When Love Calls (17 page)

“Yes, tomorrow evening at the American Alzheimer’s fund-raiser gala.”

“How do you know he’s gonna be there?”

“You’d be surprised what I know,” she said.

Randolph smiled. Mamma Lou was too much.

Chapter 12

“G
ood news, people,” Pete Lambert said, walking into the office, clapping his hands to get everyone’s attention. “We’ve all been invited to attend a fund-raiser at the American Grand Hotel this evening.” Everyone moaned and groaned. There was nothing more boring than attending a fund-raiser at a posh hotel in Washington, D.C.

“That’s not a request, it’s a mandatory. Someone has generously offered us two tables and I want us to be there in full force. No excuses. This is for our foundation and our partner in the fight, so we must show our support.”

“But what if we already have plans?” someone asked.

“Now, listen up, folks. One of the board members has very generously given us these tables and we’re going to represent, understand? Cancel, postpone, reschedule, do whatever you have to do. We need to fill up two tables. That’s twenty seats. That means we all need to be there.”

“What’s the fund-raiser for?”

“It’s the American Alzheimer’s gala,” he said.

Suddenly interest perked up. Last year, this same event had raised close to two million dollars and it was crawling with celebrities.

“Can we bring a guest?”

“If you want to bring a guest and someone else seriously can’t make it, then set it up between yourselves.”

“Who’s gonna be there?” someone shouted out.

“The usual. Senators, congressmen, judges, maybe a retired secretary of state or ambassador. And no, before anyone else asks, I don’t have an advance list of who will be attending. So if you want to see and hang out with celebrities, you’re going to have to show up and see for yourself. Are there any more questions?”

“Yes,” Ursula said, raising her hand. “I’m gonna need at least three hours to look presentable. Are you closing the office early today?” Several other staff members began nodding in agreement.

Pete stood there shaking his head. Ursula was a partner in the foundation and, at times, worse than his two-year-old. Pete was in charge of the support staff, and Ursula was the director of outside staff. If Pete, as the founder, was its backbone, she was the ribs that held everything together. For him to say no to her was nearly unheard of.

He looked at his watch. It was two o’clock, three more hours left in the workday. After a heavy sigh, he nodded his head. “All right, go on, get out of here, everybody.” There was instant cheering. “Just remember to be there on time, seven o’clock. Dress is semiformal to formal.”

“Boo,” several of the younger staff shouted.

“If you’ve got a tuxedo, pull it out. If not, a nice business suit will do. Ladies, dress gowns or dinner suits, nothing too flashy or too sexy and remember, no sneaks. Thanks. See you tonight.”

“Oh, great,” Nina moaned, “I had a date tonight.”

“With who?”

“None of your business. See, I can be just as restrained with my personal life as you,” Nina said firmly, glaring at Alyssa. “All right, who am I kidding? It’s with Oliver Watts.”

“Good for you, or rather, good for both of you. Tell you what, just make the date for later. We’ll go to the fund-raiser at seven, hang out for an hour, then I’ll tell Pete that you got sick and had to leave.”

“Seriously?” Nina said happily.

“Of course. No need for both of us to wind up alone and miserable with an apartment filled with cats.”

“Oh, that’s a pretty picture. But I thought you and a certain person might be hitting it off.”

Alyssa looked around, seeing no one paying any attention to them. “Nah, it didn’t happen.”

“I can’t believe he ended it. That stinks,” Nina said, immediately assuming Randolph had broken it off.

“Actually it would be me that stinks. I ended it.”

“Alyssa, but why?”

“It was best. No sense starting something that neither one of us could finish.”

“Are you all right?”

“As right as rain,” she assured her friend. “Come on, let’s get out of here. Pete closes this office early once in a blue moon and I don’t want to be here if he suddenly changes his mind.”

“Good point,” Nina said, then rushed back to her desk and gathered her things. By the time she finished, Alyssa was waiting at her desk. “I’m ready, let’s go.”

Once outside they quickly discussed what they might be wearing, then said their goodbyes and headed in two different directions

Alyssa drove to her apartment.

