* * *
“Cole Serenghetti and Marisa Danieli,” Mr. Hayes hailed them.
Cole looked at Marisa but she was avoiding his eyes.
“Mr. Hayes,” she greeted the other man. “How nice to see you. You look wonderful. Retirement agrees with you.”
Retirement would have agreed with the sour Mr. Hayes fifteen years ago, Cole thought sardonically. Of course, the old codger would be here tonight. He was grayer and less imposing than when he’d held Cole’s fate in his hands, but he still had the same ponderous personality from the looks of it.
Cole gazed at Marisa, and she implored him with her eyes to make nice. Tonight was important to her, so he was willing to go along. He gave her a slow smile. You owe me, and I’ll collect later, in a mutually pleasurable way...
Mr. Hayes glanced from Cole to Marisa. “I understand you two are a couple these days. Congratulations.”
Marisa smiled. “Thank you.”
“I bet you’re surprised,” Cole put in.
Marisa appeared as if she wanted to give him a sharp elbow.
“Not really,” Mr. Hayes replied.
Cole arched an eyebrow. “I turned out better than you expected.”
“Well, naturally—”
“I understand there’ll be a video retrospective tonight. Might want to withhold judgment until then.”
Marisa widened her eyes at him, and Cole smiled insouciantly back at her. He was willing to play along, but he could still tweak Mr. Hayes’s nose and have some fun in the process.
Mr. Hayes cleared his throat. “Speaking of video presentations, I would like to set the record straight on one issue. When Marisa was called to my office that day, and I asked—”
“Interrogated, you mean?”
“—her about the prank, I could tell she cared about you.”
Cole tamped down his surprise.
“At first, she was very reluctant to say anything. And then when she revealed your connection to the stunt, she was worried about what would happen to you.”
Cole felt Marisa’s touch on his arm.
She’d cared about him in high school, and even Mr. Hayes had been able to see it. Cole wondered why he himself hadn’t, and realized it was because he’d been blind to anything but his sense of betrayal.
Cole met and held Mr. Hayes’s gaze. “I learned a lot from that episode in high school. It was the last school prank I ever pulled.” He covered Marisa’s hand with his. “But everything ended well. More than fine. I’m lucky.”
Marisa went still, and Cole figured she was wondering whether he was playacting for Mr. Hayes’s benefit. She probably thought he was highlighting their relationship in order to rub the former principal’s nose in it.
But he wasn’t acting. He was dead serious. The realization hit him like a body check on the ice.
He wanted Marisa in his life. He needed her in his life.
Sooner or later, he was going to make her see she needed him, too.
* * *
Two days after the fund-raiser Marisa opened her door to the last person she expected to catch on her threshold again. Sal.
Since Pershing Shines Bright, she hadn’t had a chance to see Cole again, though he’d congratulated her by text on a job well done. She’d been on duty the night of the fund-raiser, so she’d departed after everyone but Pershing staff had left. After a quick peck on the lips, Cole had regretfully excused himself because he had an early-morning work meeting.