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He inclined his head in acknowledgment. Ever since their encounter in the storage room, he’d thought about how it would feel to cup her face in his hands again and thread his fingers in her hair. He’d bet her long curly locks fanned across his pillow would be spectacular—and erotic.
“So what’s it going to be this time?” she asked.
He could think of a lot of things he’d like to bargain for. “An answer to a question. I’m curious.”
She looked surprised and then wary. “That’s it?”
He felt a smile tug at his lips. “You haven’t heard the question yet.”
She shifted in her seat. “Okay...”
“Why Sal? There are a lot of seemingly reliable, boring guys out there.”
She stared at him a moment, eyes wide, and then took a deep breath. “Timing.”
“I can appreciate the importance. Timing is everything, on the ice and off.”
“Yes, and ours has never been great.”
He had to agree with her there. “And Sal’s was?”
“It was part of it.”
“Which part?”
“My mother had just gotten married...”
“And Sal was available when you were vulnerable?”
“Something like that,” she admitted.
“I can understand family responsibility, Marisa. Your mother getting married set you free and maybe even adrift.”
She looked surprised by his insight. Hell, he was surprised himself. Where had that bit of pop psychology come from? Too much latent baggage from his own family floating to the surface?
Marisa wet her lips. “I guess I didn’t want my mother to worry about me anymore once she was married.”
“So Sal had it on timing?” As opposed to a former hockey player?
“He can also be quite charming when he wants to be.”
“So is a used car salesman,” Cole quipped. “So Sal laid on the charm...?”
“He was there, and the type I was looking for.”
Cole quirked his lips. “You have a type? I thought your type was high school prankster.”
She shook her head. “My goal was to marry someone not like my father.”
“You knew him?” He didn’t recall Marisa ever mentioning her father in high school except to say he’d died a long time ago.
“No, he passed away before I was born. But I’d always thought my parents had meant to get married. In my twenties, I found out that wasn’t the case...”
Cole said nothing, waiting for her to go on.
“My mother finally revealed my father had broken up with her even before he died in a car accident. He was out of the picture before she gave birth.”
“So your father’s side of the family was never involved in your life?”
