by E Erika
Too Hot To Quit
E. Erika
Copyright © 2012 Erika E
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or otherwise (mechanical, photocopying, recording or stored in a retrieval system) without the prior written consent of the Publisher. Such action is an infringement of the copyright law.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
SEXY SPY IN AMERICA ROMANCE SERIES
Too Hot To Quit
America’s Safety Endangered By Love
The Wall Street Bride
The Romantic Scientist
TOO HOT TO QUIT (Sexy Spy In America Romance Series)
What happens when those who are elected to defend America turn around to hurt her?
As he gears up for his re-election in the US Senate Elections, US Senator J.L. is introduced to a new, powerful donor by his long-time friend and chief fundraiser Danny Birch. The new donor, Sheryl Lekhov, turns out to be a daughter of an oil tycoon who silently resides in the wealthy-people area of Southern California.
Sheryl Lekhov, a very beautiful and gorgeous lady actively participates in getting more cash to finance Senator J.L’s re-election. And her closeness to the unmarried Senator sparks a romantic fire that consumes both of them during the campaign period and thereafter.
But Senator J.L., a prominent member of US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, does not realize that his new-found love is an enemy of America—a fearless spy working for the interests of the Russian Government!
Chapter 1
Senator J.L. arrived at the Los Angeles summer home of his long-time friend and chief fundraiser, Danny Birch at 6 p.m. as scheduled. Danny, an ever amiable and down-to-earth man blessed with a face quite younger than his real age, was right at the gate to receive him.
“I knew you wouldn’t want to get here a second late. Always right on time!” Danny said.
“Thanks for the flatter,” Senator J.L. said. “More so, I am here for a serious business no any serious-minded person can afford to attend to at a later time,” he joked briefly and followed Danny into his expansive, beautifully furnished living room.
On the yellow couch next to the 46-inch LCD TV sat a lady in what looked like a green brocade suit. It was her blond hair, blue eyes and golden earrings that sparkled in the living room’s dull lighting that first got Senator J.L.’s attention.
“Please meet Miss Sheryl Lekhov,” Danny briefly introduced her to him. “Well, I think I don’t need to introduce you; she knows who you are already,” Danny quipped.
The three of them had laughed at that joke. Danny soon left Senator J.L. to enjoy uninterrupted private chat with his yet-to-be super donor while Danny’s wife came over to serve the duo some red wine laced with squirts of lemon juice. Frank Sinatra was doing his 1960’s hit song, Ain’t She Sweet on the TV. What a coincidence!
“Thank you for coming out to be part of our wonderful campaign, Ms. Lekhov,” Senator J.L. appreciated.
“It’s my great pleasure, Senator,” Sheryl responded, a friendly smile brightening up her pretty, smooth face.
“To be honest, only a very few Americans can boldly step out like this to support some drastic changes we are making to American politics,” Senator J.L. begun. “And for those of you who brace up to support us, we are sure your contributions won’t be in vain as we work together to create a better future for our kids. My plan, our, is to revitalize the American Dream that is now elusive for our children and the immigrants who call our great country their home,” Senator J.L. said..
Sheryl Lekhov didn’t speak much as she sat there listening to the Senator’s impromptu political speeches; she even appeared a bit frightened sitting beside one of the best and very famous politicians America had ever produced.
“Due to my busy schedule, I won’t be seeing you often, Ms. Lekhov. Please feel free to work with my friend, Danny Birch. He’s been my chief fundraiser for seven years now, and he is quite perfect at what he does in that regard,” Senator J.L. said, smiling.
After a brief ten-minute chat with Sheryl, Senator J.L.’s driver showed up to pick him for his flight to Washington. The driver knew it would be bad for the Senator to arrive at the airport later than expected. He might miss his flight and his schedules for the day would be in disarray.
En route to Washington on a chartered plane, Senator J. L. couldn’t easily get Sheryl Lekhov out of his mind. He remembered her blue, seductive eyes that squinted periodically in a way that unnerved him for half of the time they spent together chatting. No matter how short it was. He wondered why her thin long fingers were so beautifully manicured that he had had the urge to grab and put them inside his mouth to lick for some time. And, good gracious, those enchanting curves! Senator J.L. realized that he would have been considered a pervert, if caught on camera, about the way he stared lustfully at Sheryl’s well-shaped butts when she walked across the room to change the TV channels. He had his own description for a super cute lady like Sheryl Lekhov: a wonderful package! To him, a wonderful package was a lady with nice flowing hair, attractive facial appearance, curves that make men dizzy and a voice like that of a Nightingale.
When his plane eventually touched down at Washington National Airport, Senator J.L. was overpowered by a soul-crushing guilt that he had wasted four and a half hours of tax payers’ time thinking about a pretty lady. He wished he had kicked out those disabling thoughts from his heart right from the beginning of his trip so that he could read and append his signatures to some important documents that had been begging for his attention for days.
