Tall, Dark_.Westmoreland! - Brenda Jackson [45]
Reggie wanted to say that this view was not reflected in the most recent poll, which indicated that he had a substantial lead, but he refrained from doing so. “You think so?” he said.
“Yes, but what it all will eventually boil down to is experience.”
Reggie smiled.
“And the candidate I endorse,” the senator added.
What the senator didn’t add, Reggie quickly noted, was that he was not endorsing him. That was no surprise. The man had already endorsed Orin Jeffries and was working with Jeffries’s campaign. “Sorry you think that, Senator, since I’m equally sure that I don’t need or want your endorsement.”
“And I’m equally sorry you feel that way, because I intend to prove you wrong. I will take great pleasure when you lose.” The older man then walked away.
“What was that about?” Brent asked when he walked up moments later.
“The good senator tried convincing me of the importance of his endorsement.”
Brent snorted. “Did you tell him just where he could put his endorsement?”
Reggie chuckled. “Not in so many words, but I think he got the picture.”
Brent glanced to where the senator was now standing and talking to a wealthy industrialist. “There’s something about that man that really irks me.”
“I feel the same way,” Reggie said. He was about to tilt his glass to his lips when he glanced at the ballroom entrance at the exact moment that Olivia and her father walked in. He immediately caught her gaze, and the rush of desire that sped through his body made him want to say the hell with discretion, cross the room and pull her into his arms. But he knew he couldn’t do that.
Brent, who was standing beside Reggie, followed his gaze. “Do I need to caution you about being careful? You never know who might be watching you two. I don’t trust Reed. Although he’s backing Jeffries, I wouldn’t put anything past him.”
Reggie’s gaze remained on Olivia’s face for a minute longer, until she looked away.
Senator Albert Reed frowned as he watched the interaction between Olivia and Reggie. He had a strong feeling that something was going on between them, but he didn’t have any proof. And that didn’t sit well with him. He had suggested to Orin that he send for his daughter under the pretense that she could be an asset. But the truth was that he really wanted Olivia for himself.
He had discovered that women her age enjoyed the company of older men, especially if those men were willing to spend money on them. With his wife bedridden, he had needs that only a younger woman could fulfill.
When he had seen all those pictures of Olivia that Orin had on the wall in his study, he had made the decision that he wanted her as his next mistress. Getting her into his bed would be the perfect ending to his quest for revenge against the Jeffries family for what Orin’s slut of a wife had done. Orin felt guilty, and as far as Senator Reed was concerned, his guilt was warranted. He should have been able to control his unfaithful wife.
He took a sip of his drink as he continued to watch Olivia and Reggie looking at each other. Umm, interesting. It was time to take action. Immediately.
“I’m sure England is just beautiful this time of the year.”
Olivia nodded as Marie Patterson rattled on and on to the group of four women about her dream to one day spend a month in England. Then Olivia took a sip of her drink and glanced around the room, her gaze searching for one man in particular. When she found him, their gazes met and held.
She knew that look. If they had been alone, she would have crossed the room to him and wrapped her arms around his neck while he wrapped his around her waist. He would have brought her close to him and pressed his hard, muscular body against hers to the point where she would cradle his big, hard erection at the junction of her thighs.
“So, what about Paris, Ms. Jeffries? I understand you’ve been living there for a while. Is the weather there nice?”
Olivia swung her attention back to Mrs. Patterson when the woman said her name. She took a quick sip of her wine to cool off her