Matt playfully bumped into her side. “Asking for a job isn’t a bad thing.”
No it wasn’t, she’d thought, if she had a family that cared about her.
He handed her the espresso makerfor the coffee and then found the orange juice from his refrigerator. “I bet Jennifer was reminded by your request that she wasn’t born, well, a Morgan.”
He poured the glasses of juice and then cut the bread and cheese like they were having a European-style breakfast. She loved bread and cheese. “I’d have traded my last name and my inheritance at one point growing up, and early on in mycareer.”
“Why?” She stirred the espresso and sugar for the right consistency of the brew.
He took out a knife and cut the hard bread. “To prove to everyone that I’m here in LA because I have talent and drive, just like everyone else; instead, I have to work extra hard to show I’m not entitled.”
Wow. She’d have thought his money would be an advantage. Money usually was andhe could honestly get people to produce whatever his heart desired. Right?
Maybe she was wrong, so she pressed her lips together to keep quiet, but she couldn’t stop the question from bubbling forward. She finished making thecafesita. “So being a Morgan has hurt your career?”
He let out a sigh like he’d held it in too long and then said, “It’s type-casted me. I get a lot of scriptsfor the ruthlessly rich.”
She thought of every movie of his that she’d seen and there hadn’t been one where he’d played such a character. “You’ve never played that role.”
She helped him cut the cheese into small squares, then put it onto their plates as he grabbed fruit and washed it. “I don’t want to even pretend to be my father.”
They sat down together and she popped a grapeinto her mouth then had a sip of her coffee. Caffeine hit her veins. “Can I ask why you took this role?”
A huge smile grew on his face, like he wanted to laugh but didn’t. “Where I’m playing my brother?”
Axel was interesting. Most of his brothers were bankers. She tilted her head. “It seems something you’re family wouldn’t want with my cousin as a costar.”
“Axel agreed tolet them make a movie on his life, and it’s a rock epic.”
Oh. Axel. He was a scruffy-looking version of Matt, but she’d always preferred Matt’s shade of blue eyes and his stronger build. She remembered the French half-siblings all joining the American siblings as she’d cleaned Elizabeth’s house. She put her cup down. “Wait. I never confirmed with Jennifer to know her role. Who’s playingEmily then?”
“Eva Bishop.”
She’d outshone Jennifer in the last movie as the pregnant “evil” sister. Her cousin had been furious she’d been the weaker actress, so Jennifer had studied and taken two more serious roles to perfect her craft.
But Jennifer and Eva were both dark-haired and Axel’s wife had lighter brown. She sipped her coffee—which made her insides jump wide awake.“Why not her sister…”
Matt put his coffee down and picked up his orange juice. “Linsey is getting out of rehab. Brandon thought it would be fun to make the movie more dramatic by me first dating Jennifer, who’s playing Linsey, but then I fall for her sister/assistant Emily, played by Eva.”
Dramatic and fictionalizing his own brother. She scratched her head as she couldn’t quite grasphow that worked. “Is it weird since it’s about family?”
He took a few grapes for his plate. “It’s strange that it’s not weird. So much news out there about my family is strange, untrue and surreal that this is no different.”
“I see.”
Jennifer was probably who he was referring to causing half of the untrue news about his family, but she wasn’t sure and didn’t want to know.Her life was usually better when she didn’t. She chewed her last bite of bread with the soft creamy cheese, a gourmet version of feta, and ate a few grapes. Matt finished hiscafesitaand winked. “I might have to marry you if you make me this coffee every day.”
She curled her legs under her seat and ignored the buzz in her heart—marriage? He was teasing but she would love it. “Well, ifI’m this happy, waking up in your bed, I won’t go anywhere, Matt.”
They brought their plates to the sink, his hand free hand resting on her lower back. “Ashley, I do wish I’d noticed you when we met earlier.”
Stirrings that should be well-satisfied by now flared. However, the bright light of day and her full stomach tempered her desire to a sigh. She crossed her arms as she glancedat him and said, “Well, I’m here now. Can I ask you a personal question?”
He playfully elbowed her side. “You’ve seen me naked. I think you can ask a few personal details.”
Her heart was open to him—could he see that?
Today had been a perfect morning. Today was a taste of what heaven on earth might be like if she and Matt were real, but she didn’t want to think about thatand ruin it with expectations.