Going straight to her closet, she pulled out the box and untied the red ribbon. She gently took the dress out and laid it on the bed. There was no doubt about it, it was still stunning.

She quickly removed her clothes and very carefully unzipped the side of the dress and stepped in. She pulled it up over her hips, then secured it with the small clasp and zipped it up. It fit as if it had been made for her. She pulled out the shoes and slipped them on. Perfect fit. She added the matching shawl and looked at herself in the full-length mirror behind her bedroom door.

“Oh, my goodness, it’s gorgeous,” she muttered.

She turned to the side, then to the back and then removed the shawl. Everything looked perfect. Then she tried to sit down and to her surprise the dress gave with her every move. She took it off and hung it up on a padded hanger, then stood back and looked at it.

Her grandmother said that it was a gift, so she wondered who gave it to her. It was far too expensive for her grandfather to give. Then a sneaking suspicion told her that it was her grandmother’s lover, Senator Vincent Dupree. She looked closer at the dress. It had never been worn and the idea of wearing it now seemed strange.

Then out of the blue, she wondered if Randolph would attend and what he would think seeing her in this dress. She smiled and hoped he would be there.

After a short nap and a quick cup of yogurt, Alyssa took a shower, curled her hair and added a touch of makeup. She lotioned, perfumed and styled her hair, pulling wispy ringlets down to accent her face. She checked the clock, took a deep breath and removed the dress from the hanger. Forty minutes later she walked into the hotel ballroom, turning heads in her wake.

“Check you out, hot mama,” Nina said, smiling. “Look at you, you look fantastic. Girl, when you said you might wear one of your grandmother’s old dresses, I was seriously beginning to wonder. But you pulled it off and then some.”

“Thanks, I still can’t believe it fits so well.”

“It looks like it was made for you.”

“Actually it was made for my grandmother. Now, look at you. You look incredible.”

“Thank you,” Nina said as she spun around slowly, and struck an alluring pose.

“Go ahead, girl, work it,” Alyssa said as Nina twirled again, and they both started laughing. “So, are we the first ones from our crew here?”

Before Nina could reply the sound of a wolf whistle got both women to turn, seeing Oliver walking up smiling. “Wow, am I a lucky stiff or am I a lucky stiff?” he said, carrying three glasses of champagne. “You two look ravishing. And speaking of ravishing, this is just like a dream I once had. Let’s see, Nina, you were reclined on a sofa waiting for me and, Alyssa, you were—”

“Stop right there. I don’t want to hear it.”

“Suit yourself but, ladies, you two look absolutely mouthwatering. One in black and one in white. Man, what I could do with that image. Shall we?” He stepped between them and gave each his arm. They tucked their arms through and he escorted them into the main ballroom.

“Whoa. Stop. Back up. What do you mean, Mamma Lou sends her regards?”

“Just what I said,” Randolph said. “She asked me to send you her regards.”

“You told her I was coming here tonight?” Trey asked.

“How could I? I didn’t know you were coming until she told me. You know Mamma Lou has a way of predicting things.”

“I don’t know how you can get away with it.”

“Get away with what?” Randolph asked.

“With not getting matched up. She’s got everyone else hooked up. Why not you? What’s your secret? Did you threaten her with an IRS audit or something?”

“What makes you think she doesn’t have me targeted?”

“Because you’re too calm,” Trey said. “Tony and Raymond sweated bullets. J.T. was double-crossing her and still she got him. Juwan, well, brother didn’t have a prayer. But you, you just ease through this like it’s no big deal. You even have the nerve to contact her. Are you nuts?”

“She’s a sweet lady.”

“Hey, you think I don’t know that? Mamma Lou is the best, only I’d feel much better if she were back on Crescent Island. So, just in case she’s thinking of showing up here tonight, I think I’ll call it an early night.”

“You’re not gonna let an eighty-year-old woman chase you away, are you?” Randolph challenged.

“Watch me,” Trey said without flinching. He turned, but stopped short and smiled. “But on the other hand…”

“Changed your mind already?” Randolph asked.

“Momentarily,” he said, staring across the room.

Randolph turned and glanced at the open ballroom door. A vision entered and he could hardly contain himself. “Adia,” he whispered.

