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Chapter 13
"Are you freaking out?"
"No. Are you?"
"It's good that neither of us is freaking out."
Katie chuckled. "It would be even better if both of us weren't lying."
Brash, honest, and brave Katie. Effy decided it was her turn to step up to the plate. "I don't want to pretend it didn't happen."
When the other woman didn't say anything, Effy continued, "And should it come to it, I demand that any rejection of me occur only after proper sampling of my goods."
"Did you really just say that?"
"Worse. I really meant it. I mean, sexual prowess could be my best attribute. And it would be unfair for you to dump me before you've... we've..."
"Sampled each other's goods."
"Yes."
"Friends with benefits, then?"
Initially, Effy thought, but even she knew that it would be too much to say that now. "You sure your harem wouldn't mind?"
"That's a good point. You would scare some of them off. How do I know you're worth that?"
"Would you like a list of references?"
"Yes, I think I would."
"I could drive back there right now."
"You can't. I already made a booty call and she's on her way."
"Tsk. How long ago did you make that call? Maybe you can cancel."
"I'd rather not. She already accused me of being a tease once or twice."
"What's she like?"
"Sexy, smart, thinks she's mysterious."
"She could be trouble."
"Oh, she is. Practically scared a barrista out of her wits by pretending to be a TV character."
"Maybe I should make my own booty call. There's this feisty brunette with a lisp I've been thinking a lot about. I think she wouldn't mind sampling my goods."
"Maybe she thinks your goods are better sampled by others."
"Hmmm... Spreading the booty... like sexual altruism."
Katie gave a throaty laugh which Effy soon answered with one of her own. "We could start a new charity and call it that."
"Think of the tax breaks that kind of venture would get."
A comfortable silence followed the laughter.
Katie asked, "How are things in the homefront?"
"Crowded with toys, clothes... they took home everything but the sales people. That reminds me, Saturday morning, the same Mickey D's we went to. Dress casually, bring an extra shirt. Leave the profanities at home."
"Anything else?"
"How far along do you put out after the second date?"
"Wow, from maternal to mental in less than sixty seconds."
"I can multitask like that. I am a very modern woman."
"You are a very mental woman."
"Right now, I am a minimally dressed woman."
"Yeah, I'm going to have to hang up now, Eff."
"Katie." Effy hoped it sounded like a reproach rather than a plea.
"Katie?"
"Yeah?" A soft, wary voice answered.
"I wasn't...I'm not going to, you know... I...it feels right knowing you're there. That you haven't hung up. No heavy breathing from my end, promise. Not tonight. Unless you want to."
Katie could see in her mind how Effy changed from hesitant to mischievous. It didn't take a degree in psychology to see how the famous Stonem brain could use humor to build an emotional fortress.
"Not tonight. Headache."
"Of course."
"I'm not hanging up. I may think about it, but I won't. I'll take my chances."
"Thank you, Katie."
"Don't thank me yet, Stonem. I've been told that on occasion, I snore like a lumberjack."
"I told you, Princess."
"No... it was Cook."
"Take some gingko biloba, babes."
The gentle teasing was later followed by comforting silence that was ended only when slumber couldn't be kept away.
"Night, Eff."
"Night, K. I'll talk to you soon."