Sherelle Green - A Los Angeles Passion

“Sounds like a plan,” Max said.

After they parted ways, Trey was still a little surprised that after all this time, he was finally going to spend some time with his half brothers. Max had once tried to get close to him and Derek, but they both had shut him down. Being the oldest, Trey knew what he had to do. Even if they discovered Reginald was lying about his innocence, it was time for the Moore brothers to finally try to forge a relationship of their own.

Chapter 4

“Come on, beautiful,” Trey said to himself. “Where did you go?” He’d been working the room for the past thirty minutes and had already scanned some of the penthouse in search of the brown bombshell in the white dress he’d seen when he’d arrived.

He was about to head to the second level, when he heard someone call out his name. Trey turned around to greet his friend and his wife.

“Kendrick, Nicole. I’m glad you both made it.”

“Thanks for inviting us,” Kendrick said as the two dabbed fists. “It’s a great turnout.”

“Thanks, man. How long have you been here?”

“A little over an hour. We brought a friend with us, but we lost her pretty early on.”

Trey leaned in to give Nicole a hug, careful not to crush the baby against his chest. “Hey, Nicole. Beautiful as always.”

“Thank you. You look handsome yourself, but I must say that this little guy is stealing all the attention. I haven’t seen Matthew since he was two months old. How’s Carmen doing?”

“She’s good,” Trey said. “She got a gig on some new television show, so I’m watching Matthew for her.”

“I heard about that,” Kendrick said. “Congrats to her.”

Trey knew Kendrick from the Hollywood scene and had even written screenplays for a couple of movies that Kendrick had been the creative director of. Now Kendrick and his wife, Nicole, owned an up-and-coming production company.

When all the drama was going on with Reginald, Trey had been able to count on Kendrick and his wife for their support, which was more than he could say for some friends that he’d known his entire life. Kendrick wasn’t a member of Prescott George, but he understood all too well how scandals could affect your career, having dealt with his own scandal a while back.

“Are you good, man?” Kendrick asked. Trey didn’t have to wonder why he’d asked. This was the first event they’d had for the LA chapter since the suspension was lifted.

“I’m good,” Trey said. “Except for the fact that Matthew is getting a little fussy and I’ve been trying to track down this beautiful woman I saw when I arrived.”

“A woman, huh?” Nicole wiggled her eyebrows. “Was she wearing a beautiful white dress and some gorgeous red pumps?”

Trey squinted his eyes. “How did you guess that?”

Nicole tilted her head to the side. “Because Kendrick and I brought my girl Kyra with us to this event, and right now, Kyra is wearing her Million-Dollar-Matchmaker smile and dragging a woman in a white dress this way.”

Trey glanced over his shoulder, his eyes landing on the tall, curvy woman he’d been searching for. Nicole wasn’t lying. The other woman did appear to be dragging her his way, but he didn’t care as long as he got a closer look.

The white dress she wore fitted her hips and thighs perfectly, but it was her red heels with a strap that wrapped around the ankle that was doing wild things to his imagination. Top that with her silver raindrop necklace that dipped in between her cleavage, and he was sure he’d forget everyone at the party and leave with her if she asked him to.

Her shoulder-length dark brown hair fell in waves around her shoulders, and now that he could see her more closely, he noticed that her cat-shaped eyes seemed to be taking him in just as much as he was.

When they reached them, his throat tightened when he noticed just how plush her red-colored lips were. He could stand there and look at her lips all day. Had Kendrick not nudged him, he probably would have.

“Sorry—what happened?” he asked.

Kendrick shook his head. “Trey, this is our friend Kyra.”

“Nice to meet you,” Trey said, forcing himself to focus on the introduction. Kyra was definitely an attractive woman, but Trey couldn’t take his eyes off her friend.

“Nice to meet you, too, lover boy,” Kyra said with a laugh. “But I’m sure you want to meet my friend Kiara. So—” Kyra lifted Kiara’s hand in the air “—Trey, meet Kiara.”

Trey wasted no time lifting his hand and enclosing hers in his. When he did, Kiara’s eyes shot down to their hands before meeting his gaze again. That’s interesting , Trey thought. He’d heard about people meeting and feeling sparks when their hands touched, but he’d always thought it was a myth. Looking down at his hand and Kiara’s hand, he knew now what those folks had meant. When Kiara removed her hand, he had to refrain from lifting it again.

“It’s nice to meet you, Kiara,” Trey said.

Kiara smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, too, Trey.” Even her voice is sexy. Kiara’s voice was sultry, yet subtle. A combination he’d never really heard before. Had they not been surrounded by their friends, Trey would have bit down on his fist to contain his excitement from hearing his name leave her lips. Instead, he returned her smile, oblivious to the fact that their friends had excused themselves, leaving him alone with Kiara.

“Where did they go?” he asked, looking behind him.

“Kyra pulled them away a few seconds ago as she muttered some inappropriate things,” Kiara said. “Therefore, I won’t dare repeat them.”

Trey laughed, remembering how Kyra had introduced them. “I’m guessing subtlety isn’t her strong suit.”

Kiara shook her head. “Not at all. I doubt subtlety is even in her vocabulary.”

“We all need at least one friend like that,” Trey said. “And I’m glad she introduced us. I’ve been trying to find you all night.”

“I doubt that,” she said.

“I was. Ever since I walked in and spotted you from across the room.”

Kiara glanced away. “I’m not interested.”

Okay, maybe that last line was a little cheesy. But it’s true. “You’re not?”

“No,” she said, meeting him with a cold stare. “It may have seemed like I was staring, but it was only because I was trying to figure out who you were.”

Trey studied her eyes for any sign that she wasn’t being honest. Ever since Reginald had been expelled from Prescott George, he’d run into a few women who knew the story and treated him as if he were his father. It only took one look into Kiara’s eyes to realize she’d heard the story and was also passing judgment.

But she genuinely looked interested earlier tonight , he thought. No way I imagined the look she had in her eye. Trey could admit that he’d once misjudged a woman’s interest in him, but that was way back in college and it had only happened that one time. Tonight, he’d felt the way Kiara had been staring at him all the way to his bones.

“He’s adorable,” Kiara said as she looked down at Matthew. “And he’s getting fussy.”

Trey bounced a little in place to try to calm down Matthew. “Yeah, I think it’s past his bedtime, but I can’t get him to fall asleep. He’s my nephew and I’m babysitting him for a couple weeks, but I have no idea what I’m doing.”

On cue, Matthew started wailing, gaining attention from people standing near them. Trey tried to remain calm, but he couldn’t figure out how to console him. Finally getting an idea, Trey reached in his pocket to pull out a pacifier, but Kiara swooped in, pulled Matthew out of the carrier and was already calming him down.