by Bella Andre
"Last night you said you didn't know it could be like this. It isn't, Anna. Not with anyone else. It's never been this hot. It's never been this good. Just with you."
She had to force herself to push away from his seductive words, from the heat that was wrapping itself around her all over again. The pain of what she'd just learned still spreading through her chest helped.
She'd trusted him.
And he'd betrayed that trust, even when he'd promised not to.
"I want to go get a divorce. Right now."
A possessive growl rumbled through his chest, reverberating off the walls of the car.
"No."
"I'm not going with you to meet your grandmother."
"Like hell you aren't."
He moved to turn the key in the ignition, but fury made her faster and she ripped it from beneath his fingertips.
"I thought you were marrying me for me, that I was special in some way!"
His jaw jumped. "Jesus, Anna. I did. You are."
"No, you didn't. And I'm not. You picked me out of a crowd and took me to a wedding chapel so that you could give me to your grandmother as some sort of prize. The perfect little schoolteacher on a pedestal." She didn't bother to hold back the sarcasm in her words, simply didn't care anymore.
"I didn't force you to marry me, Anna." She started at the sudden change in his voice, from raw and frustrated to coolly calculating. "We'd just met. Barely done anything but kissed.
So tell me, did you marry me for me? Did you marry me because I'm special in some way?" He paused, let his questions sink all the way in. "Or did you marry me for another reason entirely?
Did you marry me because you wanted to put one over on your sisters? Because you were sick and tired of people thinking you didn't have any guts? Because you hated the fact that you'd never done anything crazy?"
She narrowed her eyes, knowing exactly what he was trying to prove. Well, it wasn't going to work. He'd hurt her. Badly.
And she wasn't going to forgive him, even if she already knew she'd never come apart like that in anyone else's arms.
"Don't turn my words around on me. You want me to lie to your grandmother. You want me to tell her that we're in--" She couldn't say the word, couldn't bring herself to voice such a huge lie.
Unfortunately, Cole had a scarily one-track mind. "You didn't want your sisters to meet me, did you? And you were so angry about everyone thinking you were innocent. We both know why you married me, don't we, Anna? But I'm not angry with you, am I? I'm happy, pleased that we both were able to get what we wanted. And that it was so damn good between us, so much better than I ever thought it could be."
"Take me back to the hotel."
"Be reasonable, sweetheart."
She suddenly hated the sound of the endearment that she'd once loved so much. "Don't call me that."
As if she hadn't said anything, he said, "We both had our reasons for marrying each other.
How about we rejoice over our incredible chemistry instead of splitting hairs over the details?"
She looked at him as if she were seeing him for the very first time. Which, she supposed, she was. "You're serious, aren't you? You really think that's all it's going to take to get me to stay with you?"
His eyes narrowed. "No, I guess I should have known better. Fine. After we visit my grandmother, I'll take you to Tiffany and you can pick out anything you want. Money is no object."
She reeled back as if he'd slapped her. And the truth was, he might as well have for the pain his "offer" had just sent through her.
"I can't believe you just said that."
"Jesus, Anna, what am I doing wrong now?"
"You're an asshole. That's what's wrong." The curse felt strange on her tongue, but there was no other word for Cole, for the way he was behaving, for what he was implying. "But you know what the really amazing thing is?" Steam all but blew out of her ears. "Not that you just treated me like a whore. But that you don't even seem to realize you've done it."
An instant later, cool calm came over her, sealing her cells from Cole's heat. And from the pain. She should never have taken a risk with Cole, should never have let him take her to the edge, should never have jumped off while holding his hand.
She'd never make that mistake again.
Never.
In a perfectly rational voice, she said, "I understand if you'd like to see your grandmother this morning. I'll wait in the car, and when you're done we can go get a divorce." She put the key back in the ignition and waited for him to pull on to the road.
The air grew heavy and still as the seconds ticked down in silence. She wouldn't let herself notice the bright blue sky, the jackrabbit running across the empty road, wouldn't let herself feel anything at all.
"I'm sorry, Anna."
She forced herself to shrug as if she didn't care either way. "Okay."
It wasn't, of course. How could it be? But she absolutely refused to break down in Cole's car. At least not until he went into the hospital to see his grandmother and she was alone, with enough time to repair the damage before he returned.
"No, it isn't."
His words were soft and so genuine that they almost scaled the walls around her heart before she could halt their progress.
"You're right. I'm an asshole. The biggest one on the planet. And I hope one day you'll forgive me for saying what I said. Especially when I've never, not for one second, thought of you that way." He bit off a curse. "I know that your forgiveness will probably be a long time coming, but my grandmother can't wait for that."
She had to close her eyes and tighten her hands into fists if she was to have a prayer of resisting the plea she knew was coming.
"I'll do anything, grovel any way you want me to, if you'll just come see my grandmother with me this morning. Please, Anna. Not for me. Not because I deserve it. But because she's one of the best people I've ever known. And because she didn't deserve to be stuck with a grandkid like me."
It was his last sentence that broke her.
"I'll go," she said. "And then I want a divorce."
