Page 67 of A Conflict of Interest

She laughed. “Maybe we can talk about it over food. I tapped into my fancy side and made a stewed vegetable tart. But if you just want to kiss me like that again, then we can get to the food in a minute.”

Well, I did like food. But I still stopped for one more kiss against the wall, tangling myself in Veronica and savoring every touch, before my stomach made a low groaning noise that prompted me to focus on other things, pulling away from the kiss with both of us laughing.

She did spoil me, with a whole candlelit dinner setup, the table runner dug up out of my closet and laid down with my scented candles burning, the lights kept low and romantic in the glow of the candles and the light strings, and we ate an amazing dinner while she listened intently about being back at work, trivial office stories and gossip she ate up like it was the most fascinating thing.

“Danielson is still mad at me,” she laughed once I’d pivoted to her day. “And now he’s giving me extra work. But I don’t really care. I’ve been shopping around for a new employer…”

“What, already? I was gone for eight hours. Did you take any time to just rest? Working, job-searching, making me dinner…”

She beamed. “I just said Danielsongaveme extra work, not that I’mdoingextra work.”

“Ohhhh.” I tapped my temple thoughtfully. “I got you. So have you found anything promising?”

She gave me an excited, almost shy, little smile. “Actually, yeah. It’s still kind of up in the air, but I got in touch with an oldcontact, and I might have a way back into my old position with fashion branding.”

“Really?” I nearly fell out of my seat, leaning in towards her. “Oh my god, Vee, that’s so exciting. You loved doing that.”

“Yeah, until I didn’t. But it’d be fun to get back into it,” she laughed. “My old contact is just doing some, uh, sniffing around. She likes me plenty, but her business partner had issues with how suddenly I took off before, so he’s digging around trying to see if there’s anything he can ding me for. But obviously, my behavior is above reproach. I’m an angelic sweetheart.”

“Youarean angelic sweetheart. I mean, you even stole a nutcracker for me. Maybe I should tell them that? I can be your reference and talk about your daring nutcracker heist.”

“I think they might not like that, but now I definitely want you to tell me how exactly the nutcracker heist went in your mind, because it sounds a lot more exciting than how it went in real life.”

We went into the night talking about happy little nothings, and I found myself dreaming, wondering if things could always be this blissful. At this point it felt foreign, the thought that Veronica could ever turn away and hurt me like she did before—like I wasn’t sure why I was still being cautious, still keeping it secret and playing it safe—but I’d learned plenty about not throwing my caution to the wind and charging in. It got me hurt on Veronica, and it got Veronica hurt on, well, uh, a Christmas tree topper.

But for now, all of that was so far away, just the two of us as she cuddled on the couch with me for trashy TV together, more readings, and then slow kisses that turned into deep kisses, Veronica letting me lead this time as I pushed her onto her back on the couch beneath me, and I savored every noise she made as we made love into the night, curling up tangled in her arms once we’d finished and cleaned ourselves up and gotten readyfor bed, and when Veronica fell asleep first with her lips parted and eyes peacefully fluttered shut, I lay there in the small hours of the night watching her move with the small rhythm of each breath, and as sleep crept in on the edges of my consciousness, I thought that maybe it was nice to be in love. Maybe it was the clever, careful decision, after all—to fall in love and open my heart to someone. A strategic risk seeking out the most beautiful, brilliant thing in life.

And shehadinformed me I was a clever strategist. And, what, like Veronica Preston was going to be wrong? Get real.

It was a happy blur of days just like that one—Veronica and I spent every night together, whether at her place or mine, as I settled back into the flow of the office, and it didn’t even rattle me this time that everyone’s eyes were warily on me. I had something to prove, and I couldn’t prove it if people weren’t watching for it.

It was after a blissful few days—well, blissful was a generous word with how much the department was slammed this close to Christmas, butIfor one loved the magical spirit of collaboration and the joys of Christmastime—when I got called into the executive office, and Boss Lucy sat back in her chair, cradling a coffee and a muffin she was eating at her desk.

“Hey, Boss,” I said brightly, stepping inside and easing the door shut behind me, looking down at her coffee and muffin. “What a winning combination. Where’s your girlfriend?”

She smiled wider, holding the coffee in both hands. “You did tell me it’s good to cry into, and the pre-Christmas runup is always a good time to cry. Anna’s in a meeting with some important talking heads.”

“Oh my god, that sounds creepy.”

“Not literal talking heads, just rich old white men in suits.”

I put my hands on my hips. “That’s creepier.”

“It really is. Including one Matthew Gould, around whom Anna is trying to keep her cool even knowing he’s sleeping with her mother.”

I shrugged, dropping into the seat across from her. “Hey, if they have enough love for all four of them.”

“Nothing but love in your world. She’ll be fine once she’s out of there and has had a chance to vent her frustrations to me and I’ve had a chance to give her the white-chocolate snickerdoodles I bought to surprise her knowing she had a meeting with Matthew Gould.”

I squished my hands into my cheeks. “Oh my god, that’s so cute. You two are my favorite couple ever.”

She smiled slyly. “Feel like that should be yourself and, uh, Nic.”

I hunched my shoulders, all the momentum suddenly against me, as I felt my face prickle. “Oh! That. Her. Ah… I mean… well…”

“Still haven’t talked about the details with her, huh?” she said, setting her coffee down gently, rolling her chair into her desk to face me directly. I looked away.

“Um… is this the most relevant topic right now?”

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