Page 29 of Over the Edge

He grinned. “Full on damsel in distress, toss you over my shoulder rescue, or just a ‘Dude, back off before she kills you’ rescue?”

“Do I strike you as a damsel in distress?”

He laughed under his breath. “Not hardly.”

“Thanks for having my back.”

“Always.”

She blinked. His tone had shifted from light to dead serious in a single word. “Umm, thanks,” she responded. “You know I’ve always got your back, too, right?”

If that was a smile he flashed at her, it was a damned poor excuse for one. It looked more like a grimace of pain. Or grief.What the heck?

“Are you all right?” she asked quickly.

“Yes. Fine.”

And now he’d gone all clipped and British with her. Fine, right back at him. If he wanted to wallow in whatever he was currently wallowing in, she would leave him to it.

She stewed until boarding was called for their flight, and they moved to stand at the back of a long line of passengers shuffling forward at a snail’s pace.

Nope. She couldn’t resist poking the bear. She said casually, “It’s going to be sweet revenge bringing home a British guy and claiming you’re my boyfriend. It will gall my family to no end.”

“Your boyfriend?” Trevor squawked.

Yikes. He didn’t have to act as if it was the end of the world. And here she was, already watering it down for him by not mentioning he would actually have to pose as her fiancé. “What did you think coming as my plus one would mean? This is Zagistan we’re talking about.”

He stared at her, rooted in place, until she had to murmur, “You’re holding up the line.”

Trevor lurched forward, but seemed completely taken aback at the idea of posing as her boyfriend.

“Honestly, Trev, I’m not sure whether to be complimented or insulted by how shocked you seem at the concept of pretending to date me.”

“Oh! Umm, no. It’s not like that. I mean, umm, it’s fine. You’re, uhh, perfectly date-able material.”

“Dude. Not reassuring.”

“I don’t know what to say. I’ll make sure you don’t get spirited away and married off to some local man. If that means posing as your—boyfriend—then I guess that’s what I’ll do. The full knight in shining armor treatment.”

“Sheesh. You don’t have to sound like you just volunteered to stand in front of a firing squad for me,” she grumbled.

He looked like he wanted to say something in response, but then he abruptly turned his back on her. The same way he had in the parking lot that night at Mabel’s. It had pissed her off then, and it pissed her off now.

She’d about had it with him shutting her out every time he felt actual emotions related to her. It wasn’t good for him, and it made her nervous about how this trip was going to go.

She was walking into a lion’s den for him. The least he could do was interact with her like a fellow adult. She was already tense enough about having to face her extended family, a group of strangers in a land where she had limited freedom as an unwed female.

“You’re sure you want to do this?” she asked him. Of course, it was the same question she’d been asking herself ever since they boarded the plane in Raleigh.

He muttered over his shoulder without looking at her, “Why do you keep asking me that?”

She answered at his back, “Because you’re never this quiet and moody. You do the whole aloof, British thing, of course. But not this.”

“I’m not aloof!” he exclaimed.

Hah! She’d goaded him into looking at her! “Wanna bet?” she retorted. “Then why haven’t you said anything about our kiss at Mabel’s?”

He might as well have turned into a statue of living stone in front of her. At length, he turned his head just enough to mutter, “I’m grateful to you for arranging this trip to Zagistan.”

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