She'd asked for rough and he was giving her things she'd never known she wanted, never could have guessed that she needed. Every second, he took her higher, showed her something new and wonderful. Like now, with his teeth against the raw, tender skin of her bottom, his thumb a hard and wonderful press against her clit.

The beginnings of a climax crawled down her spine, one heavy throb of pleasure after another, slower to build than any other orgasm he'd given her, but promising to be so much bigger, so much better. Anna gloried in deeper, darker pleasure than she'd even known was possible.

And then, as she felt Cole's hips behind her, his c**k pushing her open so much farther than his fingers had, as his chest covered her back, as he turned her head to the side and his mouth found hers, Anna finally understood what love could do.

Love could take pleasure and make it thrilling bliss, blessed ecstasy. Love could throw her into the midst of luscious heat. And through it all, through every rough and raw and overpowering release, even as she lost not just her control, but the entire thread of who she was, Cole was there with her. Strong. Comforting.

And more loving than he seemed to know.

Chapter Seventeen

"I meant to tell you last night," Cole said as she was brushing her hair in front of the mirror the next morning, "Julie set up an interview." He paused, his gaze locking with hers in the mirror. "For us to talk about our marriage."

Anna had known something like this had to be coming, that Cole's fans would demand answers about his quickie marriage to a nobody. But that knowledge didn't make her any less nervous about it.

She was happy blending in, fading into the background. At least, she'd always thought so.

It was only these past few days, in the hours she'd spent with Cole, that she'd begun to wonder at the truth of everything she believed about herself.

Still, finding a core of deep sensuality inside herself was a very different thing than wanting any part of the limelight.

"The writer is a friend of Julie's. You don't have to answer any questions you're not comfortable with."

Anna knew he was trying to reassure her. And though she was glad to hear the interview wasn't going to be televised, she needed to know something first. "Which paper?"

She watched him with rising alarm as he moved toward her, knowing it was his nature to instinctively try to protect her from things he thought would hurt her.

"USA Today."

The brush clattered from her fingers to the sink and he tried to smile reassuringly.

"They're probably just going to ask the same questions we've already answered for everyone else. Where we met. Why we kept our relationship a secret." His body was warm against hers, his chin too high to rest on the top of her head. "I'll field her questions, sweetheart."

How had their one little lie--no, their huge lie--for his grandmother spiraled off in so many directions?

"When is the interview?"

"Tonight. Six o'clock. At Max's."

Trying to act normally, she moved to pick her brush up, but Cole beat her to it.

"Let me."

Long strokes soothed her, had her unable to look away from the heat in his eyes.

She loved him. But he didn't love her.

It was one thing to try and hide the truth from family and friends, made easier in some ways by the fact that they'd see what they wanted to see. They wanted to believe she was the luckiest girl alive to have captured Cole's heart. They wanted to believe in love at first sight.

They wanted to believe that an invisible girl like her could be a superstar's everything.

But strangers didn't care about her happiness. Some would be jealous, the ones who dreamed of men like Cole. Most wouldn't believe it. They'd all seen the kind of women he usually chose.

None of those women were short with slightly crooked bottom teeth. None of those women walked around with an extra five pounds on their hips. None of those women were first-grade teachers who usually liked talking with the kids way more than chatting with their parents.

And not one of those women wore a halo.

* * *

On the drive to her school, neither of them spoke about what had happened the previous night--or what she'd said to him--and Anna, for one, was glad for some time to try and wrap her head around the multitude of ways her life had changed in such a short time.

But it wasn't just her life that had changed.

She'd changed...shifting a little more each time Cole touched her.

She felt simultaneously uncomfortable and more in tune with her true self than ever before.

The discomfort came from her heightened sensitivity to everything. The sun was brighter.

The sky more blue. She noticed every chirp the birds made. And her skin sizzled at Cole's slightest touch. Even when he wasn't touching her, just the heat in his eyes caused a flush to move across her chest, over her cheeks.

Before Cole, she'd been afraid to feel too much, had done everything she could to block sensation. From that first kiss, her husband had stripped away those layers, was still stripping them away one at a time, leaving her to look with surprise into the mirror each time she passed.

The woman staring back at her was similar to the one she'd seen for thirty years, only with an edge of sensual comprehension and pure emotion that she hadn't previously possessed.

He walked through the halls with her, his left hand never letting go of hers as he shook hands with what felt like every person in San Francisco. The ringing bell gave her license to drag him away to the relative safety of her classroom, where she all but slammed the door in the faces of her students' parents.

Not looking the least bit bothered or put out by any of the attention, Cole got down on his knees on the linoleum floor, surrounded by overexcited first graders. His laughter was contagious. He was a total natural with kids as well as adults. They didn't have to be a fan of his football skills to fall in love with him.

Anna put her hand to her heart at the sight of his gentleness, his laughter at the kids'

antics, at his pure enjoyment of being with a bunch of six-year-olds.

He was going to be a wonderful father.

And as her hand moved from her heart to her stomach, Anna couldn't hide from the fact that her dreams and hopes for a family of her own--and a husband who loved her with all his heart--had already taken root.

She didn't just want Cole's love.

She wanted a family with him, too.

She wanted forever.

* * *

Later that night at Max's, all around them people in the popular city bar and restaurant were laughing, drinking, flirting. Some were playing with their cell phones. But all of them had one thing in common: They were all focused on Cole and Anna. After years in the spotlight, he was used to being the center of attention in public. But Anna, his sweet Anna, wasn't. It was pure instinct to want to protect her from it. He was thirty seconds from dragging her out of the restaurant and locking her up in his bedroom until news of their marriage had blown over. Pissed that he'd let Julie talk him into this, he'd almost risked getting kicked off the team by tackling her husband in practice.