See, she sounded semi-normal. Her voice had broken only a little.
“She,” Ryder corrected, his expression saying he’d caught that tiny vocal glitch. “Dr. Anna Ovikov.”
Something in the way he said she truly distracted McKenzie from the plane as she wondered just what his relationship had been with said “she.”
Professional or something more?
She mentally scolded herself.
Look at her. Getting all curious about a pretend boyfriend.
“That’s fine. Go ahead. Read her research. Just don’t forget why you’re here,” she reminded him, digging her fingers into the airplane seat to the point she was surprised her nails didn’t break.
“How could I forget,” he teased, the corner of his mouth lifting even though his eyes were still dark with concern. “It’s not every day I play a coworker’s pretend boyfriend.”
“Shh,” McKenzie scolded, looking around to see if any of the other passengers had heard what he’d said. Across the aisle from him sat a teenaged boy wearing earbuds with his eyes closed. His mother was engrossed in a book. Neither was paying the least bit of attention to her and Ryder. “You can’t say such things. You never know who’s listening. You have to stay in role at all times this weekend.”
His brow lifted. “You’re sure just telling your family the truth wouldn’t be easier?”
“Positive.” For so many reasons. “You don’t know my mother.”
She would be all aflutter trying to make sure McKenzie was really okay with the wedding, would be devastated that McKenzie had been dumped again, especially right before Reva and Jeremy’s wedding. She’d feel obligated to do something, anything, to make McKenzie feel better. Which would make her feel only worse. She didn’t want her mother setting her up on blind dates or throwing men at her all weekend.
And then, there was Reva.
Beautiful Reva who was always the belle of the ball but had always felt guilty if McKenzie hadn’t been included. Reva always included her. Her cousin would have major guilt at her own happiness if McKenzie was suffering from heartbreak.
Everyone would be worried about her, wanting her to move home so they could help nurse her broken heart. They’d never leave her alone.
She’d just have to prove to them that she was happy, didn’t need their interference or pity.
Ryder was that proof.
“But I will know your mother soon.”
Which almost made her as nervous as the thought of the plane taking off.
“Yes, you will.” Swallowing, she dug her fingertips deeper into the seat as she held Ryder’s gaze. “Just make sure you act as if you really are my boyfriend. Please. It’s important my family believes you’re crazy about me.”
If they thought her happy, they wouldn’t worry. Not worrying meant not meddling.
He didn’t look concerned. “Shouldn’t be a problem.”
The air in the plane was so thin. Any moment she expected her knuckles to break through the clenched skin of her fingers.
“Because you’re certifiable for agreeing to this?”
He grinned. “Something like that.”
She was struck again by just how handsome he was. Not that she hadn’t always known, just she’d categorized him in her mind to where she’d never thought of him as more than just that—a really hot guy she worked with, who made her uncomfortable with his overabundance of pheromones, and who hadn’t liked her.
With his going above and beyond this weekend, with how his smile made things better, she’d never be able to relegate him to two-dimensional again.
He should smile more right now. She needed him to make things better.
She forced herself to take a deep breath, then another. “Truly, I appreciate you doing this.”
Even if he’d come only as an excuse to look up an old girlfriend.