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Juno unfolded the paper on her lap and gawped at the front page.
Underneath the banner headline ‘Hollywood Hunk Brody’s Night of Passion with London Shop Girl’ was a huge, grainy, colour photograph. Despite the poor picture quality, the image had recognition blazing through Juno like a fireball. Mac towered over her on the château balcony, his dark head obscuring most of her face as his mouth devoured hers. His large hand covered her bottom, drawing her close, while her fingers clutched at his shoulders as she kissed him back for all she was worth.
Daisy hummed. ‘Suddenly, the mystery is solved.’
Juno slapped the paper closed, despair and humiliation churning in her stomach. How did you go about explaining the unexplainable? ‘I didn’t plan for it to happen. He kissed me on the balcony—and we sort of got carried away.’
‘I can see that,’ Daisy said, a smile lurking at the corners of her mouth.
‘This is so awful.’ How typical that her big Cinderella moment should turn into a pantomime disaster.
‘No, it’s not,’ Daisy said firmly, easing Ronan off her breast. She lifted the baby onto her shoulder and patted his back. ‘Actually, I think it’s fabulous.’ The smile became a mischievous grin. ‘Now, I have two very important questions to ask. Was your night of passion with the Hollywood Hunk as hot as it looks from that photo? And when are you seeing him again?’
The blush that flooded Juno’s cheeks had Daisy chuckling. ‘Okay, scratch question one,’ she said. ‘I think I got my answer to that one.’
‘I’m not seeing him again,’ Juno said firmly. ‘It was strictly a one-night deal.’
‘Who says? Did he say that?’
‘Not in so many words,’ Juno said carefully. ‘He was still asleep when I left this morning.’
Daisy’s eyebrows shot up. ‘You ran out on him? A man most women would kill for. Are you nuts?’
‘I didn’t want to wake him,’ she said plaintively. ‘I left him a note.’ Fine, so it sounded a bit lame now, even to her. But that was hardly the point. ‘Anyway, it’s academic. He wasn’t looking for more than one night—and neither was I.’
It was the truth. Even if her heartbeat did the two-step every time she thought about him. That could only be leftover sexual chemistry—anything else would signal disaster.
Daisy adjusted the sleeping Ronan on her shoulder and gave Juno a look that made her want to squirm. ‘How do you know? You didn’t wait to find out.’
‘I didn’t need to wait,’ she said deliberately. ‘It was understood. I was being realistic.’ Wherever Daisy was going with this, she didn’t want to follow. Daisy was a bona fide hopeless romantic; she wouldn’t know realistic if it hit her over the head.
Daisy held up her palm. ‘Don’t even think about hiding behind that being realistic baloney. There’s a time for realism and there’s a time for letting your inner nymphomaniac loose and going completely insane. Having the opportunity for a wild fling with Mac Brody would definitely qualify as the latter.’ She sighed. ‘I can’t believe you let a chance like this slip through your fingers. Forget slip. You just chucked it under a bus.’
‘Daisy, don’t. It’s over and done with.’
Daisy’s expression sobered, making Juno feel very, very uneasy. ‘Don’t do this, Juno. Not now. Not after everything you’ve achieved in the last couple of weeks.’
‘I don’t know what you mean.’ But she had a bad feeling she did know, and she didn’t want to hear it.
‘Juno, ever since you met Mac at Heathrow and shared that kiss, I’ve seen a side of you I’ve never seen before, and it’s been wonderful to watch. Honestly, it’s been like seeing a butterfly coming out of its cocoon and learning to spread its wings.’ Daisy gave a sad smile. ‘Don’t you see, you were finally starting to get your spirit back? Just look at the way you wore that maid of honour gown, even though you felt naked in it. And the way you had the guts to spend the night with Mac.’ Daisy’s tone deepened. ‘I bet you were scared to death when you got to his hotel room, weren’t you?’
Juno’s blush returned full force. ‘Maybe a bit. But he was okay about it. Actually, he was pretty amazing really.’
Daisy let out a deep sigh. ‘So why did you run out on him?’
‘Because I didn’t want to make a fool of myself,’ Juno blurted out. So it made her sound pathetic? So what. It didn’t alter the facts. She couldn’t get drawn into another impossible romantic fantasy with a man who wasn’t interested. ‘For goodness’ sake, Daisy, he may be Connor’s brother, but he’s a movie star. He has women far more gorgeous and glamorous than me falling all over him. I didn’t want to have him patronise me and pretend he cared when he didn’t. It would have been embarrassing.’ And it would have crushed the thrilling feeling of power, of achievement.
She’d discovered something wonderful last night. That the world wasn’t going to collapse around her if she took a chance and went with her instincts. Maybe one day she’d even have the courage to go after what Daisy had found and see if she couldn’t find the same thing for herself. But if and when she did decide to reach for the stars, she would take it one patient step at a time, assessing the risks carefully as she went. She wasn’t going to charge into the unknown, trust to luck and then be forced to spend another six years picking up the pieces of her shattered heart.
‘I’m not you, Daisy,’ she said. ‘And Mac’s not Connor, either. I risked everything once before and it was a disaster. I can’t do it again. And I won’t. Not until I’m sure.’
Daisy clasped her hand, a single tear spilling over her lid. ‘I understand, Juno. I really do. You went through something no sixteen-year-old should ever have to cope with. And I would never want you to put yourself through that again.’She scrubbed the tear away with an impatient hand. ‘But you have to start trusting your own judgement if you’re ever going to be sure of anything again. Don’t you see that?’
‘Fine, well, my judgem
ent was telling me that Mac Brody was only interested in a one-night stand.’
‘You don’t know that,’ Daisy said, undeterred.
