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“As opposed to the fake McKenzie you normally see?” Normally he didn’t spend much time looking at her, period.
“Not fake,” he said with way more consideration than the early morning warranted. “Just always well put together.”
She half-smiled at her current state of morning hair, no makeup, and morning-after-travel eyes. “Ha. That’s definitely not how anyone would describe me this morning.”
“If you’re fishing for a compliment, I’ll take the bait. You’re beautiful.”
She hadn’t been, but his compliment pleased her.
“Thank you.” And then she didn’t know what to say as the silence stretched between them, so she got out of bed. “It’s possible Jeff will use all the hot water while he gives his full rendition of the greatest eighties,” she warned. “I’m going to make some coffee. You want a cup?”
He shook his head. “Never touch the stuff.”
Halfway to the door, McKenzie paused to look at him in horror. “Say what?”
He laughed. “That stuff you guzzle by the gallon,” he wrinkled his nose, “I never drink it.”
He’d noticed she drank coffee?
“I knew there had to be something wrong with you,” she mused.
His lips twitched. “If my distaste of coffee is the worst thing you discover about me this weekend then we did good.”
“Are there worse things to discover than not liking coffee? Is that even possible?”
He shrugged. “That depends on how much you like coffee.”
“Let’s just say it flows freely through my veins.”
From the bathroom, they heard the connecting door to the other bedroom open and close.
“He’s out! I’m headed in there before someone else does!” And with that she scooped up her shower bag and the clothes she’d set out the night before and disappeared into the bathroom.
* * *
Ryder stared at the cup of coffee Roberta had put in front of him and wondered if he’d have to down the stuff to keep from offending her. He really didn’t like coffee, but apparently McKenzie’s family drank it like their lives depended on it.
“So, tell me about your relationship with my daughter.”
Roberta clearly wasn’t one to waste time. She leaned back in the chair next to his and sipped on her coffee.
“I imagine it’s much as McKenzie has told you. We work together, have been seeing each other a few weeks, and she invited me to come with her this weekend.”
“She’s never brought anyone home before,” Roberta pointed out.
“I wouldn’t read too much into that as she told me it has been several years since she’s been able to come home.”
Roberta snorted. “Since she’s chosen to come home.”
“Flying with her, I’d say it’s more than a choice that’s kept her away. She told me about her father,” he defended. Although he didn’t fully understand McKenzie’s reasons for staying away, he suspected her fear of flying topped the list.
Roberta looked surprised. “She told you about Phillip?”
Nodding, Ryder picked up the coffee to have something to do with his hands while facing her scrutiny.
“I can’t believe she told you about Phillip,” she continued. “She never talks about her father. I sent her to several therapists and she still wouldn’t talk about what had happened. Why did she tell you?”
Probably because she’d been on the verge of hyperventilating and he’d been in the next seat over.
