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She shot upright on the lounger, excited at the prospect. He’d talked about his work last night over their meal when she’d badgered him about it, but when she’d asked if they could watch one of his movies together, he’d refused—giving the strange excuse that seeing himself on screen made him self-conscious. She’d tried not to take the obvious lie to heart.
‘You want me to read a script with you? I’d love to.’
‘Don’t get too excited,’ he said, an indulgent smile curving his lips. ‘You’ll probably be bored to death after about ten minutes.’
‘No, I won’t,’ she replied and she knew she wouldn’t be. From the little he’d said last night she knew he was passionate about his work. Watching him start to create his next character would be fascinating.
‘All right, then,’ he said. ‘But don’t say I didn’t warn you.’
She clasped her arms round her bare legs and watched him walk away. The loud ringing of the phone on the poolside table interrupted her perusal of his very nice butt in the damp jogging shorts.
Mac stopped by the phone, reached to pick it up, then paused and pulled his hand back. He looked over his shoulder. ‘You want to grab that?’ he asked. ‘If it’s for me, tell them I’ll ring them back.’
She leapt up as he strolled into the house. ‘Mac, wait.’
He paused at the doorway, raised an eyebrow.
The hairs on the back of her neck prickled, the insistent ringing shattering the mid-morning silence—as well as her peace of mind.
It would be Daisy on the line, which was why Mac hadn’t taken the call. She was sure of it.
‘Would you wait a minute?’ she said. ‘I need to talk to you about something. It’s important.’
He leaned against the doorframe and folded his arms over his chest, looking mildly amused. ‘As always, you have my undivided attention,’ he said, his voice rough with innuendo.
Scooping up the handset, Juno interrupted Daisy’s greeting. ‘Could I call you tomorrow, Daze? Mac and I are in the middle of breakfast.’ She quashed the twinge of guilt at the white lie as her friend said her goodbyes.
Placing the handset back in its cradle, she blew out a careful breath. She was overstepping the mark, she knew that, but she couldn’t pretend any more that Mac’s attitude to Daisy and Connor wasn’t a problem.
Why had he behaved the way he had towards them at the wedding? Why was he so determined to have absolutely nothing to do with them even now? And why couldn’t he see how much he was missing?
Okay, so their fling was only temporary, and she knew she had to tread carefully, but he’d asked about her past—so, surely, she was entitled to be curious about his. And didn’t she at least owe it to her friends to try and get Mac to stop rejecting them?
Mac gave a half-laugh. ‘So what was so urgent?’ he said. ‘After the way you lied to your friend, I’m hopeful it has something to do with showers and getting naked.’
He sounded so confident, so self-assured, but could that really be the case? When he wouldn’t even pick up the phone to Daisy?
‘Daisy’s not only my friend,’ she said. ‘She’s also your sister-in-law.’
He tensed. ‘I know that.’
‘Do you?’
He straightened away from the doorframe. ‘Where are you going with this? Because you’ve lost me.’
She dragged in a deep breath, squared her shoulders. ‘Why won’t you talk about them?’
He laughed, the sound hollow. ‘I haven’t a problem talking about them.’
She clasped her hands together. When Daisy had told her he and Connor had had a tough childhood, she’d been careful not to ask about it, because it had been none of her business then.
But it felt like her business now.
‘I know you and Connor were separated as children,’ she ventured.
His brow furrowed.
‘And that you spent years in foster care as a result.’ She soldiered on, finding it impossible to gauge his reaction. He’d looked surprised for a moment and then his face had gone carefully blank. ‘But I don’t understand why that would make you treat Connor so harshly. Why it would make you behave as if you don’t have a brother when you do.’
