by Donna Hill
“Hmm, and how soon we forget,” Preston said, the sarcasm not lost on Lee Ann.
She nodded slowly in agreement. “And how you beat an incumbent,” she added, a note of admiration in her voice.
His laugh was self-deprecating. “Right time, right place. The voters were ready for a change.” He focused on the band, knowing that if he concentrated his attention on Lee Ann he was liable to do something really stupid, like slip his hand under her dress or find a secluded spot on the boat and seduce her. It was crazy. His brain was on scramble—or rather his libido. Whatever the case, Lee Ann was at the root of it, and he didn’t like it one bit.
Lee Ann’s eyes strolled across the angles of his face, the contours and valleys. There was a resoluteness about Preston, from his countenance to his actions. She knew deep inside that once he made up his mind about something that was it; there was no changing it. So when the conversation turned to the coastline and what the government was doing, Lee Ann found herself spending the rest of the afternoon with Preston inspecting the wetlands that had been decimated by the oil and visiting some of the local businesses that were struggling to hang on. Even though it was Sunday, Preston was on the phone with one of his colleagues as he relayed what he saw, and they discussed some additional strategies that he would get into more detail about when he returned to Washington.
Lee Ann quietly observed it all and felt a new level of admiration for Preston, who didn’t have a camera crew with him or reporters trailing behind him waiting for a sound bite. For him, this was personal, and he didn’t need the glare of lights and a bouquet of microphones to do what he felt was important. She could tell that he was driven by his gut instincts, which could easily be a blessing or a curse.
“I really appreciate you coming out here,” Preston said as they walked back to his car. “Trust me, it was not on the agenda or my idea of ‘the perfect Sunday date,’” he teased. “When we started talking it got me all stirred up again.” And he needed to defuse some of his pent-up sexual energies, he thought but didn’t say. “I hadn’t been out there in a few weeks. I like to know firsthand what’s going on.”
“No need to apologize. It was certainly an eye-opener for me. I’ve been watching from a distance. But to see and feel it up close…” Her voice drifted off.
“I feel like I need to make it up to you somehow.”
They stopped in front of his Lexus.
She glanced up at him. A mischievous smile brimmed around his mouth. “Make it up to me?”
He put his arms around her waist and slowly drew her flush against him. Lee Ann’s sharp intake of breath lodged in the center of her chest when the full, hard line of his body found all the dips and curves of hers.
“How about I make us dinner on the grill, we lounge by the pool, listen to some music, talk, eat…maybe watch the sun come up?”
Her heart banged in her chest, and warmth flooded her body. The pads of his thumbs caressed her spine. She forced herself to breathe.
“Sounds wonderful.” She ran her tongue across her bottom lip. “Why don’t we play it by ear? See how it goes, where it takes us, how it feels?” she said with more calm than she knew she possessed.
Preston’s eyes darkened with amused pleasure. “By ear it is.” He opened the door for her and helped her in.
Lee Ann’s fingers shook as she fastened her seat belt. She took a steadying breath as Preston hopped in behind the wheel. He gave her a quick look and a wink before turning on the engine.
“Hope you like hot dogs. It’s the only thing I’m good at grilling.”
Lee Ann looked at him and burst out laughing. “You are kidding, right?”
He made a face. “I toss a mean salad…”
She laughed harder. “Then I guess it’s hot dogs and salad,” she said over her giggles.
Preston’s poker face split into a grin. “Now that’s the kind of woman a man can roll with—someone who still cares even if a romantic night under the stars is celebrated with hot dogs and salad.”
“You are a mess,” she said, wiping her eyes.
“And just for your faith and willingness, I’ll make a confession.”
“Now what?”
“Actually, I have a freezer full of top-shelf steak, chicken and jumbo shrimp…and hot dogs,” he said with a chuckle. “And I can’t wait to show you all of my skills.” He leaned across the gears and gently touched her lips with his before pulling out of the parking space and heading to his town house.
