Stop thinking so little of yourself!
But here was the thing—it wasn’t as if she were asking him to actually get her a job. She just needed a little help making some connections. If Brooke was completely honest with herself, she wasn’t even sure why she was seeking his help. Hell, she wasn’t even sure what job she was looking for or what she hoped to achieve by coming here. She loved painting and drawing, and had an appreciation for art history, but she wasn’t quite sure if teaching was her thing. Or if she was even qualified to teach beyond the community college level. Night school, essentially. She didn’t have a degree in teaching. She didn’t have a degree in anything.
So why am I here?
Good question.
In her typical pattern of over-researching everything, she’d found that the head of the art department was truly talented and had done very well in multiple showings and galleries. More than anything, Brooke wanted to pick his brain—and maybe see if he could give her some direction on how and where to focus her time and energy to get her own name out there, as well as her work.
Over the last week, Uncle Howard had pretty much been in cheerleader mode, encouraging her choice of trying to make art her career. She wished she shared his optimism. But she wasn’t like him. Uncle Howard had known since he was eight that he wanted to be an astrophysicist. He’d been fascinated by the solar system his entire life, and he had turned that love into a respected career, teaching and traveling to different colleges and universities to give lectures. There wasn’t a doubt in Brooke’s mind that, even if she poured all of her energy into her art, it was unlikely she’d have a career as successful as her uncle’s. There were thousands of artists out there, and she was quickly becoming familiar with the phrase starving artist. If she didn’t find work soon, she’d be able to drop the artist part of that statement.
It was tiring to keep searching for creative ways to pay the bills—working part-time jobs at galleries—and doing her best to network with people who could help her and also have time to travel when she found a lead. And though she appreciated her uncle taking her in for the next couple of months, she just hoped it wasn’t all for nothing.
When he’d mentioned working with Owen Shaughnessy out in Red Rock three days ago, it seemed almost too good to be true. The chance to paint in the desert and have someone so highly respected take her on as an assistant? It had seemed like the perfect opportunity. And even though Brooke initially felt excited about it, it didn’t take long for her own insecurities to come to the surface.
In a lot of ways, Owen reminded her of Neal—quiet, shy, and scary smart. When they were younger, Brooke took great pleasure in making fun of him because he was socially inept. She’d outgrown it, had apologized for it, but she’d never been able to forget it. And she certainly never received his forgiveness. And now…
She stopped the train of thought and sighed. She had a feeling Owen had probably experienced a lot of the same bullying Neal had—and probably at the hands of people just like her. It would serve her right if he didn’t want her to work with him. As a former “mean girl,” she knew she didn’t deserve anyone’s forgiveness for her behavior. No mercy. Which was exactly how she used to view those she deemed to be socially beneath her.
Maybe someday she’d be able to forgive herself.
But she doubted it.
Taking a deep breath, she stood and knew she needed to get going. There was no way she could stay here in this empty lecture hall and hide out all day—no matter how much she wanted to. Securing her portfolio strap over her shoulder, Brooke made her way to the door and pulled it open. There were several people in the hallway, but luckily none of them were her uncle or Owen Shaughnessy.
She looked around at the display cases as she made her way toward the exit. The science department wasn’t a place where she was comfortable. Even though she loved painting the night sky and the cosmos, she certainly didn’t know anything about them. And without anyone having said a word to her, she felt inferior. With every step she took, she could hear voices mocking her, telling her she wasn’t smart enough to be there. Wasn’t smart enough to assist someone as brilliant as Owen Shaughnessy.
Another sigh escaped before she could help it.
He had seemed nice. Sweet. His shyness had been endearing, and when he looked at her—well, when he had finally looked at her and met her gaze—she felt something she’d never felt before.
A connection.
Maybe she was crazy. Maybe she was imagining things. But as soon as Owen’s dark eyes had met hers, she’d felt…well, everything.
He was younger than she had expected—not that her uncle had said too much about him, but for some reason, she had pictured Owen Shaughnessy to be older. After meeting him, she figured him to be in his early thirties, and he was tall but not overly so, with thick, dark-brown hair that probably could have used a haircut but on him looked good. Mussed. A little bit wild.
A giggle came out before she could stop it. She was sure no one would look at Owen and think “wild,” but she certainly did. That wasn’t to say he didn’t have his nerdy vibe going on—because he did—but there was something about him that called to her. And not in a professional “let’s work together” kind of way, but as a man.
She swallowed hard and tried to calm her thoughts, which were now starting to wander toward how wise it would be to work with him if she was already feeling like this.
Giddy.
Fluttery.
Totally crushing on a man who’d said maybe five words to her.
Yeah. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.
Pushing through the heavy exit door, Brooke stepped out into the crisp and cold Chicago air and cursed the fact that she had forgotten to put on her sweater. Shaking her head, she stopped and quickly slipped it on before walking down the steps to the parking lot at a fairly quick pace and making her way to her car. Just as she was opening the door, she saw him off in the distance.
