For His Keeping (For His Pleasure, Book 3) (12 page)

Instead of spending time on their phones or the Internet, they did things around the property. They swam, sunned themselves, played a few games of tennis (she was terrible and could barely get her racquet on the ball), walked the grounds, and of course made love.

All in all, Nicole thought, as night fell on the second day home, things could have been a lot worse.

Maybe Kane Wright had been wrong about his predictions for Red—maybe Red really was ready to let Jameson International go. He seemed happier and more relaxed than he’d been in a long time—maybe the most relaxed he’d been since she knew him.

Nicole told him she wanted to cook dinner that night, so while Red hopped in the shower, she got to work on making him a nice meatloaf dinner. It was amazing the amount of food and sundries that were available in this kitchen, she thought to herself as she gathered the ground sirloin, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, garlic onion, cumin, and the other fixings.

She began chopping the onion, enjoying the smell of it and knowing how good this meatloaf would come out if she could follow her mother’s recipe to the letter. Sure, it might not be the fancy pants stuff that Red was used to eating from Chef Roland or those five-star restaurants, but sometimes a nice home cooked meal made with love was even better.

She sighed contentedly to herself as she worked, thinking about the fact that this was really all she needed. Nicole would be more than happy to live with Red in some two-bedroom house in New Hampshire or Vermont, with a tiny garden, some land, a couple of kids and a dog.

She didn’t need all this other stuff that came with Red’s lifestyle and his work.

What made her truly happy was simply being with him, spending time together, talking and laughing and loving.

So maybe it really was okay if Red lost his business, even though the mere thought of it still chilled her to the bone.

She reminded herself that Red had never been better or happier than he’d been all day today, as she mixed the onion and garlic and egg mixture into her ground beef.

The smell was getting richer and better.

Suddenly, there was a buzz of the house intercom system. She knew that there was a direct line from the guard posted at the gate out front, but she’d never seen it used before.

Quickly washing her hands, as the phone buzzed again, Nicole walked to it and picked up. “Hello?”

“Ma’am, this is Jeff Phillips at ADS Security. We have a man at the front gate who says he’s Red’s brother and is requesting to be let in.”

“Oh. And you’ve checked his ID?” she asked, wondering if it was possible the man was some kind of imposter.

“Yes, ma’am. His driver’s license appears valid and everything checks out on that end. But I wasn’t given any indication that Red was expecting visitors tonight.”

“No, we weren’t expecting him…” she said, confused. But if it were Red’s brother, she thought, he would certainly want to see him. Nicole didn’t feel right keeping him waiting any longer than he already had been. “Let him through,” she said.

“Absolutely. Thanks and just give us a buzz if you need anything.”

The line went dead.

Nicole hung up the phone and quickly ran upstairs to the master bathroom, knocking on the closed door.

“Red!” she shouted.

After a moment, the door opened and there her man stood in all his naked glory.

He was dripping wet, his hair was still soaked, and droplets were hanging from the ends of his curly locks. He slicked it all back with one quick motion of his hand. “What’s up?” he said. “Everything okay?”

“It’s your brother.”

“Jeb?” His eyes grew wide with concern.

“He’s here. Now.”

“At the house?” Red looked shocked.

“I just got a call from the front gate. He should be at the door in the next couple of minutes. I told them to let him through.” She felt suddenly anxious that Red would be upset with her for not checking with him first.

“Okay.” He shook his head, still stunned. “I can’t imagine what would bring Jeb here unannounced like this.”

“Well, you’ve had your phone off,” Nicole reminded him. “He probably tried to contact you already and couldn’t get through.”

“Shit.” He sighed heavily, turning to grab a fresh towel. She couldn’t help but admire the rippling muscles in his back and his tight butt as he did so. When he turned to face her again, she was red faced.

“I should go downstairs and be ready to meet him,” Nicole said.

“He’s a good guy,” Red told her. “You’ll like him a lot. I’m just going to throw some clothes on and then I’ll be down.”

Somewhat relieved that she’d handled this situation the right way, Nicole went back downstairs and awaited Jeb’s arrival.

Finally there was a knock on the front door and she answered it, doing her best smile and hugging him as if he were her own family.

