Fire & Desire (Hero Series) Read online

  She was twenty-seven and couldn’t see herself getting married in the next three years.

  The words played in her mind, reminding her she had already married Trevor and not only by paper. She pushed the thought aside—it didn’t count. It was a mistake she was in the process of correcting.

  “Christopher asked me to tell you he would be expecting a dance from you that night,” her dad said, breaking into her thoughts.

  Christopher Manning, the senator’s son, was a different matter entirely. They’d dated three years ago. It’d only lasted six months. She’d promptly broken off the relationship, realizing she didn’t have the time or energy to play hostess for both her father and Christopher’s career.

  Not to mention, she was in the mist of trying to get her own business off the ground. Christopher considered himself a senator hopeful and never missed an opportunity to be seen at the right function, by the right people, at the right time and expected Tiffany to be right on his arm at every event. That was before he was running for congressional representative; she could only imagine what he would expect from her now.

  Since then, Christopher was under the assumption she would one day be Mrs. Christopher Kevin Manning, III. Tiffany had no problem with Christopher personally, except he was selfish. The prospect of marrying into a political family was not appealing, one of the main reasons she avoided a relationship with Christopher.

  It was her responsibility as her father’s daughter to accompany and host for him, but it was not something she wanted for the rest of her life. Besides, she’d always been left wanting, making it easy for her to keep all of her morals and values intact. Never having a desire to take their relationship to the next step.

  Jo told her that was not a good thing, particularly in a husband.

  Tiffany quickly refocused herself back on the conversation with her father before thoughts of Trevor and how he made her feel took over her thought process.

  “What did you say to Christopher?” Tiffany sliced off a small piece of roast and ate it.

  “I told him to speak with you directly.” The governor took a bite of his roast, chewed slowly, then swallowed. “He said it was what he planned to do.”

  Thank God for Dad. It was classic of Christopher to attempt to press this issue with her father, but the governor always stood his ground.

  “You wouldn’t be able to take Martha to this would you?” Tiffany fought the urge to push her food around her plate. The thought of fighting off Christopher all night consumed her appetite.

  The governor gave his daughter a look, which said it wasn’t likely.

  Martha Sanders was one of her father’s female friends. She was one of the women who occasionally accompanied him to the opera, theater or dinner. Her father was very sporadic in his dating, not trying to give the press fuel for fire. He always told her, personal life was private, and he liked it that way.

  Through their many talks, she knew the prospect of him remarrying was not a possibility.

  He had often said her mother was his one true love and he wouldn’t settle for second best.

  Tiffany wondered if she would ever feel that way about someone. Without warning, thoughts of Trevor entered her mind, his smoldering, secretive eyes and wicked smile. She pushed the thoughts aside before they went further. It didn’t take much.

  Getting back to business, Tiffany jotted down notes and dates in her planner as she listened to her father list his upcoming events. She was glad she wouldn’t have to reschedule any of her appointments to accommodate his.

  “Well, sweetheart, I must return my shoulder to the grind.” Her father gave her a loving smile before he stood.

  Tiffany stood as well and rounded the table to his side.

  “I love you, Daddy.”

  Immediately, her father’s arms swallowed her up into a bear hug. “I love you, too.”

  Leaning back, her father looked at her. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?” her father asked, voice full of concern.

  Weighed with guilt, Tiffany took a step back, removing herself from her father’s protective arms.

  “What do you mean? I always tell you I love you.” Tiffany passed what she hoped was a convincing smile on her face that said, all is well.

  “Of course you do. You just haven’t seemed yourself lately. Your smiles even seem weighed down.”

  Tiffany returned to her side of the table and gathered her things. “Dad, you worry too much.” Giving him that smile again, she said, “I’m fine.”

  Wallace Parker, his aide and right-hand man, stepped into the room. “Excuse me, Governor. Senator Jackson is on the phone. He says it’s urgent.”

  Wallace had been with her father since he first started running for office. He was practically a part of the family with the exception that he kept himself separate. He never took a meal with them and never shared any holiday time—regardless of the fact he had no family.

  Wallace was a very smart, loyal and quiet man who valued his solitude. He was an attractive man, appearing to be in his early forties. Tall with thick broad shoulders, his presence was always formidable. When most people met Wallace, they mistook him for a bodyguard instead of the political intellectual who held a doctorate in political science. He knew his job and he did it well.

  She had no doubt that Wallace would lend physical support if the need arose.

  Wallace exited the room as quietly as he had entered.

  “We are not done with this conversation, sweetheart,” the governor said, as he walked to the door.

  “Of course we are. You just worry about me too much when you have enough people in this state to look after.” Tiffany walked over to her father, who was standing at the threshold of the dining room.

  Leaning forward, her father kissed her on her forehead. “But none of them will ever mean more to me than you and your happiness.”

  Simultaneously, they both spotted Wallace coming from the direction of the office.

  “I have to take this call.”

  Her father looked torn. A spark of fear entered her heart. The last thing she needed was her father telling Senator Jackson he would have to call him back, deciding now was the time for a father-daughter sit down.