“Welcome, and make yourself comfortable,” Preston said, opening the door and ushering Lee Ann in. Rocky hopped up from his throne near the couch and padded over to Preston then sniffed at Lee Ann’s feet.
“He likes you,” Preston said.
Lee Ann rustled his fur. “He’s beautiful.”
“Spoiled, too. Come on in.”
Lee Ann followed Preston inside with Rocky trotting behind them. Her wide, light brown eyes took in the totally masculine space, and oddly she felt immediately at home as if she’d been here before. The decor was a rich chocolate, the couches and chairs looking as if they’d been whisked to heavenly lightness. She couldn’t guess the size of the enormous television that dominated the room, and his sound system surely required an engineering degree. Yet, it was comfortable and welcoming. Magazines were tossed on the wood and glass tables, and she noticed a pair of sneakers peeking out from the side of the club chair and a lone jacket tossed across the top.
She followed him through the open living room to the kitchen that led to the backyard. Preston pulled open the sliding glass doors and stepped outside. The enclosed yard was like an oasis. A large peach tree gave shade as well as additional privacy. The flooring was terra-cotta in a bronze color with inlaid lighting. But it was the kidney-shaped pool that was the centerpiece. Lounge chairs dotted the perimeter.
“This is fabulous,” she said.
“Thanks. I wish I could make more use of it than I do.” He walked over to a small bar. “Can I fix you something to drink?”
“Sure.” She crossed the cool stones to where he stood.
“How about a Fuzzy Navel?” he asked with a grin.
“That was my mother’s favorite drink.”
“With or without vodka?”
“With.”
He prepared and mixed the ingredients of peach schnapps, orange juice, lemonade and Absolut Vodka; added some ice; and poured her a glass. “Tell me what you think.”
She brought the glass to her lips and took a small sip. “Hmm. Perfect.”
“Great. Well, you relax, I’m going to check the freezer and get dinner started. I promised to show you my skills.”
“Yes, you did.”
“Be right back.”
Lee Ann took her drink and settled down on one of the lounge chairs. She felt totally at ease even as a thread of excitement continued to run through her veins. She intended to go with the flow and let the evening take its course. Tonight, she was going to put the issues of everyone else aside and concentrate on Lee Ann—for once. She sipped her drink, allowing the sweet fruit and hint of liquor to flow through her, unwind her even further. She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the birds harmonizing in the trees. Her insides smiled.
“Don’t relax too much.”
Lee Ann opened her eyes to see Preston standing above her with a large tray in his hands. He’d changed into a pair of khaki shorts and a T-shirt that stretched across the expanse of his hard chest. Her heart thumped in response.
“It’s wonderful out here. Let me help you.” She got up and went with him to the side of the yard where a grill fit for a football team stood.
They worked side by side seasoning the meat and cutting up the condiments.
“I can’t let you in on the secret of my secret sauce,” he teased.
“I swear I won’t tell.”
He shook his head. “Can’t take that chance. It’s my personal recipe.” He turned on the grill. “So you go on over there out of the way whil
e I get it together.” He shooed her away and turned his back to her.
Lee Ann pretended to pout and sauntered over to her chair and finished her drink while Preston worked his magic.
“We’ll let the meat marinate for a few while the grill is heating up,” he said, joining her shortly after.
“What other secrets do you have?”
He stretched out on the chair and crossed his feet at the ankle. “Now if I told you that, it wouldn’t be a secret anymore.” He took a swallow from his drink and winked at her. “But I will tell you something that won’t be a secret much longer.”
“What’s that?”
He leaned closer to her. “I intend to make this an evening that you will never forget.”
“Promise,” she asked on a breath.
“You have my word.”
The next few hours Preston and Lee Ann ate and drank and talked and laughed and touched and shared light teasing kisses. He’d turned on the stereo system and Luther, John Legend, Maxwell and Anita Baker floated to them through the speakers hidden around the yard. They danced and touched and kissed some more. The moon hung at a precarious angle above the umbrella of trees, set against the darkening sky. Pinpricks of starlight dotted the heavens. The air had cooled to a warm, lulling breeze. One couldn’t have asked for a more perfect night.
