He was right. She needed to do a better job of playing her part. "Oh, of course you have.

It's just that this is so darn good." Really trying to play it up, she added, "In fact, this meal is worlds better than the last dinner you made for me."

Anna almost groaned as she saw Cole's eyebrows go up at her back-handed

"compliment," his lips quirking up before he forced them flat again.

After Virginia excused herself from the table to find the powder room, he softly said,

"Remind me to paddle your ass for that last comment after your friend goes home."

Anna flushed hot at the thought of Cole's hands on her bottom. Liking the thought far more than she thought she should, she ignored his comment.

"You've been so great tonight. Thanks for being so nice to my friend."

He did just as good a job of ignoring the change in subject. "You don't think I'm serious about spanking that sweet ass of yours, do you?"

"But you've never made me dinner before," she protested. "I was just trying to make it sound like we've done this before. It's not fair for you to--" She had to stop and breathe to get it out. "--to spank me."

His sensual grin stole her breath. "You want me to. That makes it fair."

She shook her head, but couldn't get the word no past her lips. Not when she was suddenly feeling all tingly. Not when she suddenly realized that she did want to see what being spanked felt like.

But only with Cole.

Standing quickly, Anna began to clear the table. He didn't take his eyes from her as he pushed his own chair back and stacked plates in the sink. They were done by the time Virginia walked back into the room.

"Thank you so much for dinner, Cole. It was really nice to meet you."

Anna linked her arm through Virginia's. "I'll walk you out."

"Wow," her friend said when they were standing outside on the front step. High on its hill, Cole's property had a 360-degree view of the city lights. "This place is really something."

"I know."

Only, Anna wasn't just talking about the lights. Overwhelmed wasn't even close to how she was feeling.

"I love him."

The words left her lips before she realized they were coming. She lifted her hand to cover her mouth before she could stop herself from giving herself away.

"I know you do." Virginia turned to face her, her head cocked to the side. "Although, honestly, I never would have picked a man like him for you."

Virginia didn't know he never would have picked her either, if it hadn't been for his grandmother. But Anna couldn't forget it. All she could do was try to convince herself that it had been fate. A lucky accident.

And that it was all going to work out perfectly.

Anna fought back a chill of foreboding at her hopeful thoughts as her friend joked,

"Know where I can find a big hunk of my own?"

It felt good to laugh, to firmly push away the fear that kept bubbling up inside her.

Cole hadn't been in her plans. A husband hadn't been anywhere on the horizon. But maybe if she was really, really lucky, it would all work out better than even her biggest dreams.

"I'd love it if you'd come with me to the next game," she said. The VIP box would be way less scary with a friend by her side. "Maybe we can sneak into the locker room after the game."

Virginia's eyes widened with momentary shock before she laughed again. "It's great to see you so happy, Anna. Not just happy, but--" She paused, searching for the right word. "Free.

You seem free."

Anna blinked back the sudden tears that wanted to fall. She did feel free. Happy. In love.

And scared.

More scared than she'd ever been before.

* * *

Cole didn't want to interrupt Anna's conversation with her friend, but he missed her like hell already. A full day away from her was way too long. And sitting with her at dinner, barely touching her because he knew if he started he wouldn't be able to stop, had only fueled the flames inside. On the verge of going outside to claim her, he finally heard Virginia's car start up. Thirty-four years, he'd been as cool a f*ck as they came. Now, he couldn't even begin to act like he wasn't waiting for his wife.

She stepped inside and he was about to go all Neanderthal on her again when he saw something that shook him: She looked like she'd been crying.

"What's wrong?"

She looked up at him, her eyes wide with surprise at both his question and the fact that he'd practically jumped over the couch to take her into his arms. Studying her carefully, he didn't see any tear tracks, but her eyes were glassy.

"Something happened to upset you. Tell me what it is."

The last thing he expected was for her to smile at him. "You always tell me how sweet I am, but you really are the sweet one." She went up on her toes and kissed him softly.

