COLLEEN rode the elevator to the 24th floor and appeared in front of the large wooden double door.
With the tickets in her hand, her heart in her mouth, and her legs in the air. Okay, not literally in the air. That was just her daily mental and reality check that she wasn’t falling and falling and falling. . .
The door flung open.
Lo and behold, a divinely gorgeous being materialized, dressed in white and blue summer shorts. Only. That is to say, the rest of Andre Lourdes’ body was left exposed and oh dear, Colleen almost gorged out the heart in her mouth.
I told you this was a bad idea, her subconscious hammered.
Firstly, Andre cocked his head backward, and when he confirmed it was truly Collen at his doorstep, after a mental slap, a slow devious grin tugged at the corner of his lips fully aware of what her very eyes were beholding.
An out of breath Colleen shook her head, shaking away the unholy thoughts that were beginning to dance around in her head. Feigning ignorance at his half-naked presence, she asked.
“Do you give the 24th-floor access to everyone in the resort? I thought these kinds of things were out of bounds.”
“Actually, no,” Andre answered, leaning his weight on the door, deliberately not breaking the gaze
Colleen was losing her legs trying to hold. “I’m the only one that has access to the 24th floor. But since your arrival, I made it so that a certain red-haired woman could come in and go as she liked.”
She looked at him in disbelief. No way. Then her face broke out in a laugh. “That definitely has got to be a joke, right?”
He smirked. “You’re standing here, aren’t you?”
Oh goodness! He was serious. Her mouth went dry. How was she supposed to respond to that?
As if reading her thoughts, Andre chirped in, “It’s alright. You don’t have to say anything. Soon enough, you’ll understand why I made it so. But for now, I would love to know what might have brought this special surprise to my doorstep this Sunday morning?”
Colleen gathered her thoughts, raised the tickets to his eye level, and started. “Last night was a success. I’m sorry I couldn’t wait, I was feeling very exhausted but I thought to come to thank you for your pointers and help. They were certainly put into good use and I have a feeling the results will speak for itself in the pitching next two weeks.” She said all in one breath. “So as a sign of appreciation, and before you add another favor to the one I owe you, I got us two tickets to the tennis game by 4 pm today.”
“Hmm.” Andre took the tickets from her and read through it. When his face came up, he was smiling warmly. “That’s thoughtful, Colleen. And it will be my pleasure to honor your invitation.”
“Okay. That’s settled then,” she nodded a little too much. “We’re going to be at the court a little earlier than four if we are going to get any good seats.”
“Good seats?”
“Yes. I learned a lot of people are looking forward to the game so I reckon the court will be packed. Which is why we need to be there before 4 pm or we’ll end up getting a terrible view. I don’t know about you but I’d hate that because I just spent $49. 99 purchasing those tickets.”
An amused expression replaced his slightly confused one. Then pulling his phone from his pockets, he dialed a number. “Hello, Davis? What’s the attendance record for the tennis game this evening?
“And how many people are in the VIP section?
“. . . I don’t care who you kick out. I need a reservation for two. Send it to me in thirty minutes.”
And he hung up.
“There, I got us good seats.” He smiled like he hadn’t just thrown out two people from the VIP to replace them simply because he asked.
Colleen was agape. How rude.
“Now that that is settled, would you like to come in for breakfast? I make good toast and scrambled eggs, if anything. It would be a pleasure to tour you around my place, as well.”
Including his bedroom?
She swallowed. Get in there with him? Hell no. No way. Capital NO.
In response to his request, she shook her head vehemently in refutation, her mouth suddenly unable to speak any words.
Andre looked at her with lazy eyes. “You know I still have a favor to ask, right?”
“So you’re going to use it on this?”
For thirty long seconds, he regarded her in silence contemplating what she had just said. “Never mind. I have other plans for that favor,” he smirked.
“Alright. Okay. Fine. That’s all I came to say. I’ll see you at the court by 4.”
With that, she hurried out of his presence before she defied all the bones in her body and took Andre up on that breakfast offer. After all, she hadn’t had breakfast.
Rather than spend the entire reliving, over and again, seeing Andre Lourdes without a shirt, she headed for the best possible distraction she could find, her friend, Liz. And if Jessalyn is in the mix, it would make it a whole lot better.
The door was open when she got to Liz’s room so she let herself in. She heard the sound of the shower running in the bathroom which meant Liz was having her bath. To announce her presence, she knocked gently on the bathroom door and Liz turned off the shower.
“Just dropped by to see how you’re doing,”
Colleen projected her voice from the outside.
“Oh we both know that’s a blatant lie. What happened with you and Andre Lourdes?”
“Why do you think something happened?”
Popping her head, slight, out of the bathroom door, she gave her a look. “So you’re saying you really just came to my room first thing in the morning because you missed me?”
“Well. . . no. I actually just came from Andre’s-”
“And there it is! The cat is finally out of the bag!”
Liz explained dramatically walking back into the shower. “So what happened this time? You know you have actually never explained to me what is going on between you two.”
“That’s because I thought you wouldn’t approve.” Colleen strutted back to the bedside where she found Liz’s plan for the project laid out on the bed.
Changing the course of the conversation before Liz got to answer that question, she asked, “Were you up all night with Russo?”
Liz hurried to peep to see how she’d found out then found her staring at the plans amongst other things that gave their little camp out away, then she went back into the shower. “We spent the night going over our ideas for the award. What do you think?”
“I think it’s good,” Colleen nodded approvingly. “It’s a fascinating concept you have here. But why do I have the feeling that spending the night with Jessalyn was more fascinating than drawing up fascinating plans.”
At that revelation, Liz fell silent. Then after about three minutes, she emerged from the bathroom with red cheeks. Was Liz Parker blushing?
Holy shit! The world was about to end.
To say Colleen was surprised would be an understatement.
Her jaw dropped to the floor as she exclaimed, “Oh my goodness, you like her!”
“Okay, okay, calm down now. You don’t have to announce it to the entire residents of the resort. It’s not that big of a deal.”
“What? It’s not that big of a-you’re falling in love, Liz. Liz Parker is falling in love for the first time in her rock-hard life. Oh, Jessalyn Russo definitely deserves a place in the world record books. Come on, come on,” she dragged her to sit beside her on the bed. “Tell me all about it.”
“There’s nothing to tell. I don’t know-I just really like her. And not like in the same way I love you. This one feels different. I feel my heart racing when I am with her. I feel exhilarated, euphoric, anxious, comfortable, safe. . . I don’t even know if it’s emotionally possible to feel all of this at once. But whenever I am with Russo, I am a different person entirely.”
Colleen had become starry-eyed listening to Liz confess her feelings for a person for the first since she’s known her. And she has known her since they were nine.
“This has got to be your best summer yet. By the end of DESC, it will be double the elation because our lives would be different. You would be in love with an amazing woman and would no longer have to worry about the bills.”
On that note, Liz took Colleen’s hand. “And what about you?”
“Well, I wouldn’t have cranky landlords threatening to throw me out every single day of the week. ‘You get down here with my money Caddell, otherwise, I am coming up there to drag you out of my compound!'” Colleen mimicked her all and frustrating landlord.
Liz laughed. “That would be such a relief, wouldn’t it?”
“Definitely. Just like you, I wouldn’t have to worry about my bills.”
“And just like me, would you be in love?”