Conflict of Interest_A Mustang Prairie Romance

by N. D. Jackson

  “Maybe you just need to get laid. It’s been what, about 2 weeks?”

  He looked up at his assistant who was quickly becoming his best friend and confidant. “I could have gotten laid tonight Amelia, but I wanted,” he swallowed hard to get out the next words, “to please her instead.”

  Amelia froze at his confession. “Then hell has officially frozen over,” she smiled down at his forlorn face. “Show her you’re into her and mean it and I think you’ll be fine.”

  He relaxed a little and rose as Amelia made her way back to the door. “Good. Thank you again Amelia.”

  “No problem, boss.” She grabbed her shoes from near the door and turned to him. “Just don’t tell her you work for KitchenMart,” she said and silently trotted down the stairs.

  ##

  “So what happened to you tonight?” Alexis was pleased that Amelia had finally taken her leave. The woman was nice, but she had some serious girl talk to do with her best friend.

  Shellie flushed under Alexis’ penetrating gaze. “What do you mean?”

  “Don’t pull that crap with me Michelle! You were distracted like Amelia said, your hair looks like you’ve been in bed all day and I’m pretty sure you have a hickey on your neck.”

  Shellie’s hand immediately flew up to her neck, feeling all the places Noel’s lips had touched to see if she feel where he’d left his mark. “That’s nothing. I tried to straighten my hair.” That sounded believable, didn’t it?

  Alexis nodded in disbelief. “Oh so do you always remove your panties while you straighten your hair?” She raised her left hand to show off a pair of sheer white thong panties hanging from her forefinger.

  “So that’s where they went!”

  Alexis sat down at the kitchen table in front of a platter of Anda’s leftovers. “Do you often toss your panties into dark corners before tackling your unruly mane?” Alexis giggled to herself at the thought of removing her underwear before fixing her hair. She definitely enjoyed way too much wine tonight.

  “Oh Al, it was wonderful and amazing and awful!” She buried her head in her hands, unsure of how to convey this story without blushing. Shellie had never been able to talk freely about sex except during sex and the thought of trying to relive her encounter with Noel made her feel sick.

  “Go on,” Alexis encouraged.

  Shellie told her best friend everything, about his odd behavior that she witnessed from her car. About the wine-related gifts he brought to her as well as the carnal gifts bestowed upon her at the table at which they were now sitting.

  “Eww, and good for you,” she cheered for her friend.

  As much as it pained Shellie she recounted everything starting with the kiss and ending with her two glorious orgasms. “I think my brain is just confused because I’ve never been able to come more than once in a night and I did it twice with him…without penetration!”

  “Well they say great sex does screw with the brain.”

  “Al, there was no sex. He made me,” she whispered the next word, “come,” before proceeding, “by sucking and biting my boobs and tasting me.”

  Alexis dropped the prosciutto covered fig back onto the tray, “What!”

  Shellie nodded, “I know. And both times I came.”

  “Wow Shellie, that is great. I’m so happy for you.” She took a sip of water, “so how was the main event?”

  Shellie shook her head in disappointment. “That’s just it, we didn’t even get to that part. He said ‘next time’.”

  Alexis stared with her mouth wide open. “Why can’t I find a guy who plays with my tits licks my lady parts and then leaves for wine night?”

  Shellie smiled at her friend who never missed the important part of a story. “Because they all fall in love with you and want to fly you to Tahiti or the moon.”

  “Well I’ll take hot and sweaty on my kitchen table any day.”

  “What should I do Al? I think I could be in trouble with him.”

  “Oh honey, do what feels right. He initiated all of this so obviously he likes you. You have two options here, ride him until you chafe or avoid him like the plague.”

  Option one was utterly appealing and option two really was no option at all given his proximity. “He said next time there would be three orgasms, maybe more.” She sighed, thinking about the heat in his voice when he said it.

  Alexis shouted “Ooooooooheeeeeeee girl. I’ll take him if you don’t want him!”

