Tall, Dark_.Westmoreland! - Brenda Jackson [24]
“But only because you are against any legislation to build another state university,” she reminded him.
“We have enough colleges, Libby.”
She decided to back away from the conversation because she didn’t agree with her father on this issue. The last thing she wanted was to get into an argument with him about Reggie Westmoreland and his speech. If nothing else, she had reached the conclusion at dinner that neither her father nor the senator wanted her to get involved in any way with the competition.
She glanced at her watch. “I think I’m going to change and then go to the park and paint for a while.”
“Yes, you should do that while you still have good sunlight left. And feel free to take my car, since I won’t need it anymore today. That rental car of yours is too small,” Orin said, already pulling off his tie as he headed up the stairs.
She could tell he was somewhat upset about how the luncheon had gone. Evidently, he had assumed, or had been led to believe, that winning the Senate seat would be a piece of cake. It probably would have been if Reggie Westmoreland hadn’t decided to throw his hat into the ring at the eleventh hour.
And she had to admit that although her father’s speech had been good, Reggie’s speech had been better. Instead of making generalities, he had hammered down specifics, and he had delivered the speech eloquently. And it had seemed that as his gaze moved around the room while he was speaking, his eyes would seek her out. Each time they’d done so and she’d gazed into them, she’d felt she could actually see barely concealed desire in their dark depths. She had sat there with the hardened nipples of her breasts pressed tightly against her blouse the entire time.
And all she’d had to do was to study his lips to recall how those same lips had left marks all over her body, how they, along with his tongue, had moved over these same breasts, licking, sucking and nibbling on them.
After the luncheon was over, instead of dallying about, she had rushed her father out, needing to leave to avoid any attempts Reggie might have made to approach her again. She would not have been able to handle it if he had done so, and it would only have raised Senator Reed’s suspicions. For some reason, the older man was making her every move his business.
Olivia had changed clothes and was gathering her art bag to sling over her shoulders when her cell phone rang. Not recognizing the local number, she answered the call.
“Hello?”
“Meet me someplace.”
She got weak in the knees at the sound of the deep, husky voice. She really didn’t have to ask, but she did so anyway. “Who is this?”
“This is Reggie Westmoreland, Wonder Woman.”
Olivia pulled into the parking lot of Chase’s Place, wondering for the umpteenth time how she had let Reggie Westmoreland talk her into meeting him there. The restaurant, he’d said, was closed on Mondays, but since he knew the owner, there would not be a problem with them meeting there for privacy.
When she’d indicated she did not want to be seen meeting with him, he’d told her to park in the rear of the building. She hated the idea of everything being so secretive, but she knew it was for the best.
Of all the never-in-a-million-years coincidences, why did she have to have an affair—one night or otherwise—with the one man her father could not stand at the moment?
Doing as Reggie had advised, she drove around to the rear and parked beside a very nice silver-gray Mercedes, the same one she’d seen Reggie driving Saturday night. After getting out and checking her watch for the time, she walked up to the back door of the restaurant and knocked. It opened immediately. A man who was almost as tall as Reggie and just as handsome opened the door and smiled at her before stepping aside to let her in.
“Olivia?” he asked, continuing to smile, as he closed the door behind her.
She was so busy studying his face, noting the similarities between him and Reggie, that she almost jumped when he uttered her name. Like Reggie,