“You were right about your secret recipe. If you ever decide to get out of politics, you could bottle that stuff and make a mint.” She wiped her mouth with the linen napkin and placed it down on the circular wooden table.
Preston’s smile was triumphant. “Don’t think I haven’t considered it.”
She glanced at him. “Do you think you would ever get out of politics?”
He inhaled deeply. “There were times in the early days of my career when I was in an office no bigger than a public bathroom, and I spent my time walking the streets, talking to the people, handing out flyers and palm cards and I would think that these problems are too big. What makes you think you can change things? And then there would be the one woman who didn’t get kicked out of her apartment or the store that didn’t have to close because I had helped in some way. Became the voice that they didn’t have.” He stared off toward the moon. “And then I’d realize that I could make a difference. Maybe not change the world, but change a life, many lives.” He turned and looked into her eyes. “You know.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I do.”
“So I stuck with it and probably will for as long as the people will have me. While I was a councilman, it was local. Now as a senator I can help on a bigger scale. Hopefully do more good. Like with the Gulf and the education reform bill and pushing both Houses to get off their asses and rebuild the Ninth Ward in N’awlins.” He tossed back the rest of his drink.
A flash of lightning streaked across the sky followed by the distant rumble of thunder.
Preston pushed up from his seat. “Better get these things inside before we get rained on,” he said, glancing skyward.
They quickly gathered up their dishes and trays and covered the grill with a tarp but not before the heavens opened and got them pretty wet. They darted inside and slid the door closed behind them.
Their laughter and squishy footsteps played off each other all the way to the kitchen. “That was a surprise,” Lee Ann said over her giggles. Water dripped down the side of her face.
Preston grabbed a paper towel from the rack and dabbed at her face. Then he ran his hands through her damp hair. The outline of her full breasts stood out against the fabric of her wet dress, teasing him, drawing his eyes to them. “Shouldn’t last long.” He wiped his face with the towel he’d used for Lee Ann, embedding her scent in his pores. He turned on the dishwasher then leaned against the counter and focused on Lee Ann. “We still have the rest of the evening…if you want,” he said, reaching for her. She took his hand and came closer. “I’m hoping you want to stay for a while…the night…”
Lee Ann tried to swallow over the sudden dryness of her throat. Preston touched her cheek with the touch of his finger, and she felt as if she’d been shot with a bolt of that lightning that was illuminating the heavens. He gently cupped her cheek and stared deeply into her eyes.
“All day, every time I looked at you I couldn’t stop myself from imagining making love to you.”
The words like a caress stroked her, trembling her inner thighs.
“Will you stay with me tonight?”
She had no one to report to. Her siblings should be busy with their own exciting lives. Her father was in Washington. She was a grown woman, thoroughly attracted to this handsome, sexy man who wanted her. What was there to think about? But she had to think about it. This was not your everyday man; this was a U.S. senator, and whatever happened between them—good or bad—could easily become public knowledge. She was a private person. But…
He took one of her fingers in his mouth and gently sucked the tip. Her eyelids fluttered for an instant. He searched her face, waited for her answer. The heat of desire emanated off her in waves. He felt it, but he also felt her hesitancy. He drew her closer, and her heart pounded against his chest.
Lee Ann drew in a short breath. She ran her finger along his hairline then down around his jaw.
Preston took her hand and kissed the inside of her palm. Heat leaped up her arm. His tongue flicked across her wrist, and he watched the sensation shimmy down her body. He placed a hot kiss where his tongue had been.
His gaze danced to meet hers, and in its depths, Lee Ann saw her future waiting there for her to say, “Yes.”
Relief mixed with a crazy new excitement, and a steady building need crawled through him. He lowered his head and took her welcoming mouth, savoring the sweet goodness of her lips, the texture of her tongue as it played with his, the feel of her lush curves that pressed teasingly against his body.
