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Grace and Frankie episodes may not serve to distract her from her paranoia and jealousy tonight, but another woman would; particularly if that other woman was sexy, naked and in her bed.

She checked the clock on her computer. She still had twenty minutes bef

ore her next Zoom call, with her assistant.

She started scrolling through her contacts on her iPhone, watching the list slide up the screen, her eyes briefly touching on the names of various women, waiting for her body to tell her when to stop. Eventually, it did. Her thumb landed on the screen, ceasing the upward movement of names when her body reacted to one in particular.

Opening the messaging app, she fired off a quick text.

***

“You’re a million miles away,” Riley said to Krissy that evening.

The schoolteacher with the lustrous brown hair, who lived in Carlsbad but taught in Encinitas, was the name Krissy’s body had told her earlier to send a text to.

Riley was yet another woman Krissy had a no-strings-attached arrangement with. They would meet up, sometimes have a couple of drinks, and then spend the night fucking their brains out. One of the good things about Riley was that she had a no-sleepover policy. She’d gladly stay up until the wee hours of the morning doing all sorts of carnal things with a woman, but when it was done, it was time to go home. Waking up next to a woman, according to her, was something girlfriends did.

Tonight, that suited Krissy fine. She needed a distraction, not a houseguest. Besides, if Riley took care of her the way she normally did, Krissy would just pass the hell out into a deep slumber afterwards. Then, maybe tomorrow, she could wake up having gotten over this silly paranoia about Becca’s “old friend” that she was currently suffering from.

“Am I?” Krissy asked in response to Riley’s statement.

They had decided to meet for drinks first this evening. It had been a few months since they’d last had sex and so it only seemed appropriate.

“Mm-hm,” Riley hummed, nodding. “Something has got you distracted, and it’s not how good I look.”

Krissy gave a wan smile. Riley did look good this evening. She was wearing faded skinny jeans and a white V-neck tunic top, the V-neck of which plunged pretty deeply. Her breasts were small enough for Riley to be able to go out braless and that was exactly what the V-neck was showing—that under the shirt there was nothing else but Riley.

“Just a lot on my mind,” Krissy said.

“Work stuff or…personal?” Riley asked.

“A little bit of both,” Krissy replied. “Which is why I contacted you,” she added, switching to coquettish mode. “I could use a distraction.”

Riley smiled but then she started swirling the straw in her daiquiri, looking down at the liquid in the glass.

“Look,” she began, “I know what it’s like to need a distraction. Trust me, you’ve been my distraction many times. But, you know, that was for simple stuff. I had a bad day at work or I’m a little overwhelmed with bills or something like that. But you’re really distracted, Krissy. So much so that I have to wonder how much fun it would be to go home with you.”

Krissy bristled.

Seriously?

Having her ability to show a woman a good time in the bedroom questioned was not something she was used to.

Riley evidently picked up on Krissy’s indignation.

“I’m sorry to be so blunt,” she said, “but do you really want to…” She lowered her voice here. “…go have half-assed sex tonight? Because your mind is clearly elsewhere. Whatever is bothering you is obviously not simple stuff.”

Krissy was still a little bent out of shape, but she also knew she didn’t have a leg to stand on. Sure, she could argue and cajole and probably have Riley undressed and in her California King inside of thirty minutes. But what would the sex be like? Because the fact of the matter was, despite sitting here with the beautiful Riley; despite knowing the beautiful Riley was not wearing a bra and had come out this evening for the express purpose of having a no-strings-attached good time, Krissy was still thinking about Becca, wondering where Becca was and wondering who Becca was with.

Chapter 13

Becca was in Oceanside.

And Becca was with Fiona.

Not only that, it was the second night in a row that Becca was with Fiona.

They weren’t dating, at least not yet, in Becca’s mind. Still though, two nights in a row of having dinner and drinks with an unattached woman who wasn’t Krissy, was usually an indication in Becca’s world that the term “dating” was not entirely off the mark.