Conflicting Interests (31 page)

He pulled his hand from between them just long enough to
intertwine his fingers with hers, pinning her hands above her head. She wrapped
her legs around his hips and he started rocking into her.

He was slow at first. He watched her eyes, he studied her
lips, he kissed her but when she started pushing up into him, their bodies
started moving faster. By the time she was coming again, he was pushing
powerful strokes into her and she was crying out with every deep invasion but
she held tight to his hips.

He came shortly after she did, and buried his face in her
neck as he released his hold on her hands. She wrapped her arms around him,
holding him tight to her as he pulsed inside her. “I love you.” He whispered in
her ear one final time before shifting their bodies so she lay facing him.

“Marry me.” He brushed the hair from her eyes as she looked
at him. “Now marry me.”

“Yes.”

Five years later

“Marley, go give your brother a big hug and tell him
congratulations.” Katrina was whispering in Marley’s ear and Dillon was chuckling
beside her.

“You know she has no idea what ‘congratulations’ really
means, much less why she’s congratulating Seth.” He was taunting her as she
settled into her spot by him on the blanket.

“Don’t underestimate our daughter. She’s smart for three and
a half.”

“Yes she is. Takes after her mother.”

“Indeed.” He wrapped his arms around Katrina, pulling her
between his legs to sit. He started rubbing her shoulders as she stretched her
neck. She was wearing a sundress that made it very easy for him to slip his
fingers under the straps and get his hands right down on her skin and she
hummed as he massaged.

They were watching Marley as she ran up to Seth. He crouched
down to her level as she spoke. He laughed and picked her up, swinging her
around in a circle. Seth still had his graduation gown on but it was unzipped
and he’d lost his cap earlier in the day.

Seth lifted Marley to sit on his shoulders and as they made
their way across the large expanse of grass at the park to the large blanket
Dillon and Kat were sitting on, he flipped Marley over his shoulders and down
onto his lap as he sat down on the blanket with them.

“Hey Dad, can Jake and I go out tonight?”

“I suppose it depends on whether you intend to act like the
adult you are or the obnoxious high schooler you used to be.”

“Hmm. Probably gonna act like a high schooler but I promise
I’ll call if we get arrested.”

“That better be a joke.”

Seth cocked his head in the annoyed manner he’d never
managed to lose and Kat laughed at them. “So that’s a yes, right?”

“Yes.”

The graduation party was in a park and it was a simple
affair. Seth never cared much for big to-dos and he’d never hear a complaint
from Dillon in that regard. Jake was playing Frisbee with his grandfather and
though Michael was slowing down some at sixty-three, Dillon couldn’t help but
think the man was spry as hell for his age.

Molly was sitting at a nearby picnic table deep in
conversation with Delphi about Brent, Molly’s fiancé. In truth, the
conversation likely had far more to do with wedding planning than anything else
and Brent was little more than a side note. He couldn’t make it to the party
that afternoon, as he’d been called away. He was a firefighter with the city
and he was literally the first man Molly had ever dated who Dillon actually liked—likely
because the taxpayers paid both their salaries.

When Seth hopped up to join Jake and Michael, Marley chased
after him and left Dillon with his lovely wife and her very accessible
sundress. “Whatcha wanna bet the little miss is going to fall asleep on the way
home?”

Katrina turned toward him. “I’m counting on it. If Seth is
going with Jake that gives us two hours of uninterrupted adult time.”

“Ah. So what shall it be, dear? A five-minute quickie and a
one-hour fifty-five minute nap or one hour of making love and a one-hour nap?”

“Hmm. How about fifty-five minutes of foreplay, one hour of
making love and a five-minute nap?”

“That’s my good little nympho.” He pulled her back against
his body and snuggled into her neck as they watched Seth toss the Frisbee to
Jake and Marley squeal as she chased after it. He chuckled with his lips to her
neck. “I love you.” He whispered it in her ear. He did multiple times most days
and he’d never tired of saying it. Nor would he ever.

“I love you too.” Katrina seemed as fond of the words as he
was.

Marley was fast asleep by the time they got halfway home and
he reached for his wife’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze as she turned to
look at their daughter sleeping in her car seat. She smiled at him. It was her
seductive smile.

He carried Marley upstairs, laying her gently down in her
toddler bed and closing the drapes. Kat stood at the door watching him and he
crept from the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

Katrina pulled him to her the moment the door was closed,
kissing him. He lifted her to straddle his hips and he took his wife to bed.

The End

Elizabeth Finn is a small town Iowa gal who resides with her
young son. She grew up surrounded by corn fields and cows and spent her days
scaling railroad trestles and traipsing through the woods. There’s no better
place in the world to be than chasing lightning bugs on a warm summer evening
in Iowa, and her small town upbringing shows in the stories she creates.
Whether set in a bustling metropolis or tucked away in a small holler, her
stories bring to life the inner heart of us all.

Elizabeth is a multi-published contemporary romance author,
and her passion is creating stories packed full of believable conflicts,
characters who leave you rooting for them, and romance that might just
short-circuit your e-reader. Her characters always find the best p art of
themselves on their journey, and her readers find themselves devoted to her
honest and heartfelt voice.

Elizabeth welcomes comments from readers. You can find her
website and email addresses on her
author
bio page
at
www.ellorascave.com
.

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Conflicting Interests

ISBN 9781419903533

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Conflicting Interests Copyright © 2014 Elizabeth Finn

Edited by Julie Naughton

Cover design by Fiona Jayde

Cover photography by Romancenovelcovers, conrado,
tusharkoley/shutterstock.com

Electronic book publication January 2014

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