Entering his Capitol office, his assistants told him that he had six strategic appointments lined up for the rest of the day until 11 p.m. Somehow, Senator J.L. seemed relieved that his busy schedule would, at least, help pull him out of his eerie feelings about Sheryl Lekhov. More so, he felt quite happy that he would not be seeing her often or soon, since they had got no direct engagements to undertake together as far as his campaign for re-election was concerned. She could readily give all her donations through Danny Birch, who was the right person in charge of campaign fundraising activities.
Chapter 2
Senator J.L. was trying to have a quick lunch between congressional meetings when he unexpectedly received a call from Danny Birch.
“Do you have a couple of minutes you can spare?” Danny asked, sounding a bit serious.
“Go ahead, Danny” Senator J.L urged.
“What does your schedule look like next Saturday?” Danny said.
“Are you planning to take me out on an expensive dinner?” Senator J.L. joked.
“This is more than a dinner, Senator. The lady you met at my home a month ago…,” Danny was interrupted.
“Sheryl?” Senator J.L. asked.
“That’s right. Sheryl. She’s planning a fundraising event, eat-as-you-like dinner with her rich friends for $50,000 per person. And she’d like to know if you can make it down here just for the occasion,” Danny revealed.
Senator J.L. hesitated for a minute but soon apologized that he would not be able to attend the festive occasion.
“As the honorable chief fundraiser, please deputize for me and let all the guests there know that I am indeed sorry for not being able to make it there because of my congressional assignments here in Washington,” Senator J.L. explained.
The truth was that Senator J.L. could somehow find time to attend the fundraising gala for his own re-election bid, but he felt that staying too close to Sheryl Lekhov might push him into misbehaving, having realized that her sterling beauty had already p
roduced a mesmerizing effect on him. It had been quite a long time since he found himself adoring a lady like this, to the point that he could hardly maintain his self-confidence in her presence. When they met a month before, Sheryl had dazzled him with her seductive smiles and those blue eyes she rolled like a girl seducing a man for her first love-making.
Those temptations were real and frightening. And Senator J.L. understood that a man of his caliber should give the best example of a good behavior in the society.
Disturbingly enough, politics had always been a dirty game. Who knew if Sheryl Lekhov was working for his Republican opponent with the hope of seducing him into a romantic affair? Senator J.L. knew that the outcome of such a scandal would be disastrous to his political career. Who wanted to cast their votes for a man who had sexually assaulted his benevolent donor? Or who would want to elect a person prone to poor moral judgments as their leader?
Though as an unmarried man Senator J.L. was free to date whoever he liked or admired. But he knew that such a thing should be done with absolute discretion in an election year. Worse still, he knew nothing about Sheryl Lekhov before, and how, for God’s sake, would he want to enter into a very serious relationship with a total stranger?
As a huge surprise, three days before the planned fundraising event, Danny Birch had called Senator J.L. again to pass across to him a message from Sheryl Lekhov: “She’s wondering if she could re-schedule the event to any date you’d be free to be there, because her guests are all fired-up about meeting you in person,” Danny said.
After a little hesitation and sensing some desperation on Sheryl’s part, Senator J.L. still refused to show up at the event. His action seemed to have annoyed Danny Birch, and he quickly pointed it out to the senator: “But in the past, you had spared even fifteen minutes to grace such an occasion, is there anything you are hiding from me about this issue?” Danny pressed his long-time friend for some revelations.
Senator J.L. smiled briefly and said, “To be honest with you, Danny, my plate is full right now with various assignments, and I have got to settle all these issues as the elections get closer, you know,” he tried to hide the real reason behind his refusal to go to Sheryl Lekhov’s fundraising efforts for his own campaign.
In private, Senator J.L. had chided himself for being too paranoid about Sheryl Lekhov. It amused him that he chose to act like a “shy boy” and not as a brave legislator that he was. But he also realized that human beings should approach delicate matters with reasonable doubts so as not to find themselves embroiled in a dangerous situation. He believed he needed more time to familiarize himself with Sheryl. And who knew, she might even end up being one of his best friends in life.
The Monday following the fundraising event, Danny Birch called to inform Senator J.L. that Sheryl had successfully raised a sum of $1million for his re-election campaign.
“That’s a huge amount of money, Danny!” Senator J.L. gushed with a bit of regret. “Let me call her right away and thank her for her great effort,” Senator J.L. said.
Senator J.L.’s fingers shook feverishly because of a troubling guilt as he tried to call Sheryl from his cell phone. His heart pounded feebly hearing her sweet, slow voice on the other side of the line. Senator J.L. felt his heart melt instantly as he listened to her soothing way of talking.
“I am grateful for what you are doing for our campaign, Ms. Lekhov,” Senator J.L. said.
“It is all my pleasure, Senator,” she answered gracefully.
“You know, we have never reached such a milestone in our fundraising effort at one occasion before; this is really an outstanding “first” for us, courtesy of your tireless efforts, Ms. Chekhov,” Senator J.L. seemed happy about the development.
“And if there is any other way I can help this campaign to succeed, please do not hesitate to inform me, Senator,” Sheryl said before her short conversation with Senator J.L. had ended.
