"And you are?" he asked, knowing a lot of women didn"t like sharing their age.
"I"m twenty-seven. What about you?"
"Thirty-two."
Reggie took a sip of his wine and then asked, "Is Duan the one you sent the text message to on Sat.u.r.day night?"
"Are you kidding?" she said, chuckling. "Duan would have been on the first flight back home, and he would not have erased your number. He would have had you thoroughly checked out. He has a lot of friends in law enforcement. He used to be a police detective. Now he owns a private investigation company. I sent the text message to Terrence. I can handle him a lot easier than I can Duan."
Reggie nodded. "So why is a beautiful girl like you living so far away from home, in Paris?"
She smiled. "Working. I"ve always wanted to work at the Louvre Museum in Paris, and I was hired right out of grad school as a tour guide. I had to start at the bottom, but I didn"t mind if that"s what it would take to work my way up the ladder to be an art curator. It took me almost four years, but I finally made it. I"ve been a curator for almost a year."
"Congratulations," he said and meant it.
"Thanks."
"So do you plan to make Paris your permanent home?" he asked, watching her sip her wine. He liked the way her lips curved around her gla.s.s. He had noticed this detail about her on Sat.u.r.day night, and it had been a total turn-on...just like it was now.
"I love living over there. I miss being home sometimes, but I"ve managed to return for the holidays. My brothers and I make it a point to be home for Christmas. But my dream is to return home in a few years, when I"ve saved up enough money to establish an art gallery." She smiled wistfully.
He nodded. "So over the years, you"ve come home only during the holidays?"
"Yes."
He wondered if that had anything to do with the fact that her mother had walked out on them a couple of days before Christmas, according to Brent. Reggie could only imagine how disruptive that particular Christmas had to have been for them. "And how long do you plan to stay this time?"
She didn"t say anything at first, just stared into her winegla.s.s for a while. Finally, she said, "Until the election is over."
She glanced up and met his gaze, and he breathed in deeply and said, "We won"t let that matter now, remember?" he reminded her gently.
"Yes," she said softly. "I remember." She shifted positions in her seat. "So, now, tell me about Reggie Westmoreland."
He took another sip of his wine and then leaned forward in his chair, resting his arms on his thighs. "I"m the youngest son of my parents. Multiple births run in my family. My father is a fraternal twin. My uncle John and my aunt Evelyn have five sons and one daughter."
"Chase is one of their sons?" she interrupted.
He smiled. "Yes, and Chase is a twin. His twin, Storm, is a fireman. So in their birth order, my cousins are Dare, who is the sheriff of College Park, Thorn, who races and builds motorcycles, Stone, who is a writer and writes adventure novels as Rock Mason, the twins Chase and Storm, and Delaney, the only girl. Delaney and I are the same age and are very close."
"I"ve heard about Thorn, and, of course, I"ve read a few Rock Mason novels. And I remember reading years ago about your cousin Delaney and how she married a sheikh. That"s awesome."
"Yeah, we all think it is, although I have to say, her brothers weren"t too happy about it at first, especially with her leaving the country to live in the Middle East. But her husband, Jamal, is a real nice guy, and everyone looks forward to her trips home. All my cousins are married with children."
"What about your siblings? I understand there are quite a few. Are there twins on your side, too?" she asked.
"Yes. My oldest brother is Jared, and he is a divorce attorney here in the city. Spencer lives in California and is the financial adviser in the family. Durango lives in Montana and is a park ranger. He"s thinking about retiring to play a bigger role in his horse-breeding business. And then there are the twins-Ian and Quade. Ian owns a resort on Lake Tahoe, and Quade used to work for the government, but now he owns a number of security firms around the country. Quade and his wife are the parents of triplets, and they live in Carolina, although they have another home in Jamaica."
"Wow! You weren"t kidding when you said multiple births run in your family. Are your brothers married?"
"Yes, and happily so. I"m the only single Westmoreland living in Atlanta. My father has a brother, Uncle Corey, who lives in Montana. He also has triplets, Casey, Clint and Cole, and they are all married."
At that moment, there was a knock on the door, and seconds later Chase entered with their food. "Everything smells delicious," Olivia said, getting to her feet to help place the plates on the table.
Chase smiled. "I hope the two of you enjoy it," he said, then left them alone again.
Once they were seated at the table, Reggie glanced over at her and smiled. "I"m glad you decided to stay."
Olivia returned his smile.
