Page 57 of A Conflict of Interest

“Kelcey…” she said, her voice strained, tight. “I need you to… understand… that I’m doing everything in my damn power and this isverynearly more than I can take.”

I smiled oddly at her. “Doing everything in your power to what?”

“To—” She looked away. “To be—respectful—and not think anything improper or… objectify you in any way, or…”

I stared at her for a second before I let my hands fall by my side. “Isthatwhat you’ve been doing? Why you don’t seem the littlest bit interested in me like this?”

“It’s—” She reddened, putting a hand over her face and speaking muffled through it. “I don’t want you to think I only want you for your body!”

Oh my god, she’d been… she’d just been trying to respect my worries and insecurities. I stared at her for a second before I said, in a low voice, “If I told you I didn’t mind… that I wasn’t worried about that now. Maybe even going so far as to say I like feeling like I’m attractive! If I did that, hypothetically speaking. What do you think you would do? Right now?”

She swallowed hard, her breath ragged as she dragged her gaze back to me, eyes darkened as she met mine for a moment and, slowly, swept her gaze over me. I shivered under her attention, and when she met my eyes again, I smiled and nodded, encouragingly.

“You can tell me what you’re thinking,” I said softly.

“I’m thinking you’re… incredible…”

“You too, Veronica. You know, it’s really inspirational seeing how much work you’ve put in, but… it’s not like you have to change ineveryway.”

She bit her lip, her breathing short. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I mean it. There always were a lot of things about you that I liked.”

She closed her eyes, lips parting. “Okay, because there’s some things that I haven’t been able to change much.”

“Such as?”

“I amreallyhorny.”

I smiled wider. “Okay,” I said. “How can I help?”

She made a sound in her throat, eyes fluttering open with the most beautifully desperate look in them, brows arched, and she said, “God, Kelcey—you know you don’t have to—”

“I’ve thought about you a lot,” I whispered, and she bit her lip through a hazy groan, something flickering in her eyes.

“Jesus Christ, Kelcey.”

“So?” I took her hands and laid them on my hips, immediately feelings a hundred familiar sensations coursing through me—Veronica’s hands on my body just like it was always meant to be. “What would you like me to do right now?”

She gripped her fingertips tighter into my sides, taking a long, shaky breath looking up at where I straddled her, and it took her a long time to form the words, “Can I… can I… kiss you?”

She was so sweet and so… cute like this, I never wanted anything other than her, other than this. I glided my hands up her arms, across her shoulders, and up to cup her cheeks, smiling softly at her. “As much as you like,” I said, and I bent down to meet her lips with mine, and it was so right, so perfect, so… some and her,soVeronica and Kelcey,two things that were always supposed to go together, like silver and gold, like the sun and the sky.

She kissed me tentatively, hesitantly, like she still didn’t know if she could, keeping her hands rigid on my sides, before she melted into me with the softest, sweetest little sound of total contentment, moving her lips with mine and slipping her hands to my back. I already thought I was losing my mind in how perfect it was, how sweet and right it felt to kiss Veronica Preston, even before she whispered, “Kelcey…” against my lips in this tiny, trembling voice like she couldn’t believe it was me, here, right now, holding her like this.

Weird how it was something so sweet, so soft, so tender, that could turn me on so much. It was a good thing I’d foregone the pants or I’d have made a mess of them.

She parted from my lips, not far, holding me tenderly against her, and she whispered like a prayer, “Is this… is this okay, Kelcey?”

“Veronica, I want this andsomuch more. Please let me… give you what you want.”

“I want… you to have what you want too.”

I bit my lip. “You have no idea how much I want this. Of course, if you end up with your hand between my legs at any point, you’ll find out exactly how much I want this. It’s kind of up to you.”

“Jesus Christ, Kelcey. I can’t believe… you’re just so perfect,” she whispered, softening into another kiss, holding me tenderly, and I melted against her, letting her kiss me, letting her… have me.

This poor girl had probably been suffering through all of those times I made dirty comments. I was more than happy to make it up to her now.

---