That one kiss had his c**k growing from the hard he always was around her to downright uncomfortable behind his zipper. He needed to get her na*ed and taste her, take her, f*ck her until they were both sweaty and panting. But even that, he was starting to understand, couldn't ease his need for her--or ease the strange ache in his chest.

Besides, he knew he had a bad habit of throwing her over his shoulder and ripping her clothes off within thirty seconds of her walking into a room.

"Tell me about your day, sweetheart."

"It was crazy."

She nestled into his chest and, sweet Lord, he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold out on the urge to take her upstairs and strip her down. He wanted to take her, Jesus, he'd never wanted it so bad, but he wanted to hold her just as bad.

Worse, maybe.

He was about to lift her into his arms when his too-thick brain finally clicked into gear.

"Crazy?" Was this why she'd been on the verge of tears? "What happened?"

"We didn't do word puzzles today."

He loved the feel of her soft curves against him, the vanilla scent of his shampoo on her hair, the sweet smell of her feminine heat. None of that, however, gave him the barest hint of what the hell she was talking about.

"You were crying over word puzzles?"

She pulled back just enough to look at him, her confusion mirroring his. "No. Why would I cry over word puzzles?"

"Hell if I know. I don't even know what word puzzles are."

Her smile was cute and sexy all at once as comprehension dawned. "My kids couldn't stop asking me questions about you. That's why we had to skip a few things today." She bit her lip, looked away. "I hope you don't mind, but they were all hoping you'd sign a few things for them. I wouldn't normally ask, but they're such big fans and--"

He stilled her excuses and apologies with a finger over her soft lips. "I love kids."

Relief swept over her pretty face--along with another emotion that had his gut tightening. "You do?"

"Yes. I do. Tomorrow when I drop you off, why don't I come in and sign them in person?"

Her eyes lit up. "My kids are going to be beside themselves. Although I'm pretty sure we're going to end up skipping word puzzles again."

"How about we do word puzzles first, autographs second?"

"Oh Cole, you're only making me feel worse about the other thing I have to ask you."

She frowned. "I hate putting you in this position, so much I can't even tell you. But there's this fundraiser coming up soon and the district had been short of funds lately and--"

"Of course I'll do it."

As she looked up at him with surprise, he had to wonder, had anyone ever been this beautiful?

"You don't even know what my principal wants you to do."

"Will you be there with me doing whatever it is?"

"Yes, of course. I wouldn't throw you to the wolves like that. Not for anyone or any reason."

"Did you ever think for one second I wouldn't help you?"

"Of course not. I just felt so bad about the way my school is using your fame."

"You have nothing to feel bad about, sweetheart. Nothing at all."

"I don't get it." Another frown came, this one deeper. "You're so great. You shouldn't have had to go out looking for me--looking for a wife to bring to your grandmother. You should already have been married with kids."

She was looking at him so intently, it was almost as if she was trying to see all the way into his soul for the answers.

"Other people don't see me like you do."

All they saw was football and money--and what they could get from him.

"Then they're all wrong." She reached up, ran her fingers through his hair. "And stupid."

She pressed her free palm against his chest. "And blind. Crazy blind."

Jesus, he'd never wanted anything, anyone, as much as he wanted the woman in his arms, her ocean eyes so wide and loving.

Loving.

A sharp pang nicked him in the center of his chest, knocking loose a memory from his childhood. One of hundreds of afternoons he'd watched his friends' parents come and pick them up from school while he walked alone to the bus. He'd loved his grandmother more than anyone in the world, but he'd wanted a mom and a dad so bad that sometimes he almost hated her.

Almost as if she'd taken their place, as though if she were gone then maybe they'd come back and he'd be whole.

And now, here he was, wanting a real wife just as bad as he'd wanted a real family back then. Fucking longing nearly tearing him apart again, nearly breaking him, the way it had tried to break him when he was a kid.

Didn't she know he hadn't gone looking for love? Or forever?

Anna was supposed to be temporary.

Not forever.