Chapter Eight
"You're even prettier than I thought you'd be." Anna was immediately enveloped in Eugenia Taylor's arms. "Such a beautiful girl for my little boy."
Thinking that Cole was anything but little--everywhere--Anna blushed and said, "It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Taylor." Despite her illness, his grandmother was very pretty, with dark skin and exotic eyes. Anna suddenly had a flash of a baby girl with those same eyes in a tanned face.
No! She was only faking this meeting for his grandmother's sake and then they were going to get an immediate divorce. What was wrong with her, dreaming of children that looked like Cole's grandmother?
"We have a surprise for you, Grandma."
He reached for Anna's left hand and threaded his fingers through hers so that her diamond ring shone through. Despite everything he'd said to her in the car--despite the way he'd repeatedly hurt her--her body instinctively reacted to the brush of his skin against hers.
"We're married."
His grandmother's eyes flashed. "Why didn't you tell me yesterday?"
Anna could see where Cole got his fearsome scowl.
"We didn't plan it. But we just couldn't wait another day, Grandma."
His grandmother's intelligent eyes moved from his face to hers. "Are you pregnant, Anna?"
Anna shook her head so fast the room spun. "No. I couldn't be."
"What she means," Cole said quickly, "is that we both wanted to make our union legal before we started our family."
Anna could barely swallow the bile rising into her throat at the lies he was spinning out one after another to this wonderful woman in the hospital bed. God, if she'd only known how good he was at lying when she'd met him, she never would have married him.
At least, that's what she tried to convince herself.
Because the alternative--that she wouldn't have been able to resist him, no matter what
&n
bsp; --wasn't something she wanted to believe about herself.
"Isn't that right, sweetheart?"
Anna tried not to flinch at the endearment. "Yes. Right." She forced something she hoped resembled a smile.
His grandmother's eyes narrowed slightly, but then she smiled. "I want to hear everything. How did you meet? When did you know that you were meant to be together forever?"
Anna swallowed hard at forever. Cole was a heck of a lot better at lying that she was. She didn't dare respond first.
"I saw her across a crowded room."
Well, that much was true. Anna barely held back a snort.
"She had the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen. The same blue-green as the ocean."
Anna couldn't stop herself from looking at him, then.
"But so much prettier. I knew right then and there that I wanted to marry her."
Cole's grandmother sighed with pleasure. "How lovely."
Anna silently cursed herself for falling under his spell again. He was too good at this, too good at making it all sound so romantic.
"Our first kiss sealed the deal."
His grandmother raised an eyebrow. "Is that so, Anna?"
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, unable to deny it, but not wanting to confirm it either, Anna simply said, "Your grandson is very persuasive."
Especially, she thought with a flush she couldn't contain, when her wrists and ankles had been bound and he'd been driving her wild with more pleasure than she'd ever thought she could feel.
"Tell me about yourself, honey."
Anna could almost feel Cole's silent sigh of relief that his grandmother had bought his story and was moving on. Barely restraining herself from elbowing him in the ribs simply for the pleasure it would bring her to hear him grunt in pain--but that would be immature and she was never immature--she said, "I'm a first-grade teacher."
"Isn't that perfect, Grandma?"
There was no helping it. Anna's eyes rolled. And she snorted aloud. And she said, "I hate it when you say that. Like I'm some sort of prize instead of a flesh-and-blood person."
"That's right, honey, he needs someone to give him hell. Women have been coddling him for too long, giving him everything he wants. You tell him."
Anna's eyes widened at his grandmother's approval and she quickly said, "I'm one of five girls."
His grandmother's smile nearly broke her heart. "I wish I could see Cole surrounded by little girls." Anna found herself blinking back tears as Eugenia turned to him. "I always knew you'd be a wonderful husband and father. The very best, just like your grandfather. Just like your father was before the accident."
And in that moment, as Cole's mouth tightened in pain, as sorrow filled his eyes, it didn't matter what he'd said to her in the car. It didn't matter that he'd lied to her every moment since they'd met.
All that mattered was comforting him.
She brushed his jaw with the fingertips of her free hand and he turned into it just enough that she could feel the pressure of his cheek against her palm.
"I'll take care of him for you."
The promise left her lips before she could stop it, before she'd even known it was on its way.
His grandmother put her hand on top of their entwined fingers. "Thank you for loving my baby, Anna. It's all I've ever wanted."
*
"Oh God, I shouldn't have done that." Anna wrapped her arms around her waist. She felt nauseated. Dizzy with remorse. "Your grandmother didn't deserve any of those lies, but especially mine." Cole pulled her out of the hallway and in through the nearest door, a linen supply closet.
"You did a good thing, Anna. You made her happy. Just like I knew you would."
"But none of it was true."
"All of it is true."
"You just twisted your story to fit the situation."
"Damn it, Anna, I did see you across a crowded room. You do have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. And we really are married."
And she supposed he was right, all of those things were true. Especially since not once had he mentioned love anywhere in there, not to her, not to his grandmother.
So, then, why was she still stupid enough to long so desperately for his love?
