from the table and headed to the front door.
Olivia studied her father and couldn’t do anything but shake her head. He seemed awfully excited about Cathy’s arrival. Olivia couldn’t help wondering if perhaps her father had finally awakened and smelled the coffee and just wasn’t aware he’d been sniffing the aroma. She had been around her brothers long enough to know that when it came to matters of the heart, men had a tendency to be slow.
She turned in her seat when she heard a feminine voice, Cathy’s voice. Olivia smiled when she saw the one woman she felt would be good for her father and again wondered why her father hadn’t asked Cathy to be his escort for some of these functions. Cathy was very pretty, and Olivia thought, as she glanced at the two of them walking into the kitchen, that they complemented each other well.
Brent Fairgate waved his hand back and forth in front of Reggie’s face. “Hey, man, are you with us, or are you somewhere in la-la land?”
Reggie blinked, and then his gaze focused on the man standing in front of him, before shifting to the woman standing beside him, Pam Wells. Brent had hired Pam as a strategist on a consulting basis.
“Sorry,” he said, since there was no use denying they hadn’t had his attention. “My mind drifted elsewhere for a moment.” There was no way he was going to tell Brent that he was reliving the memories of the prior night. Brent was the most focused man that Reggie knew. Reggie was well aware that Brent wanted him to be just as focused.
“Okay. Then let’s go back over the layout for tomorrow,” Brent said, handing him a folder filled with papers. “The luncheon is at the Civic Center, and both you and Jeffries will be speaking. The order will be determined by a flip of a coin. You got the speech down pat. Just make sure you turn on your charm. Jeffries will be doing likewise. Without coming right out and saying it, you will have to make everyone see you as the voice of change. You will have to portray Jeffries as more of the same, someone who represents the status quo.”
“Okay. Give me some personal info on Jeffries, other than he’s the Holy Terror’s father,” Reggie said.
Early in his professional football career, Terrence Jeffries had been nicknamed the “Holy Terror” by sportscasters. Reggie understood that Terrence was now a very successful businessman living in the Florida Keys.
“He also has another son, who’s a couple years older than the Holy Terror,” Pam replied. “He used to be on the Atlanta police force, but now he owns a private investigation company. He’s low-key and definitely not in the public eye like Terrence.”
Reggie nodded. “That’s it? Two sons?”
Pam shook her head. “There’s also a daughter, the youngest. She’s twenty-seven. An artist who lives in Paris. I understand she’s returned home for the campaign.”
Reggie lifted a brow. “Why?”
Pam smiled. “To act as her father’s escort for all the fund-raisers he’ll be expected to attend. From what I understand, he hasn’t dated a lot since his wife up and left him.”
Reggie frowned. “And when was that?”
“Over twenty-something years ago. He raised his kids as a single father,” said Pam.
Reggie nodded, immediately admiring the man for taking on such a task. He was blessed to have both of his parents still living and still married to each other. He couldn’t imagine otherwise. He had heard his siblings and cousins talk about the hard work that went into parenting, so he admired any person who did it solo.
“As you know, Orin Jeffries is a corporate attorney at Nettleton Industries. He’s worked for them for over thirty years. And he’s almost twenty-five years older than you. He’ll likely flaunt the age difference and his greater experience,” Brent added.
Reggie smiled. “I’m sure that he will.”
“Do you need me to look over your speech for tomorrow?” Brent asked.
Reggie met his friend’s gaze. “I haven’t written it yet.” Concern touched Brent’s features, and not for the first time, Reggie thought his best friend worried too much.
“But I thought you were going to do it last night, right after you came home from the Firemen’s Masquerade Ball,” Brent said.
Reggie sighed. There was no way he was going to mention that he hadn’t made it home from the ball until this morning, because he had made a pit stop at the Saxon Hotel. Actually, it had been more than a pit stop. The word quickie in no way described what he and Wonder Woman had done practically all through the night. They had refused to be rushed.
Before Brent could chew him out, Reggie said, “I’ll do it as soon as the two of you leave. If you want to drop by later and look it over, then feel free to do so.”
A stern look appeared on Brent’s face. “And don’t think that I won’t.”
Reggie rolled his eyes. “Just don’t return before six this evening.”
Brent raised a brow. “Why?”
“Because I need to take a nap.”
Brent chuckled. “You never take naps.”
Determined not to explain anything, Reggie said, “I know, but today I definitely need one.”
As soon as Pam and Brent left, Reggie called and checked in with his parents. Usually on Sunday he would drop by for dinner, and he didn’t want his mother to worry when he didn’t make an appearance.
After convincing Sarah Westmoreland that he was not coming down with a flu bug and that he just needed to rest, he was ready to end the call, but she kept him on the phone longer than he’d planned to give him a soup recipe…like he would actually take the time to make it. Not that she figured he would. She was just hoping he had a lady friend available to do his bidding.
He couldn’t help but smile as he climbed the stairs to his bedroom. His mother’s one wish in life was to live to see her six sons all married and herself and his father surrounded by grandchildren. A bout with breast cancer a few years ago had made her even more determined to see each one of her sons happily married.
Her dream had come true—almost. Jared’s recent announcement that he and his wife, Dana, would become parents in the fall meant that all of James and Sarah Westmoreland’s sons—with the exception of him—were married and either had kids or were expecting them. Quade had blown everyone away with his triplets. But then multiple births ran in the Westmoreland family.
When he reached his bedroom, he began stripping off his clothes, remembering when he had stripped for an audience of one the night before. He had been aware that Wonder Woman’s eyes had been directed on him while he’d taken off each piece…the same way his eyes had been on her.
As he slid between the covers, he promised himself that once he woke up, he would have slept off the memories and would be focused on the present again. That morning he’d thought about trying to find his mystery woman, and he still intended to do that, but he owed it to Brent and his campaign staff to stay focused and put all his time and energy into winning this election.
But still…
He thought about the lone earring he had in his
