Read Inner Harbor for Free Online

hundred pounds if it weighs an ounce.”
    He hauled open the back doors. It lay on the bed on top of a padded cloth. It was easily ten feet long, six high, and three inches thick. Carved in simple block letters into treated oak were the words BOATS BY QUINN . A detailed image of a wooden skiff in full sail rode the top corner.
    Lining the bottom corner were the names Cameron, Ethan, Phillip, and Seth Quinn.
    â€œThat’s a damn fine sign,” Ethan managed when he could find the words.
    â€œI took one of Seth’s sketches for the skiff. The same one we use for the logo on the letterhead. Put the design together on the computer at work.” Phillip reached in to run a thumb along the side of the oak. “The sign company did a pretty good job of reproducing it.”
    â€œIt’s great.” Cam rested his hand on Phillip’s shoulder. “One of the details we’ve been missing. Christ, the kid’s going to flip when he sees it.”
    â€œI put us down the way we came along. Works out alphabetical and chronological. I wanted to keep it clean and simple.” He stepped back, his hands sliding into his pockets in an unconscious mirroring of his brothers’ stances. “I thought this fit the building and what we’re doing in it.”
    â€œIt’s good.” Ethan nodded. “It’s right.”
    The driver shoved at his gum again. “Well, you guys gonna admire it all day, or you want to get this heavy bastard out of the truck?”
    T HEY MADE A picture, she thought. Three exceptional specimens of the male species engaged in manual labor on a warm afternoon in early September. The building certainly suited them. It was rough, the oldbrick faded and pitted, the grounds around it scrabbly—more weeds than grass.
    Three different looks as well. One of the men was dark, with his hair long enough to pull back in a short ponytail. His jeans were black, fading to gray. There was something vaguely European about his style. She decided he would be Cameron Quinn, the one who’d made a name for himself on the racing circuit.
    The second wore scuffed work boots that looked ancient. His sun-streaked hair tumbled out of a blue-billed ball cap. He moved fluidly and lifted his end of the sign with no visible effort. He would be Ethan Quinn, the waterman.
    Which meant the third man was Phillip Quinn, the advertising executive, who worked at the top firm in Baltimore. He looked gilded, she thought. Wayfarers and Levi’s, she mused. Bronzed hair that must be a joy to his stylist. A long, trim body that must see regular workouts at the health club.
    Interesting. Physically they bore no resemblance to each other and through her research she knew they shared a name but not blood. Yet there was something in the body language, in the way they moved as a team, that indicated they were brothers.
    She intended simply to pass by, to give the building where they based their business a quick look and evaluation. Though she’d known that at least one of them would be there, since he’d answered the phone, she hadn’t expected to see them outside, as a group, to have this opportunity to study them.
    She was a woman who appreciated the unexpected.
    Nerves shimmered in her stomach. Out of habit, she took three slow breaths and rolled her shoulders to relax them. Casual, she reminded herself. There was nothing to be uneasy about. After all, she had the advantage here. She knew them, and they didn’t know her.
    It was typical behavior, she decided as she crossed the street. A person strolling along and seeing three men workingto hang an impressive new sign would display curiosity and interest. Particularly a small-town tourist, which was, for this purpose, what she was. She was also a single female, and they were three very attractive men. A mild flirtation would be typical as well.
    Still, when she reached the front of the building, she stood back. It seemed to be