He hoped he hadn’t caused a lot of heartache for himself in the process.
“You’re welcome.” How banal.
She eyed him a bit nervously. “So, where do we go from here?”
He stared into her green eyes and wondered what it was she wanted him to say. “A real relationship between us wouldn’t work.”
Statistics said they’d fail. Rebound relationships rarely even made it beyond the six months’ mark.
She gave him a wry smile, as if she’d known that was what he’d say and didn’t disagree. “I’ll admit our pretend relationship was pretty fab, though.”
True. It had been. Enough so that the thought of not seeing her, not holding her or kissing her again seemed impossible.
“So.” She let out an exaggerated breath. “Is this where we just walk away and go back to the way things were?”
“Yes.” It’s what they should do.
“Do you really think we can do that? After, well, you know?” she asked, still fiddling with her key fob.
“No, I guess not.”
“Me, either.” She seemed relieved at his answer. “But I hope we can still be friends. I really do appreciate everything you did.” She hesitated, as if she considered saying more.
He didn’t want her gratitude.
What he wanted... Hell, if he knew.
He’d be grateful he had this weekend to know her better, to get such an up-close glimpse at the woman who’d captured his imagination. A pretend weekend relationship would be enough.
“Goodbye, McKenzie.”
Her eyes widened a bit in shock, then she nodded, mumbled a goodbye of her own.
Just as he started to lean down to kiss the corner of her mouth, she stuck out her hand. His gaze dropped to it.
All pretense was gone. They were back to reality. It’s what he’d crazily agreed to, what she’d always wanted.
Ryder shook her hand, wondering if that would be the last time they’d ever touch.
Wondering what she’d do if he pulled her close and kissed her.
Which would be stupid since he knew this was goodbye.
She pulled her hand free, searched his eyes for a brief second, then climbed into her car.
Rather than head toward where he’d parked, Ryder watched McKenzie drive away, wondering at how he could already miss her when she’d never really been his to miss.
* * *
Ryder was back to avoiding her.
Three weeks had passed since their trip to Tennessee. McKenzie shouldn’t care that she knew he put effort into making sure their paths crossed as little as possible.
She should appreciate his efforts as it prevented awkward encounters and second thoughts on whether she should have let him walk away so easily.
Nothing about being away from him felt easy and she didn’t appreciate his avoidance.
Like now. She’d been on call at the hospital all night, had just gotten paged to check on a neonate in the NICU, and there he’d been, larger than life, and making her