Fire & Desire (Hero Series) Read online

  It was almost humorous to Tiffany that the femme fatale was so down on her luck that she had to stoop to hiring a male escort to take her to functions—someone else’s husband at that.

  It was almost worth the humiliation to see the embarrassed look on Sherri’s face if she’d told her that Trevor was her husband.

  ~ML~

  As Tiffany walked away, Trevor watched the gentle sway of her hips and thought, Now, there’s a jealous woman.

  He had seen how clearly and efficiently she’d tried to act nonchalant about Sherri linking herself so tight to him. He could easily feel the imprint of the other woman’s breast on his arm, and he was sure Tiffany hadn’t missed seeing it.

  He had seen a quick twinkle in her eye and had almost overlooked the subtle lift of her eyebrow.

  Neither could he disregard the tension between the two women. There was some bad blood there. It almost seemed as if their history was as harsh as his and Manning’s. However, nothing could touch the spiteful feelings he carried toward the soon to be congressman.

  “I do believe I’m ready to end this part of the evening. Would you be a dear and take me home?” Sherri said to him. About an hour ago, she had spotted him and had linked herself to him the rest of the evening.

  “I don’t mind, but are you sure your date won’t mind.”

  “He won’t mind. I came with my brother tonight. His wife was sick. She’s having her third child and couldn’t accompany him.” Her voice was laced with disgust.

  He was quite positive that, if she were ever to become pregnant, it would be by accident, and it would probably only happen once.

  Trevor loved kids. He didn’t get a chance to be around his sister’s four children as much as he would have liked, but he knew one day he would have a few of his own.

  “Do you need to tell him you’re leaving?”

  “Nope, I waved good-bye to him about thirty minutes ago.”

  “Oh,” was all he could say. He knew that meant he was stuck. He was too much of a gentleman to leave a woman stranded. He had no doubt that Miss Matrix was very resourceful and would easily find a willing guy to give her a lift.

  He escorted her to his BMW and assisted her into the car.

  She babbled on about a party she was invited to the following weekend and how everyone who was anyone would be there. Attendees consisted of politicians, musicians, actors and, most importantly, people whose pockets were laced with old money.

  As she continued without pause, except when she was giving him directions, it gave him a chance to think about Tiffany and their situation.

  Only a week since the last time he saw her, tonight was a welcomed surprise. His being there was strictly for business, to network. The tickets had been a gift from one of his clients.

  Hours ago he had decided to attend.

  He was glad he did. He’d made some good contacts and expected several opportunities to open up.

  When he saw Tiffany, his body had responded instantly. Just like Saturday when he’d shown up unannounced. Since the day they had met, he was drawn to her, and he wanted to get to know her better. But it seemed like his hormones kept getting in the way. He knew there was a lot more to Tiffany Selina-Wayne than what the world knew and much more than what she wanted to admit.

  From everything he’d learned about her, she was a woman who needed to let herself go and stop living for everyone else, always in the camera’s eye, standing proud and faithful by her father’s side. Even tonight he caught the subtle touch she gave her father, making sure the governor stayed on task. Tiffany was so immersed in her father’s career, he wondered if she even knew where her life began.

  If he did nothing else, before they divorced, he would make it his personal mission to ensure Tiffany learned what it was like to let go and live.

  Six

  “Hi, Marti. Is there a table available for a hungry man to have lunch?”

  “Mr. Wayne, there is always a table available for you.” Marti was the headwaiter at Gilligan’s, a small seafood restaurant in D.C.

  Trevor had enjoyed lunch at the place at least once a week for the past five years, when he could pull himself away from one project or another. He and his staff frequently worked through lunch while sitting in front of a sick computer.

  Marti escorted Trevor to a small table located in the back next to the kitchen. How is this, Mr. Wayne? We’re a bit busy today; otherwise, I’d have found you one by the window so you could have a better view.”