“You know her?” Trey asked.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do.”

“She’s gorgeous, man.”

“Yeah, she is.”

“Where have you been hiding her?”

“Good question.”

“Still, I’m out of here, just in case,” Trey said, shaking Randolph’s hand. Then he pulled a check from his pocket. “For the cause.”

“Thanks, I’ll pass it on.”

“Don’t forget the poker game this weekend.”

“I’ll be there. Take care,” Randolph said. And as soon as Trey walked away, several guests walked up to Randolph and introduced themselves as his staunchest supporters. He greeted them with his usual charm.

Heads turned and eyes stared. The dress was obviously a sensation and Alyssa felt like a million dollars wearing it. Her coworkers remarked how great she looked, but the one person she wanted to notice never said a word. He never even acknowledged that she was there. She spared a glance across the room several times, but was never able to catch his eye. He was either surrounded by other guests, quietly speaking with someone one-on-one or at the main podium.

Then there were the women. Like her, they couldn’t keep their eyes off of him, particularly one woman who made it her business to stand by his side at every opportunity. Small, slender and beautiful, she was constantly at his side.

But who could blame her? He was Senator Randolph Kingsley and he looked fantastic in his tuxedo. Of course it fit him perfectly. She expected no less. But in an unspoken truce, their paths never crossed. She stayed on her side of the ballroom and he stayed on his.

When the fund-raiser was over Alyssa said her goodbyes and drove home alone. Regret tortured her the whole way—what she should have done, what she should have said, how she should have acted. But it was too late now. She’d heard that Randolph would be out of town the rest of the week. She had had her opportunity, and being too afraid of taking a chance and too proud to admit how she felt, she missed it. The evening was over. He was back in his world and she was back in hers.

A few minutes after she closed her front door, her phone rang. She picked up. “I’m downstairs.”

She answered by pushing the button on the wall by the door and buzzing him in. Her heart raced a mile a minute. Standing there waiting for him, she started to panic. What was she doing? She must have been insane to buzz him up. But it was too late to change her mind. He was coming and every part of her soul wanted him to.

Moments later, she turned the knob and opened the door. He was standing there motionless, staring at her. Still wearing his tuxedo, he’d loosened his bow tie and let the ends hang down on either side of his collar. He didn’t knock or call out her name, he just stood there. She opened the door wider, then reached out and took his hand. He didn’t move.

“I’m asking you to come in.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she said.

As soon as he stepped inside, he grabbed her up and kissed her fiercely and powerfully. He slammed the door and crushed her against the wall, holding her secure with his hardened body. She yielded to him completely. He took her hands and pinned them above her head, then ravaged her bare neck and shoulders until she was weak with desire.

She pulled her hands free and grabbed at his tuxedo jacket, removing and tossing it down, then tore at his shirt, sending small black button covers scattering across the hardwood floor. She felt for his pants, but he grabbed her hands again and held them tight.

Then, breathless, he stood panting and dipped his head to her shoulder, while still holding her neck and head with one hand and her wrists with the other. “Whatever you’re doing to me, Adia, keep doing it,” he said.

The tickle of his hot breath on her neck made Alyssa shudder. Her body melted and her heart soared as she realized that what she was doing was simple, she was loving him. “If you insist,” she whispered huskily.

They kissed again, this time tenderly, long, languishing with tongues intertwined, feeling the sweet pleasure of connecting. Alyssa felt her whole body burn as it came to life for him. Then without warning, he stopped and pulled away from her.

He stepped back and let his eyes roam down the length of her body. His smile was slow and telling as his eyes burned hot with desire. The dress, still flawlessly formfitting, clung to every perfect voluptuous curve. He reached out and touched the delicate embroidery just below the sweet swell of her breast, then traced it all the way down her body. His gentle touch burned like fire as she watched his descent.

When he finished, he walked around behind her and touched the bodice of the dress, down her back and over the curve of her buttocks. She gasped and arched straight as his hand continued down her thigh, then slowly drifted back up.

He stepped in close behind her and captured her arms at her sides, then whispered into her ear, “Do you have any idea how hard it was for me not to grab you into the cloakroom and make love to you tonight?”