Kassie, Léandre’s sister, often helped on the production set.
“The Swiss Alps?” Desiree asked.
“Yes. A friend of his offered him the use of his Swiss mountain cabin. I guess he didn’t think it was important enough to mention it to me.”
Desiree could hear the hurt in her best friend’s voice. “I still think you should just come out and tell him how you feel, Cam.”
“I’m not ready to do that, Rae. What if he doesn’t feel the same way about me that I feel about him?”
“You’ll never know if you don’t act on it.”
“I know… Well, goodnight, Rae.”
“Goodnight, Cam.”
After hanging up the phone, Desiree thought about how much, and for how long, Camille had loved Léandre. All the way back when the two were in high school. That was a long time for a girl to wait for the boy of her dreams to notice her as more than a friend. Hopefully, one day Léandre would finally open his eyes.
CHAPTER 8
“So, when are you leaving?” Cobra asked Richard when they had finished their chess game. This was one of the rare times that he had actually won. When Richard mentioned his plans, Cobra understood why the man hadn’t been as focused tonight.
“First thing in the morning. I’m looking forward to seeing Lolita and meeting her daughter, son-in-law, and her newest grandbaby.”
Cobra nodded. “How long will you be gone?”
“Three weeks.”
When Cobra started to rise to put on his jacket and leave, Richard said, “There’s a favor I need to ask of you. It’s regarding Allison.”
Cobra eased back in his chair. He had a feeling he would not like whatever favor Richard was about to ask of him. Four weeks had passed since the night he and Desiree had kissed. The last three Thursdays when he’d come over to play chess with Richard, Desiree had been working late. Tonight, he had been pleasantly surprised when she had joined him and Richard for dinner. But she had little to say and left soon after to go out.
“How can I help you?”
“I’ll be gone for a while, and I want to make sure Allison has someone she can call if something comes up. If it’s okay with you, I want to leave your contact information with her.”
Cobra figured that even if Richard were to give her the information, hell would likely freeze over before she used it. “You can certainly do that, Richard.”
“Thanks. And I haven’t mentioned anything about Lolita to Desiree yet. I plan on talking to her when I return. She assumes I’m going out of town on a business trip to check on my two international offices.”
Cobra nodded again. “That sounds like a plan.” He stood to reach for his jacket, then slid into it. “Just wondering… Where did Desiree run off to in a hurry?”
Richard began putting the chess game away. “I believe she said she was going ice skating.”
“Ice skating?”
“Yes. There’s an ice-skating rink on the amenity floor.”
“She went alone?” Cobra asked.
“She didn’t say.” Richard finished putting the game away, then looked up at Cobra. “I had a meeting with Saul Lawrence today. He told me something rather interesting.”
Saul Lawrence was Richard’s second-in-command and had been among the first people Richard hired when he started the company years ago.
“And what did Lawrence have to say?” Cobra asked.
“It seems that Allison is very knowledgeable about business. After her cross-training in various positions within the company, she put together a detailed written report on ways to streamline a number of them for efficiency, while at the same time not eliminating anyone’s job.”
“That’s impressive,” Cobra said.