  “It’s perfect. As hungry as I am, I need to be as close to the kitchen as possible.” He smiled, hoping to ease Marti’s mind.

  “Great, I’ll tell Cliff to come quickly to take your order.”

  Without another word, Marti weaved through the tables toward Cliff. When Marti reached the other man, he leaned forward and whispered in his ear, then was off to greet more waiting guests.

  Cliff crossed the room moments later. “Good afternoon, Mr. Wayne. Do you know what you’re having or would you like to see the menu?” Cliff stood poised to write on his little tablet.

  “No menu, Cliff, what’s the special for today?” Trevor was too hungry to peruse a menu.

  Last night’s dinner was the last meal he remembered eating. If they were serving nails covered in a light peppercorn sauce, he would have eaten it.

  “Crab cakes, rice pilaf, your choice of vegetable and a tossed salad.”

  “That sounds good to me. I’ll take it…green beans and the house dressing please.”

  Cliff scribbled on his pad. “What beverage would you like, sir?”

  “Ice tea with lemon, please, Cliff.”

  “Coming right up, Mr. Wayne.” Cliff made a one-eighty and headed into the kitchen.

  Trevor wisely used the waiting time to go wash his hands. On his way back, he heard someone call his name. When he turned around, he saw Marsha Leigh waving at him from a table in front of the restaurant. As he zigzagged through the tables in her direction, he could see she was not alone. There was another lady with her, whose back was to him, so he couldn’t identify her.

  “Well, hello, Ms. Leigh.”

  “You know better than to be so formal, Trevor. As many times as you’ve rendered your services to me, you should call me Marsha.”

  A choking sound came from Marsha’s lunch companion. Trevor still couldn’t see her face from his position behind her.

  “Are you alright?” Marsha asked, her expression etched with concern.

  The other woman attempted to clear her throat; raspy she said, “Yes, some water just went down wrong.”

  “It happens to the best of us.” Marsha gave the woman a reassuring smile. “I am so rude.

  Trevor Wayne this is…”

  Trevor made his way around the table and finally saw the mystery woman—his wife.

  “…the governor’s daughter.”

  “You two have met?” Marsha asked curiously.

  Trevor gave a slight pause. “Last week at a banquet. It’s good to see you again, Miss Selina.”

  “And you.” Tiffany mumbled, leaving him with no opening for further conversation.

  “Well, Marsha, I must be getting back to my table before my lunch gets cold.” Trevor turned and left.

  ~ML~

  Tiffany’s client turned to her. “That man has talent written all over him. He did a job for me; it amazed me how his mind and fingers performed sheer magic. I’ve never experienced another problem since. If I did, Trevor is the man I would go to.”

  Tiffany could see the light radiating out of the other woman’s eyes. She could understand how the other woman felt. She was fully aware of Trevor’s talents.

  She wondered how many other women in the Tri-state area had experienced his skills.

  She was amazed the other lady spoke so openly about having hired Trevor’s services.

  “Well, Ms. Leigh, about the Children’s Christmas gala you want to have for the orphanage.” Tiffany changed the subject and brought the focus back to the reaso
n for their lunch appointment.

  “Yes, I was thinking about the second Saturday in December. I’ve already contacted some toy stores to see what they would be willing to donate.”

  “That’s a good start. We’ll need clothing store participation, grocers and volunteers, both for the event and ones who will give of their time year around.”

  “Goodness, I didn’t even think about all of those other things. I can see why you come so highly recommended.”

  Tiffany and Marsha created a rough outline of the plans for the gala and arranged to meet in a week.

  The meeting concluded and Marsha left. Tiffany pulled out her cell phone and dialed her office. While she waited for someone to answer, she opened up her laptop.

  “Occasionally Yours, this is Jaunice. How may I help you?” Jaunice was one of three college students who worked for her and Josephine part-time.

  “Jaunice, this is Tiffany. Is Josephine available?”

