Her pulse accelerated with both awareness and alarm at the suggestion. “I don’t think we need to quite go that far,” she said quickly.
He grinned unexpectedly. “But only imagine much fun it could be to show everyone you’ve moved on.”
She gripped her shovel handle, telling herself sternly that she was a business owner and a mother who had absolutely no business going weak in the knees simply because a good-looking man offered her a sexy smile.
“In return,” Ryan went on, “you help me deck the freaking halls at my sister’s house so I can make sure Kim and Audrey have an unforgettable Christmas together. You help me withmy problem and I’ll help you with yours. We both get what we need. It’s perfect.”
“You seem to have it all figured out, for a guy who claimed he has nothing to wear.”
He shrugged. “My dad probably has a closet full of suits. We’re roughly the same size. If nothing else, I can pick up a pair of dress pants and shirt and borrow a tie and a jacket from him.”
“This is crazy. You don’t have to do this, just because my sister was nervy enough to ask you—my sister, by the way, with whom I will be having a few strong words as soon as I’m done shoveling snow.”
“Hannah was only looking out for you. I get that. And I’m looking out for my sister too, by asking for your help.”
She didn’t believe he really needed her guidance. He and Audrey were perfectly capable of decorating a Christmas tree without her help. Still, she found it sweet that he wanted to give Kim a memorable holiday after her rough month.
Having him as her date for the wedding really was the perfect solution. Her in-laws wouldn’t have to feel awkward about having their son’s ex-wife there and she wouldn’t have to face the ordeal alone.
“This actually might work,” she said, though she couldn’t shake the feeling she was about to make a huge mistake.
She was already finding Ryan Caldwell fairly irresistible. Something told her that spending even more time with the man—especially pretending to be dating him—would only strengthen this silly crush she was developing for him.
“Nomightabout it. Itwillwork. We’ll make sure of it.”
She could only wish she shared his confidence. She shook her head and held out her mittened hand. “I guess we have ourselves a deal, Lieutenant Commander Caldwell.”
He smiled and shook it with his gloved hand. As he smileddown at her, looking big and dark and dangerous in the moonlight, she tried to ignore the little quiver of awareness.
“None of this Lieutenant Commander stuff. You’re going to have to start calling me Ryan, especially since we’re madly in love with each other.”
She gave a short laugh. “I’m not sure pretending to be in love with each other was ever part of the bargain.”
“It’s in the fine print,” he said with a shrug. “I’ve always believed that if a thing is worth doing, it’s damn well worth doing right.”
“Okay. I guess we’re in love,” she said.
Everything about this seemed wrong, she couldn’t help thinking, though she had to admit it felt great to know she had a man like Ryan on her side.
It made the prospect of the upcoming wedding far less intimidating.
Chapter Eight
THIS PROBABLY WASN’T HIS SMARTEST IDEA EVER.
As Ryan pulled more boxes marked Christmas out of his sister’s attic he had to ask himself what he had been thinking.
Why had he signed himself up for this? Bad enough that he was now committed to decorating his sister’s house for her but he had also jumped into the middle of what was bound to be an uncomfortable social event. He wasn’t a big fan of weddings in the first place. All that fuss over something that probably wouldn’t last anyway.
A wedding for a couple of strangers, along with all the accompanying social unease, felt like the fifth circle of hell.
How could he refuse, though? He liked Holly. Something about the woman and her cute daughter stirred up all his protective instincts. Holly seemed to have been given more than her share of challenges and she was handling them with grace. He had to respect that.
He also had kind of a thing for protecting and defending the vulnerable. He didn’t like the idea of Holly having to face her ex and his new family without backup.
It was only one night. He could handle that, couldn’t he?
He had already talked to his dad about borrowing one of his suit jackets, though he hadn’t told the colonel why.
