When I’m With You (Indigo) Read Online Free PDF Page A

to meet this fine brother?”
    Caitlyn frowned and her enthusiasm faded as quickly as it came. “Vic, don’t go there. I just met the man. He was kind enough to help me out. He took me to lunch, and we had dinner tonight. That’s it.”
    “Okay, okay, but I’m telling you, you snooze, you lose.”
    “Good night, Vic. Love you.”
    “Love you, too.”
    Overcome with exhaustion, Caitlyn slipped between the cool, crisp sheets and pulled the comforter to her chin. She knew she needed to go to sleep, but every time she shut her eyes, she saw Marcel’s face. For almost three years, she’d been forced to live underground, afraid to lead a normal existence. But since arriving in Oakland six months earlier, she had started to feel safer. And much of the security she felt came from the love and protection Vic and Vic’s family had provided. Twenty-four hours ago, though, her serene life had taken an unexpected twist because she’d never been attracted to any man as she was to Marcel.
    Before she knew what had hit her, she threw back the comforter and found herself in the middle of her living room. Retrieving Marcel’s business card from her purse, she scanned the neat penmanship on the back. Maybe Vic was right about snoozing and losing. Although she was attracted to Marcel, she wondered whether she had the capacity to ever trust a man again. Tears blurred her vision as she returned the card to her purse. Snuggling back under the covers again, Caitlyn had her answer.
    She needed to forget about Marcel Baptiste.
    * * *
     
    Two weeks later, Caitlyn removed her reading glasses and pushed aside the proposal she’d worked on most of the morning when she heard the soft knock at her office door. “Come in.”
    Marcel stuck his head in. “Caitlyn, sorry I’m late. The traffic coming over the Bay Bridge was a nightmare.”
    “Hi, Marcel.” Caitlyn waved him in and motioned to the chair in front of her desk while admiring his tailor-made navy-blue suit, striped French-cuff shirt and matching silk tie.
    Unbuttoning his coat, he sat. “Catch you at a bad time?”
    “Not at all. Just let me wrap this up, and I’ll be ready to go.”
    After two weeks, Caitlyn had finally run out of excuses to give Marcel for not going out with him. She’d at last relented and accepted his lunch date.
    She rounded the desk and stood in front of him dressed in a floral-print skirt with an asymmetrical hemline, drape-neck top and open-toed sling back sandals, and braced her hip on the desk. “Thanks for inviting me to lunch.”
    “No, thank you. I thought I was going to starve to death waiting for you to say yes.”
    “Listen, Marcel, I know I didn’t make a good first impression the first two times we met.” Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, she focused on the concrete floor then continued. “I’ve given you a lot of lame excuses the last couple of weeks. I didn’t think you’d want to—”
    “Have lunch with you?” Marcel released a soft chuckle. “You’re kidding, right?”
    She lifted her head and smiled. “No, I’m not kidding. I know my behavior has been a bit strange. I-I just don’t want you to think I’m a nutcase, because I’m not.”
    “Trust me, I don’t think that. I’m just glad you’ve finally released me from my fast.” He patted his stomach and smiled. “I lost a few pounds, you know.” Peering around her slender frame, he pointed to her desk. “What are you working on over there?”
    She looked at the neatly stacked pile and sighed. “Another proposal.”
    “Don’t you have an assistant for that?”
    She chuckled and bobbed her head. “Umm-umm. You’re looking at her. Our budget can’t afford an assistant right now.”
    “So, who’s the proposal to?”
    “Anyone and everyone who’d give us money to purchase this building and fund our existing programs.”
    Marcel frowned. “Why money for the building?”
    “Simple. The city owns it, and they’ve gotten a bid to sell it. We don’t