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.”