  Shellie smiled at her friend’s boisterous reaction, suddenly feeling a lot better about Noel and next time. “That’s the problem, I do want him. But does he want me for more than a romp in the sheets?”

  “There’s only one way to find out.”

  ##

  An hour after the kitchen was clean and their sex talk long over Alexis felt sober enough to walk the block to her home. With their nightly good byes taken care of, Shellie stood in her dark foyer waiting for Alexis to slip on her hot pink thong sandals. “You sure you don’t want to stay?”

  Alexis shook her head, “I can’t. Chloe’s sick so I’m doing the 5 and 6 a.m. spin classes.”

  Shellie frowned, “Poor thing. I’ll bring you breakfast at 7:15.”

  “You’re the best Shel,” she slurred and went in for another hug.

  “Anything for you, hon.” Shellie opened her eyes to see a figure sitting on the top step of the porch, sliding on a pair of familiar ankle-killing stilettos. Shellie patted Alexis, whispering, “Turn around Al, you won’t believe this.”

  Alexis turned around and her eyes widened in shock to see Amelia sitting down adjusting the straps of her amazing shoes. “That little bitch!”

  Shellie covered her friend’s mouth. The last thing she needed was a drunken cat fight on her lawn even though Alexis would take Amelia down in ten seconds flat. “I knew it was too good to be true Al. I just knew it.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Over the next week Shellie was bombarded with small gifts every time she came to her front door. In the morning when she left there was often a steaming cup of coffee and some sinfully delicious pastry in a paper bag awaiting her. When she came home for lunch there would be bouquets of flowers, usually daisies, or small tokens that included turquoise jewelry, amber rings and other things she assumed Noel thought she would like. Most of it she did like, honestly. That however, did not stop her from returning everything but the coffee.

  Shellie had done everything she could to avoid Noel and his devilish mouth. She left through the back entrance, stayed with Alexis and on more than a few occasions she turned off the lights and muted the radio so he would simply go away. It was killing her to do it, but after seeing Amelia creep from his apartment after the party she knew her first instincts were right about Noel. Try as she might, she could come up with no logical explanation for her late night visit to his home or for her putting her shoes on downstairs if not for the sole purpose of being discreet.

  The one thought that did raise her spirits was that she was able to sever her ties with Noel before she developed feelings for him. Judging by the gifts he left for her, he knew her pretty well and the thoughtfulness of the gifts would have reeled her in but good, if she hadn’t know about his relationship with Amelia. But she did know so Noel not only cost her a chance at an evening of sexual bliss, but also a chance at a great friendship with a woman who turned out to be a no good two-timing ho bag. On second thought, he saved her from a friendship that could never work.

  So Shellie sat at her desk this lunch hour, unwilling to deal with yet another gift on her doorstep, and thought back to that blissful night in her kitchen. She was satisfied to give herself endless hours of pleasure simply thinking about that hour, so in a sense all was not lost. But in moments like this when she sat alone in her office watching couples in Mustang Prairie meet for lunch and greet each other as if they’d been apart for eons, she wished she hadn’t been right about Noel. Would it be so hard to be the type of woman he’d want to hang on to, she wondered to herself. But s
he wasn’t and dwelling on it would not change that.

  She went to the back room of her office to fetch her chicken curry salad and iced tea, deciding it was better to eat lunch and search the web rather that stare at Noel’s cruel gifts. When she returned with her lunch in hand, Shellie nearly dropped it when she saw Noel sitting in her waiting area, stretched out comfortably. Note to self, put a bell on the door to alert me that handsome intruders are present.

  “So you haven’t mysteriously left the country, then?” He flashed his amazing smile at her running his hands through his wavy coif and tempting her with his sensual stare.

  “I would think my thanks but no thanks notes would have indicated that I am right here in Mustang Prairie. Where I belong.” She tried to be as unemotional as possible but she feared that she was not faring well.

  Noel nodded, choosing to ignore her biting comment. “It’s just that I haven’t seen you in nearly a week.” He stood up to stretch his long body.