Owen.
He must be through for the day too, she thought, and watched him walk toward what she assumed to be his own car. Why she stood and watched, she couldn’t say. She found she enjoyed watching him. He was so different from almost every man she knew, and part of her longed to walk over and talk to him some more.
He seemed lonely.
Her uncle had mentioned how Owen wasn’t based out of Chicago but was doing a short-term lecture series here before going to Nevada to prepare for the meteor shower project. And after that, who knew where he was going to go? From what she could tell, Owen Shaughnessy hadn’t settled anywhere. He traveled too much. She almost envied him for it and then immediately took the thought back.
No wonder he was lonely.
Brooke wondered if he had any family other than his brother, Riley. Was it just the two of them? Did Owen have anyone he connected with when he wasn’t working? Was he involved with someone? That thought stopped her cold—it bothered her. Here she was just meeting him, yet the thought of feeling the connection she’d felt and then finding out he was involved with—or married to—someone else upset her more than it should have.
Maybe she’d talk to her uncle a little more at dinner tonight.
Maybe she’d have to do some investigating of her own.
Either way, whether she got to work with Owen Shaughnessy or not, Brooke knew today couldn’t be their only interaction.
* * *
Relief.
It was Owen’s immediate reaction when he had returned to his hotel room and closed the door. The entire drive had been spent thinking about Brooke Matthews.
And that reminded him—he needed to do a Google search and figure out who she was talking about because he had a feeling it was a pop culture reference he should know. Of course, it was too late to undo the awkwardness of not knowing it already, but that couldn’t be helped. She seemed to recover from his faux pas, so at least
there was that.
Right now, all Owen wanted was some peace and quiet to unwind. Maybe read the copy of Sky & Telescope he’d picked up just this morning—that would be a great way to relax and forget about the possibility of having a beautiful woman working as his assistant.
Right. As if he was going to forget that anytime soon.
Things like that didn’t happen to him. Ever. Not that he didn’t date attractive women—he had, but… Wait a minute. He wasn’t dating Brooke; he was going to work with Brooke. Maybe. Sighing, he put his satchel and laptop case on the desk and took off his jacket. And whether the assistant was Brooke or somebody else, Howard was right. He needed the help. Badly. As it was, Owen had been warned, repeatedly, that he needed to hone his social skills because his students weren’t connecting with him.
If he wasn’t on this lecture circuit, Owen knew he wouldn’t have to deal with things like this—with the constant stream of people wanting to socialize with him and talk about what he was doing. If he had stayed the course of his original plans, he’d be enjoying quiet time safely ensconced in his research.
Unfortunately, his career had taken a slight detour, and because of his inability to say no, he was stuck doing short-term guest lectures at universities all over the country. If he’d only been able to decline the very first time he’d been asked, Owen had no doubt he’d be happily situated in an office of his choosing right now.
He just wasn’t sure where that office would be.
The thought of working close to his family in North Carolina was appealing. More so now that he’d been away for so long. It seemed as if everyone was slowly making their way back to their childhood hometown, and he had to admit he was a little envious, but it wasn’t in the cards for him yet. Maybe in another year or so he’d be able to reevaluate his schedule and dictate where he wanted to be, but for now he had commitments he needed to honor, and that meant more time away.
Later that evening, he would have time to Skype with Riley. Just the thought of his brother made Owen smile. They hadn’t had a whole lot of time together in person in the past couple of months—mainly because his brother was on tour, promoting his new solo album—but they always tried to make time to talk via Skype. And lately Owen had felt the need for the connection.
Maybe he was feeling homesick, or maybe he was at a crossroads in his life because his brothers were all settling down and starting families and Owen just didn’t see that as a possibility for himself. He didn’t have much of a social life, and even though he dated occasionally, Owen had never felt a connection with a woman in a way that mattered. He dated other scientists, and even when they were on dates, they talked about…science.
And the more he learned about his brothers and their wives, the more Owen realized that solid relationships—the kind where you fell in love and formed a bond and wanted a future together—weren’t always based on common interests.
Like work.
His eldest brother, Aidan, had met and fallen in love with his wife, Zoe, when she had started working for him. But even though they did have their work in common, they were opposite in a lot of ways. Zoe had been all about starting her life over and forging a new path, while Aidan had been so deeply entrenched in living his life in the past. But it hadn’t taken long for his control freak of a brother to let his guard down and learn to accept—and enjoy—their differences.
All the women around Owen were exactly like him.
It was no different with his brother Hugh. Hugh had been emotionally cut off and seemed unlikely to ever settle down in a relationship that was based on love. There had been a time when Owen had actually been able to relate to Hugh the easiest because of that outlook. But after working with the carefree Aubrey, Hugh too had taken the plunge. Hell, last Owen had heard, they’d been on a trip to Belize and were teaching their young son, Connor, to snorkel and swim with the dolphins. And Owen could only listen with a bit of envy because Hugh had come out of his self-imposed emotional exile and was finally living his life.
