“Aren’t you curious? Old family secrets to uncover...”
He shot me a pointed look. “Not all of us dig just for dirt.”
I raised a brow. “No, some of us dig for the reality buried beneath it.”
He studied me with those steady brown eyes. I wondered if the reason he smiled all the time was to distract people from how much he watched them.
Then the intensity felt too intimate, and I turned away. “So what else happened? Your sisters met Paul?”
He watched me a brief moment more, and then switched gears to an irritated scoff. “Yeah, and fucking Paul made a pass at Lauren.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “I told you he was bad news, didn’t I.”
I held in a laugh. “Some people don’t actually mind being flirted with.”
“Anna also said that he was hot.”
The laugh burst out. “Well, she had a point.”
Now I had Mike’s full attention. “You don’t think Paul’s hot.”
I shrugged mischievously. “Dark good looks... Has that Irish brogue.”
Mike snorted. “You’re all crazy.”
I couldn’t resist needling him a little further, even though I didn’t actually find his cousin’s angry angst that attractive. “Cam—my best friend—and I even came up with an Operation Irish Boyfriend, and I’d say Paul’s a pretty good candidate.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” He smirked at me. “Besides, if that’s all you’re looking for...”
Energy sizzled through me. I sucked in a deep breath and then tried to play it off casually. “You don’t have the accent.”
He faked one immediately. “Come on, love. Give a bloke a chance.”
My breath caught and my cheeks flushed, but not at the accent. No, it was Michael O’Connor calling me “love” that made my pulse race.
He scowled. “Unless you have something against redheads?”
I reached out and touched an auburn curl. “Not at all.”
He looked up at me and I realized how close we stood. I cleared my throat and stepped back. “So did you say anything when Anna mentioned Paul’s attractiveness?”
“I got in trouble because I said, ‘Don’t you have a boyfriend?’ and she got all pissed and ran off. Apparently they broke up because I made her come to Ireland.”
I smiled up at him. He looked kind of adorable when he was worked up over his sisters. “I take it you find fault with that version of the story?”
“Lauren’s the one who insisted we come. Called me up the second Patrick kicked the bucket and demanded I call it in as a family death to Coach and we take a vacation. Besides, it’s good for Anna to be away from him.”
I raised my brows. “You ever get tired of trying to control people?”
He sat up. “Not like it ever works.”
I rolled over. “You shouldn’t, you know. With your family.”
“Thank you,” he said dryly. “For that solicited and appreciated piece of advice. And I support them, I don’t control them.”
“Even your mom? Or do you have a tendency to forget she’s the parent?”
“I’m an adult. I should contribute.”
“And let me guess. You’ve been an adult since your dad died. You don’t have to try so hard to be perfect.”