  Shellie clutched her lunch as a barrier between her and Noel, lest he try to tempt her again. Please let him try and tempt me again, please oh please. “And?”

  His long legs ate up the distance between them and he was less than a foot from her in two steps. “And,” he lowered his voice and lifted his hand to caress the side of her face, “we had so much fun I was hoping we could see each other again.”

  She bit her lip to keep from saying anything. She would love more than anything to repeat or finish what was started in her kitchen but she just couldn’t. “As much fun as that was Mr. Hampton,” shook her head free of his electric touch and stepped back. “I think we both know it can’t happen again.”

  Noel chuckled. “Are we back to Mr. Hampton now, after we’ve gotten to know each other so well?”

  Shellie cringed at just how well she knew him. It was bad enough to know that he had seen, hell he had tasted the most intimate parts of her body, but it pained her that was probably giving that same pleasure to another woman mere hours later. “A little too well, I’d say.”

  Noel stared down at her in confusion. He knew she had a good time with him in that brief moment in her kitchen yet he hadn’t heard from her or even laid eyes on her until just now. The way she looked through him as though disgusted by him, Noel just couldn’t figure it out. But never one to back down from a challenge, he stepped closer. “Well Shellie I don’t think we know each other well enough.”

  She stepped back a few more steps until the wall forced her to stop. Damn, she couldn’t allow him to be so close it just wouldn’t do her any good. She sighed, figuring if she confronted him with the truth he’d simply walk away rather than prove anything to her. At least she hoped. “As handsome as you are,” she began.

  “You think I’m handsome,” he smiled down at her, batting his golden eyelashes playfully.

  “As handsome as you are, and as much fun as I had Mr. Hampton, I don’t enjoy nor do I intend to be just another notch on your bedpost.” She attempted to walk around him but he slammed his arm against the wall to stop her.

  “What are you talking about Shellie?”

  “You know very well what I’m talking about so don’t insult me by lying.”

  He leaned down to look her straight in the eyes, feeling a flash of heat rush over his body. Damn this woman would be the death of him. “Let’s pretend I don’t know. Tell me.”

  She squinted at him, unsure if he was sincerely ignorant or simply using his looks to distract her from the fact that he’s sleeping with someone else. Someone who happens to already be in a relationship. “Why should I bother, Noel? I’ll tell you and you’ll deny it and I still won’t believe you because I know what I saw.” She leaned up at him until their noses were touching. “It won’t change anything.”

  He stepped back, caught off guard by the sudden hostility in the eyes of this tiny woman who had captured his attention. Running his fingers through his mane in frustration, Noel sighed, “Well Shellie if you ever want to tell me what I’ve done to offend you this time, you know where to find me.” He walked away, angry and more than a little confused.

  ##

  After his positive report from Amelia on Monday Noel spent the rest of the week showing Shellie just how interested he was. He sent gifts and trinkets, wine, coffee and just about every other thing he thought she liked or might like. He would awake early in the morning and make her a cup of gourmet coffee and leave it her doorstep or rush home on his lunch hour to place a little gift on her doorstep. He had never gone to such lengths to get a woman’s attention, yet every evening after his work day had ended all of his gifts but the coffee sat neatly on his welcome mat with a note saying she couldn’t accept them.

  Noel was at a lost what to do. His only thought was that Amelia must have misunderstood the conversation with Shellie because she certainly didn’t seem interested in him anymore and if she was, she had a funny way of showing it. Sick of the anxiety and uncertainty he did something he wouldn’t have dreamed of doing in New York. He sought out Shellie.

  Finding her place of business was simple enough in a town as small as Mustang Prairie. He simply parked his car at one end of Fourth Street and walked until he found the little store front office that was hers. Once he located her office he looked in and saw her with a client and walked back to his car. This isn’t a good idea, he thought to himself. She’s your landlord and you’ve probably already gone too far with her, he chided himself. But still he had been thinking of her since Monday. Her smile, her laugh, her moan and her scent and especially her taste. He knew, or he hoped, that the only way to get her out of his mind was to have her. With that thought he stepped out of his car again, feeding the meter and making the two block trek back to her office.

