Conflict of Interest (A Mustang Prairie Romance)

by Jackson, N. D.

  Grabbing a fistful of her hair, Noel angled himself to deepen the kiss, groaning as she ground into him. The heat and moisture he felt through his boxers told him she hadn’t found the matching thong and he moaned louder as she ground harder and got wetter.

  Instead of fighting his frantic need to kiss her all over, to taste her, he gave in to it and released the kiss. Peppering kisses down her throat and chest, he pulled her by the waist closer. He knew that even sinking deep into her wouldn’t get him as close as he needed to be right now, but he pulled her tighter anyway cupping her breasts. When she moaned, “Noel,” he pulled the lavender ribbon at the front of her nightie to reveal her big, beautiful bare breasts to him.

  “You have the most beautiful breasts Shellie,” he whispered as he cupped them, kissing one and taking it between his teeth before moving on to the other.

  Things were getting hotter than she planned for tonight. Somehow she felt that sleeping with him in a fancy hotel suite bigger than entire home would continue to see the wrong free love message. Not that having sex in a fitting room sent the right message, but that couldn’t be helped now. She knew that she liked him, hell probably more than liked him and that could be dangerous. For her. For her heart and for her future. So she cupped his face, lifting it to hers and placed a softer kiss on his lips and swung one leg back to the floor. “Thank you for this Noel, it means more to me than you know. Thank you,” she kissed his forehead, “for making me feel beautiful. And thank you,” she leaned down kiss his neck, “for making me feel sexy. And thank you,” she nibbled his earlobe, “for making me feel wanted.” She took a few steps back, feeling instantly colder without his body heat.

  “Don’t--,” he reached out to her but she widened the gap between them. “Why?”

  “Why what?” She didn’t want to continue this conversation because he was very persuasive and right now it wouldn’t take much for her to change her mind and decide to hell with sleep and to hell with her heart. She hadn’t stopped thinking about the things she would do to him since they met and with those green eyes boring a hole into her now, she was ready to give in and risk everything, including her heart.

  “Why are you pulling away? Why now?” His breathing was still fast and his face darkened with desire. He wanted her tonight more than he wanted anything, but he would wait if she wanted to wait. Dammit, he realized that as much as he wanted sex with her, he wanted more too. “You look so, so breathtaking in that thing Shellie I can’t take it! I want you now.”

  “Why Noel? Because it’s time for bed,” she said so calmly that the even she was surprised. She went with it, proud of herself. She turned and climbed the three stairs up to the bedroom, stopping at the doorway and looking at him over her shoulder. “Coming?”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  After a quiet and somewhat embarrassing morning after breakfast, Shellie and Noel were back in Mustang Prairie before lunch. Everything was just as she left it when she thought they were going on an hours long shopping trip. The breakfast dishes were in the dishwasher, ready to be put away and the entire house still smelled like home fries and bacon with a hint of syrup still lingering. Too tired to tackle her Sunday to do list, Shellie put on a full pot of dark Italian roast, sat out some Irish crème and popped some croissants in the oven. It wasn’t a healthy lunch but it would have to do.

  When the third and final trip of shopping bags were safely in the house and cluttering up the living room, Shellie plopped down on her favorite spot on the couch to savor being back at home. She reached into her purse in search of her cell phone, certain that nearly all of Mustang Prairie had called after her absence this weekend. A few weak beeps let her know she was right but there wasn’t enough juice to bother at the moment.

  Stretching over the arm of the sofa she plugged it into the charger before tackling her own bag of secondhand clothes. Hearing the requisite beep alerting her that her trusted mobile was now charging, Shellie slunk back onto the sofa and took a few deep breaths. The total silence was louder than regular silence and it was wreaking havoc on her peace of mind. The last leg of their trip was just as silent. She sat staring out the window as the scenery whipped by, thinking of the night of unexpected passion she shared with Noel while he seemed to brood the entire way home. Unwilling to think about what this means, or if it meant anything, Shellie stood up and walked to her room and returned a few moments later with her chocolate brown wicker laundry basket.

