Read Online Asking for Andre by Minx Malone - Free Book Online

his duty.”
    Her eyes roamed over Casey’s fitted skirt and blouse. She pursed her lips as if unimpressed. Casey felt her eyes well with tears.
    The other woman patted Casey's hand, her touch as cold as her eyes. “It’s nothing personal, my dear. I’m sure you’re a lovely young woman, but my son has responsibilities you can’t begin to imagine. He needs someone appropriate for a man of his position. He’s thirty-one now and still unmarried. He needs to focus on his future.”
    Casey nodded blindly. Tears obscured her vision so the room was just a wash of color. “I understand, Mrs. Lavin. Once the agency has finished his marketing plan, he won’t have any reason to come back here.” It hurt her just to say the words. “You have nothing to worry about.”
    The older woman dropped her lipstick back into her bag and snapped it shut. “You’re a sweet girl. You’ve eased a mother’s heart today.” She clasped Casey in a quick hug and air kissed in the direction of her cheeks.
    “I would hate to see his reputation tarnished by this in any way.” Then she was gone, leaving a cloud of expensive perfume and devastation in her wake.
    That’s the kind of woman Andre grew up with. Even as she felt a shudder of sympathy, Casey envisioned the elegant women he was used to. Surely they weren’t all this cold. One day, he’d meet someone warm and interesting who happened to have the right bloodline. Someone who would fit in with his staunchly conservative mother and his exclusive social circle.
    Someone appropriate .
    It was only a matter of time before he had no reason to come back to D.C. If Casey had followed him home on Saturday, it would be doubly difficult for her when his time here was up. The best thing she could do was try to forget that brief magical interlude on the balcony and concentrate on her own future. Maybe if she tried hard enough, she could stop wanting something she couldn’t have.
    She left the bathroom slowly and walked down the hall to Mya’s office. Normally she loved assisting the designers because she got to see how the agency’s core business operated. There were so many intricacies involved in developing a marketing plan, from the colors used in the advertising, to the radio and television coverage of the company’s products. After her little chat with Mrs. Lavin she needed something to take her mind off everything. Hopefully Mya would have an interesting project for her to work on.
    Casey shook her head, determined to clear the negativity left from talking with Mrs. Lavin. Nothing the older woman had said was a news flash. She’d known all along a relationship between them couldn’t work. She just hadn’t expected the whole thing to depress her so much.
    “Casey, there you are.” Mya was seated behind her massive desk in the double office she shared with Milo. She stood and gestured to a stack of design boards propped on stands. “I just need you to help me carry these to the conference room. The Indigo Jewelers team should be here any minute.”
    Casey picked up the first board and tucked it under her arm. “No problem. Sorry I’m late. I was…delayed.”
    Mya nodded slowly and glanced behind her. “I guess that means she found you then. I pointed her in the opposite direction of where I last saw you. I was hoping the old bat would get lost.”
    At Casey’s surprised stare, Mya shrugged. “I don’t like bullies. She might be wearing pearls but that doesn’t hide what she is. Mean.”
    Casey smiled sadly. “It doesn’t matter. She wasn’t saying anything I haven’t already thought a thousand times.”
    Mya looked like she wanted to say something else but then closed her mouth and pulled a sheaf of papers from her desk. She slapped them down on the desktop in front of Casey.
    “I remember you said once that you were working on your business degree online. Did you ever pick your major?”
    Casey nodded slowly. “I chose finance but I’ve just started the