The next morning, Andre showed up in her room with a suit. A well-tailored double-breasted suit that fit him like skin and made Colleen’s jaw drop to the floor when she flung her door open to see him.
How convenient was it that the first thing she sees this morning is Andre in a suit after a night filled with sinful dreams about the man?
But this morning, she was feeling a lot more like herself. No way he should have that much power over her body just by him being two feet away.
That was not the Colleen Caddell she knew. She had never squirmed over a man.
Until she met Andre Lourdes.
Making a throat-clearing sound, she asked, “why are you dressed like that?”
“I have a business meeting.” Just as he said, there was something very business-y about his tone and Colleen concluded that that was Andre Lourdes in his element-closing multi-million dollar deals with all of his charm. Charm she was so desperately trying to make herself immune to.
So, she forced a smile, waved him goodbye, as she closed the door on his face.
But his knock came again and she flung the door open to glare at him.
“I said I have a business meeting,” Andre repeated.
“And I heard you. Loud and clear.”
“Won’t you ask who I am going out with?”
“I’m sorry, how is that my concern?”
He grimaced inwardly, looking her over. Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. But he came here for her and he wasn’t leaving without her. Even if she took out her claws.
“I set up a reservation for the both of us at Gleeton’s cafe,” continued Andre, glancing at his wristwatch. “The reservation is scheduled for ten o’clock so if we don’t want it to be canceled, we’ve got to be on our way.”
“We?”
“Yes, Colleen. Now stop arguing and go get dressed before I have to call security to drag your ass to Gleeton.”
That was all it took for her to hurry back to her room and change into a simple white midi dress, deliberately pulling her hair into a high ponytail.
Who cares if Andre likes it when she wears her hair down? It was her hair and she was going to do whatever she liked with it.
Even if it took the piss out of him.
He made no comment when she climbed into the car he was waiting in.
Silently, he drove them to Gleeton’s where they got comfortable and ordered some breakfast in the mostly empty cafe.
Halfway through it, Andre picked up his napkin and wiped his mouth with it, tapping his fingers on the table to get her attention. The next words that came out of his mouth surprised her.
“Why are you here?”
“Because you threatened to have security drag my ass here.”
He laughed, shaking his head as he rephrased his question. “I mean why are you at DESC?”
Colleen squinted her eyes at him. Was this what he meant by business meeting? Was that why he was acting all lawyerly?
Shrugging her shoulders, she answered anyway. “Well, because . . . I need a good-paying job. Something that covers the bills. I need to sell my architectural skills to whoever is interested in hiring, to make them know me.”
“So DESC is a means to an end?”
“Isn’t that what it is to everyone here?”
He nodded in affirmation. “Except everyone has different ends in sight.”
Something flickered in her eyes and it prompted her to ask. “Do I hear disapproval in your voice, Mr. Lourdes?”
Andre suppressed a laugh, repeating the word to himself. Disapproval. He was never one to sound condescending.
Okay. Scratch that.
Seventy percent of the time, he seemed rather condescending. But that had its limits.
“What do you think of the ingenious award?” he inquired casually, speaking with the utmost seriousness.
Sipping from her coffee, Colleen simply said, “Great idea, great award.”
“Yeah, it was my idea-”
She rolled her eyes. Typical.
“But that is not what I meant. I mean what do you ‘think’ of the nobility award? Is it something you have set your sights on?”
Set her sights on. Colleen laughed. She was done ‘setting her sights’ on things she believed was impossible because, “No. I am not very lucky in the lucky department.”
He cocked his head in amusement. “How so?”
“You see, I thought I would be all over the place when I graduated from college. I received an honorary award for best intern and I really thought that was all I needed to begin to ‘set my sights’ on the big things. But after I was laid off, I started to see the world as it was. I have had my fair share of disappointments in the last couple of years. Enough to make me dream moderately.”
“But you have an ambition, nonetheless.”