  “You go. Honestly, I’m fine.”

  Her father kissed her again, then finally left.

  Tiffany closed her eyes and released the pent up breath she had been holding.

  As she opened her eyes and started up the stairs, she noticed Wallace watching her. He gave her a silent nod, then entered her father’s office behind him.

  Tiffany retired to the room designated for her use while her father was in office. Sitting before her computer monitor, she logged in her password and began to pull up the program that would merge her and her father’s schedule. Then she emailed the changes to herself. She rarely spent much time using this office, preferring her family home to the mansion. The Governor’s Mansion had housed so many different families over the years, it always seemed so impersonal to her. As if so many people had lived there, no one could claim its heart. It lacked the warmth of their home in Alexandria. If her father became senator next year, he would return home. She was thankful they didn’t give senators houses. Heaven only knew how she would get used to another.

  Ring. Ring.

  “Hello, Tiffany Selina,” she answered on its second ring.

  “Tiffy, sweetie, it’s so good to hear your voice. I’ve been missing it.”

  She hated the name Tiffy. No one called her that but Christopher, and Josephine jokingly.

  “Christopher, how are you?” she asked, controlling the exasperation the nickname always caused.

  “Great. I don’t have to ask how you are. I can hear you’re hard at work.”

  She stopped typing, which she knew was his true reason for making the comment. He hated to feel as if he didn’t have her full attention. “So to what do I owe the reason for this unexpected call?” she asked, not wanting to prolong the conversation.

  “Well, I
’m sure your father told you about Tracie’s wedding this weekend.”

  He paused for her response.

  “He did.”

  “Well, I’d like you to be my date,” he dropped his voice an octave.

  Christopher’s low-pitched tone did nothing for her, yet the deep inflections of Trevor’s voice sent sensual shivers down her spine. This amazed her.

  “I thought you would be in the wedding.”

  “I will, but that’s only significant for the ceremony and the dinner. After dinner, I’d be all yours.”

  “I’m sorry, Christopher, but I already told my dad I’d escort him.”

  “That’s too bad. Maybe we could skip out earl…you know, Tiffy, it’s been a long time since we spent any quality time together.” Amazingly, he dropped to an even lower tone.

  “That’s usually what couples do, Christopher. Not friends,” she emphasized, reminding him that the latter was their status.

  “Tiffy, how about letting me come pick you up tonight? We can drive around the city and talk.”

  He is relentless.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked because, although she had no feelings at all toward him as a boyfriend or a husband, she did care about him as a friend.

  “If I said, no…would you agree to go with me?” he said sounding more like a little boy pouting instead of a grown man who was soon to become a Congressman.

  She laughed. “I’m sorry, Christopher, but I’ve got a lot of work to do and not enough time to do it.”

  She could hear him exhale through the phone. “Tiffy, you’ve always worked too hard. If you were my wife, you wouldn’t be bogged down with half of the things you do.”

  She knew that was right. Everything would be him and only him. She could see her life being very boring.

  “I’m sure you’re right, but we’ve always been much better friends.”

  “That’s only because you never allowed us to give anything else a chance.”

  She didn’t want to revisit that old argument, so she cut it off. “Good night, Christopher.”

  “Tiffy, I’m a man with needs, and I’ve been holding out for you for a long time. I don’t know how much longer I can wait.”

  “Well, it may be in your best interest to look elsewhere for them to be fulfilled. I’m sure you could find one of your campaign groupies ready and willing.”

  “They’re okay for a time, but I’m at a critical point in my life where I have to make wiser choices than just a warm body.”

  “Your public relations man must be getting to you.” There was never any factual evidence to make her doubt Christopher’s fidelity in their relationship. But if part of what she heard about his over active libido since the break was true, his PR man, Roderick Blunt, had every right to caution him—repeatedly.

  “You have no idea.”

  Christopher was big about things concerning image and status, and he would never allow anything as meaningless as a one-night stand with the wrong person to jeopardize his chance for Congress or even the Senate.

  She was sure Christopher having to be discreet and conservative was the reason for his sudden reawakening need for them to continue their relationship and possible marriage. He was trying to get a steady bedmate.

  “Okay, Tiffy, I’ll table this conversation for now, but I’m not letting it go.”

  She wondered how easily he would let it go if she told him she was already married. He probably wouldn’t believe her—especially if she told him it was to a stripper. He would’ve gotten a good laugh from that one.

  “I’m sure that’s true. Bye,” she said, then hung up the phone.

  ~ML~

  Tiffany exited from the powder room. Out of habit, she looked at her diamond-encrusted watch. Her father had given the watch to her on her seventeenth birthday, telling her, if she were going to attend social engagements with him, she would need to keep him on schedule. He claimed it was easier for her to look down at her watch without notice, but for him, it would seem rude and impatient.

  The time was now nine P.M. In about thirty minutes, her father would have to make his excuses and depart. He had an early meeting in Norfolk.

