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Her stomach knotted and sweat burst from her skin.
Oh, how her mother had gone on and on about how she looked forward to meeting Paul, how she couldn’t wait to meet the man her daughter loved, planned to marry and start a family with.
Nausea pitched, rising up McKenzie’s throat. A fresh wave of clamminess coated her skin.
She was going to throw up.
“Ahem.”
At the deep clearing of a throat, McKenzie spun and almost lost her balance as she came face-to-face with Dr. Ryder Andrews.
Fire spread across her cheeks at the furrowing of his brows.
Ugh. Of all the people in the world to see her on the verge of being physically ill, why, why, why, had it had to be him?
The reality was, Ryder always sent her heart racing, jitters in her veins and a fluttery schoolgirl feel in her stomach. Ugh. She did not like how he made her feel. Even when things had been all flowery and friendly, he’d turned her insides all quivery. Then again, she was a fresh-out-of-residency pediatric cardiologist and he was a highly skilled pediatric heart surgeon.
Of course, she’d been a little in awe. She still was. That was only natural but had always made her feel a tad guilty.
If Paul was warm cocoa that made McKenzie feel warm and cozy inside, Ryder Andrews was 100-proof whiskey, leaving her off balance and fuzzyheaded.
Ryder was not comfortable. He was...concerned.
“Are you okay?”
Tears prickled. Could this day get worse? She just wanted to go home, restart her day. This time, without a dismissive text message and a run-in with her least-friendly coworker.
“Fine,” she lied, because no way was she telling Ryder that she’d just been dumped.
He stared at her with his honey-colored eyes, rimmed with thick lashes, that, on the rare occasion their paths crossed, she avoided looking into because she felt as if he saw too much. Like now. Because she’d swear he knew she was lying.
Okay, she had been leaning against the wall and on the verge of losing her morning’s coffee. It didn’t take a genius IQ to realize she wasn’t on her game.
Of all people to see her moment of weakness, why Ryder?
As brilliant as he was, as great a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon as he was, McKenzie was positive he didn’t like her. She wasn’t sure she liked him. When he was around, she felt edgy, as if she was on the verge of saying or doing something stupid. She always seemed to, too. Possibly because she was so self-conscious.
She wasn’t one who had to have everyone like her, but Ryder had been friendly in the beginning. He’d smiled and teased her. She’d really liked him. She’d thought they would be good friends. After just a couple of weeks of his being at the hospital, he’d done a complete about-face. He’d never been openly hostile, just went out of his way to avoid her except for when work absolutely demanded they interact.
These days, when their paths did cross, an underlying tension she didn’t understand was always present. She couldn’t recall having done anything to upset him, had even asked him about it once. He’d denied that anything was wrong but continued to avoid her. She’d started doing the same. Perhaps she was overly sensitive to his attitude change but being around him left her rattled.
Like now.
Looking into those intelligent eyes that probed beneath the surface made her think he already knew she’d been dumped, and he sympathized with Paul for being saddled with her for so long.
“You don’t look fine,” he unnecessarily pointed out. “Do I need to get you a glass of water or call someone?”
Yep. Her day just kept getting better and better.
“I’ll be fine.” Which was a more honest answer than her first one. She would, right? She’d survived her breakup with Clay, and she’d survive Paul ending things.
Because he no longer loved her.
Was she so unlovable that the men in her life always ended up walking away?
“If you’ll excuse me,” she continued, needing to escape from Ryder’s curious gaze before she went full-blown waterworks. “I’ve got a few things to take care of before I start seeing patients.”
Like going to her office and bawling her eyes out.
