Heather looked thoughtful for a moment. Things were beginning to fall into place. She thought she was beginning to understand why Linda hadn't come out and interrupted Jake and Rita the other night. Linda had had her own playmate inside.
The idea was shocking. But titillating.
"Hey, you've become awfully quiet all of a sudden. What's on that pretty mind of yours?"
Embarrassment turned Heather's checks a bright red. "Oh, I was just thinking…"
"About what?"
"Oh… about what you were saying, that's all." Linda grinned. "What I was saying wasn't all that thought provoking unless you're thinking dirty thoughts, that is." She giggled. "Well, I may as well tell you. You're my best friend and I don't like keeping secrets from you. I just wasn't sure how you'd take it since you seemed so devoted to Tom and all… Jake and I are into swapping…"
Heather's eyes grew wide and incredulous. Once the words were out in the open, it seemed more shocking than ever. And more intriguing…
Linda apparently wasn't sure how to take Heather's silence. "Uh… you know what it is, don't you, honey? Swapping, I mean?"
At last the redhead managed to speak. "Uuhhh… yes… I know what it is. I read a book about it once." She felt an intense need to unburden herself of her own secret. "Linda, there's something I've got to tell you," she said in one rapid gush of words. "I… I saw Jake and Rita in the garden the other night. And I saw you come out and take them inside. I was…" She blushed more furiously than ever. "I was peeking through a knothole in the fence." She didn't dare look at her friend. She hung her head, waiting far Linda's response.
The blonde reached out and clasped her hand. She giggled and looked at the younger woman affectionately. "Heather, you're beautiful. Don't feel embarrassed about it, darling. It's natural to be curious about what other people are doing. You were doing a very normal kind of thing." Her blue eyes lit up with curiosity. "Did it turn you on?"
Again, Heather couldn't look at her friend. "Mm-hmm. I… Oh, Linda, I… I played with myself. I got very excited."
Linda laughed softly. She continued to hold the redhead's hand. "That's wonderful, darling! I can bet that whatever they were doing, it was pretty damned exciting. I'd have done the same thing."
Heather looked at the older woman in deadly earnest. "Would you?"
"Of course I would!"
"But, Linda, I didn't know it was all right with you. I thought like was cheating on you!"
"Listen, honey, that's why I got into this swapping game. To keep him from running around and doing things behind my back. This way, I get my jollies, too. Tim, Rita's husband, is one hell of a lover, if you'll excuse my crudity."