During dinner Olivia was so tuned in to Reggie that she could only stare at him and listen to everything he was saying. He told her about the other family of Westmorelands, the ones living in Colorado, whom his father had discovered when he decided to research the family history a year ago. A family reunion was being held later this month in Texas, where both the Atlanta-based Westmorelands and the Denver-based Westmorelands would be getting together and officially meeting for the first time. It sounded exciting, especially to someone whose family was limited to two brothers and a father. Both of her sets of grandparents were deceased, and both of her parents had been only children.
"Would you like some more dessert?" he asked.
Reggie"s question reclaimed her thoughts, and she smiled over at him. He had kept his word, and although the attraction they shared was there, flowing blatantly between them, they had been able to harness it while sharing information about each other. A part of Olivia wasn"t sure why they had decided to spend time together when nothing would ever come of it, but they had. Once again, the desire to be together, if only to breathe the same air and share conversation, had driven them to defy what others around them felt they should do.
"No, thanks. I do have to leave. I told my father I was going to the park to paint."
"I"m glad you agreed to meet with me and I"m sorry if I placed you in an awkward position."
"You didn"t," she said. "I mentioned to Dad that I was going to the park before you called. I just didn"t tell him of my change of plans, because he was resting."
"Would you have done otherwise?" he asked her.
She knew she would be honest and said, "No, he would have forbidden it. And that"s the reason why, as much as I enjoyed sharing dinner and conversation with you, Reggie, we can"t do it again. I hope you understand."
He met her eyes. "No, I don"t understand, because like I said earlier, Olivia, the campaign doesn"t concern our relationship."
"The press won"t see it that way, and they would have a field day with the story of you and I being involved. I refuse to sneak around to see you." She stood. "I need to go."
Reggie stood as well. He knew he couldn"t detain her any longer, but he was more determined than ever to see her again and spend time with her. And he didn"t want them to sneak around, either. There had to be a way, and he was determined to find it. "I enjoyed our time together, Olivia."
She held out her hand to him. "So did I. Thank you."
Reggie took the hand she offered, felt the heat the moment he touched it and knew she felt the heat as well. His fingers tightened on hers, and they both were aware of the sensations flowing between them. This wasn"t the first time such a thing had happened. It always did when they came in contact with each other.
It was she who tugged her hand away first. "And thanks again for returning my earring."
"You"re welcome."
And then Olivia turned and moved toward the door. Before she opened it, she glanced back over her shoulder, saw his unwavering stare, deciphered the intense desire in his eyes. She still felt the heat of his touch on her hand.
She wanted to go back to him, wrap her arms around his neck, but she knew she could not. She would not regret the time she"d spent with him on Sat.u.r.day night or today. But she was realistic enough to know that as long as Reggie Westmoreland was her father"s opponent in the Senate race, her father would never accept her dating a Westmoreland. So from this day forward, she would have fond memories of their times together, but they would have to sustain her throughout the campaign and later, when she returned to Paris.
"Olivia?"
She had already opened the door to leave when she heard him call her name. Swallowing deeply, she stopped and turned around. "Yes?"
"No matter what, you will forever be my Wonder Woman."
She felt the tightness in her throat and fought the tears that had begun clouding her eyes. And you, Reggie Westmoreland, will forever be the man that I wished I"d had the opportunity to get to know better, she thought.
Their gazes held for the longest time, and then she turned and walked out the door and closed it behind her.
Olivia was surprised to find her father had already gone to bed by the time she returned home. At some point, he had come downstairs and fixed a pot of vegetable soup, which he"d left warming on the stove for her. A part of her felt awful about her deceit. She"d been served a delicious full-course meal at Chase"s Place, while her father had been home, eating alone.
She quickly realized that he"d not eaten alone when she noticed two of everything in the sink and the lipstick on the rim of one of the coffee cups. She smiled. The lipstick was the shade Cathy usually wore, which meant there was a good possibility that her father"s secretary had joined him for dinner.
She went upstairs and was about to undress for her shower when her cell phone rang. "h.e.l.lo."
"Hey, Libby, I heard you were home."
"Duan! Where are you? How have you been?"
She heard her brother"s deep laugh. "Still asking a thousand questions, are you? I"ve been fine. How are things there?"
"Umm, so-so. Dad gave his first speech today, and I thought it was great, but he feels his opponent did better."
"Well, did his opponent do better, Libby?"
His question threw her. Why would Duan ask her something like that? "Let"s just say that they both did well, but Westmoreland made a direct hit on all the issues, whereas Dad just skated across the surface, like Senator Reed used to do."
"Politics as usual," Duan said. "I told Dad that I don"t know squat about politics, but I"d think the people would want some fresh and innovative ideas. With Senator Reed tagging along, there"s no way Dad can represent change."
