It was the only thing he regretted about his relationship with Kristin.
Kristin: I know now. We can finally resolve this. There are things I could have said, too, but I didn’t.
Damn! Things were starting to sound less and less promising for him.
Julian: Night, Scarlet. Sleep well. See you Friday.
It was a casual statement, but he really meant he hoped to hell she hadn’t moved back to her own apartment and he would see her when he got home.
Kristin: Don’t let your head get too big while you’re being adored in Hollywood. Good night, Hotshot.
He dropped the phone back on the end table, pissed because he hadn’t been able to get anything more from her except a polite conversation.
He knew Kristin.
He knew she was feeling something.
Nobody cared like she did, but she obviously didn’t want to share anything with him until he returned.
Frustrated, he knew two days was going to seem like a hell of a long wait.
The next night, Kristin was glued to the television along with Mara, Tessa, Emily, Sarah, Randi, and Hope. They’d decided it was ladies’ night, and Mara had kicked Jared out of the house to spend some time with his brothers and Micah so she could have the whole gang of females over to watch Julian’s interview on TV.
The interview was live, mostly to talk about his upcoming movie for publicity.
“I still can’t believe I’m actually related to him,” Hope confessed from her position on one of the living-room chairs.
“I’m only related by marriage, but I’ll claim that connection,” Mara said excitedly.
“Me too.”
“And me.”
“Ditto.”
“Yep.”
All of the women agreed that being related in any way to Julian Sinclair was pretty extraordinary. Kristin wanted to be related by marriage, too. But her desires were slightly different. She wanted to stay married to him, but realistically, she wasn’t sure that was possible.
She had to admit that Julian did look pretty hot, and totally comfortable in a pair of jeans and a button-down blue shirt that matched his eyes. His demeanor was calm as he answered the male interviewer’s questions about his upcoming movie. And he was a master at politely evading anything that involved his personal life.
Funny how other people looked at Julian as the superstar actor he was when all she could see was the guy who had made her happier than she’d ever been in her life. She didn’t see the same persona as most people did when they watched him on TV.
She saw . . . Julian Sinclair, the funny, sometimes obnoxious, highly intelligent man who just happened to—bonus!—be sinfully attractive as well.
“I don’t think I’d want Grady to be that famous,” Emily declared as the TV interview ended. “I’d have to fight off women with a baseball bat.”
Mara snorted. “Like our husbands aren’t already well known? There aren’t many people who don’t know the Sinclair family.”
“Sometimes I forget that Dante is a billionaire Sinclair,” Sarah said quietly.
“Evan never lets me forget,” Randi grumbled good-naturedly. “I’m pretty sure he buys me something outrageous almost every day.”
Tessa spoke up. “But we all know the men underneath all that money.”
“I was just thinking the same thing,” Kristin confessed. “I know Julian is plenty of women’s idea of the perfect guy. But those women have never had to deal with his stubbornness or seen him try to cook.” Glumly, she acknowledged that he had his quirks, but those things aside, he was pretty damn perfect.
All of the women laughed, and Mara went to refill glasses with a nice white wine as she flipped off the television.
“Is he that bad in real life?” Emily asked Kristin. “You two always look so happy.”
Mara shot Kristin an encouraging look as she filled her glass.
Kristin nodded. Nobody really knew the truth about her relationship with Julian, unless the man himself had decided to share with his brothers or cousins. “Our relationship is kind of . . . crazy. We sort of got married by accident when we were in Vegas for Tessa’s wedding. We were both drunk. When we found out, we decided to give our marriage a trial run.”
“Nobody gets married by accident,” Emily replied suspiciously. “Even if you were drunk, I don’t think you’d do it unless it was what you truly wanted.”
Kristin thought about Julian’s confession that he basically remembered them getting married. He’d been aware enough to know he wouldn’t have married anyone except her. “That’s what Julian said. I can’t remember.”
Kristin filled in all the details that the women asked as Mara reseated herself in a living-room chair. Once everyone had asked their questions, the room was silent for a moment.