Page 18 of The Hanukkah Hoax
“I’m sure she will be. It’ll also be a great time for me to introduce her, and you and Dad as well, to my new boyfriend. See you then. Love you!”
Without giving her mother an opportunity to respond, Marisa hung up, plucked the earbud out of Eden’s ear, and neatly folded the little things into their case while she calmly stepped away from the blast zone to find her candy canes.
This was her dream, dammit. Her life that she was more than prepared to go to war for. And if that meant she’d have to call in the reserves to hit the front lines, then that was exactly what she would do.
Chapter 7
When Alec initially received the text from Marisa asking him to meet to discuss their first mission, he’d been at a loss for what to expect. Or what he should bring, for that matter. It wasn’t a date, per se, because they weren’t actually dating. He pegged it as more of a strategy session, if he had to guess based on her phrasing.
Or a bloody war briefing, given her copious use of sword and dagger emojis.
He pulled out his phone again as he took in the restaurant’s glowing sign of swirling letters above him.
Marisa: Meet me at Sal and Enzo’s at 6 p.m. Assignment tactics are on the agenda. We’ve got a mission.
The building he stood in front of was nothing more than a pizzeria with a laminated menu taped to the front window that boasted more kinds of toppings than had any right to be put on pizza. But hey, over the course of years visiting Cal in the off-season, he’d come to learn a thing or two about New Jerseyans and their pizza preferences. Or, more specifically, he’d learned to keep his gob shut lest he wanted to walk around wearing his dinner instead of eating it.
Alec pushed through the door with a bit lighter of a step than he anticipated and strode toward one of the tables in the corner. It wasn’t hard to find Marisa, with her dark head hunkered down over her tablet and a prominent wrinkle carving its worry into the space between her brows. Outside of the cocktail party’s disorienting lighting and instead beneath spotlit fluorescent beams, Marisa appeared far gentler. Oh, there was a fair amount of craze still to be had, what with her hair snaking down past her elbows, with a few mindless waves that seemingly reached for the Parmesan cheese shakers, but it was nonetheless calmer. Peaceful, even, given all she’d been through at his expense.
“General,” he announced, taking the seat in front of her. “What are our orders?”
Marisa looked up, surprise lighting her features. “Oh, you’re here!”
“I said I would be. I’m a man of my word.”
As soon as he said it, she opened up a note on her screen and began scribbling. “Man of your word. Check.”
“Am I here to check off boxes? I didn’t know there’d be a quiz.”
“It’s not a quiz for you. More so for me. If we’re going to be making this charade appear believable, I think it’d be helpful for us to know certain things about each other.”
“Like the fact that I show up on time when I’m asked to?”
“Exactly! You’d be surprised at how many people think tardiness is just a personality trait and have no care for how it impacts others.”
“I take it you’re not one to be late.”
She scoffed, wrinkling her nose. “Are you kidding me? If I’m not early, I’m late.”
Alec made a show of reaching into his back pocket, pulled out an invisible notebook and pen, and pretended to scribble something down. Then he made an elaborate swooshing checkmark in the air. “Hates tardiness. Check.”
That won him a smile, and for some reason, it gladdened him. He got the sense she didn’t smile often, which was a damn shame because she was quite bonny when she did, even if his words caused her eyes to dart to far corners as if searching for cover from unseen attacks.
Now that he didn’t like one bit.
He pulled out his imaginary notebook and pen again, making sure to capture her gaze away from invisible worries. “Uneasy with levity. Check. Assignment: immersion therapy.”
“Immersion therapy? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means, as your official boyfriend of record, I’ll be tasking myself with making sure cheer sits a bit more naturally with you.”
“I’ll have you know, I can be delightfully cheerful. Hello? I literally sell sugar for a living. If you know of a more dopamine-inducing product, I’m all ears.”
For the second time since he’d met her, Alec had his hands raised in defense. “I didn’t say you didn’t know your industry. Just remarking that you might enjoy a bit more levity in your life. What’s that old saying? The cobbler’s children go barefoot? As you said, if us dating is going to have any ring of truth to it, I can’t have you walking around on my arm acting like the last time you enjoyed yourself was when you were still fantasizing about men in the Stone Age getting mauled by saber-toothed tigers so the women could enjoy their caves in peace.”
He’d meant it as a kind bit of joviality. Something to earn him another smile or at least give him something to work toward, but when Marisa’s eyes took on a flinty edge to them and her features slipped back into that mask she’d worn when he’d spotted her through the window of the restaurant, he knew he’d misstepped.
“Hey,” he rushed out, grabbing her retreating hand before she had a chance to shove it under the table. “I’m an arse. Forget what I just said. All I meant was that, if we’re to look the part of being happy, it’s far easier to make it genuine.”
