Jamie flashed a smile at his friend. “I know how Danny moves, and so I know that Danny rises to the occasion when he’s pushed. Without being challenged, Danny has no reason to make any adjustments. So if we push him, I think he’ll achieve what he wants.”
Didier rubbed his chin. “Tu as raison. Osei usually doesn’t make big plays. But when he’s pushed, he pushes back hard, and he goes big.”
“That’s where Danny’s magic lies,” Jamie agreed. “Of course, it doesn’t need to be that way, but it is, and so to help Danny get to where he needs to go, we need to run past him until he can’t take any more.” Jamie shook his head. “The thing is, if he’s not forthcoming with what that is, it’s a moot point. We won’t be able to help someone who won’t admit what the actual problem is.”
Lottie bet she could get Danny to open up. It was how he’d looked at her, like he saw past her old lady façade and saw that she had value within. Like he trusted her immediately.
When was the last time someone trusted her based on one glance?
She gripped her pen, wanting to offer to take the big boy on. She’d tag-teamed on a couple clients, but she’d never had her own charge.
She wanted a clientvery badly. It was the difference between making a difference and being a glorified mascot. An empowered woman wasnota mascot.
Would Jamie trust her to do this on her own? She opened her mouth to offer—
“I think we don’t take him,” Jamie said, looking around the table.
“Agreed,” Rachel and Didier said at the same time.
A majority vote had it.Well, heck. Lottie sat back, trying not to show her disappointment. Apparently, her new underthings hadn’t emboldened her enough. She was going to have to rectify that.
She had an idea where to start.
“Enough about Osei. Tell me about the woman,” Didier said, tugging his sleeve down over his fancy watch. He had a collection of fancy watches. He’d shown them to her one time. Spending time with Didier had been a gift she would never have expected to receive this late in life.Just goes to show you that it ain’t over till it’s over.
“Jules Emory,” Jamie replied in response to Didier’s question. “I’m leaning toward accepting her, but I’m not entirely sure she’s going to go the distance. Oddly, she has daddy issues not unlike Osei’s.”
“She’s much prettier,” Didier stated in his Frenchman’s practical way. “Except for her clothes.Ses vêtements étaient affreux.”
“He finds Jules’ fashion sense lacking,” Jamie translated.
Rachel rolled her eyes. “Next to Didier, we’re all lacking.”
Lottie nodded. Didier was the best dressed man she’d ever seen. Not that she was that worldly—she’d lived in Chicago all her life and had hardly done any traveling. The men she’d worked for had been Midwest businessmen—not exactly on the fashion cutting edge.
She returned her attention to the meeting as Jamie said, "My gut says we take Jules. Anyone feel differently?”
No one objected.
Jamie nodded. “I’ll tell Jules to come back Thursday at ten in the morning. Didier, I thought maybe you’d want to sit in on the session with her to start. I have a feeling she’ll do well with you.”
The Frenchman shrugged. “As you prefer.”
“Ten is earlier than you usually schedule people,” Rachel said.
“I need to see how badly she wants it. She works all the time. She’s a solicitor.”
Lottie smiled. “They’re called lawyers here, sweetheart.”
“As alawyer”—he stressed the word with a raised brow—“she’s used to giving everything to her work and her clients, but I need to know how much she’s willing to give to herself. She wants to win for the wrong reasons.”
Rachel frowned. “But you still want to take her on as a client.”
“Yes.”
“But you don’t want to take on Danny Osei,” Lottie said.
“I’m not sure about Danny.” He reached over and took one of Rachel’s pens, twirling it between his fingers. “On the surface, Danny and Jules look to be similar, but they aren’t. If I pushed Jules the way Danny needs to be pushed, she’d crumble.”