Читать книгу Seized By Seduction - Brenda Jackson - Страница 10
ОглавлениеQUASAR TOSSED THE empty coffee cup in the trash can to join three others. If his friends had told him he would stay up half the night, guzzling caffeine while waiting for some woman to call, he would have told them they were out of their ever-loving minds. But here he was, four cups of coffee later and still waiting for the call.
It had been past midnight when he’d left the Kennedy Center. As a rule, none of the security detail could leave until the last car was out of the parking lot.
Once back at the hotel, he had quickly gotten out of his suit and showered, anxiously checking the phone. No call. So he decided to kill time by getting on his computer. He’d convinced himself that had she read the message scribbled on the back of the business card, she would call.
So far she hadn’t.
Granted, they hadn’t officially met, but he figured she had to remember him from that night in Charlottesville at the crime scene. Maybe not to the same extent he’d remembered her, but still. And then, hours ago at the Kennedy Center, with all that sexual chemistry flowing between them, she had to have found what was happening between them just as bizarre as he did.
On the other hand, maybe she hadn’t. After all, she was a psychic. For all he knew, she could get this type of reaction from men all the time. But for him, it was the weirdest thing he’d ever encountered. If he assumed the first time had been nothing more than getting caught up in the moment, what happened at the Kennedy Center pretty much dismissed that idea. It had nothing to do with the moment but with her, and he was determined to find out why.
Quasar checked his watch. It was close to seven in the morning, which meant he’d been up all night. But at least it hadn’t been a total waste. He’d finally decided to research Dr. Randi Fuller. When he couldn’t pull up anything but professional information, he contacted the headquarters of Summers Security, knowing that someone was on call twenty-four hours a day. It was Roland. More than once he and the guys had told their boss he needed a life, and Roland would give them some smart-ass response that Summers Security was his life.
If Roland thought it odd he’d called at two in the morning for access to GRETA, he didn’t let on. GRETA was a state-of-the-art search engine that specialized in information you couldn’t find anywhere else. It was a great tool for those doing investigative work. All you had to do was tell GRETA what information you wanted, and within minutes she would recite all you needed to know.
According to GRETA, Dr. Fuller made her home in Richmond. She was the daughter of famed defense attorney Randolph Fuller; sister to Ross D. Fuller, who was making a name for himself as a top corporate attorney; goddaughter of retired Senator Noah Wainwright and godsister of Senator Zachary Wainwright. He recalled Senator Zachary Wainwright had been among the group she’d been with last night. Connected to that much fame, he understood why she preferred protecting her personal data.
Quasar stretched out on the bed. He was filled with too much caffeine to sleep, so he might as well watch the news. He grabbed the remote. From his hotel room window, he had a view of the Washington Monument standing tall against the bluest sky he’d ever seen.
It was at that moment his phone rang, and immediately he felt a stirring sensation in the pit of his stomach. It was a number he didn’t recognize. “Quasar Patterson,” he said.
There was a brief pause before a feminine voice replied, “Yes, Mr. Patterson, this is Dr. Randi Fuller.”
Quasar sat up in the bed, wondering how any woman could sound ultrasexy and impressively professional at the same time. He immediately remembered her as he’d seen her last night, in that beautiful blue gown. The material draped her curves, and he’d thought she’d looked absolutely stunning in it. For a minute he’d ignored the lobby filled with people, his total concentration on her.
“Thanks for calling, Dr. Fuller.”
“Although you said to call anytime, when I settled in for the night by my standards it was way too late.”
“I understand and I appreciate you calling now. What I didn’t have time to write on the card is that I want to get to know you.”
For the first time in his life, Quasar felt like a man on a mission.
* * *
RANDI NERVOUSLY NIBBLED on her bottom lip. Twenty minutes ago she had still been debating the merits of making this call. Now that she had, she wondered how much, if anything, she should tell him. And just like he wanted to get to know her, she wanted to get to know him. What woman wouldn’t? But for now, she’d let him lead the conversation.
“Dr. Fuller?”
She swallowed. Why did he have to sound so darn sexy? Especially this early in the morning. She hadn’t been able to sleep and had gotten up before seven o’clock to wash her face, brush her teeth and make a cup of tea before calling him. “Yes?”
“Do you have a problem with me wanting to get to know you?”
She considered his question thoughtfully. “It depends on why you want to.”
“I believe you know the reason.”
“Do I?”
“Yes, I think you do.”
Randi drew in a deep breath, deciding for the time being to play coy. “And just what reason do you assume I know?”
She heard him chuckle and knew he was well aware she didn’t intend to make anything easy for him. “Although we haven’t officially met, something is going on between us that defies logic,” he said.
Maybe in his world it did, but not in hers. “Does it?”
“Every time we look at each other, it’s like we’re the only two people in the universe.”
She would admit that was true. “It’s called chemistry, which is a normal, healthy attraction. It happens.”
“Not to me. At least not this way, and not this intense. Has it ever happened to you before?” he asked her.
Randi didn’t say anything for a minute. She could say yes, it happened to her all the time, but that would be a barefaced lie. Her attraction to him was just as intense as he’d described his to her. “No,” she finally said. “It’s never been this way for me before, either.”
He didn’t say anything for a minute, as if he was trying to digest her response. “Don’t you think we owe it to ourselves to find out why it’s happening?”
Truth was, she already knew why, but he would need to discover the reason for himself. “How do you suggest we go about solving the problem?”
“I didn’t say it was a problem. In fact, I find it quite stimulating.”
“Do you?”
“Yes, which is why I want to get to know you. You intrigue me.”
Randi took a sip of her tea. It wouldn’t be the first time a man said she’d intrigued him. He wanted either to get inside her head or to try his luck getting her into his bed. She couldn’t help wondering why, of all the men out there, he had been chosen to be her mate for life.
“I think we owe it to ourselves to explore what’s going on between us,” he said, pulling her mind back into the conversation. “To meet finally would be a great start. However, if you’re seriously involved with someone, then of course I understand.”
Seriously involved? She’d forgotten just how that felt since it had been so long. “No, I’m not involved with anyone.” Seriously or otherwise.
“In that case, will you join me for breakfast? Let’s say in an hour? There’s a wonderful café in the heart of Georgetown. Rocs. I’ve eaten breakfast there before, and it’s good.”
Trey, Haywood, Zach and Anna were taking the kids on a train ride to Delaware today, and she had told them she would join them. Randi figured she could certainly change her plans. She would be honest with herself and admit she wanted to see him again. “Yes, I’ll join you for breakfast. However, you need to make that in two hours instead of one.” She had promised to go jogging with Trey this morning.
“Fine.” He gave her the address. “And another thing.”
She pushed to her feet to get dressed for jogging. “What?”
“I’m Quasar, and I hope it’s okay to call you Randi.”
“It is.”
“Great. I’ll see you in two hours, Randi.”
“Alright, Quasar.”
After Randi disconnected the call, she couldn’t stop the butterflies from swirling around in her stomach. She would get to see Quasar Patterson again. And soon.