At the last big convention Owen had gone to, no one had even wanted to get within ten feet of the hotel pool, let alone swim with a dolphin.
And then there was Quinn, the ultimate middle child. He’d been the love-’em-and-leave-’em type for so long that Owen never thought Quinn would settle down either. And for the most part, everyone accepted how that was just the way Quinn was. But through it all, Anna had been there—playing the part of the best friend even though she was secretly in love with Quinn. Then—and this part still made Owen chuckle—Quinn had seen Anna in a bikini and suddenly realized his best friend was a beautiful woman. The entire Shaughnessy family had been happy to see him wake up and notice what had been right in front of him for years.
Having been too shy to even talk to girls when he was younger, Owen had no female friends, let alone any harboring a crush on him, or vice versa.
Riley. His twin. His other half. They were fraternal twins, and it wasn’t only their looks that were completely different. Everything about them was. Things came easily to Riley, especially women. And when he met Savannah and she blatantly told him she didn’t like him—and hadn’t for some time—it had come as quite a shock. Yeah, that was another story that made Owen laugh, imagining his rock-star brother being told there was a female alive who wasn’t in love with him. Of course, Riley had changed Savannah’s mind, and now they were happily married, but other than their love of rock and roll, they’d had to work hard to overcome some of their differences.
There wasn’t even anyone Owen knew of who he’d be able to try to overcome differences with. And there was no way he was going to seek out any kind of relationship advice from Darcy. She might be his sister, but she was so much younger than him. He chuckled to himself. Although she probably had a hell of a lot more experience than he did. Then he shook his head. No. Darcy still scared the hell out of him just because she was so…different from him.
A sigh came out before he could stop it. He definitely needed this time with Riley tonight. Not so long ago, Owen had helped his twin when he was at a crossroad. Now he was hoping Riley would return the favor. The only problem was that Riley had known—sort of—what his problem was. He’d had writer’s block and couldn’t complete the album he’d been working on. Not that Owen wasn’t oversimplifying Riley’s issue, but at least there had been a definitive problem for them to work on. Owen couldn’t define his problem. He had an overall feeling of discontent in his life, and no amount of looking up at the sky and watching the stars was helping.
And it used to always help.
No matter what was going on.
Hell, when his mother had died, Owen had…
The alarm on his phone beeped, reminding him of his upcoming time to Skype with Riley. Not that he was going to forget it. He was looking forward to the call. Needed it. He might even call his brother early.
He opened up his satchel and went about the task of emptying it out and organizing everything neatly on the desk—his laptop, his phone, his chargers, his notes, and his magazine. Looking at the clock, he confirmed the amount of time he had until Riley’s call—two hours and thirty-seven minutes—and frowned.
With nothing left to do, he quickly called and ordered room service—a turkey club sandwich and french fries—and then started up his laptop. He was intent on finding out all he could about Brooke Matthews.
The model-slash-actress and the beautiful artist he’d met today.
Chapter 2
“Are you sitting down?”
“Of course I am. What else would I be doing?”
Riley laughed. “You could be pacing. I had a feeling you were pacing.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t feel like someone’s pacing.”
“It’s a twin thing,” Riley said seriously and then started laughing again. “Sometimes you make it too easy, Owen!”
“Ha-ha,” Owen replied dry
ly. “If you remember correctly, we’re supposed to be Skyping. Why aren’t we Skyping? And for that matter, why does it matter if I’m pacing or sitting?”
“First of all, something’s up with the computer. Savannah’s looking at it now, so maybe we’ll be able to switch over in a few minutes.”
“Oh.”
“Maybe I should wait until we are…”
“Are what?” Owen asked, not following his brother’s train of thought.
“Skyping.”
“Ah…no. We’ll be fine talking until then. What’s going on?”
“I have some news.”
“Okay.”
“Savannah’s pregnant. We’re having a baby! Can you believe it?” Riley asked excitedly.
Could he believe it? Yes. Biology was relatively clear, and Owen had no doubt his brother and his wife were… Well, that wasn’t important, and he didn’t think Riley wanted to hear what he remembered from biology class about how babies were made.
“Um…Owen? You still there?”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. Congratulations!” he said happily and realized he really was excited about this news. His brothers were all getting married and having babies, but…this was Riley. His twin. This baby just meant a little…more. “So…have you started picking baby names yet?”
Riley chuckled. “It’s a bit soon for that, but—”
“I know you. You already have names in mind. You’re probably going to make Savannah crazy over the next nine months with them.”
“I wouldn’t say crazy…but yeah. I’ve already got a list of names going.”
“How is Savannah feeling? Is she okay? Has she had any morning sickness?”
“Not yet, but it’s still real early in the pregnancy. She’s only six weeks along. Her doctor said it could hit at any time or not at all. There’s no way of knowing if she’ll get sick or not. Of course, we’re hoping she doesn’t, but that doesn’t mean anything.”
A Sky Full of Stars Page 3
