Only there were no clouds out the window.
Just lights and other planes breaking up the darkness.
They’d landed!
She glanced at the time on her fitness watch. Good grief. She’d slept through most of the flight and the landing.
How had that happened?
She was glad she’d slept through it.
Only she winced at the tiny damp spot on Ryder’s sleeve.
Realizing he was watching her, she grimaced. “Please tell me I didn’t snore.”
One corner of his mouth lifted. “Only a little.”
She couldn’t tell if he was teasing or if she truly had. She didn’t suppose it mattered with a pretend boyfriend.
It wasn’t as if she was trying to impress him.
Only he was a coworker, quite gorgeous, and thought she had great eyes, so it wasn’t wrong to want to not totally embarrass herself.
She couldn’t believe she’d fallen asleep.
Then again, she’d not slept well since prior to her breakup with Paul. Still, never would she have dreamed she could sleep on a plane.
She gave Ryder a look of gratitude. “Thank you.”
“For?”
“Making that the best flight I’ve ever been on.”
Having Ryder beside her had to be how she’d relaxed enough to doze off. Which was odd since he didn’t relax her. Far from it.
She’d never felt so far out of her comfort zone as when he’d kissed her. Only...
“By boring you to sleep?” His tone was teasing.
“By helping me unwind enough that I could sleep. Big difference.”
Seeming to like her answer, he nodded. “You do look calmer.”
Wondering if that was his subtle way of telling her that her makeup was mussed and her hair wild, she stretched to pull her bag out from beneath the seat in front of her.
When she’d retrieved her compact, she glanced in the tiny mirror.
Rather than the mess she expected, her mascara had miraculously stayed on her lashes and wasn’t all down her cheeks other than faint smudges she quickly wiped away.
Digging in her bag, she found a lipstick tube.
“No need for that,” Ryder assured her, watching her. “You look beautiful.”
“Thanks.” His compliment warmed her insides, but she put her lipstick on anyway. She’d need all the armor she could muster prior to facing her mother and the rest of the crew.
Too bad lipstick didn’t come in chainmail.
* * *