Page 53 of Matched with the Player

She swallowed hard, thinking this wasn’t going well at all.

“You don’t.” She reached over the bar, her hand landing on his forearm. “I wouldn’t. That is, you’re not the one who causes all the stress. I realized that taking care of my mom has taken a toll, but I’m working with Isaac to -”

“Who the hell is Isaac?” He straightened and she recognized the posture from the moment he’d thrown off his gloves that night on the ice in Pittsburgh.

He couldn’t be jealous? A wishful part of her heart hoped it was so.

“He’s a graphics chipmaker. And he’s the new boyfriend of my former client. The client responsible for us meeting, by the way. She’s turned a new leaf and left her father’s controlling ways behind.” Marissa was so proud of her, and so grateful to her, too. “Stacy Goodwell has been instrumental in helping Isaac film my mother’s house for a new 3-D visual environment that will make it easier for me to move her to a safer, staffed facility.”

The decision had been difficult in spite of the new technology Isaac had offered. But after discussing it with her mom’s doctors and weighing the benefits of both options, they’d all agreed the change might be beneficial to Brandy’s recovery.

Kyle lifted his brows.

“Do you want to have a seat?” He gestured to a row of tables tucked against the historic hotel some distance from the band and the mayhem. Only two of the four were taken, the rest of the crowd on their feet.

“I’d love that,” she admitted, grateful to have some time alone with him. Well, alone amidst five hundred other people.

“You’re moving your mom?” He carried both their glasses, bending his head in her direction so he could hear her response.

The intimacy of the gesture warmed her. Making her feel like a couple again.

She’d missed him so, so much.

“I realized, with the help of friends, that I may have been using the excuse of taking care of her to hide from taking chances.” She’d done a lot of soul-searching during a long, hard week. “And not just since the accident. Since always. She’s never demanded anything from me. I just gravitate toward the helper roles. I’m good at them.”

Reaching a wrought iron table near a patio heater that warmed a small ring of air around them, Kyle pulled a chair out for her.

While she took a seat, he settled their glasses on the table and stole a candle from a nearby empty table to put on theirs, casting them in a golden glow.

“You know, I understand if you want to achieve dreams of your own and explore other career options. But I also know there’s nothing wrong with being there for your friends and your mom. Your clients. Helping people find love and happiness is important. Something to be proud of.”

His words touched her.

“I guess I don’t think about it like that, but I should.”

“Damn right you should. Bringing two people together… that’s every bit as special as hoisting the Stanley Cup. We have to play to our own strengths, right?”

A lump formed in her throat and she had to bite her lip before she could speak.

“Thank you.” She reached for his hand across the table, needing to touch him to make her case. “Kyle, I know I have a habit of putting up barriers with everything from my glasses and my matchmaking questionnaires to fake wedding bands and excuses for how a relationship could never work. But they are all total b.s., and I know that now.”

She took a deep breath, needing to continue before she lost the head of steam.

“I actually… I’m falling for you.” The magnitude of the gamble made her head feel as fuzzy as the seltzer still fizzing away in the glass beside her. “I realized it after you got hit that night in Pittsburgh and that was half the reason I was scared and babbling-”

“Marissa.” He squeezed her hand, his gaze so tender that she’d felt brave enough to pour out her heart even though she hadn’t meant to. “I should have fought for you that night, but it hadn’t sunk in that you were really planning to leave. I guess I thought right up until you walked away that I’d somehow make you change your mind.”

“I try so hard to be practical when it comes to relationships and things between us just felt so out of control. So many feelings, so fast.” But she didn’t want to be practical anymore. She wanted to take a bold chance with a man worthy of the risk.

“I’ve got something for you that might help put your mind at ease.” He dug into his pocket and slid a folded sheet of vellum across the table.

She recognized the crisp stationery from her office.

“A matchmaking questionnaire?” She remembered asking him to fill one out. One of her many deflections when he’d tried to get close to her.

“I thought it was time I wrote down everything I wanted in a relationship so you could see it on paper.” He unfolded it for her and smoothed it out, then moved the candle closer so she could see the writing. “Maybe then you’ll see how well we fit together.”

He dragged his chair closer while she read aloud.

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