Tall, Dark_.Westmoreland! - Brenda Jackson [28]
“That’s good to know, and that’s why we should move forward on the premise that the campaign should not affect our relationship.” His voice and smile conveyed that he truly believed what he was saying.
“But how can it not?” she asked, wishing things were that simple.
“Because we won’t let it,” he responded. “First of all, we need to acknowledge that we are in a relationship, Olivia.”
She shook her head. “I can’t do that, because we really don’t have a relationship. We just slept together that night.”
“No, it was more than that. It might have been a one-night stand, but I never intended not to find you after you left the Saxon on Sunday morning. In fact, I took this to a jewelry store this morning to see if I could trace where it was originally purchased,” he said, pulling her diamond earring from his pocket. “It might have taken me a while, but eventually, I would have found you, even if I had to tear this town up doing so,” he said, handing the earring to her.
She took it and studied it, remembering just when she had purchased the pair. It had been when she’d gotten her first position at the Louvre Museum. These diamonds had cost more than the amount of her first paycheck. But it had been a way for her to celebrate.
“Thank you for returning it.” She slipped the earring into her pants pocket and then looked back at him. “So, what do you want to talk about?”
“I want to know everything about you. Over dinner. In here. Just the two of us.”
She licked her lips and noticed immediately how his gaze had been drawn to the gesture. “And you promise no kissing, right?”
He chuckled. “Not unless you initiate it. If you do, then I won’t turn you down.”
She couldn’t help but smile at that. “You mentioned dinner, but the restaurant isn’t open today.”
“No, it isn’t, but Chase will make an exception for us. Will you join me here for dinner so we can talk and get to know each other?”
She was very much aware that if her father knew she was here, spending time with Reggie, he would think she was being disloyal, but she knew she truly wasn’t. If at any time Reggie shifted the conversation to her father, as if pumping her for information about him, she would leave. But for now, she owed it to herself to do something that made her happy for a change, as long as she was not hurting anyone. If Duan or Terrence had been caught up in a similar situation, there was no way her father would have asked them to stop seeing that person. She should not be made the exception.
Olivia knew Reggie was waiting for her answer. “And our time here together will be kept confidential?”
He smiled. “Yes. Like I said, this is about you and me, and not the campaign. As far as I’m concerned, one has nothing to do with the other.”
“Then, yes, I’ll join you here for dinner,” she said after taking a long, deep breath.
Six
“I know your favorite color is lavender, but tell me something else about Olivia Jeffries, and before you ask, I want to know everything,” Reggie said as he sat in the chair at the table while Olivia sat across from him, on the love seat, with her feet curled beneath her. They were both sipping wine and trying to rekindle that comfort zone between them.
Chase had been kind enough to take their food order and had indicated that he would be serving dinner to them shortly. He had given them a bottle of wine, two wineglasses, a tablecloth and eating utensils. Together, the two of them had set the table.
Reggie wondered if being here with him reminded her of how intimate things had been between them on Saturday night. They had shared dinner then, but only after spending hours making love, to the point where they were famished.
“I’m the baby in the family,” she said, smiling. “I have two older brothers.”
“And I know the Holy Terror is one of them,” Reggie said, grinning. “He went to school