“Hmm. Good point. What about the new guy who moved into my condo building? I think he’s an electrician or something. He’s a little hairy but I’ve seen him in the condo gym and he’s super ripped.”
“Does he have a girlfriend? Or a boyfriend, for that matter?”
“Not sure. I haven’t seen him with anyone, but he might have a long-distance thing. I can ask him.”
Hannah made a face. “On a negative note, he sweats alotand he never wipes off his machines at the gym.”
“Gross.”
“I mean, nobody’s perfect.”
“True enough.”
Hannah appeared lost in thought for a moment before her features brightened. “What about Kim’s brother?”
Holly almost dropped the last box of wedding flowers as nerves suddenly jumped through her.
“Ryan? I can’t ask him! I barely know the man.”
“Why not? He’s perfect!” Hannah held up her fingers to enumerate the advantages. “He’s gorgeous, he’s a stranger in town nobody knows and better yet, he’s only going to be here through Christmas. No messy questions. After he goes back to California, you can tell Troy and his family you’re having a long-distance relationship with him.”
Holly frowned as she considered the suggestion. Okay. The idea might actually have merit after all. A fake boyfriend would be useful in myriad ways.
She would love not having to endure pitying looks from Troy’s family, the awkwardness of being alone when everyone else seemed to have a partner. Maybe they would even stop trying to set her up with random people. She could focus on her daughter, not on trying to fend off well-meaning but misguided matchmaking efforts on her behalf.
If she had to pretend to have a fake relationship, why not with Ryan Caldwell? He was a great candidate for the role. Hannah was right. He was gorgeous. More than that, he was only here temporarily, which would mean she wouldn’t have to keep up the pretense for an extended period. Only through the holidays.
On the other hand, she shuddered to think about actually having that kind of humiliating conversation with Ryan Caldwell.
Hey, do you mind pretending to be my boyfriend and going with me and my daughter to a wedding with two hundred people you don’t know?
She could only imagine how that would go.
“It’s a brilliant idea, if I do say so myself,” Hannah pressed. “If you have to find a pretend boyfriend, why not make him a hot, mysterious stranger?”
Holly could think of a hundred different pitfalls to the plan, not least of which was trying to convince Ryan to actually go along with it. Why would he agree to something so ridiculous, when she could think of no actual benefit to him?
“I’ll think about it. That’s the best I can do.”
Hannah made a face. “You think too much. That’s your whole problem, Hol. Sometimes you need to follow your impulses. Seize the day and all that. Or in this case, seize the gorgeous helicopter pilot and don’t let go.”
Holly decided it was probably not a good idea to mention to her twin sister exactly how appealing she found that idea.
Chapter Six
RYAN HAD NO CONCEPT OF HOW EXHAUSTING HE WOULDfind the prospect of trying to figure out how and what to feed a thirteen-year-old girl on the regular.
Three meals a day, every single day, until she moved out of the house. He was overwhelmed just thinking about it. How did Kim do it?
At least his niece didn’t seem to be a particularly picky eater, other than she didn’t like anything with onions or mushrooms. He couldn’t blame her for the latter.
Plus, he would be able to get a little bit of a break when she ate school lunch during the week, so that took a few meals off his plate, at least until Christmas break. He could only hope his sister would be home by then and the responsibility could once more fall on her no-doubt much more capable shoulders.
“Do you have a favorite kind of cereal?” he asked, scanning the offerings on the shelves of the grocery store.
“I don’t usually eat a lot of cereal,” Audrey admitted, looking up from the phone that seemed glued to her hand. “I used to like it more when I was little but now if I have time for breakfast I usually have toast with maybe some peanut butter on it.”
Ryan had a sudden memory of Kim often fixing that for him when she had become his de facto caregiver during their mom’s illness and after her death.
