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“Excuse me. All guests must check in before going upstairs,” the guard said. “Who are you here to see today?”
He remembered Dion, the security guard on duty, from his many previous visits; obviously the guard didn’t recognize him. “I’m visiting Gray Sherbrooke. He’s expecting me, Dion.”
“I’ll need to call up and verify. Name, please.” The guard picked up the phone and waited for an answer.
If nothing else, this further assured him his close-trimmed beard and longer hair helped conceal his identity. “Curt Sherbrooke.” He pulled his ID from his wallet and handed it over.
The guard glanced at it and then took a good look at him. “So sorry, Mr. Sherbrooke. I didn’t recognize you. It’s good to see you again.” Dion handed the ID back and put down the phone. “Go on up. Have a nice afternoon.”
Curt rode the elevator up with two women, both definite head-turners. They were dressed in the latest spring styles, their makeup and hair perfect.
The taller of the two kept looking his way and smiling, her interest in him obvious. Any other day he would’ve asked for a phone number. Today he smiled back, but otherwise kept to himself.
“I’m Linda. I just moved in last month,” she said as the elevator passed the fourth floor. “This is my sister, Katie.” She gestured to the other woman. “Do you live here, or are you visiting?”
“Just visiting. I’m sure you’ll enjoy living here; my cousin, Gray, and his fiancée do.”
“I live a floor below Gray and Kiera. If he’s your cousin, you must be a Sherbrooke. Don’t tell me. Let me guess.” She paused, and he imagined her running through a list of his family members. “You’re definitely not Scott or Jake.” Linda smiled and pointed at him. “Curt, right?”
“Correct.” Come on, elevator, reach her floor already.
Linda pulled a business card and pen from her purse. “Here’s my cell number if you want to give me a call sometime,” she said as she wrote on the blank side of the card.
The elevator door opened, and he wondered how he could decline without offending her. In the end, he didn’t have to worry about it because she pressed the card into his hand and walked away with her sister, the doors closing behind them.
Curt flipped the card over. Linda Hurley, Attorney at Law was printed on the front, along with Hale
& Associates. The name of the same downtown law firm his cousin Derek and his wife, Brooklyn, worked for. He shoved the card into his back pocket. Later it’d find its way into the trash. His instincts told him Linda Hurley wasn’t his type anyway. She reminded him too much of his last girlfriend—unlike the DEA agent living next door to him. When it came to Taylor, his instincts told him something altogether different.
“Holy hell,” Gray said in lieu of a greeting when he opened the apartment door moments later. “Do they not have mirrors where you live?”
In many ways Curt was closer to Gray than his own brother. They were about a year apart in age and shared many of the same interests. Of course, that meant Gray felt no qualms about busting Curt’s balls every chance he got.
“Aunt Judith said you’d moved to New Hampshire. I didn’t know you’d decided to turn into a tree-hugging wilderness nut. What’s next, a plaid flannel shirt?”
Curt ignored Gray’s comments and walked inside. The entire apartment smelled like fresh herbs and something delicious he couldn’t identify. “Kiera cooking?”
Kiera, Gray’s fiancée, was a professionally trained chef who worked at Providence’s top French restaurant. More times than not she was in the kitchen, experimenting on a new dish. And if one was lucky enough to be around, they got to enjoy her efforts.
“She was earlier. Now she’s getting ready to go out.” Gray closed the door and headed for the living room. “She, Addie, and Brooklyn are going to a concert. Some boy band they all loved in high school is performing. Since he’s alone too, Trent’s going to come down with Kendrick. I invited Derek over too, but he has other plans.”
He hadn’t seen Trent in months. It’d be nice to catch up with him.
“What’s up with the wild-man look?” Gray asked as his fiancée entered the room.
Kiera immediately bypassed Gray and hugged him instead. Both her parents worked at Uncle Mark’s estate, so they’d known each other a long time. “Ignore him, Curt. I think the barely there beard makes you look sexy.”
“Linda on the elevator did, too. She gave me her number and told me to call her.”
Gray tugged Kiera down next to him. “You’re engaged, remember?”
Curt, as well as Kiera, knew Gray was only giving her a hard time.
She elbowed Gray in the side. “That doesn’t mean I’m blind, Mr. Sherbrooke.” She patted his cousin’s cheek. “Don’t worry, I find you sexy, too,” she said, using a tone one might when placating a small child. “So, who’s Linda? And what’s up with the new look?”
“She’s someone I just met on the elevator. Said she moved in recently. Here’s her card if you want to call her.” Curt dropped the business card onto the end table. “I don’t need it.”
“Oh, that Linda,” Gray said, earning him a cold stare from Kiera.
