"Speaking of your father," her mother said, and Hannah bristled, "Ernest and I are dying to know more about this young man. You said his name was Matthew? What does he do?"
She changed lanes, and when she glanced over toward the man in question, she saw that he was fighting a smile. "Business," she said with an apologetic shrug. "He owns his own business."
"That's wonderful. What type of business?"
"He's in health."
Matthew's brows rose, and she mouthed, Well, it's true.
"A doctor?"
"No."
"No?" Her mother's voice practically dripped with disappointment.
Matthew leaned over and hit the mute button on the console. "Tell her I dropped out of med school. That I realized I was too entrepreneurial to play it safe being a doctor."
She lifted a brow in question, and when he nodded, she shrugged. If he was getting into the spirit, then she sure as hell wasn't going to argue.
"Not a doctor," she said after unmuting the call. "But that's because he left med school to go to business school."
"Is that so? Well, he sounds like exactly the kind of man your father wanted for you."
Hannah clutched the steering wheel tighter but didn't comment, even though she knew damn well that her father only wanted her to be happy. Ernest was the one with the revisionist memory.
"We'll see you when you get here. Drive safe."
"We will," she promised before wrapping the conversation and then exhaling loudly. "Thanks for that," she said. "Definitely easier to pull off a conspiracy if my co-conspirator's on the same page."
"Who knows? If I keep getting deep into character, I may run an entire pharmaceutical company by the time we actually get to Dallas."
"Yeah, well we're not even in Hillsboro yet. We still have about two hours to go, and we've already converted you from a gym owner to a med student to an MBA."
"We just said business school," he protested.
"Trust me. By the time we hit Dallas expectations will be high." She let her eyes rake over him again, remembering the way he'd filled out the jeans as he'd carried his duffel to the car. He looked hot, no doubt about that. But did he look like a business mogul who worked in healthcare?
"What?" he asked, warily.
"It's just--don't get me wrong, you look great. But--"
"I'm not the guy we just invented."
"Sorry."
He ran his fingers through his hair. "We'll pass North Park Mall before we hit your mom's place."
"Maybe we should stop and do a little shopping?"
"Probably should," he said. "After all, your parents want a certain kind of guy, right? A different kind of guy."
"Maybe they do," she said. "But I want you." She did, too. Who else would go through all this for her? The guy was like a miracle who'd walked into her life.
"You mean you need me."
"Well, yeah," she said. "That, too."
Chapter Six