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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.
A
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, A
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 A
After years in the spotlight, he was used to being the center of attention in public. But A
At one point the bastard golden boy had given Cole one of those shit-eating grins everyone so stupidly ate up. “Marriage kicking your ass, huh? I’d be happy to give you some advice on keeping your wife happy, if you need it.”
Cole had almost jumped him right there. But he could see that was exactly what Ty wanted and he couldn't give the motherfucker the satisfaction of knowing just how twisted up in knots he was over his sweet, pretty wife.
“I’ve had gentle my whole life. Right now, I like it raw. Rough. I want everything you can give me. Show me how much you want me. I need to know how much you want me.”
Jesus, just remembering what she’d said to him had his dick about to bust out of the zipper. He’d been surprised by her last night, and now, here she was surprising him again during their interview. He’d thought that A
“So you grew up in the Bay Area?”
A
“My whole family is here.”
“How did they react when you brought Cole home for the first time?”
He tensed at the question, but A
Although one of my brothers-in-law almost had a coronary when he realized his biggest hero had just walked through the front door.”
“What about your parents? How did they feel about their daughter dating a big, bad Outlaw? Were they worried he’d break your heart?”
A
Cynthia raised an eyebrow in Cole’s direction. “So then, how did you prove to them that they could trust their precious daughter’s heart with you?”
His throat felt way too tight. For some reason, the man who had sweet-talked his way into more panties and out of more sticky situations than he could keep track of couldn’t find any way out of this one.
A
She tilted her face up to his, so beautiful that he had to touch her, couldn’t stop himself from lightly brushing his thumb across her lower lip.
The photographer Cynthia had brought with her snapped a rapid flurry of shots, A
“Wow, it really seems like you two are the fairytale come true. The sweet schoolteacher who tamed the bad boy.”
The journalist smiled and Cole thought it seemed genuine. Still, he’d been burned one too many times by the press to trust the woman any further than the next table over.
A
Her laughter was infectious, even making his mouth move into a grin.
His wife shook her head, still laughing as she turned back to Cynthia. “Trust me, my husband is completely untamable.” Her gaze flicked back to him, shot through with wild heat.
“And the truth is, I wouldn’t want him to be any other way. I wouldn’t ever want him to be something that he’s not or feel like he has to say or do the right thing to make me happy. He makes me happy just the way he is, just the way he’s always been.”
“I see why you fell for her.” Cynthia broke the spell his wife was wrapping around his heart. “But since my readers aren’t here with us to see the two of you together in person, I’d love it if you could tell me what drew you to A
He didn’t have to think about it, didn’t have to pretend. “I’ve never met anyone so sweet.
Or so beautiful that I can hardly believe my eyes every time I look at her.”
“Cole.”
A
“But what you can’t see is how brave she is. She has more courage in her pinkie than a tailback ru
“Wow,” Cynthia said as she scribbled in her notebook. “People are going to go crazy for you two.”
But Cole didn’t care about the interview anymore. He couldn’t focus on anything but A
“One more thing,” Cynthia said. “When did you realize A
Cole didn’t look away from A
“Was it love at first sight for you, too, A
“I’d never done anything that crazy before,” A
“So, you’re telling me that you asked her to marry you the night you met and you accepted right then and there?” She looked at Cole, then A
A
Cole’s gut cramped at her easy lie. She could never have done that on Friday. He’d promised to teach her new things, but he’d never meant for one of those things to be twisting the truth.