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“You need a bodyguard. You obviously can’t be trusted, or he can’t—or the both of you. I’m not sure which it is. It looks like he’s forgiven you for high school and then some.”
“It’s not what you think.” It was pretend—or some of it was. Sera seemingly hadn’t gotten the bulletin yet that Marisa had kissed Cole at the Puck & Shoot, or her cousin would have mentioned it already.
“Wow, and we’ve descended into cliché, too. Give me a sec—I need to wrap my mind around this one. Maybe a bodyguard and a therapist? I can hunt up recommendations for you.”
Marisa sighed. “C’mon, Sera.”
“Well, you two have definitely got a thing for one another.”
“We don’t, really.” The denial sounded weak, even to her own ears. Ugh.
“He wants you to appear on his mother’s cooking show? That’s serious.”
“It’s not as if I’m showing up as a member of the family.”
“Just be careful. You two have a complicated past.”
“I know.”
“Great. Then that’s settled.” Sera gave an exaggerated sigh of relief. “Phew!”
“There’s one tiny wrinkle.”
Her cousin stilled. “Oh?”
“We’re pretending to be a couple.”
Sera’s eyes widened. “That’s not a wrinkle. That’s a—”
“Really. We’re faking it.”
Sera jerked her thumb in the direction of the living room. “So you two were pretending to go at it in there?”
“No, yes... I mean, our relationship is fake!”
She filled in her cousin on what had happened at the Puck & Shoot, ending with her pact with Cole not to correct the perception that they were an item, at least until the Pershing Shines Bright benefit. Even as she told her story to Sera, Marisa admitted to herself that she had to try harder not to blur the line between reality and make-believe.
When she finished, Sera regarded her for an instant, head tilted to the side. “I wouldn’t want to see you get hurt again.”
“I’m not in high school anymore.”
“No, but you still work there, and Cole has had another fifteen years to hone his lady-killer skills. Plus, he’s admitted he wished things had turned out differently between you at Pershing.”
“I told him I couldn’t get involved. He knows the Danieli family history with professional athletes.”
“If that’s the reason you’re hiding behind, go better. Cole is retired from pro hockey.”
“Yes, but running the family construction business is a temporary sideline for him.” She didn’t want anything to do with someone who still had his hand in pro sports. She’s made a good life for herself, right here in Welsdale.
“Well, you could become a temporary sideline to the temporary sideline. There’s your reason to be wary.”
Marisa threw up her hands. “You and Jordan should try Scrabble. Word play is your thing.”
“What?”
“Never mind.”
Eight