“Not one I think could ever become a reality.” She answered and it was now it struck Andre. She didn’t think she could win it so she wasn’t even interested in trying.
If only she knew how confident he was in her about her going into this competition with that mind of hers.
You wouldn’t blame Colleen, though. Her mind became closed up after everything that went wrong in the last two years. And that was precisely why Andre dragged her here today. To open that mind and tap into that creative persona that has been lying asleep for way too long.
“So, you’re counting on Mr. Ohio to give you that job, aren’t you?”
“He did declare an interest, didn’t he?”
“And that is all he did. Believe me, he has enough to worry about in his life so there’s a chance he has forgotten all about a certain Ms. Caddell he met five days ago.”
Colleen fell silent as realization dawned on her.
“What is your dream, Colleen?”
She lifted her head to answer but before she said a word, Andre added, “And before you say it’s impossible and downplay the whole vision of DESC, think about what you have to offer and not what the camp has to offer. I never cared much for this program or anything about the Lourdes Foundation my mother formed six years back. But two weeks ago, I went into the books and saw what an amazing thing Camilla was doing. So when everybody thought it should be canceled because of the tragic circumstance, I stood for it to go on.
“Why? Because it has a ninety-three percent success rate. This means that at least twenty-three out of the thirty participants always have a success story to tell in the end. That is not to say there were only twenty-three participants. Seven of them just didn’t come in here seeking what to offer. They were all about receiving and ended up getting nothing.”
It was all sinking in. Every single word that rolled off his tongue was slowly breaking the walls of pessimism she had built around her mind.
Andre continued. “I know you can be part of that twenty-three and be the first among them. That is why I dragged you out here today, Colleen. Call it bias and favoritism, I don’t care. But if I didn’t see something different in you, we wouldn’t be here now.”
“Andre–”
“No. I get it,” he cut her off. “Life has been shitty towards you. And DESC is here to make you do something about that. Everyone thinks I have had it easy but if I didn’t prove my mother wrong and make her see how important I can be to the company, she wouldn’t have called me in. And I cemented my position because I was open-minded.” His voice became gentler as he leaned forward, holding her eyes. “I think you have what it takes to win that award, set yourself up for life. So I ask again, Colleen, what is your ambition?”
“To own my architectural firm,” she answered and moved further to explain. “But it’s nothing basic, nothing like the ones all over the states. I want to focus on art, lace it with architecture, and build houses like no other.”
A broad grin formed on his face. Now she was talking. He listened keenly as she spoke so enthusiastically about how she wanted to run one hell of a kind of architectural firm the state of Michigan has never seen.
“And have you told Tobias this?”
She shook her head in negativity. “He’s got a pretty solid idea for the ingenious competition but it’s mostly about photography and stuff.”
“That’s because you didn’t say what you wanted. I bet if you tell him, and you two rub minds together, you’ll come up with an unthinkable idea that would wow the investors on the day.”
Colleen wavered. “You think so?”
“Now don’t go doubting me, Ms. Caddell. I am very assertive about what I know can happen and cannot. So trust me when I say you got this in the bag if you remain open-minded.” He drew back in his seat, crossing one leg over the other as he sipped from his coffee cup. “With my help of course.”
There he was! Colleen was wondering where Mr. Cocky had gone all morning!
She laughed, equally leaning into her seat. “So, Andre, what do you have in mind?”
“For starters, while you are being so immersed with your ideas, it’s important to also know what the people might want. And by people, I mean the benefactors and the investors. That’s why there is a meet and greet, that is why there is another networking event this Saturday.”
Her eyes narrowed on him. “Am I thinking what you’re thinking?”
If only she knew he had been dying to rip that hair band from her hair all morning.
But sure, they were certainly thinking the same thing in light of the networking event. “Yes,” Andre responded. “You, Tobias, and I are going to be working the event this Saturday. With me captaining the ship of course.”
“Because you know the benefactors and investors more than we do?” she stated matter-of-factly.
“No. Because I want to be in charge of you.”