  “Hello, Miss Selina. Miss Dailey is in a meeting with Mrs. Collins, the woman from the Breast Cancer Society. Would you like me to interrupt her?”

  “No, it’s nothing that can’t wait. Open a file for Marsha Leigh and have a carrier take a copy of the standardized contract papers by her office. Tell Josephine I’ll place the outline sketch on the office drive and meet with her tomorrow about it.”

  There was a brief pause. Tiffany knew Jaunice was writing all of the information down.

  “Anything else, Miss Selina?”

  “No, that’ll be all.”

  “Have a nice day, ma’am.”

  “You, too.” Tiffany snapped her phone closed and began to power up her laptop.

  It took Tiffany only a few moments to transcribe the notes from her tablet onto the office drive. She even added in some spur of the moment ideas she had while inputting the information.

  Tiffany knew if she didn’t write the ideas down right then and there, she would have forgotten them later on.

  She smiled as she reviewed the contents of the electronic folder. Tiffany made a few corrections, and then saved the file.

  The screen went black.

  Tiffany’s eyes became round as saucers as she looked down at the mechanical device, wondering what had gone wrong. Afraid to breathe, she held her breath, knowing if she couldn’t figure out what happened soon, she would lose all of her information.

  Tiffany tried not to create a scene while she banged on various keys in hopes that one of the combinations would cause the computer to start again.

  “Looks like you’re having a problem. Can I be of assistance?”

  Tiffany could feel the wisps of heat circulating from the person’s mouth. She didn’t have to turn around to know it was Trevor who spoke.

  “I don’t think so.” Tiffany tried to sound annoyed, so he would get the hint and leave.

  She was already frustrated by the possible loss of her document and didn’t feel like battling her emotions for him.

  “What seems to be the trouble?”

  The heat moved to her neck.

  Tiffany swallowed several times to combat the sudden dryness of her mouth.

  “If you must know, my laptop seems to have decided now would be a good time for a nap, and I can’t get it to wake up.”

  Not seeming to be put off by her tone, Trevor asked, “Have you tried plugging it up?”

  “It has a charger.” Tiffany shook her head at the man’s ignorance.

  “Maybe it needs to be recharged. Every now and then, all of our juices need recharging.

  If it only happened once in a lifetime, think how boring it would be.”

  “It’s new,” Tiffany spoke through clenched teeth.

  “Then it’s defective and you need another that won’t quit until the job is complete.”

  Trevor moved to stand beside her chair. “At any rate, do you have your cord with you?”

  Tiffany considered what Trevor was saying and believed it was entirely possible he might have been right about the computer, but she refused to ponder the underlying points he made.

  Tiffany reached down in her case and produced the cable.

  “May I?” Without awaiting a response, Trevor took the cord and laptop, then walked over to the headwaiter’s stand.

  Left with no other choice, Tiffany followed.

  She watched as Trevor plugged the computer into the socket and the equipment came to life.

  A smug look crossed Trevor’s face.

  “So it’s on. I’ve still lost my document since it wasn’t saved.”

  Trevor turned back toward the mini tablet and began punching in a series of commands. Moments later, he asked, “Is this what you were working on?”

  Tiffany stared at the screen in amazement. “How did you find it?”

  “I guess it’s a gift I have with computers. What would you like to call it?”

  “Marsha Leigh.”

  Trevor executed the command to name and save the document, then he shut it down and unplugged it.

  “You just saved me a lot of time in re-writes. Thanks.” Tiffany took her laptop back from Trevor.

  “No, problem. People usually pay me for my time.”

  Tiffany could feel the change in the atmosphere, something that happened too often when she was around Trevor.

  “Will you take a check?”

  “No. Dinner.”

  “Dinner?” Tiffany tried to stifle the laugh that began to bubble up. There was no way she could be seen out in public with him, especially since recently she was becoming aware of how many people hired him for his talents.

  “Yeah, it comes after lunch, but before a night cap invitation.” Trevor smiled beguilingly.