Olivia nodded. She was glad she wasn"t the only person in the family who thought that.
Duan went on. "And it"s a shame that he"s running against Reggie Westmoreland. I heard he"s a nice guy. His cousin Dare is the sheriff of College Park. I"ve worked with Dare before, and I like him. Most of the Westmorelands that I know are good people."
"Dad thinks he"s the enemy," Olivia said.
"I"m sorry that Dad feels that way. I was hoping this would be a clean campaign. I bet it"s Senator Reed who"s trying to make it dirty."
She could hear the dislike in her brother"s voice. "So you will make it home for the barbecue next Sat.u.r.day?" she asked him. In two weeks there would be a ma.s.sive outdoor cookout in Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium for people to come out and meet all the candidates. Their father had asked her and her brothers to be there for the event so that the Jeffries family could show a united front.
"Yes, I"m in Detroit, but I hope to have everything wrapped up by then."
"Good." She looked forward to seeing both of her brothers. "Be safe, Duan."
"I will."
After leaving Chase"s Place, Reggie decided to stop by and visit with his parents. He"d always admired his parents and the strength of their marriage. Everyone in the family knew the story of how James and Sarah Westmoreland had met and how it had been love at first sight. He couldn"t help but chuckle when he thought about it now.
His mother and his aunt Evelyn had been the best of friends since childhood and had both been born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. After graduating from high school, Evelyn had come to Atlanta to visit her aunt for the summer. During her first week in the city, she"d gone on a church picnic and met John Westmoreland. It had been love at first sight, and deciding not to waste any time, John and Evelyn had eloped the following week.
Evelyn had called Sarah to tell her the news, and being the levelheaded person that his mother was, Sarah could not believe or accept that someone could meet and fall in love at first glance. So Sarah had gone to Atlanta to talk some sense into Evelyn, only to meet John"s twin brother, James, and fall in love with him at first sight as well. Two weeks later Sarah and James had married.
That had been nearly forty years ago, and his parents" marriage was still going strong. There had been his mom"s cancer scare a few years back, when she"d been diagnosed with breast cancer. But thankfully, she was now doing fine, although she made sure never to miss her annual checkups. His mother was a strong and determined woman who had the love and admiration of her family.
Although Reggie knew it was his mother"s desire to see her last son happily wedded, he was in no hurry. He had a good career as an accountant, with a very prestigious client list, and in a couple of months, he would know if his future would include politics.
His thoughts then shifted to Olivia Jeffries. He had enjoyed the time they had spent together tonight. In bed or out, she was someone he liked being with, and it bothered him that she had refused to see him again because of her father. The last thing they needed was to let anyone or anything get in the way of what could be a promising relationship. He understood that she would be leaving the country to return to Paris once the election was over, but Sat.u.r.day night and today had proven that they were good together. He had actually enjoyed sitting in the coziness of that room at Chase"s Place with her while they did little more than engage in conversation with each other.
He had enjoyed studying her while she talked, watching her lips move with each and every word she enunciated. And she had been wearing the same perfume she"d had on Sat.u.r.day night. It had been hard sitting there across from her, knowing that he had tasted every inch of her skin, had been inside her body and had brought her pleasure.
By the time he pulled into his parents" driveway, he knew there was no way he could willingly walk away from Olivia Jeffries. He didn"t like the thought of the two of them sneaking around to see each other so her father wouldn"t find out, but at the moment he didn"t care. The bottom line was that he wanted to see her again and would do anything and everything in his power-even blackmail-to make it happen.
If Olivia thought she had seen or heard the last of him, she was sorely mistaken.
Seven.
"I see you had a guest for dinner last night, Dad." see you had a guest for dinner last night, Dad."
Olivia watched her father actually blush across the breakfast table and thought it was kind of cute that he seemed a little embarra.s.sed.
"Ahh, yes, Cathy stopped by, and I invited her to stay for dinner."
"Oh, and why did she come by? Are the two of you working on another speech?"
"No, no," her father was quick to say. "She thought I wasn"t in a good mood after yesterday"s luncheon and wanted to cheer me up. She stopped by the bakery and brought me my favorite Danish. I thought that was kind of her."
"I think so, too, but then Cathy is a kind person. I like her."
Her father lifted a brow. "Do you really?"
Olivia looked over at him. She could tell her response was important to him. "Yes, and I always have. Over the years I thought she was not only a good secretary to you but a nice person, too. When I was younger and was dealing with a lot of girl stuff, I would often call Cathy."
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. everything."
"No, I guess not. I"m glad she was there for you then," her father said.