"I can't do that again, Cole. I can't stand pretending to be someone I'm not." She hugged herself tighter. "I made good on my side of the deal. Now it's time to make good on yours." She lifted her gaze to his and held it. "I want a divorce. Today."
"What if my grandmother finds out?"
Anna shook her head. "No one knows we're married, so no one will know we got a divorce. I'm sorry. I know how hard it must be for you, but I can't keep bending my moral code for you."
"You're right. You shouldn't make the decision to stay married to me for her. Or even for me." He paused, dropped his gaze to her mouth with such desire her traitorous lips actually tingled. "You should do it for yourself."
"How could I possibly want to stay in a fake marriage to you for myself?"
The supply room suddenly seemed too small as he moved closer and she backed into a laden metal shelf.
"Remember what you said to me last night, sweet Anna, about how you'd never even had the chance to do something crazy that you could regret in the morning?"
"Well, I sure have now."
"And was it enough?"
"Yes."
"Now you're the one who isn't telling the truth, aren't you?"
"You don't know what you're talking about."
He didn't come any closer, didn't press his hard body against hers, simply brushed the back of one hand against the side of her neck.
"Now that Pandora's box is open, you're wondering what else there is in there, aren't you?"
Yes.
"No."
"Tell me, sweet Anna, how has lying to yourself about what you need worked so far?
How many nights have you spent like the one we had last night? How many do you think you'll have if you run now?"
Her breath was coming too fast. Her body was heating up too much. Her brain was scrambling, leaving her without a retort.
Without the strength to do what she knew she needed to do.
Without the will to do the right thing.
"You want to know crazy. I know crazy." Now his voice was a low, seductive whisper against her skin. "Last night was nothing, Anna."
Unbidden, a movie reel of their lovemaking played in her head. God, the things he'd done to her so far had already blown her mind.
There was more?
She'd never survive it.
"All I'm asking is that you stay until--" He obviously couldn't finish his sentence. "If you stay--if you let my grandmother think that our marriage is a real one--I promise to make it worth your while."
"I told you, I don't want your money or jewelry."
"I'm not talking about those things, sweetheart. I'm talking about pleasure. About coming so hard you black out. About finally experiencing everything you've been waiting for and wondering about."
"No."
She pushed away from him and blindly fought for the door. He was asking her to become a slave to her body. To reckless desire. He was asking her give up her morals in exchange for more pleasure than she could imagine.
And she'd been about to say yes.
"Wait a second, Anna. Don't go out there. Not yet. We need to talk first, figure things out."
Did he really think she was going to turn around and let him "convince" her some more?
She was done talking.
She pushed through the heavy door and walked into a wall of photographers...and suddenly realized why he hadn't wanted her to leave the building.
She'd forgotten that Cole was a famous football player.
And their marriage was big news.
Big enough news that if they went straight from the hospital to the courthouse to get a divorce, his grandmother would be reading about it on the front page of the newspaper's afternoon edition.
Frozen in place, Anna was
actually glad to feel Cole's warm arms encircle her waist from behind. The way she sank into the relative security of his body wasn't an act for the cameras.
He pressed a kiss to her cheek and she heard his faint urging, "Smile, baby," a split-second before he told the crowd, "Last night, Anna made me the happiest man on earth."
And then, as flashbulbs blinded her and journalists pelted them with questions, Cole maneuvered the two of them across the parking lot and into his car.
Chapter Nine
"I need to go home, Cole."
"I thought we had a deal."
Anna blew out a frustrated breath. As they'd driven back to the Wynn, they'd agreed that she'd remain his wife for as long as she had to. Now they were back at the hotel and she was staring down the barrel of who-knew-how-long as Mrs. Cole Taylor.
"We do have a deal," she said. Although neither of them had spoken again about what he'd said to her in the supply room.
I'm talking about pleasure. About coming so hard you black out. About finally experiencing everything you've been waiting for and wondering about.
"But I have a job." And a family that was going to demand an explanation.
"Tell the school you're on your honeymoon. They can get a sub."
More tempted than she would ever admit--especially to herself--she said, "Maybe that's how things work in your world, but for us normal people we either go to work Monday through Friday or they give our job to someone who will."
"I don't want to leave my grandmother."
Every time she'd convinced herself to be good and irritated with him, he said something that pulled hard on her heartstrings.
"I'm sorry, Cole, I would stay if I could." Sadly enough, she was telling the truth. Fake marriage or not, she was powerfully--stupidly--drawn to the man standing in front of her.
His phone rang. "It's her," he told Anna, before picking up. "Yes, I know she's beautiful.
Very sweet, Grandma. I knew you'd love her."
His eyes ate her up as he spoke and the only way to hide her flush--and her growing desire--was to bend over her bag and pretend to pack. Even though she'd finished earlier that morning.
"The team will survive without me."
She lifted her head at his abrupt change of tone.
"I'm staying here." He paused, listened, frowned. "It's my life, Grandma, not yours."
Anna lifted her hand to hide her smile. It really was something to watch such a big, strong, tough man be such a softie. All for a woman he loved dearly.
