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“Oh, Vicky, I’m sorry, sweetheart!”
“No. No! It’s fine. I’m happy for them. Really. I’m so glad he’s found someone to share his life with.”
And she was. She just wished he hadn’t done it while she was still struggling to even get to a real first date.
* * *
Ryder could not have cared less about Noah and his matrimonial plans, and he would have said so had he not been more preoccupied with getting his parents out of his apartment and convincing Vic once and for all that he was not going to participate in this ridiculous fake romance scheme of hers.
Not that it mattered anyway since his mother was still gushing. “Isn’t it wonderful? Everyone’s coupled up!”
She beamed at him and Vic. He felt his hands ball into tight fists at his sides.
“Listen, Mom—”
Beside him, a small, strangled sound escaped Vicky’s lips. Almost inaudible, but he was close enough he caught it. His folks didn’t seem to have noticed. He glanced over at Vic, and he saw it. The tiniest flicker of distress in her eyes.
He didn’t know exactly what it meant or where it came from, but he was absolutely sure it was Noah’s fault. A protective resolve washed over him. He was not going to let “Prince Charming” do . . . whatever this was to Vic.
“What is it, Ryder?” his mother asked.
Beside her, his father gave a long-suffering sigh, clearly directed at him. He ignored it and threw his arm around Vicky’s shoulders.
She jumped, just a little. He pulled her snug against his side.
“Nothing, just wanted to agree. Nice we’re all ‘coupled up.’”
“Aww,” Cheryl said. “Isn’t that sweet, Warren?”
Ryder noted bitterly that his mom’s usual critique of his every lifestyle choice seemed to be absent now that she thought his lifestyle included someone like Vicky.
His dad merely grunted in response. He didn’t know which was worse, the conditional approval or the unconditional disapproval.
But just then, Vic said, “It is nice, isn’t it?”
She turned to him and planted the gentlest of kisses on his cheek, and he knew he had done the right thing.
Though what he had just gotten himself into, he didn’t want to begin to think about.
Chapter Eight
When Vicky got home, she was shaken. So much had happened in the past twenty-four hours. Ryder had kissed her . . . They had been photographed . . . Noah was engaged! Then they had agreed to pretend to be involved but not tell any of his family what was really going on. And that wasn’t even including Davis canceling on—
Davis!
She hadn’t called before she’d rushed off to Ryder’s because it had still been early on the West Coast—and at the time, getting to Ryder to get their story straight had been the most pressing issue.
But that was several hours ago already, and if Davis had seen the photo—
She’d better call him right away!
She dialed anxiously, trying to figure out exactly how she was going to explain all this. It rang several times, and she started to think it would go to voicemail. But just as she was mentally composing her message—Hi, Davis, you’re probably wondering why there’s a picture of me in a lip-lock with another man—he picked up.
“Victoria! Hello! Lovely to hear from you!”
There was a bustle of background noise, as if he were on a crowded street or maybe in an—
“I can’t talk long,” he said, “I’m about to get on the plane.”
