Colleen Caddell is broke, jobless, and at the verge of being thrown out of her house. Desperate as she was, she conned her way into a program run by the infamous Andre Lourdes. But when she becomes the number one suspect in the murder case of his mother, Colleen has to explain to Andre, and the whole world, what she was doing in the room minutes after Camilla Lourdes was shot dead.
View MoreANDRE watched as Tobias walked into the dining hall and headed for where Colleen sat with her friends, Liz and Jessalyn, chatting and laughing so happily. His eyes followed every move of Tobias, from when he walked into the hall, scanned the place for a certain redhead, and when he spotted her, strutted in her direction. He watched him speak to her in what he was sure was whispers, and after barely any convincing—because why would he need to convince somebody he had locked lips with yesterday—, she stood up and followed him to wherever the hell they had talked about.Yup! Andre was definitely paranoid. He tightened his grip on the tableware in his hand, so hard it began to hurt. But he didn’t feel any pain down there. The affliction he was feeling right now wasn’t from the knife in his hand, it was from watching Colleen follow Tobias out of the dining hall. “Easy there,” Valentina all but purred from behind him, in that velvet-textured voice of hers that made even the ladies ballyh
“Andre! Andre! Please wait!” A demented-looking Colleen called after him in a shrill she was certain could wake a dead man from the grave, but it all fell on deaf ears. Andre was past hearing. Andre was past listening. Andre well was beyond seeing, even. Not flinching for even a second, he hollered towards the elevator, his breathing rapid, his chest bouncing heavily, and jaws flexing. He couldn’t even bring himself to see anything other than what he had seen five minutes ago: the image of Colleen and Tobias kissing. Angry was an understatement to describe how he was feeling. Pushing down the button for the twenty-fourth floor, the elevator doors closed swiftly right in the face of Colleen who was ready to jump in there with him and explain how this was all just a huge misunderstanding.Determined to set things straight, she hurried to the next elevator and pushed down the button for the twenty-fourth floor. Guess granting her access to the floor came in handy way too soon, in th
It was going to be a long day.As part of learning marketing, Darren James, the biggest marketing professional in Michigan, thought to test their skills on the subject by making them sell tee shirts and props for the forthcoming Last Day of the Summer fest being held in the resort. “And that is the last batch of our props." A weary looking Tobias said, dropping the bag filled with shirts, hoodies, face caps, summer hats, and what-not, on the floor beside a freaked out Colleen. “Whoa! That’s a lot. And we’re supposed to sell everything before. . .”“8 pm today.” “Now that is next to impossible in the Oxford dictionary.” .“Tell that to sweet sensation, Darren James,” Jessalyn Russo said from behind them. “He thinks that because he can sell things with a snap of his fingers, everybody should, too.”“When really, all that is going for him is his good looks,” Liz added, her face contorted in a frown as she looked over the bags next to Colleen. “Our bag is just as big as this. And it’
As fast as her legs could carry her, without giving away the impression that she so desperately wanted to get out of here so that she can finally breathe something other than Valentina’s choking perfume, she hurried out of the court. Bae-cation, she said. My daddy pulled some strings, she bragged. Colleen felt infuriated! At Valentina for being so beautiful, with an opposite attitude. And at Andre for not telling her that his ex-girlfriend was going to be at the tennis game she got them tickets to. Okay, now she was sounding like they were in a relationship. When really, all that was there between her and Andre was something even she couldn’t quite put to words yet. Was it love? Hell no. How could she fall in love with the man she met twelve days ago? Maybe it was just a little bit of likeness and attraction. He was gorgeous after all. “Just a little bit of likeness,” she muttered to herself as she stomped into the lobby. When she was on the floor leading to her room, she heard
By 4 pm, Colleen was waiting for Andre just outside the courthouse, dressed in a white chiffon top, a pair of tightly fit slacks, and a summer hat to shield the sun which was at its peak. As she watched the players practice before the game actually began, a favorite unintentionally registered in her brain. The man in the pink polo shirt with a visor over his head seemed to strike the ball remarkably well. Or so she thought. He played with so much vigor, enthusiasm, and professionalism, that Colleen thought his opponent stood no chance. Well, that remained to be seen. Glancing at her wristwatch, the time was almost 4:10 and there was still no sign of Andre. She sighed. Just because he made a booking—coerced a booking—at VIP doesn’t give him any excuse to be late. If the whistle sounds for the first set, Colleen swore under her breath that she would go inside without him. Even if it meant settling for the bad seat because the court was packed. Just then, she felt a hand snake around
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 hi
ANDRE was right in picking that green dress. Sizing Colleen with his eyes, as he always does whenever she was up close, he knew she was a size 8. So when he waltzed into Chanel’s store asking for a green dress for a certain redhead that could steal the attention of an entire room, the attendant knew who he was talking about. And just as he thought, he was right. Immediately Colleen stepped into the hall, heads swung in her direction. Even Andre’s breath caught. She was just so beautiful. Swiping a glass of champagne from the tray, he proceeded to meet the woman of the night. His night.“I suppose a little credit should be accorded to me,” he said, handing her the champagne glass. “The whole room is looking at you, Colleen.” She shivered nervously as she took in the pairs of eyes glancing in their direction. “You know, that kind of makes me uncomfortable.” “Uncomfortable because you happen to be the most beautiful woman in here, tonight?” Andre passed her a heartening smile, collec
LIZ: DO NOT FORGET THE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITY, TODAY. DARREN JAMES WASN’T SMILING WHEN HE SAID HE WOULD BE TAKING STATISTICS. WHAT ARE WE? TWELVE? ANYWAY, I SENT THE CARDS YOUR WAY. THEY SHOULD BE ARRIVING FIVE MINUTES AFTER YOU READ THIS.”Colleen read the notification and almost immediately, her phone rang. “Just checking to know if you saw the message,” Liz said when she hit the answer button. “Yes, I saw it. Thanks.” A few minutes later, a knock came on her door.Thinking it was the person Liz sent to deliver the cards, she quickly slid into a pair of biker shorts and skipped out of the closet to get to the door. To her surprise and infuriation, it was no other than Andre Lourdes, holding a long hunter-green maxi dress and of course, the cards Liz was just speaking of. For the longest two minutes of her life, she was standing, he was standing, and they were both staring at each other. But the difference was, Andre had his usual, charming, cocky smile. And boy, Colleen was
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,
“Is she dead?” With her heart hammering against her chest, she lowered her head onto the body of the woman who lay lifeless on the Persian silk rug.Colleen Caddell listened keenly for a sound, even the faintest of it. She listened for something, anything. But there was nothing. Horror struck her face as, slowly, her gaze averted towards Liz Parker who was standing right above her. “I can’t hear her heartbeat,” she said, almost in a whisper. “Are you sure? Step aside, let me listen.” As Colleen backed away from the body, a fragment of her hair got stuck in the flower sterling silver brooch pinned on the blouse of the woman. She had to tug at her hair to break free and when it finally came undone, she stepped aside for Liz to check her pulse and listen for a heartbeat. Just as Colleen had said, there was nothing.“She is dead,” Liz confirmed rather quietly. But that did absolutely nothing to pacify her friend, who was immediately thrown into a frenzy as she stalked around the room
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