L.A. Woman Read Online Free

on the side by the door. She rolled and picked up the book she’d left on his nightstand. The Oz Principle. Something for work. She wanted to get a leg up on it—the next few weeks would be busy. Her Filofax was pretty full.
    She barely registered the noises of David going through his ritual: long span in the bathroom, evacuating that night’s dinner (in this case, Ahi tuna appetizer and braised lamb chops from Chinois) with a book in the bathroom before brushing his teeth and surveying the wrinkle situation, a larger possibility considering he was thirty-two. She felt rather than heard him checking his hairline for signs of losing ground—a tiny buzz of apprehension before the shrug of denial. He wouldn’t stoop to doing a full nightly regimen including moisturizer, but she’d walked in on him trying some of the Dr. Hauschka. Judith planned on picking up some more bottles in preparation for the eventuality. She felt sure he’d keep his hidden in the other drawer, or in the medicine cabinet.
    He lumbered toward bed in just boxers, and she handed him the book. He rested it on the nearby bookcase. David in just boxers signaled sex. She took off her nightgown and panties, handed them to him, as well. He stripped out of his boxers, and climbed into bed, settling the covers around him.
    It would take about five, ten minutes of conversation for him to be ready.
    “So. Anybody call while we were gone?”
    “Sarah,” Judith said. “She wanted to know if I wanted to see her for lunch tomorrow. I think I’ll go visit…she sounded a little lonely.”
    “Sarah. She was one of your friends from college, right?” He toyed with her shoulder, then absently with one breast.
    She smiled. “She was my best friend from college. She waslike my little sister. We roomed together as freshmen, in the dorms.”
    “Little sister? Is she younger than you?”
    Judith shrugged. He was stroking a little more insistently. “She always seemed younger. She changed her major four times,” she said with a laugh. “She just always needed to…I don’t know. She had trouble getting it together.”
    He laughed, his deliberate caressing sidetracked for a moment. “You two must have been the Odd Couple, redux.”
    “I helped her, a little. She’s nice. You just want to give her a hand.” Judith stared at the ceiling. “Still, I was really glad that she got involved with Benjamin. He is a very stabilizing force for her. Now, if she could just get him to the altar…”
    David looked at her for a moment. “You say his name funny. Like it’s a title or something.”
    “Do I?” She thought about it. “He’s the consummate salesman, from what I can tell. I’ve never met anybody more driven in my life.”
    “Not even you?” He resumed stroking. She ignored the ticklish sensation as he traced across her stomach, and consciously moved so he’d tickle elsewhere. He didn’t notice.
    “He went through his M.B.A. program in record time, but he still went for sales—something about his personality. Very charismatic.”
    “The guy’s got some redeeming features, right?”
    That would be jealousy. Lately, David’s ego was bruising a bit more easily. Judith made sure some of her skin rubbed lightly against his developing erection.
    “He’s loyal, I think.” Even as she said it, she wasn’t sure. “At least, I hope so, for Sarah’s sake. He shouldn’t be long in moving, anyway. A man shouldn’t be left to his own devices for very long.”
    “Why not?”
    “He’s young, attractive, good income, good car, going places. Women target men like that—and men like that find womenwho target hard to resist, I get the feeling. Sarah would be smart to keep an eye on him, until they’re married.”
    The erection was still hovering at semihard, and Judith studied him to gauge possible problems. This might be a blowjob night. Damn.
    He was staring at her with a look that was part fascination and part disgust. “Target, huh? That sounds