Getting Old is the Best Revenge Read Online Free PDF Page A

model.
    "The girls make me feel like I'm a naughty teenager and they're my disapproving parents. And they watch me to make sure I behave." I hand him the rest of the dishes.
    "It's too late. They already assume you're not behaving."
    "Not Ida. She's in denial."
    "Then let's get married and I'll make an honest woman of you."
    "Jack. You promised."
    "I haven't asked you in one whole week."
    "It won't solve the problem."
    "Then let's just live together."
    I pretend to look horrified. "What, live in sin?"
    "Move to my place. Since it's the same model, you'll feel instantly comfortable."
    "And deal with the jealous widows of Phase Six?"
    "Let's move to Chicago. Or better yet, Alaska."
    "I can't. They need me."
    "I need you, too."
    "They need me more." This is a game we play over and over. Like my dear best friend, Francie, and I used to do, I think sadly. God, how I miss her. Oh, how she would approve of Jack.
    The kitchen is now spotless. "You're good around a house," I say.
    "So keep me. I'm available."
    "Don't start again."
    I hang the dish towel up to dry. He hugs me again. " 'So, waddaya wanna do, Marty?' " he whispers in my ear, replaying the famous line from the old movie.
    "I don't know. Wadda you wanna do?" I play back.
    "I want to make love to you, as if you didn't know."
    "They're watching out their windows. If we don't go out, they'll know. Oh, God, listen to me. I'm blathering."
    "If we do go out, they'll figure we went to my place. And they'll still know. Besides, they don't know, since you are too terrified of them to actually do anything. Therefore they don't really know anything."
    "Yeah, but they think they know."
    Jack shakes his head in disbelief. "They're starting to make me dizzy, too."
    By now we are both laughing.
    "So far you're only lusting in your heart. And I'm taking a lot of cold showers. What are you doing?" he asks me as I walk toward the kitchen window.
    "Nothing . . ."
    He grins. "I can't believe it. You're at the window so they'll see you're still in an upright position."
    I actually blush.
    "Look," he says, "the only sensible thing is to just get the dirty deed over with. Then you'll have a right to feel guilty."
    "I know I'm being ridiculous."
    He is behind me now, nuzzling my neck. It feels wonderful.
    "They'll see you," I whisper.
    "Good."
    "All right already. Let's make a date and just do it."
    I feel his body shaking excitedly as he continues to kiss the back of my neck. "Pick a place," he says. "Any place."
    "But not around here."
    "Try to keep it within a hundred miles, OK? Take your time. Don't rush. Take five minutes, even ten."
    "Let's get out of here." I turn, pull him around in front of me, and push him toward the front door. "Just make sure you get me back in time for the stakeout."
    When we walk out onto the landing and start for the elevator, I can feel the eyes watching us.

    8

    Death by Bubbling Spa

    J osephine Dano Martinson, sixty-one, practi
    cally lived at the Boca Springs Health Spa. And why shouldn't she? She certainly could afford it. She exercised with her trainer three times a week. Received a massage daily. Enjoyed weekly facials at the salon. The treatments pummeled her into youthfulness. She felt like she could live forever.
    Alas, Josephine was wrong. Today was the last day of her life.
    It was the end of her daily regimen and she was finally in her own private steam room, cold cucumbers relaxing her tired eyes, hot billows of steam cleansing her pores. She mentally reviewed the details of tonight's dinner party. The creme de la creme of Boca Raton society would be there to contribute to her favorite charity, the Boca Raton Opera. Of course they had to be entertained and coddled before their tight purses would open, so she was holding a "Las Vegas Night." Gambling with sexy croupiers in low-cut outfits for the men. A chance to show off new gowns for the women. And lots of gossip, of course. How she loved entertaining. And how she loved showing off her gorgeous