  Rather than carefully separate her clothes into whites, darks and lights as she normally would, she simply turned over both bags and emptied them into the basket. I’ll sort them downstairs, she promised herself as she cringed inwardly at the disorganization of her laundry. This man is making everything more complicated, even laundry. Pushing the kitchen door with her hip, Shellie was prepared to make the trek to her basement but her attempt to seek sanctuary from the silence was interrupted.

  “Need some help?”

  Studying his face for a moment she realized he was actually offering to help her. Do laundry. As much as she hated laundry and really, truly wanted to take him up on that offer, she wouldn’t accept it until she knew where she stood with him. “Nah, I got it. Besides,” she flashed a half-hearted grin, “you got your work cut out for you.”

  The short trip to the basement was even quieter than the last three hours making her anxious to get the washer going for some reprieve. I don’t know why he’s being all quiet and brooding, he got exactly what he wanted, she thought to herself. She was desperate to figure out what had prompted this change in behavior but she knew already. He got what he wanted, well mostly and decided that he didn’t want more after all. “Story of my life,” she muttered into the empty basement leaning against the empty dryer and giving it a good kick. Who does he think he is? You can’t just show a girl a good time, take her to a fancy restaurant and buy her sexy lingerie and then ignore her. Especially when she’s your roommate! With her jaws clenched tight and her hands balled into fists, Shellie was surpassing hurt and hurtling towards anger. At least have the decency to say all you want is sex, I mean my god the man is gorgeous and wild horses couldn’t have stopped me last night. Stupid, stupid, stupid Shellie, she chided herself, will you never learn your lesson? How many times will you let men like Noel make you feel this way? “No more!” She shouted into the darkly lit basement before marching upstairs to check her phone. She needed Alexis right now. More than ever.

  When she arrived back into the living room half of Noel’s bags were gone with him, leaving Shellie relieved that she could sit in actual silence rather than forced silence. She picked up her phone, noting that she had two solid bars of battery life, and began scrolling through missed messages. There were twelve missed calls and text messages. Nine were from Alexis, first wondering what happened to Shellie then inquiring about what happened with Shellie and Noel. The other messages were from Shirley, Jacques and Paul wanting updates about the future of their livelihoods. Great I was out cavorting with the enemy while my clients hang on by a thread. Real good business move, Shel.

  Like prison she would allow herself one phone call. “Hey Al it’s me. I’m on my way over.”

  ##

  Last night, for lack of a better word, was insanely hot. Noel could barely sleep after his latest sexual escapade with Shellie left him totally worn out and completely in awe of her passion. When she said she didn’t want to have sex, he expected an excess of cuddling and kissing, not that. Not that he was complaining about that but he was shocked, pleased and stunned into silence about it. She was so giving and enthusiastic and so unlike any of the women he’d taken to bed in the past. Those women were so concerned about appearances even behind locked doors in dark rooms that they barely made a sound or allowed themselves to let go and enjoy their orgasms. Not Shellie, he thought. Shellie purred and moaned and groaned while clawing at his backside and panting heavily. She didn’t hold back either, giving or receiving. She made sexy mewling sounds as she was being pleasured and ‘mmmm
mm’ sounds while she was giving pleasure. It was an experience Noel knew he would never forget, yet one he was starting to regret if Shellie’s cool demeanor was any indication.

  She spent the entire ride home staring blankly at trees, barns, silos and millions of corn stalks while it took every ounce of willpower he possessed to keep his eyes on the road and his hands on the steering wheel. The knee length sundress she wore for the ride home slid up far too high for his liking and sanity when she sat. He was a little relieved at her silence, thinking back to how much skin was exposed when she turned to face him in the car.

