Tall, Dark_.Westmoreland! - Brenda Jackson [2]
And there were other things besides her lips that caught his attention, like her height. She had to be almost six feet tall. And then he was struck by the way she fit into her elegantly designed black and silver beaded dress, the way the material clung to her shapely curves. He had noticed several men approach her, but she had yet to dance with any of them. In fact, it seemed that she was brushing them off. Reginald smelled a challenge.
“So, how is the campaign going, Reggie?”
Reginald, known to all his family as Reggie, turned to look at his older brother, divorce attorney extraordinaire, Jared Westmoreland. Just last week Jared had made the national news owing to a high-profile settlement he’d won in favor of a well-known Hollywood actor.
“It officially kicks off Monday. But now that Jeffries has decided to throw his hat into the ring, things should be rather interesting,” he said, referring to the older man who would be his opponent. “With Brent, I have a good campaign manager, but I still feel it might be a tight race. Jeffries is well-known and well-liked.”
“Well, if you need any help, let me know, although I’m not sure how much time I can spare now that Dana’s expecting and all.”
Reggie rolled his eyes. Just last month Jared had found out he was going to be a father. “Dana is going to be carrying the baby, Jared, not you.”
“I know, but I’m the one who’s been getting sick in the morning, and now I’m getting cravings. I never liked pickles until now.”
Reggie couldn’t help but smile over his wineglass. “Sounds like a personal problem to me.” At the moment, his attention strayed from whatever Jared was saying. Instead, his gaze focused on the other side of the room. He noticed the woman whom he’d been watching sit down at a table. He had yet to see a man by her side, which meant she had come to the party alone.
“Umm, I wonder who she is?” he asked.
Jared followed Reggie’s gaze and chuckled. “What’s wrong? Don’t you recognize the lips?”
Reggie shifted his gaze from the woman to his brother and frowned. “No, she’s someone new. I definitely haven’t met her before. Her lips don’t give her away.”
“Then I guess the only thing left for you to do is go over there and introduce yourself.”
Reggie grinned. “I know they don’t call you the sharpest attorney in Atlanta for nothing.”
“Don’t you know sitting alone at a party isn’t good for you?”
Olivia swung her head around at the sound of the deep, throaty masculine voice to find a tall, handsome man standing beside her. Like everyone else, he was wearing a mask, but even with it covering half of his face, she knew he had to be extremely good-looking. In the dim lighting, her artist eye was able to capture all his striking features that were exposed.
First of all, there was his skin, flawlessly smooth and a shade of color that reminded her of rich, dark maple syrup. Then there was the angular plane of a jaw that supported a pair of sexy lips. The same ones that bestowed a slow smile on her. Apparently, he realized she was checking him out.
“In that case, I guess you need to join me,” she replied, trying to remember the last time she’d been so outrageously forward with a guy and quickly deciding never. But the way the evening was going, she would have to stir up her own excitement. And now was as good a time as any to start. Maybe it was the fact that the party was so unrelentingly boring that made her long for a taste of the wild and reckless. The other men who had approached her hadn’t even piqued her curiosity. She had no desire to get to know them better. But this man was different.
“I don’t mind if I do,” he said, easily sliding into the chair beside her while his eyes remained locked with hers. Her nose