“I’m Nicole,” she said, as he came inside, looking around with wonder.

“Jeb,” he replied. “Pleased to meet your acquaintance, Nicole.”

She walked alongside him as he entered.

“I’ve never been here before,” Jeb said, hefting a small suitcase over the threshold. “I stayed at Red’s old house, but it wasn’t anything like this monstrosity…I mean, this beautiful architectural wonder.” He grinned.

She liked him immediately. He and Red seemed like night and day—polar opposites. Where Red was dark haired, swarthy, almost exotic—Jeb was light haired, pale, and All-American. He had a plain, trusting, boyish face but a quick and surprisingly funny wit that immediately endeared him to her.

“Would you like to settle in for a minute?” she asked. “I can show you to one of the guest rooms and then if you need to relax, change, use the bathroom…”

“Is Red around?” he said, glancing up the spiral staircase in the foyer.

“He’s just getting out of the shower, he’ll be down in a few minutes.”

Jeb sighed a little, as if hoping to get an unpleasant job out of the way sooner rather than later. “Sure, I’d love to have a moment or two of downtime. Thanks.”

As she took him to one of the lovely guest rooms, Jeb mentioned he hadn’t been able to get through to Red on his phone. “I tried him like four or five times, and the last one it said his mailbox was full. I was starting to get pretty worried.”

“He’s fine,” she said. “He just shut his phone off for a little while because he needed a break.”

Jeb’s forehead wrinkled at this piece of news. “Red needed a break from work? I guess more’s changed around here than just his new house.”

She left him in the guest room and let him know she was preparing dinner in the kitchen.

Jeb seemed happy enough with that, and so Nicole went back to continue making her meatloaf, feeling confident that this would be a simple family visit. It seemed as though Jeb was merely checking in on Red after not being able to get in touch with him for an extended period of time.

She was just packing the meatloaf mixture into her baking pan when Jeb appeared at the kitchen entrance, smiling wryly. “I thought for sure Red would have a whole team of cooks in here, assisting you with this lovely supper.”

“Nope, just little old me,” she laughed.

Jeb took a seat at the breakfast nook nearby, watching her work. “So how long have you two been seeing each other?”

She glanced up at him to gauge his expression. Red had mentioned that Jeb was close with his mother, so surely she must have told him her opinion of their relationship.

And Nicole reckoned it probably hadn’t been anything positive. Still, Nicole wasn’t getting the impression that Jeb was automatically assuming the worst about her, so she tried to stay honest and open.

“Not very long,” she said. “A couple of months.”

Jeb’s eyebrows rose in a way that reminded her of Red. “That’s pretty fast.” He put his hands up. “No offense.”

“None taken,” she smiled. Her fingers were sticky with pieces of raw meat and onion and egg. She didn’t exactly feel like a model of perfection right now.

“Nicole, I’m going to be completely up front with you,” Jeb said. “I think that—“

At that moment, Red burst into the room. “What in god’s name are you doing here?” he called out, a huge, happy grin on his face. His arms were open. “Come on, you rascal, bring it in for the real thing.”

Laughing, Jeb got off the stool and went to hug his brother. Red tousled his hair and slapped his shoulder. “You look great, Doc. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Jeb stuffed his hands in his pockets. Next to Red he suddenly seemed younger and less self-assured than he had a moment ago. “Well, I tried calling you a bunch. I guess you were purposely going dark, needed a break from all the hubbub?”

“Exactly,” Red replied, coming behind the counter where he planted a kiss on Nicole’s cheek. He sniffed at the meatloaf. “Mmmm…that looks damn good, babe.”

Jeb came back over and sat again at the breakfast nook. “There’s a lot of chatter about you on the web and even TV.”

Red gave him a look. “You don’t listen to that crap, do you?”

“I don’t know. Is CNN reputable enough for you?”

“Oh,” Red laughed. “That kind of chatter. Well, it’s true that business is down.”

Jeb’s expression grew more concerned. “How down?”

Red looked at him. “All the way.”

“So what does that mean?”

“Hey, I don’t know.” Red grinned again. “All I know is I have this beautiful lady in my life and meatloaf in a pan and soon it will be in my stomach. I’m not getting ahead of myself.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jeb laughed.