  He knew she was someone he could really care about. He already cared more than he felt comfortable with and her behavior today had him wondering what he’d done wrong. Offering to help around the house didn’t work even though Abby swore that it always worked, so he set off on the task of putting away and organizing his new wardrobe. The closet in her guest room was far too small to fit everything and he needed hangers, lots of hangers. If I’m going to be here for a while, he thought, I may as well be comfortable.

  Noel realized he actually hoped that he would be living with Shellie for a while, rather than an abbreviated time until his unit was repaired. So far she had made no efforts to repair it, but he had to concede that he had whisked her away for most of the weekend leaving her unable to tend to the matter. Despite all that he really did want to stay to see what the future could hold for him and his wild-haired beauty.

  The thought of staying in a small town like Mustang Prairie and playing house with Shellie was appealing but the truth was that he had no idea if he’d even stay. If she got her way and the new KitchenMart project never got off the ground he’d be back in his penthouse apartment in time to have Thanksgiving with Abby and the twins. Seeing his sister and his niece and nephew wouldn’t be so bad but he knew that another New York winter without Shellie would be the coldest, most brutal winter he’d even endured.

  More determined than ever for KitchenMart and whatever was going on between him and Shellie to succeed, he vowed that tomorrow morning would be the beginning of it all. He would find a way to make Mustang Prairie see how beneficial this project could be for them and the surrounding towns but first he would have to convince Shellie. With Mustang Prairie appeased and his career trajectory back on track he would deal with the matter of them. “Us,” he said aloud just to see how it felt. In the past he had always refrained from using words like ‘us’ or ‘we’ in terms of women, it always seem to give them the wrong impression. The commitment women inherently found in these words was always a source of fear for him. Fear of losing his independence, fear of falling and fear of losing.

  Shellie was different and knew just how rare she was. He chuckled to himself, while arranging his underwear drawer. She’s probably the one woman on earth who would run screaming at a word like ‘us’.

  He folded the last of the bags and turned into the hall to retrieve the rest. “If you can believe it I still need to buy more stuff. I was thinking maybe I could grab dinner--” he stopped in the empty room listening for Shellie. He called out to her. No answer. He found her bedroom empty and the bathroom across the hall was dark and the door open so he darted back to the living room and noticed her phone and purse were gone. “She left?”

  ##

  “Tell me everything! How big was it? Was it good?” Alexis threw out question after question before Shellie could answer one.

  “I’m not telling you that!”

  Alexis dismissed her friend’s attempts at coy. “Come on Shel we always talk about this stuff. Dish!”

  “Sorry I can’t hear you,” she shouted, pointing to her ear as she started the blender for pitcher number two of watermelon margaritas.

  Alexis stuck out her tongue and pouted. As soon as the blender died she pounced again. “So are you two --”

  The blender started again and Shellie pointed to her ears again barely hiding a smile behind the stainless steel monstrosity. Satisfied her margaritas had achieved the perfect level of slushiness, she poured the pitcher and brought it to the table where Alexis had tacos, quesadillas, homemade tortillas and fresh salsa waiting. It was their morning after ritual.

  “So, are you guys a couple now?”

  Shellie shrugged, unsure how to define the purgatory-like state of their, whatever it is. “I don’t think so, I mean, I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it or anything else all day.” She was still bothered by his silence but didn’t know how to tell Alexis without sounding pitiful.

  “You mean you did all that with him last night, and you guys haven’t talked at all today? What the hell is that?”

  She shrugged again. “I have no idea. I mean I know we both had a good time last night. A really good time,” she blushed as flashes of last night came to her. “But he said nothing over breakfast or in the car or when we got home.”

  Alexis smiled. “Home? So it’s ‘home’ now?”

  “It’s my home.” She crossed her arms defensively.

  “Did you say anything to him?”

  She frowned, “No.”

  “Well why the hell not? The man is interested and he bought you silk chiffon!”

  “So?”

  “So it’s like Pretty Woman,” she held her chin in her hand staring wistfully.

