Tip #49: Characters in denial

Readers want to follow a character who is smart and perceptive... putting a character in obvious denial so that you can layer in Something That We All Know Will Be Important Later is not the way you’ll earn sympathy and respect for your fictional people. Readers see right through that.
here’s an idea: don’t call the character’s attention to it in such an obvious way.

The art of fiction is the act of making the implausible seem plausible and relatable to readers.

http://kidlit.com/2011/01/24/characters-in-denial/