“No, problem, I will, Ms. Lekhov,” he replied, politely.
“Please call me Sheryl,” she corrected him.
“OK, Sheryl, I’ll be in touch if there are other things we want you to do for us,” he promised. He knew down within him that this lady was fast entering into him in a more dynamic way than he could deny. She left in him an impression of a soft-spoken but goal-getting lady who knew the right thing to do and always willing to accomplish it.
But something was now clear to Senator J.L., he understood he could no longer do anything to keep Sheryl Lekhov at bay from him.. He told himself to brace up for this reality; though he still harbored his reservations when dealing with her. But none of those mattered at this crucial time. Even for someone showing rare interest and action in supporting one’s political career.
Chapter 3
Senator J.L. sat pensively in his Capitol office as he mapped out his latest strategy for winning his re-election. He circled two important dates on the small triangular calendar atop his huge oak table.
August 15— Inaugural meeting with his campaign staff
August 22—Official launch of his campaign in his constituency headquarters in downtown Los Angeles
He grabbed his cup of hot morning coffee to take a quick sip when his office phone started ringing.
“Senator, would you like to take a call from one Ms. Sheryl Lekhov now?” one of his assistants inquired.
No more hesitation: “Put her on the line please,” he said with obvious excitement.
“I’m sorry for calling you quite early this morning, Senator,” she apologized politely. “I overheard you are working on the final list of your campaign staffers, and I thought it is imperative I contacted you before your final list will be produced,” she said.
Senator J.L. couldn’t immediately understand where she would come in on this matter. Was she going to promise to pay all the salaries of his campaign staffers? Or did she possess some previous management experiences she thought would be useful in the campaign?
“I just thought that I’d like to be more proactive in this campaign,” she said.
“Yeah,” Senator J.L. punctuated.
“And there’s no better way to do this than being a member of your campaign team,” she said.
Senator J.L. almost rejected her suggestion to be part of his campaign staff, but he quickly realized that such a response might eventually piss her off. She might ease herself completely out of his campaign, having detected that the Senator appeared reluctant to work with her. But the truth is: Senator J.L.’s admiration for Sheryl had doubled since she had proved herself beyond every reasonable doubt that she was a formidable financial lifeline the campaign should do everything possible to retain.
“If I may ask, which area of our campaign are you most interested in?” he asked her.
“Put me in the media department,” she answered, curtly.
“Media? Do you have any previous experiences in the media?” Senator J.L. looked surprised.
“Yeah, I used to be a professional photographer for a well-known New York Magazine. I think I’ll be glad to be in charge of taking the campaign photographs,” she said.
Senator J.L. heaved a silent sigh, probably not loud enough for her to have heard it on the other side of the line.
“We actually have a lady who does that job in our campaign,” he revealed, bluntly.
“I see. No problem: I believe two of us can work together,” she suggested.
“Alright. I will ask her to contact you as soon as possible. Is it OK if I give her your cell phone number?” he asked.
“Sure.”
Senator J.L. appeared helpless as he realized there was apparently nothing he could do to prevent Shery Lekhov from invading deeper and deeper into his private life. As his campaign photographer, Sheryl would always be present there at every occasion to shoot important campaign photos to be displayed in the campaign newsletter, website or to be handed over to the mainstream media houses for publicity purposes. This entailed that she and Senator J.L. would see each other almost every d
ay, something that he disliked and didn’t want to happen. But what could he do to stop this momentarily?
As a single man, Senator J.L. kept reminding himself that it was OK dating anyone he so desired. But he was only cautious that such unexpected dating opportunity had come to him in an election year—the period when he needed to exercise extreme carefulness because no one knew what a desperate political opponent could use as a powerful destabilizing weapon against the other person!
What made the whole Sheryl Lekhov drama seemed weird to him was that he couldn’t particularly identify what the lady was looking for. Was it fame? She had it already, as the only daughter of an oil-business tycoon. Was it romance? As a beautiful lady, young and very attractive she probably had dozens of suitors who would be begging her for marriage.
Or was she looking for an association with an important person in power? She had got it already, being friends to company presidents’ families and Hollywood celebrities. Sheryl had got enviable social standing that she didn’t need to lobby for recognition in any social spheres. So, what was Sheryl Lekhov looking for in this relationship? Only if Senator J.L. could find an answer to this important question that he would, at least, feel relieved about the whole issue.
Senator J.L. wondered if he should intimate his best friend Danny Birch about his feelings towards Sheryl. But how would he react to such information? Wouldn’t he think he was acting like a faint-hearted boy and getting worked-up for unimportant matter? And if he felt that Sheryl was probing too fast into his world and should be immediately stopped, wouldn’t this later development affect the performance of his political campaign due to avoidable in-fighting?
At the end, Senator J.L. decided to keep this issue to himself. He had vowed to remain cautious and vigilant in dealing with Sheryl Lekhov until election palaver would be over. If what Sheryl needed was love and romance, she could get plenty of those after his successful re-election, Senator said to himself.