  The urge to trace his lips with her tongue overwhelmed her. “I don’t think dinner would be appropriate.”

  “And why not? Don’t you think it’s time we got to know each other…wife?”

  “No, Trevor, I don’t. And stop calling me that,” she whispered. “Too many people know you and me. It would be in the papers before we could order dessert.” Tiffany could imagine the headlines: Stripper Dates Governor’s Daughter.

  “We’ll go out of town. The Harbor is nice this time of year, and I don’t think your face is that well known in Baltimore.”

  Tiffany could tell he wouldn’t give up. “Fine. When?”

  “What are you doing this Friday at six?”

  “Friday at six is fine. Where do you want to meet, the courthouse?” Tiffany made sure he understood he couldn’t drive up to her house to pick her up for a date, nor had she forgotten they still needed to get the divorce taken care of and soon.

  “Howard is having their homecoming,” he said. “There’ll be so many people around no one would be able to pick you out from the celebrators. I’ll be in front of the Mordecai Wyatt Johnson, the admissions building.”

  “Friday at six, in front of Admissions,” Tiffany reluctantly confirmed the place and time.

  Tiffany gathered her things, paid her bill and left without another word, believing her agreement to have dinner with Trevor only confirmed she was past the verge of losing her mind.

  Seven

  “Hmmm,” he moaned, eyes closed.

  “Is it really that good?” she asked.

  “Yes.” Trevor could hear the hissing sound of the word as it exited.

  “Honestly, Trevor, you sound like it’s the best thing in life.”

  He opened his eyes and looked directly into Tiffany’s. “Very few things can compare.”

  “I’ve had it before, and I don’t remember it being that great,” she said with disbelief.

  “Maybe it was who did it. It takes time to learn how to get it just right.” Trevor moved closer and set the speared meat before her. “Here, taste.” Waiting patiently until she parted her lips, he slowly slid the delectable morsel into her mouth.

  He watched Tiffany’s eyes close instantly. “Hmmm.”

  The sound of Tiffany’s enjoyment caused his heart to race. Everything
within him wanted to reach out and brush his thumb across her juice glistened lips. “I told you it was good.”

  She opened her eyes. The candlelight flickered in her gaze as she smiled. “I have to admit you are right. That is the best piece of steak I’ve ever tasted.”

  Moving his seat back around the table, he gestured toward Tiffany’s plate. “How do you come to a place called Hoof and Claw and get a chicken salad?”

  “I try to eat healthy, my days are so busy most of the time I miss a lot of meals. It’s my way of not doing any further harm to my body.”

  “That only counts at home. When you’re out, you’re supposed to indulge.” He finished his steak and began on his lobster tail.

  “Not when you’re out as much as I am.” Her forehead creased as she spoke, and he heard a trace of discontent in her voice. No matter the façade she put on, Tiffany wasn’t completely happy with her life.

  “If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, do something else.”

  “I enjoy working with my father. It just gets taxing juggling time between him and my own business.” Tiffany began picking through her salad.

  “What’s your business?”

  She propped her fork against the salad bowl. “Consulting. I plan and coordinate parties and events.”

  Trevor didn’t miss the gleam of excitement that lit her eyes as she spoke.

  “You’re a busy lady.”

  She leaned back in her chair and rotated her shoulders to maintain her posture.

  Years of etiquette school, Trevor thought, watching her settle herself in the seat.

  “The consulting business is run heavily by my business partner, Josephine. You may remember her from the party. Sometimes I feel guilty because I do a lot of the preliminary, but she does all of the hard work. I guess it’s more important that in the end we’re both always there to get the praise.” Tiffany bowed her head and reclaimed her fork again.

  “Did you want dessert?” he asked as he watched her sift through the remainder of her salad.

  “No, thank you. I’m afraid I may make the same poor choice as I did with dinner.” She raised her head with a humorous smile on her lips. “Or worse, I’d have to listen to you do an encore.”