  This time the office was empty so he tried the door, hoping she had yet to leave for lunch. When the door pushed open he went in and sat on the uncomfortable, cheap looking sofa situated in what he guessed was her lobby. Prepared to say all the right things, Noel couldn’t believe he was walking out of her office without so much as flirty banter or a set date to finish what they started.

  Stalking away, Noel was too furious to go back to work so rather than continue to his car he turned the corner to walk off some of his steam. “Never met a more infuriating female in all my life,” he mumbled into the wind. He replayed the kitchen scene over in his head for what felt like the hundredth time to figure out what he could’ve done—aside from making her body shiver with pleasure—that could have prompted such a reaction. Amelia said she had issues but I was prepared for this, he thought as he stopped at a red light even though there were no cars in sight. Standing on the corner Noel took a sip from the cup of coffee that had somehow appeared in his hands during his anger-fueled walk through town. It had to be something else, he was sure of it, but he couldn’t figure out what. “She’s the only woman I know and for the first time in my life, the only one on my mind!” He shouted at his shoes, unaware to the change of the light.

  “You may be able to get away with yelling at your shoes on a street corner in New York City, but in Mustang Prairie people will think you’re crazy.”

  Noel turned around at the sound of the vaguely familiar voice and the more familiar giggle, to see Alexis standing in yellow yoga pants and a pink sports bra propping open a door with her feet. “Great.”

  “Hey am I bothering you? I mean it is you who’s raving like a lunatic in front of my business.” She crossed her arms and looked him in the eyes, slightly annoyed.

  He looked up to see the modern three story structure with the words World of Wonder on it in large block letters. His shoulders slumped, “I’m sorry Alexis.”

  “Having a bad day?”

  “You could say that.” He smiled weakly at her.

  “Good,” she said firmly and abruptly left.

  Noel wanted to yell something nasty after her, but she was Shellie’s best friend which meant she probably knew what his offense was this time. If he could just get her to tell him what he’d do
ne and how he could fix it. Noel straightened up and opened the door to catch up with Alexis. “Hey, wait up,” he called after her.

  Alexis kept walking. As much as she wanted Noel and Shellie to work, she couldn’t get the pained expression on Shellie’s face out of her mind, seeing Amelia re-dressing on the porch. “Sorry Noel, got a business to run,” she yelled over her shoulder.

  He caught up to her in a few short strides and grabbed her elbow. “Please --,”

  Alexis grabbed his wrist from her elbow and twisted it behind his back, “A little word of advice, don’t ever grab a woman who is purposefully ignoring you.”

  He yanked free of her surprisingly strong grip. “Got it! Now can you please give me five minutes since you just assaulted me?”

  Alexis shook her head, ponytail whipping around wildly behind her. “I was not assaulting you I was merely defending myself against an unwanted touch.” She leaned back, crossing her arms and throwing a smug grin his way.

  Noel held up his hands in surrender. “Ok I apologize. Now can you please talk to me? Please?”

  ##

  Alexis sat behind her large metal desk with her feet propped up and listened as Noel recounted his run in with Shellie. She wanted to hate him for making her best friend in the world sad and she really wanted to hate him for proving Shellie right about her unfounded insecurities. But she could see the hurt and confusion on his face and could muster up nothing but pity.

  “What did I do, Alexis?”

  “The question you should be asking is, who did I do?”

  Noel looked at her, more confused now than ever. “I don’t get it.”

  Alexis swung her pink and yellow cross-trainers off the desk and planted them firmly on the floor. “Come off it Noel, we both saw her sneaking out of your apartment an hour after she allegedly left to go home. To. Her. Boyfriend.”

  The fire in Alexis’ eyes was unmistakable but Noel didn’t understand why it was a big deal that Amelia had come to visit him. “Amelia?”