Zach smiled and her stomach twisted. “Thanks, Karen.”

Feeling strangely awkward, Karen leaned down and kissed Michael.

“I’ll join you in a few.”

She shook her head. “Take your time. I’m sure you have a lot to catch up on.”

She felt eyes on her as she walked away, and when she glanced toward them, it was Zach who watched her.

Chapter Three

Michael did a double take when he caught his brother watching Karen walk down the hall.

A strange sense of jealousy ran up his back. His sipped his beer, but didn’t really taste it. His entire life had been a balancing act. The role of brother, or of son, just wasn’t one he cared to play for a while. Maybe it was because his family could see through him like no one else. Though Karen was quickly becoming someone close enough to see the subtleties of his personality. But damn he’d missed his brother, was reminded about his family by Zach’s presence. If only he could be completely himself with them…he thought of his dad, the small town he grew up in. No.

“Your wife is beautiful,” Zach told him.

How do I play this? He couldn’t be a man completely in love…not when their divorce was only months away.

“She is,” Michael told his brother, purposely not meeting his gaze.

“And she doesn’t seem to be as plastic as a lot of your guests tonight.”

Michael drank from his bottle. “She isn’t.” He kept his voice even, trying not to show any real joy or discomfort in his brother’s words.

“So what’s the deal, Mike? Why are you hiding her from us?”

He blew out a breath between his teeth. One he actually felt instead of inserting it for a moment of drama.

“Is that what I’m doing?”

“That’s the discussion back home. You have to know she’s part of the reason I’m here.”

“Mom’s pissed, huh?”

“Pissed? She’s damn near manic. Then you only called when you were on location…never giving her a chance to talk to your wife. If it wasn’t for Hannah following your every move, I wouldn’t have known you were in town.”

Hannah was his sister, the baby of the family. Michael had to think about how old she was now. Sixteen? No, seventeen. Damn. “I suck.”

“Yeah, you do. You’re busy. I get it. But what would it have taken for you to bring her by? To invite your own damn family to this little shindig?”

“Dad would hate this.”

“Hannah and Judy would eat it up.”

“Mom would have felt she needed to cook.”

“So give her a job. Seems Karen was running around keeping things together.”

Michael laughed. “Karen didn’t cook anything.”

“That’s not the point, damn it, and you know it. I half expected your wife to be a complete bitch.”

That shot Michael’s gaze to his brother’s.

“Well there has to be a reason you don’t want her to meet us.”

“Is that why you’re here? To find the flaws in my wife?” Because there weren’t any. Karen was f**king perfect. He couldn’t keep the defensiveness out of his voice. No acting needed.

“I’m here to save you the unfortunate event of our entire family showing up on your doorstep.”

“Is that right?”

Zach set his beer down. “Yeah. And if I don’t give Mom and Dad an ETA when they can expect to see you both, they’re going to show up unannounced. Might be here, might be in one of those crazy-ass locations you work in.”

The thought of his father showing up when makeup was working on him made Michael actually shudder.

Michael pushed off the couch and walked into the kitchen. He tossed his empty beer bottle in the trash and grabbed a bottle of water. He didn’t need his marriage questioned now. He was leaving in two weeks for a shoot in Canada and his agent was already working on a deal for the next year. His and Karen’s divorce was scheduled to happen after the contracts were signed. The publicity of his divorce and him being on the market again would drive in fans. Nothing quite like “that poor boy is heartbroken, let me help him feel better” to drive the female viewers to his flicks.

Maybe this new twist could work to his advantage.

He’d always kept his private life private. Even from his family. In truth, he didn’t want to involve them. But he didn’t want them hating Karen when they divorced either.

Zach walked into the kitchen, tossed his beer next to Michael’s. “So what’s the deal, Mike? You going to tell me what’s going on, or are you going to introduce your wife to the family?”

He ran a hand through his hair. “I have to talk to Karen. See if she can free up her schedule.”

Zach snorted. “What, the country club requires advance notice if you don’t go?”

“Screw you, Zach. Karen volunteers at the Boys and Girls Club. She doesn’t belong to a country club.”

Zach’s smirk fell. “Oh.”

“That attitude, by the way, is exactly why I haven’t brought Karen around. I don’t need people passing judgment on her or me for our life.” His motivation for keeping her to himself solidified in front of him. But, like all well-played parts, this one required time to build.

“I’m sorry.” Zach’s apology was quick and to the point. No buts required. “I didn’t come here to fight.”

Michael placed a smile on his lips. “It’s OK. I’ll talk to Karen.”

“Don’t know what you’re worried about, dude. From what I’ve seen, our folks are going to love her.”

Yeah, damn it, they would.

As tired as she was, sleeping in Michael’s bed just wasn’t happening. She beat the pillow under her head and attempted to twist it into a comfortable position. Nothing worked.

Finally, she slipped out of his bed, padded through their joined bathroom, and grabbed the book sitting on her bedside table and returned to Michael’s room.

Some of the kids at the club had to read the classic in her hand for finals. It was taking serious effort to read the book, and she was an adult. Why didn’t high school English teachers figure out that reading outdated books put their students to sleep?

Sure enough, her eyes drifted closed after half a chapter.

The sound of the door opening brought her awake and the book slid to the floor.

“Hey?” Michael said as he walked over to the bed. The normal smile on his face wasn’t there. Strangely, Karen was pleased he didn’t pretend with her.