  Tiffany smiled and chatted briefly with the people as she made her way back to her father. Most of the evening’s attendees were members of S.T.O.P = Gun laws, which stood for Safety to Our People, a committee that lobbied for more gun control laws. They were extremely active since the D.C. Sniper incident a few summers ago.

  Her father usually attended banquets of both sides of an issue, with the attempt to appear impartial until he had made his decision. He stood firm on certain things he held strong beliefs about, but for most, he was willing to look at different ways of doing things.

  His fair attitude was what most of the residents of the state liked about him. But there were others, particularly some journalists who were for the other party, who sat and waited in the wings, looking for any mistake her father made so they could bring it to light.

  “…so I said to Wallace, call up my financial advisors for a meeting tonight. I want money for more child development centers, recreational centers, after school facilities and parks. Wallace said to me, but sir it’s two o’clock in the morning; they’re all asleep.”

  Tiffany watched her father pause for effect and look around at his captive audience circled around him.

  “And I said, wake them up…it’s for the children!”

  Everyone laughed as her father finished waving his arms in the air enthusiastically, looking like a king prepared to lead his troops into battle.

  “What can I say, every now and then I feel like Kris Kringle,” her father said jovially.

  When Tiffany reached his side, she took hold of his arm briefly and firmly brushed her thumb down the underside, their signal that it was time to leave.

  Her father covertly signaled to Wallace, who was standing by the door, letting him know he was ready to go. Tiffany didn’t have to turn to see if her father’s right-hand man got the signal—she knew from years of experience Wallace missed nothing. She would be surprised if he hadn’t caught the signal she had given her father.

  As people moved away from them, Tiffany’s father turned and reached toward a man whose back was turned. Evidently, it was someone he had been speaking with earlier. From her angle behind them, Tiffany didn’t recognize the man.

  “Well, I must be going. I’m sure our paths will cross again.”

  “I’m sure they will,” the man said, his speech distinct.

  Confounded by the tingling sensation running down her spine, Tiffany tried to place the voice. It seemed so familiar to her for some reason. As she pondered, she could hear her father saying, “Before I go, I would like you to meet my daughter.”

  She pasted on one of her social smiles as both men turned toward her.

  “Tiffany, this is Trevor Wayne,” her father said.

  “It’s a…” Tiffany’s eyes made contact with her husband’s light brown ones, eyes that sparkled with knowledge of her secret sins, “…pleasure to meet you.”

  It took every ounce of her dignity to stand with her father in front of the only other person who knew how wantonly and recklessly she’d behaved over the summer months—Trevor.

  “My sentiments exactly.”

  She could see the subtle twinkle in his eyes.

  She prayed fervently he wouldn’t say anything.

  His hand moved out and grasped hers gently, consuming her by the warmth of his touch.

  She had visions of hands that made her body sing, caused her to beg for the pleasure they could give her. At that moment, she could feel heat flood her sex, making it clench in response. A woman could never forget hands like that—no matter how bad she wanted to break the ties that bound them.

  Wow! The man really knew how to wear a suit. She took a moment to take in the fully clothed package. She’d had so many sleepless nights from visions of him in a thong and snug fitting jeans; she’d never considered how good he cou
ld look dressed any other way.

  The material fit his body perfectly. His broad shoulders drew her eyes; they were the type a woman would love to lay her head against for support.

  If someone didn’t know better, they would be convinced he belonged in this type of setting. Too bad she did.

  She sighed. Telling herself it was indifference, not disappointment.

  Before anything else could be said, Sherri Matrix, a woman who had rivaled her through college, walked over to them and slipped her arm through Trevor’s, snuggling close. Tiffany had been wondering what he was doing here, but the claim the other woman placed on him answered it.

  For an instant, Tiffany considered telling Sherri to get her hands off her husband, but she restrained herself.

  If he and Sherri are dating, perhaps he will file for divorce soon.

  “Governor Selina, it’s so nice to see you again, looking handsome as usual.” Sherri held her hand out so her father could bestow a kiss upon it, which he did.

  Sherri oozed with false flattery.

  “And you’re looking lovely as always.” Her father was always the consummate gentleman.

  “You’re too kind.” Sherri viperously turned her eyes toward Tiffany. “Well, Tiffany dear.

  Every time I see you it seems as if you haven’t changed at all.”

  To an outsider, that would have sounded like a compliment, but she knew differently. “I can also say the same for you.” She looked down at her watch for effect. “I must apologize for having to leave our reunion, but the governor has an early day tomorrow, and we must be going.

  I’m sure you understand Sherri, your father’s a city councilman.”

  She smiled as she and her father exited, knowing Sherri caught the jab she had thrown.

  Tiffany never considered herself better than anyone because her father was governor, but at times when she came face to face with Sherri, the woman who had made herself available to all the guys who were interested in her since college, she didn’t bat an eye in offending her. Sherri had even flaunted the fact she had been with Christopher shortly after they had broken up, which was a big reason why she would never renew her and Christopher’s past relationship.