Tall, Dark_.Westmoreland! - Brenda Jackson [33]
Her father looked surprised. “You did?”
“Yes. Come on, Dad. You have to have known it was hard for me being the only girl in the house, and I couldn’t talk to you, Duan and Terrence about everything.”
“No, I guess not. I’m glad she was there for you then,” her father said.
“Yes, and I’m glad she’s here for you now, Dad.”
Olivia watched as Orin’s blush deepened. “Everything between me and Cathy is strictly business.”
She was forced to hide her smile behind the rim of the coffee cup she’d brought to her lips. “Of course, Dad. I wasn’t insinuating anything.”
Half an hour later, after her father had left for work, Olivia decided to get dressed and go to the park and paint like she had planned to do the day before. She was about to head downstairs when her cell phone rang. For some reason, she knew who the caller was without looking. Her heart skipped several beats before she clicked the phone on. “Hello.”
“Please meet with me again, Olivia.”
She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply as the sensuous sound of his voice floated through her. “Reggie, I thought we decided that we wouldn’t see each other again.”
“I thought so, too, but I couldn’t sleep last night. Thoughts of you kept invading my mind. I want to see you, Olivia. I want to be with you. Meet me today at noon. The Saxon Hotel. The same room number.”
Her mind was suddenly flooded with memories of everything that had taken place in that room. And he wasn’t the only one who’d been unable to sleep last night. Her body had been restless. Hot. She had dreamed of him several times, and at one point she had sat on the edge of the bed for what seemed like hours, recovering from the pleasurable memories that had swept through her, interrupting her night and filling her with a need she had never felt…until meeting Reggie.
“Will you come, Olivia? Please.”
His voice was deep, quiet, yet persuasive. The sound of it poured over her skin like warm cream, and she couldn’t fight it, because deep inside she wanted to be with him as much as he wanted to be with her.
She needed to see him again, to know, to understand and to explore the pull between them. Was it just sexual, or was it something else? Despite her decision not to become involved with him, she knew that she had to be with him at least one more time. These memories she was collecting would have to be enough to sustain her for the rest of her life.
“Yes,” she said finally. “I’ll meet you at noon.”
Reggie paced the hotel room, glancing at his watch every so often. It was a few minutes before noon. He had had a news conference at nine but hadn’t counted on a slew of reporters bombarding him after the news conference was over. Nor had he counted on the rumor that had quickly spread that his accounting firm, which employed over a hundred people, was facing possible bankruptcy and definite layoffs.
It was a lie that could easily be proven false, but not before mass pandemonium erupted at his business, and he’d spent part of the morning calming his employees’ fears. He didn’t have to think twice about where the lie had been generated, which made him angrier than hell. He’d never suspected that Orin Jeffries would allow his campaign staff to stoop so low.
For a moment he’d thought he would have to cancel this meeting with Olivia, but a part of him had refused to do it. She had consented to meet with him, and he would have moved heaven and hell to be here. Now he couldn’t help wondering if she would show up. What if she had changed her mind? What if—
At that moment the door opened and Olivia walked in and his entire body went completely still. It seemed as if his heart picked that exact moment to stop beating. He was very much aware of how good she looked dressed in a pair of black tailored slacks and a light blue linen blouse.
She closed the door