’s the sexy owner of Elite Lawns today?”
    She wished she knew. “How am I supposed to know and why do you care? You’re a married woman.”
    “Yeah, but there’s something about a tall, built man. Don’t you think?”
    Embarrassment ran over Kat. “Yes, but he’s very young.”
    “So what. He’s twenty-five. That’s legal.”
    “Patty, be real.”
    “Oh for God’s sake, Kat. You and Gary had a sexless marriage, and besides, he’s been dead for six months. It’s about time you got back on the horse. Go for it.”
    Kat groaned and flipped the now stifling comforter off her tingling skin. Cool air washed over her, doing nothing to calm her growing anxiety. She and her best friend had been having this same conversation for months now. She stood and fumbled through her clothes. “I don’t know.”
    “Why? Gary died fucking his secretary. It’s time you do something for yourself.”
    The pain and embarrassment still cut deep. “Patty, I don’t want to talk about this now.”
    “Kat, you haven’t had sex with a warm body in over eleven years. Just do it.”
    Kat swallowed back her tears, adjusted the phone, found her pants and wiggled into them. “I’ve got to go, Sam will be home soon.”
    “I think it’s time you were happy. I miss the Kat I grew up with.”
    “I’m too old to make mud pies.”
    “Maybe, but you’re not too old to be happy. You’re only thirty-five.”
    The sadness she felt threatened to bring Kat to her knees. “How did I let this become my life? The highlight of my week is sex with my new vibrator.”
    “I don’t know, honey. I have been asking you that for years.”
    A baseball-sized lump formed in Kat’s throat “I love you, Patty.” She hung up the phone. Tears stung and spilled down her cheeks. “What did I do to my life?” Kat let her self-pity overtake her. She cried for what seemed like hours for all she’d lost.
    The doorbell rang. “Crap.” All I need is to have some solicitor see me like this. She grabbed a tissue on her way to the door, dabbed at her face and took a shallow breath.
    Kat glanced at herself in the homely, contemporary-style mirror over the entryway table, rose on her tiptoes and peered through the peephole. “Just my luck.” She smoothed her shirt, ran her hands down her hips, pasted a smile on her face and opened the door. “Hi, J.J. Do I owe you a check?”
    “No.” His voice sounded hoarse.
    She flipped her mid-length locks over her shoulder, trying to feign nonchalance, and stepped aside. “Please come in.” Her damp hands twisted the tissue. Little white bits rained down on the cold beige tile floor.
    He eyed her. “Have you been crying?”
    Embarrassment heated Kat’s face. “I, um.”
    He stepped closer and shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. “Is there anything I can do to help? Is it your husband?”
    An image of J.J. bending her over the ugly sofa and driving himself into her entered Kat’s mind. She shook her head. “No.”
    “Do I smell cookies?” he asked.
    Kat balled the tissue and pulled herself together. He is just being friendly. “I made them for Sam this morning. Would you like some?” she said.
    His smoky gray eyes twinkled. “I’d love some.”
    A butterfly army attacked her stomach. “Come on into the kitchen.”
    She walked through the archway into