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Yes, she was lucky Ryder had agreed to this pretense. She almost felt guilty that he had and was being subjected to her family’s questioning, guilty that she was using him to stave off pity and perhaps to curb her jealousy at her cousin’s good fortune.
Ugh. She hated that seeing Reva had brought a jealousy to surface that she’d not acknowledged she’d had.
“Is he as good in bed as he is to look at?”
McKenzie’s gaze went back to Callie. Her high school friend watched Ryder with hungry eyes, probably the way McKenzie had been looking at him that morning when he’d stepped back into her room after his shower.
Yeah, that just-showered look that morning had been outright sexy.
Very sexy.
As had their kiss in Aunt Jane’s front yard. Why had she felt the need to lay that one on him? For show in front of her cousin and the other women to say, hey, Reva’s not the only lucky one? If so, how petty of her. But maybe Ryder had been right in thinking the champagne had played a role. Had it given her just enough gumption to kiss him that way, not for show, but because she’d wanted to kiss him and doing so in front of her cousin and the bridesmaids had given her the perfect excuse?
McKenzie swallowed, then, remembering Callie waited for an answer, shrugged. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “We’ve only been seeing each other a few weeks.”
Callie’s perfectly drawn-on brow lifted. “Girl, what are you waiting on? I saw that kiss earlier. Hot. Hot. Hot. If that man was within my hands’ reach, I’d know everything about that body of his and he’d definitely know every inch of mine.”
Um, yeah, that put a few images in McKenzie’s head. Images of exploring Ryder’s body, of his exploring hers.
Images that should not be in her head.
Because he was a pretend boyfriend, not a real one. Only more and more she hated the pretense, wished Ryder really wanted her, that everything about this weekend was real.
“Leave her alone,” Reva ordered, leaning over toward them from where she sat on the other side of Callie. “McKenzie’s just getting out of a long relationship. It makes sense that she’d be hesitant to move too quickly even with a man as wonderful seeming as Ryder.”
Reva’s quick defense shot guilt through her. Reva had always dragged McKenzie along to all the popular places, had always defended her to anyone who said the slightest negative thing. Her cousin was a much better person than she was and deserved to be happy.
And so did she.
McKenzie’s gaze shifted back to Ryder. Was there even a chance of their pretense growing into something real?
She’d have to be dead inside not to react to his overabundance of testosterone.
Not to notice how her body came alive when they kissed or even when he smiled at her.
Perhaps that’s why she’d gone for the kiss at Aunt Jane’s, because she’d needed the surge of energy his kiss shot through her.
What would he say if she told him she found him attractive, both physically and as a person?
Callie gestured toward where Ryder sat and gave a wistful sigh. “Like I said, lucky you. That man there is the perfect solution to forgetting every other man who ever walked the face of the planet.”
All three women looked toward Ryder. He must have sensed their gazes on him as he glanced their way, gave McKenzie a slight look of question, then winked.
“Lord help me,” Callie said, fanning her face. “If you decide you don’t want him, send him my way. I’ve not just gotten out of a long relationship and have no reservations about letting him rock my world.”
McKenzie fought the urge to fan her own face. Ryder’s wink did funny things to her insides. Like make them get all warm and squishy.
Warm?
That was like calling a volcanic eruption a lit match.
“I’d mention your brother,” Callie continued, “but we both know that would never work since he’s gone so much. I’d get lonely and end up making us both miserable.”
Had her mother gotten lonely before her father’s death? McKenzie hadn’t really thought about what her parents’ lives were like before her father died. She’d known her mother had gone through numerous relationships. Had she been trying to curb loneliness? Or had Roberta been lonely long before due to the often out-of-town nature of her father’s work?
“Is Ryder going with us after we leave here?” Reva asked. “Lunch was fun, but I hope to get a chance to get to know him while y’all are here and tomorrow is going to be busy.”
“Just a little busy. It’s kind of your big day.” McKenzie smiled at her cousin. “But on Ryder, I honestly haven’t had a chance to ask him about tonight.”