Lee Ann’s fingers played at the base of his neck before trailing down the slope of his back to rest near the base of his spine. She splayed her fingers and stroked the broad, hard lines of him, up and down in an almost hypnotic motion.
Preston groaned. He moved closer, finding a temporary sanctuary for the hard length of his pulsing cock against the warmth of her soft stomach. He cupped her firm, round rear, and they both shuddered. He knew that if he kept that up he’d lose himself all over them both right there leaning up against the kitchen counter. Instead, he snaked his arm around her waist. She felt small and fragile, protected in the cocoon of his embrace. But he knew that Lee Ann Lawson may be a lot of things, but weak and vulnerable were not those things. She was strong and determined, sexy, smart, sweet and funny and the complexity of appearance and reality were such turn-ons that he couldn’t think straight. The growing need to consume her and wrap her up in all that he was, share with her the strength and essence that was him, had him forgetting the real reason for this night of seduction. He pulled her closer, kissing her deeper, caressed her more urgently and pushed those other thoughts away and let himself become enmeshed in the magic web that she’d spun around him.
Lee Ann knew that this was probably too soon, too reckless even as she dipped her tongue deeper into his mouth. What was happening went against her good common sense and conservative nature, she thought as she wound her pelvis against him. But from the moment she met Preston it was as if a light had gone on inside that dim place in her soul. And she began to long for something more, something that was just for her. She didn’t know if whatever this thing was that sparked between them would last forever, a few weeks, a month or no longer than tonight. It didn’t matter. She wanted it and him.
Preston’s hot lips drifted down the long line of her neck, found the tender sensitive spots and dropped heated kisses and searing flicks of his tongue until her tiny tremors began to slide up her throat and became aching sighs of desire.
He felt like a rogue in one of those romance novels when he swept her up into his arms and slowly carried her upstairs to his bedroom. She was light and so very womanly in his arms, and the
look of desire that parted her lips, warmed her skin and sparked in her eyes had him on the brink of losing control. He knew he had to take his time and not succumb to the aching longing that held him in a vice grip.
Preston pushed open his bedroom door with his shoulder and carried her to his bed. Gently he lay her down on the thick mocha-colored comforter of his bed then sat beside her. He brushed away the hair that feathered her forehead and studied the face that stared back at him with anticipation, and suddenly it was absolutely important to him that this be right, for both of them, that it not be some casual thing, a slap in the face to her father just to soothe his own ego. Lee Ann didn’t warrant that, and as he leaned down to kiss her slightly parted lips, he knew that with her he could never be less than what she deserved.
Her fingers gathered up the collar of his T-shirt and pulled him toward her. She wanted him. She wanted the full weight of Preston’s hard body stretched out on hers, her legs entwined around his broad back. She wanted to feel the heft of his sex fill her wet walls and swell with his need of her. That’s what she wanted—wanted so suddenly, so intensely that she could barely breathe.
She tugged at his shirt from the waist. “Take it off,” she said in an urgent, harsh whisper.
Preston adjusted his position and dutifully did as he was told.
Her soft palms covered the outline of his chest as she slowly rotated them over the rise of his nipples, which had hardened at her touch. Her tongue flicked over one then the other and back again, sending shockwaves of delight running along Preston’s spine.
“You know,” he whispered in her ear while they slowly gyrated against each other, “as a man of politics I firmly believe in quid pro quo.”
A shadow of a smile moved along her mouth. Her gaze was hot and heavy. “I’d heard that about you Senate types.” She ran her tongue along his bottom lip. “What did you have in mind, Senator Graham?”
His left hand snaked along her thigh and beneath the hem of her dress and pushed it up over her hips. She drew in a sharp breath when his hot palm captured the warm mound and caressed her through her damp panties. Lee Ann whimpered with delight and lifted her hips in response to the titillating sensations that rippled through her. His fingers teased along the thin elastic of the waistband. Lee Ann lifted up and Preston pulled her black lace panties down over her hips, and she wiggled out of them, kicking them to the floor.
