“I’m not sure. You were right when we were talking in the bar and you said movies can be made for simple entertainment. They do help people get away from their lives if they need to for a little while. But I’ll probably wait for the right script to come along after this film is done rather than do a big-budget picture where the special effects overtake the plot. I want to do something . . . different.”
“Something like your first movie?” It had been a tearjerker about a bipolar man and his struggles with the mental condition.
He laughed. “Yeah. Something like that.”
“How do you know that the right film will ever come along?”
He shrugged. “If it doesn’t, I’ll wait until I finish writing my current screenplay.”
“You write, too?” Now she was really intrigued.
“I wrote my first movie. That’s how I ended up being the lead. Getting it into the hands of somebody who would read it was hell. But I finally found a guy who wanted to produce the movie and they gave me the starring role after I went through multiple auditions. They decided nobody else could do the lead like the guy who had written the screenplay. I doubt I would have even been asked to audition if I didn’t already have my foot in the door. I actually made it on my writing, not my acting.”
“But you got an Oscar,” she answered defensively.
“Two, actually. One for best screenplay, and the other for best actor. But I wouldn’t have even had a shot at a leading role if nobody had picked up my screenplay.”
He was good. Damn good. His first movie had been insightful, deep, and a film that was in-your-face gritty. She’d seen it several times, and she bawled her eyes out every single time. “I didn’t know you wrote it. It was fantastic.” She might not like him, but she admired his talent.
“I had a friend who was bipolar. He was my inspiration.”
“What’s the next one about?”
Julian was silent for a moment before he answered. “I started a manuscript about a drug addict, a man who was driven to drugs to escape.”
“Like Xander,” she concluded, an encouraging note in her voice. She knew Julian had to be concerned about his youngest brother, and if he wanted to talk, she’d listen.
“Yeah. But I didn’t know how it ended, or all the facts about how it began. So I started something else and put that one away for now. It was too personal. This one is kind of a bittersweet love story. Totally fictional this time.”
Kristin’s heart melted. She could see how much Julian cared about his brother, so much that he couldn’t write a story that reminded him of Xander’s struggles. “He’s in rehab,” she reminded him softly. “He can change.”
“He has changed. Unfortunately, it’s not for the better. Hell, he used to be the nicest, biggest-hearted Sinclair. Now I don’t know him anymore.”
“Then he has the core of a nice guy.”
“He’s an asshole.”
“But he wasn’t always that way,” Kristin argued.
“He’s my little brother. They’re always a pain in the ass. We fought, and we disagreed like most siblings do sometimes. But he was a hell of a good person. His fame never went to his head. He was always well grounded and kind. Now he’s just an asshole. I just hope he dries out.” Julian sat back and ran a hand through his hair in apparent frustration. “Shit! I don’t blame him for being depressed. He had to watch our parents die in front of his eyes. Their death almost destroyed all of us. The way it happened, so damn much gone in just seconds. But it’s like we lost our little brother, too. He’s alive, but he isn’t the sibling we knew anymore. I can’t get through to him, but I can’t let him go,” Julian rasped.
“He has to want to live clean, Julian. It’s not you.” Kristin had never had an addict in her family, but she’d worked with plenty in her job as a medical assistant. “If he’s not willing to try, nothing you say will matter. Give it some time. He’s stayed at the rehab center. That’s something to be positive about.”
She was gratified that after a few moments, Julian started to grin. “Are you trying to make me feel better, Scarlet?”
Kristin shrugged, trying not to return his infectious smile. “You did hold back my hair when I threw up. Isn’t that what friends do?”
Julian was quiet, pausing as he watched her.
Her heart beat just a little bit faster as their gazes met. Her breath caught as she saw the predatory look in his beautiful blue eyes.
“I think we both know this is a hell of a lot more than friendship we’re feeling,” he answered in a husky tone. “But I’ll take it . . . for now.”
Instead of letting the moment pass, she asked breathlessly, “Why are you pursuing this? Okay. Yeah. I’m attracted to you. I think probably most women in America think you’re a handsome guy. But I don’t understand why you want to push this with me.”
“Because I have to,” Julian answered mysteriously. “I can’t not talk about it.”
Damn! It was an answer without really being an answer. Obviously he wasn’t going to clue her in on why he’d come all the way to Amesport to make sure she got to the wedding. And he wasn’t going to explain why he kept looking at her like she was . . . well . . . as beautiful as a cover model that he was lusting after.