Tall, Dark_.Westmoreland! - Brenda Jackson [15]
“Yes,” he said when they reached the kitchen and he sat down at the table. “She’s good at editing things and giving her opinion. As this is my first speech, I want to impress those who hear it. It will be one of those forums in which all the candidates speak.”
Olivia nodded as she grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl on the table and sat down across from him.
Orin frowned. “Surely that’s not all you’re having for breakfast.”
“Afraid so,” she said before biting into her apple.
“You’re so thin,” he pointed out. “You should eat more.”
Olivia could only smile. There was no way she could tell her father that she had eaten quite a lot last night. After making love several times, they had ordered room service, eaten until their stomachs were full and then gone back to bed to make love some more.
Deciding to get her father off the subject of her weight, she said, “So, tell me something about this guy who has the audacity to run against my father.”
Orin leaned back in his chair. “He’s one of those Westmorelands. Prominent family here in Atlanta. He’s young, in his early thirties, and owns an accounting firm.”
Olivia nodded. She recalled the name, and if she wasn’t mistaken, Duan and Terrence had gone to school with some of them. They were a huge family. “So what’s his platform? How do the two of you differ?”
“On a number of issues, we’re in agreement. The main thing we differ on is whether or not Georgia can support another state-financed university. He thinks we can, and I don’t. We have a number of fine colleges and universities in this area. Why on earth would we need another one? Besides, he’s inexperienced.”
Olivia couldn’t help but smile at that, because her father didn’t have any political experience, either. In fact, she and her brothers had been shocked when he’d announced he was running for a political office. The only thing they could come up with as to the reason was that his good friend and golfing buddy Senator Albert Reed was retiring and wanted someone to replace him whom he knew and could possibly influence. Not that her father was easily influenced, but he was known to give in under a good argument, without fully standing his ground.
“And young Westmoreland will run on his name recognition since he has a couple of celebrities in the family. One of his cousins is a motorcycle racer, and another is an author.”
And your son just happens to be a very well-known former NFL player, she wanted to say. Who you have called upon to appear at a couple of rallies. So you are just as bad.
Olivia said nothing but listened as she took another bite of her apple. At least she tried to listen. More than once her mind took a sharp turn, and she found her thoughts drifting to breath-stopping memories of the tall, dark and handsome man she had met and spent a wonderful night with. She could vividly recall his kisses and the way he had been methodically slow and extremely thorough each time he’d taken her mouth in his, eating away at her lips, unrestrained, unhurried and not distracted.
And there were the times his mouth had touched her everywhere, blazing a trail from her nape to her spine, then all over her chest, tasting her nipples and making her intensely aware of all her hidden passion—passion he’d been able to wrench from her.
The only bad thing about last night was the fact that she had lost one of the diamond earrings she had purchased a year ago in Paris. The earrings had been a gift to herself when she landed her dream job. She would love to get it back, but knew that wouldn’t be happening. But she would be the first to admit that the night spent in her one-time lover’s arms had been worth the loss.
The ringing of the doorbell claimed her attention and brought her back to the present.
“That must be Cathy,” Orin said. He quickly rose from the table and headed to the front door.
Olivia studied her father and couldn’t do anything but shake her head. He seemed awfully excited about Cathy’s arrival. Olivia couldn’t help wondering if perhaps her father had finally awakened and smelled the coffee and