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Cherish pulled her jacket off and threw it over the chair in her living room. They’d had coffee there the other morning, sitting and laughing after they’d stayed up all night together. It had been a blissful morning. And then Haylee had gone and messed it all up. She wrinkled her nose at the memory of being together.

“I screwed up.” Haylee brushed her fingers through her hair wildly while Cherish slowly took hers out of the bun she’d had it in that day.

Cherish really had to stop that if Haylee wanted to be able to focus on actual conversation.

“Can I have some context as to what you think you screwed up?”

Haylee blew out a breath and walked toward the chair, plopping down into it heavily. “Everything.”

“That doesn’t exactly help me figure out what we’re talking about.” Cherish followed her, sitting on the arm of the chair instead of on the couch where Haylee had figured she would settle.

She was making an even bigger mess of this already. Haylee put her hand on Cherish’s thigh, using touch once again to center herself. What was more important? Them or the job? Them, for sure. But Haylee wasn’t quite ready to broach that topic yet.

“With Ms. Aarts. I screwed up.”

“Ah.” Cherish paled, her lips thinning.

Haylee had heard them shouting at each other from the outer office. She’d heard the things that Cherish had said. She’d come between them, and that was something she couldn’t handle. She wouldn’t be the person to break up that long-standing friendship. Never. Which had been why she’d left early for lunch. She couldn’t stand to be there when Cherish got back.

“I shouldn’t have brought it up, and now, it’s just hopeless.”

“It’s not hopeless,” Cherish answered, sliding her arm along Haylee’s back. “Ms. Aarts questions your passion and whether or not you have it. And approaching her for a new project is always difficult. In some ways, you have to make her think it’s her idea—or it just has to be so brilliant she can’t say no.”

“Perfect,” Haylee muttered. “So I’ve really screwed it up.”

“You haven’t. You need to tell her why you’re so interested in this particular thing. She doesn’t understand.” Cherish pressed a kiss to Haylee’s cheek. “Frankly, neither do I. But I trust you. She doesn’t know you well enough yet.”

“You trust me?” Haylee was taken aback by that. No one had ever trusted her. She was the constant screwup.

“Mm-hmm.” Another kiss to Haylee’s cheek. Then her neck. “Ms. Aarts is scrupulous when it comes to passion. You have to tell her why you want this.”

“I…I’m not sure I can do that.”

Haylee shifted, and Cherish moved onto the chair, straddling Haylee before settling on her knees. The smile lighting up her features was seductive, no question about it. And if Haylee wasn’t so worried about everything, then she’d most definitely give in.

“Do you know what passion is?” Cherish kissed down Haylee’s neck, across the front of her chest, and back up the other side of her neck. “Do you know how to tap into it?”

In this situation? Haylee absolutely knew it. But when it came to why she was so affected by veterans when she wasn’t one herself? She couldn’t explain that. No one would understand it.

“Haylee…” Cherish cooed, sliding her hands heavily down Haylee’s chest to the belt at her waist. “What are we doing here tonight?”

“I think I know what you’d like to be doing.”

Cherish smiled. “I don’t think you’d mind.”

Haylee wouldn’t mind. But they did still need to talk about them and what they were doing. Because ultimately, Haylee knew which way this was going to go, and she wasn’t going to have a job at the end of it—at least not with Febe in that office. Maybe that was why Febe had been so standoffish about her request. Maybe Cherish had already talked to Febe. This was just the slow decline into her termination.

Putting her hands on Cherish’s hips, Haylee looked up at her. She had wanted this for so long, but in the last few weeks, she’d gotten a taste of what long-term employment had meant. Consistency. Trust. She’d never had that before, and this—whatever it was between them—could ruin it all. Still, Cherish was a beautiful woman, fiery under all that ice, and Haylee wanted another taste.

Since everything came to an end, what did she actually have to lose?

“Come here.” Haylee reached up and pulled Cherish down by the neck, pressing their mouths together. Cherish sat down on her lap heavily, leaning in and grinding against her. Haylee moaned. She glided her hands around Cherish’s hips to her ass and tugged her in.

“Passion is something you have, Haylee. I’ve no doubt about that.” Cherish bit down and sucked on Haylee’s skin. She moaned. “I want to mark you.”

“Yesss…” Haylee hissed, her eyes fluttering shut.

Cherish did just that, licking and sucking. Haylee’s entire body ramped up, ready for whatever Cherish had in store for her. But she still couldn’t get that moment in the office out of her head. She tried to shake it, but Febe’s voice kept haunting her. She didn’t have passion.