He leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. “You look beautiful as usual. Where’s that husband of yours?”
She grinned. “Bas is around here somewhere. I think he’s trying to dodge his old girlfriend,” she said teasingly.
Cameron glanced around. The party was being held on the main floor of the Steele Building and decorative streamers and red, white and blue balloons were everywhere. “Cassandra Tisdale is here?” he asked.
“Yes, Cassandra and the entire Tisdale family. Time will tell if she’s here to throw her support to Morgan or to be nosey. But then, we really don’t care. Since throwing his hat into the ring, Morgan has received numerous financial backers even if the Tisdales decide to support Roger Chadwick.”
Cameron nodded. He knew the story. The Tisdales had wanted Morgan to marry a member of their family by the name of Jamie Hollis, a senator’s daughter. When Morgan had refused and told them in no uncertain terms that he would be marrying the woman he loved, namely Lena Spears, that hadn’t sat too well with them…until Morgan had taken matters into his own hands and made sure Cassandra and her cousin Jamie knew that he meant business. He’d warned if they continued spreading gossip about him and Lena, he would start spreading some of his own about them.
“The buffet table is set up on the other side of the room and there’s plenty to eat,” Jocelyn told him.
“Thanks, but I’m going to let Morgan and Lena know I’m here before I start mingling.”
A few minutes later he found them, talking to Vanessa and another man. He frowned. Was the man her date? His stomach clenched at the possibility. There was only one way to find out. Without wasting any time he approached the two couples.
Lena was the first to see him and turned and smiled radiantly. Not for the first time he thought Morgan had struck a gold mine with this woman. A Queen Latifah look-alike, she looked gorgeous in her mint-green pantsuit. Whoever thought Lena Spears would not complement Morgan was sadly mistaken.
“Cameron, I’m glad you could make it,” Lena said, reaching out and giving him a hug. “I understand you’ve been out of town a lot.”
“Yes, I have.” He then shook hands with Morgan. “Seems like a nice turnout.”
“It is,” Morgan said. He turned to Vanessa. “Cam, you already know Vanessa.”
“Yes. How are you tonight, Vanessa?”
He picked up on the unevenness of her breathing when she responded in a soft voice, “I’m fine, Cameron. And you?”
“I’m fine, as well.” He glanced over at the man standing by her side. Too close, as far as he was concerned.
“And this,” Morgan was saying, “is Reverend David Carrington. He recently moved to town to become the new pastor of the Redeem Baptist Church.”
The man might be a minister, but there was no wedding band on his finger, Cameron noted, so anything was possible. But not with his woman. “Nice meeting you, Reverend. I’m going to have to visit your church one of these Sundays.”
Reverend Carrington smiled. “Please do. In fact, I plan on having a blazing sermon this coming Sunday.”
Cameron nodded. His mind was not on the good man’s Sunday sermon. Instead he was trying to come up with a way to get Vanessa alone without breaking their agreement, even if only for a few minutes.
“Oops, I left my speech upstairs on my desk,” Morgan said, looking apologetic.
“I can go get it for you,” Lena quickly volunteered.
“No,” Morgan said just as quickly while settling his arms around her waist. “I need you to stay down here with me and greet our guests. Vanessa can catch the elevator and get it for me.”
Vanessa looked surprised. “I can?”
“Yes, you don’t mind, do you?”
Vanessa sighed. What could she say? Of course she didn’t mind. Besides, it would give her a chance to escape Cameron’s presence. She had seen him the moment he had walked into the room. It was as if she had radar and it had homed right in on him. He was impeccably dressed in a dark suit and looked as though he had just stepped off the cover of GQ. Her equilibrium hadn’t been the same since he’d arrived. Weeks of nonstop dreaming about the man was taking its toll. Standing so close to him, breathing in his manly scent, was definitely too much.