Page 79 of A Conflict of Interest

Chelsea huffed. “Oh, my goodness, you two, Maria wasaskingif you’re getting married anytime soon.”

Kelcey and I shrugged, looking at each other. “Ah, maybe,” I said.

“Yeah?” she said. “You think we should get married?”

“Huh. Doesn’t sound half-bad,” I said, mostly just to enjoy the sight out of the corner of my eye of Mom just about having a stroke. Kelcey giggled.

“Maybe I’ll just drop down on one knee right now. Do you think I should, Mrs. Preston?”

“Oh—well—” Mom was inventing new colors of red to turn in sheer excitement and nerves. “I mean—well—you two are so wonderful, it’s just—of course,” she said, and I shrugged at Kelcey.

“Well, I’m going to get out of all these layers—I don’t think an engagement ring would fit on my hand over this glove—and maybe we can see where the night goes. I could really go for that eggnog.”

Kelcey was doing a terrible job suppressing the giggles as we got away from Mom and Chelsea, going the long way around to the kitchen and avoiding where a whole loud crowd squeezed into the living room. “She’s going to have a heart attack wondering if we meant that,” she said, nudging her shoulder against mine.

“She’ll be fine. It’s a youngest daughter’s solemn duty to give her parents heart attacks. She’s got her girlfriend to make things better anyway.”

“My girlfriend’s better.” She lit up, pausing at the swing door into the kitchen. “Oh my god, even better than that. You’re my fiancée. I keep automatically referring to you in my head as my girlfriend and then I have a wholemomentwhere I realize, likeoh my god.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You do remember you’re the one who proposed.”

“Iknow.But I still can’t get my head around it! Ugh, lucky me.”

She was so cute I genuinely didn’t know what to do with it sometimes. Hard to believe I of all people managed to getherto want to marry me. I’d spend the rest of my life trying to figure out how that happened.

Still, the situation got more complicated when we pushed through the swing door and nearly straight into Lucy, leaning back against a column with her arms folded, smiling drily at us, and she said, “Welcome back, you two… I hear you enjoyed Lisbon, Spain. The plane into Milan missed and you landed in a territorial dispute?”

“Much simpler…” I said, shrugging helplessly. “Mom and Chelsea have no grasp on geography.”

Lucy smiled wider. “Kelcey was the one to pop the question? Seriously? That’s cute.”

Kelcey huffed. “Oh my god, don’t listen in on private conversations creeping through doors, Boss Lucy. That’s literally so weird.” She paused. “But yeah, I did. I mean, hello, look at her. I’ve gotta lock that down.”

Lucy laughed, pushing away from the column. “Absolutely. My second favorite of the Preston sisters. Congratulations, you two,” she said. “So, is there a reason you were telling Maria that you might consider getting engaged tonight?”

I shushed her. “We figured it would be funny to pretend we’re only finally popping the question here. We both have rings, so… we’ll both propose to each other. Mostly because I want to see Miss Charlotte’s reaction. She’s going to be appalled.”

Lucy hung her head. “Only you, Veronica.”

Kelcey puffed her chest out. “It was actually my suggestion…”

“Oh, god, Kelce, she’s ruining you,” Lucy said lightly. I waved her off.

“And I’d thought at one point that you were cool, Luce. Now you’ve fallen to the ranking of my second least-favorite Masters.”

“Even counting my father and brother you offered to kill?”

“Ah, nah, they’re already dead in my mind. Don’t worry, I’ve been keeping an eye out for anybody who looks like a homophobic man version of you. My talented and intelligent fiancée would absolutely help me hide a body.”

Kelcey beamed at me. “If it was Boss Lucy’s terrible family? I’ll bring the acid bath.”

Lucy laughed, shaking her head. “Ah… you two are going to do great. Look at you, Vern. A high-flying career in fashion taking you all the way to Milan and a loving wife ready to help you dispose of a body. You’ve really got it made.”

“She’s not my wife yet. But if you and Anna keep playing the long-engagement game, we might beat you to it.”

“I’m sure that would be an absolutely devastating blow for me and Anna and definitely something we actively care about.”

“Yeah, I believe it. Now, c’mon, Kelce, let’s get that eggnog and go gaslight Matthew and Miss Charlotte.”

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