“Let’s just enjoy ourselves and eat, shall we?”

“Absolutely,” Jeb replied—but Nicole could tell he had more he wanted to say.

Their eyes met for a fraction of a second and she saw the smile die on his lips, but then Red was going to the fridge and grabbing them a couple of beers. “Hon,” Red called out, “is it okay if me and my bro go shoot some hoops a bit before dinner?”

“Of course,” Nicole replied, loving the fact that he’d called her hon.

“It’s kind of dark out,” Jeb said, uncertainly.

“That’s why I put lights on the court, dummy,” Red chuckled. “Come on, I’m going to school you just like the old days.”

“In your dreams.” The two of them headed outside together.

Nicole shook her head as the front door closed and their voices faded. She put her meatloaf in the oven and worked on the finishing touches for the glaze. Also, she had to make sure her sides would be ready in time. Some instant mashed potatoes, green beans and canned corn.

As she worked, she pictured Red and Jeb playing basketball, talking trash, laughing like brothers did. She thought Jeb was a pretty sweet guy, which was what Red had said about him.

And yet, she knew now that more had brought him here than just not being able to get in touch with Red for a day or two.

Nicole was certain it had something to do with their horrible mother and perhaps the status of Red and Nicole’s relationship as well. Her stomach tightened at the thought of Jeb saying negative things about her, things that Red might listen to coming from someone he respected.

Jeb seemed too nice to do something like that, but what did she really know about him?

And would Red really listen if Jeb tried to undermine their relationship in someway? Nicole honestly didn’t believe he would, but you could never be totally certain. The pull of one’s family was incredibly strong. She knew that as much as anybody.

Nicole decided not to allow herself to dwell on whatever Jeb was here to discuss—that was between him and his brother. She needed to trust Red, and she did trust him.

She focused back on making her dinner, basting the meatloaf in her special glaze and putting it back in the oven for the final stretch of cooking.

A few minutes later, Red and Jeb came inside, still laughing and talking excitedly like a couple of teenagers, as she was putting the finishing touches on the meal.

“Holy cow, that smells amazing,” Red said. His forehead was slick with sweat and he looked invigorated. “I need some fuel after kicking this guy’s butt one-on-one.”

Jeb was slightly disheveled, but laughing too. “Remind me again that I’m too damn old to be playing basketball with my hypercompetitive brother with no witnesses around to see the blatant fouls and constant cheating.”

“Just because I go strong to the basket,” Red said. “Don’t be a hater.”

“Oh, you’re right. Forgive my hating ways.”

“Dinner’s ready,” she said. “Why don’t you two go sit outside on the veranda and I’ll bring the food to the table.”

A few minutes later, everyone was eating and it turned out that Nicole’s meatloaf was a hit after all. Red had three servings, Jeb had two, and Nicole even had a couple of servings herself.

During the meal they talked mostly about Jeb’s practice. It was obvious that he enjoyed being a doctor and caring for his patients. At the same time, he wasn’t averse to joking about them, telling a few stories out of school. He told one story about an older man who would come to see him frequently complaining of heartburn, and after a million and one tests, finally remembered to mention that he had a habit of eating paper.

Yes, this man actually ate reams and reams of paper, day in and day out.

“It was giving him serious indigestion,” Jeb said, snorting. “And when I told him that he needed to quit cold turkey, he looked at me and said he’d just as soon live with the heartburn then stop eating paper.”

“That’s insane,” Nicole said.

“So is smoking,” Jeb replied, “but that never stopped anybody.”

“True.”

Eventually, they were all finished with the meal, patting their stomachs and remarking on how good everything tasted.

“So what’s the plan now?” Red asked his brother. “How long are you staying for?”

“I have a flight back tomorrow,” Jeb told him.

“So soon? I would have loved to get another chance to whip your ass in basketball. We could do tennis, too. I know you think you have a shot there, but believe me you don’t.”

Jeb couldn’t seem to force a smile anymore. “I’d love to, but I can’t take anymore time off work. I came to make sure you were okay.”

“Couldn’t be better,” Red said, smiling happily, patting Nicole’s hand.