  “And I’m the hooker he buys nice things for?”

  “Come on Shellie, you know what I mean. He likes you and you obviously like him so what gives?”

  Shellie took a long sip from her heavily salted glass before answering. “First of all how is it obvious I like him?”

  Alexis tilted her chin down and gave Shellie her best ‘are you kidding me’ stare.

  “What!”

  “That goofy grin on your face and the way you blush when you talk about him,” she pointed at her face. “That’s obvious, Shellie.” She took a self-satisfied sip.

  “And second?”

  She looked at her friend in confusion.

  “You said ‘first of all’ so what’s second?”

  “Oh right,” she turned on her indignant voice again. “Second of all he got all tense and quiet after he got what he wanted. Just like all the others.”

  “Seriously? He bought you sexy lingerie and put you up in a pimped out hotel room, after you rode him like a dog in heat in a fitting room! After!”

  “The hotel room was for him too,” she offered sheepishly.

  “Shellie!”

  “Okay, okay. When you say it like that it sounds, I don’t know, different.” She swiped her finger across the rim of the glass, savoring the strong taste of margarita salt, and finished off the drink. She began pouring another one, “It’s just complicated Al.”

  Alexis reached across the table, placing her hand on top of Shellie’s. “Sweetie, you really like him don’t you?”

  A tear spilled down her cheek. “I think I maybe more than like him.”

  “Really?” Alexis was happy for her friend even though she knew it would take time for Shellie to get used to this feeling. “That’s great.”

  Swiping at the tear, she blinked back more and looked at Alexis as she refilled her glass. “Not so great when you have to choose between your town and a boyfriend.” She laughed bitterly.

  “So you’re still going to ruin him?”

  “I have to save Mustang Prairie Al, it’s my home. It’s my job.” More tears began to fall as the reality of her situation hit. “Saving Mustang Prairie means losing Noel. It’s done.”

  Alexis jogged around the table and pulled her friend in for a hug. Shellie had been there for her when she was overweight and outcast because of her super old adoptive parents. Her heart was overflowing with love even as a little girl who just lost both of her parents, and she would be there for her now. “It’s gonna be alright honey. You just have to tell him how you feel.”

  Shellie pushed Alexis away harder than she intended. “Sorry,” she grabbed her friend’s shoulders and squeezed apologetically. “What good would it do to tell hi
m? Noel is career driven and after this weekend I know how important success means to him, Al. He would never give up his ‘career trajectory’” she said mockingly, “for me. I’m not you.”

  “That’s right, you’re you. You’re beautiful and kind and fantastic and smart and totally loveable. If he can’t see that his life would be much better with you in it than out of it, he doesn’t deserve you.” She lifted her glass in the air, forcing Shellie to do the same. “Besides if you do to me what you did to him last night, I’ll have you.” She winked, laughing so loud she sat her drink down to avoid spilling.

  Shellie did the only thing she could do. She joined in the laughter.

  ##

  After her brief walk home, Shellie quietly turned the key in her door and stepped inside, sliding her shoes off slowly to avoid making noise. She wasn’t avoiding Noel, but she didn’t want to let him know she was home. Without turning on any lights, she tiptoed to the kitchen to leave the plate of leftover tacos, chips and salsa for him. She sat the plate on the table where he would see it if he came out in search of dinner, turned on the light above the stove and tiptoed towards the door. The house was quiet but his car was out front so she assumed he was asleep or in the bathroom. Either way she could get to her room and stay there without seeing him tonight.

  Remembering her near dehydration on Friday, she turned back towards the fridge for a bottle of water. On the other side of the kitchen doors she was stopped by a wall of slick, rosemary scented muscle. “Noel, you’re awake.”

  “You left,” he said without a hint of warmth or desire.

  She could hear the hurt in his voice and that tugged at her heart. She knew she should’ve said something before she left but the awkward tension was killing her. “Yeah, I went to see Alexis.”