He wasn't supposed to want her to stay forever.

Good thing he knew exactly what to do, exactly how to make it seem like he didn't care.

"No, baby," he forced himself to say, "they're right. I'm not the wife and kids type."

He waited for her to push out of his arms, to walk away, to cry. Instead, she simply blinked at him. "Why aren't you?"

He was hit with another picture of himself as a kid, scrawny and smaller than the other boys in his class, a little kid who had to learn early how to protect himself.

Every day on the field, he practiced the defensive plays he'd learned as a kid. Protecting his back had helped get him where he was today.

He wasn't going make the mistake of dropping his guard. Not for anyone.

Not even for Anna.

"Some people want those things. Some don't."

Her eyes darkened, a storm rising over the ocean. "Okay." Her voice was measured. Too measured. "I've got another question for you."

He tensed, waiting for her to push him, waiting for her to try and force him to admit what he was feeling for her. Women had done a lot of desperate things over the years to try and bind him to them. Fake pregnancies. Crying. Begging. None of it had worked even the slightest bit. In fact, he'd only ended up losing what little respect he'd had for them.

"Are you done showing me crazy?"

Jesus, what had she just said? Was she talking about sex when every other woman would have been trying to yank out his heart?

"You don't want to go upstairs with me right now." His c**k twitched behind his zipper even as he warned her, the words hard, low, raw.

He couldn't trust himself with her. Not when he wanted too damn much. Not when he wanted things a man like him had no right to want from a woman like her.

"Maybe you're right. We shouldn't go upstairs."

Pain speared him at her quick agreement, until he realized she was glancing at the living room, then back at him.

"Right here worked pretty good yesterday."

Fuck. No. She couldn't be saying what it sounded like she was saying. But the look in her eyes, the new sensuality he'd so enjoyed putting there, was definitely front and center now.

"Anna."

He could only warn her one more time before she pushed him too far. Especially when just being with her, just breathing her in and listening to her sweet words had already pushed him to the edge.

She stared right back at him. "Cole."

He heard a growl rip from his throat, and then his hands were on her, turning her, bending her over the dining table, pushing her skirt up to her waist. He knew his hand was coming down over her ass, but couldn't stop any of it.

The sound of his open palm again her panty-covered ass shot into the silent room.

But then another sound came. Anna's whimper.

Not of pain. But of desire.

He'd promised her crazy, but constantly ripping her panties off wasn't really what he'd meant. He'd planned to slowly introduce her to pleasure, had thought he'd tease her until she was begging for his lovemaking. Instead, he yanked her panties down to her knees and couldn't stop staring at the imprint of his hand on her flesh.

And as he lifted his hand and brought it down on her sweet, soft flesh again and again, he knew he wasn't just playing a sensual game, wasn't just trying to drive her higher as arousal dripped from her pretty pu**y lips down the inside of her thighs with every connection of skin on skin.

He was spanking her for making him feel too damn much.

He was punishing her for making him fall in love with her.

He was about to actually hurt her because he was desperate to prove to her that she was wrong.

Furious with himself--with her--with the whole damn world, he yanked open his pants and positioned the throbbing head of his c**k at her entrance. Instead of trying to get away from him, she squirmed against him, trying to take him inside her body.

No! The voice yelled at him not from his head, but from his heart. He couldn't do it.

* * *

Anna's body craved Cole's touch, any kind of touch at all. Hard or soft. Out of control or sweetly tempting. No question, there was something so wonderfully depraved about what he was doing to her. And yet, even as she responded to him, even as her body begged him for more, for faster taps on her backside, even as she felt herself grow wetter, more open for him, she couldn't hide from the fact that nothing about this was right.

Not when pain was everywhere in the room. Not when pain was taking her over, top to bottom.

She didn't really feel the pain of his hand on her bottom. He wasn't hurting her at all with his little smacks. He simply didn't have it in him to hurt her. Physically, at least.

No, the pain she felt was all Cole. It was seeping from his cells, his veins, from his heart to hers.