Game For Love(11)

She felt herself flush as he quickly took her in, head to toe. He kept his face expressionless, save for the slight surprise lingering in his eyes.

"Introduce me, please," the man said to Cole.

Cole's eyes hadn't left her, not when his friend had walked in, not now that he was making the introductions. "James, this is Anna Davis. My fiancee."

Anna's heart rate leapt at the word fiancee and she worked to school her face into a normal smile of greeting. "It's nice to meet you, James."

The man's eyebrow lifted slightly. "It is very nice to meet you, Ms. Davis."

The next thing she knew, he was opening up a velvet case, much like the one the chapel attendant had under the counter. She gasped at the rings inside this one.

"No," she said, shaking her head and shooting a panicked glance at Cole. "You can't--I shouldn't--"

"Are these the biggest ones you could find?" Cole asked his friend in a clearly irritated tone.

Ignoring him, James told Anna, "Of course you will look beautiful in any of them. But now that I've met you, I think this one would be perfect."

He held out the only ring that had caught her eye, a princess-cut diamond surrounded by a circle of smaller diamonds. Still, she didn't reach out to touch it.

Frowning, Cole said, "Damn it, these diamonds aren't big enough." He pulled out the biggest one, so big she wasn't sure she'd be able to lift her hand with it on, and said, "How about we use this one tonight and then tomorrow morning we'll trade it in for something better?"

Standing in a Las Vegas wedding chapel, staring at a diamond that had to be at least five carats in the hands of a man she'd met approximately sixty minutes earlier, Anna stopped processing.

And starting laughing.

Both men stared at her as if she were completely off her rocker. She supposed they were right. After all, she was here, wasn't she?

"Cole," she finally said when she was able to speak, "these diamonds are all way too big."

"Too big?"

Cole looked utterly confused and she could have sworn his friend made a sound that was something between a cough and a barely-swallowed laugh.

"Way too big." Her gaze swung back to the one James had pointed out. "But that one's pretty. I guess I could get used to wearing it."

"Leave the ring."

James turned a bemused gaze to Cole. "Of course."

He put it on the counter, then closed the velvet box. He caught Anna by surprise with his smile, so friendly and genuine. "My best wishes to you, Anna." He left before wishing Cole luck.

"Wonderful, the ring has arrived!" The attendant returned, holding a clipboard and a pen.

"I just need to see photo IDs and have you fill out your addresses, social security numbers, and signatures and we can get straight to the ceremony."

"We'll tell you when we're ready," Cole bit out.

The man's eyebrows rose. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I just remembered one more thing I need to take care of. Excuse me."

Cole practically carried her over to a small sitting area in the corner of the room.

"You scared him," she said.

"I don't care about him. I care about you."

Her stomach fluttered. He cared about her?

Oh my.

"You're overwhelmed."

No question, he was a man of few words. Still, he managed to say everything that needed to be said.

"Who wouldn't be?"

Before she knew it, he had pulled her onto his lap. "I don't want to hurt you, Anna."

He was so big and warm and hard beneath her thighs, against her chest, her hands. And when she was close to him like this, suddenly everything became so much clearer.

He hadn't forced her to come here. He'd simply asked her to marry him and she'd agreed.

Because, for the first time in her life, she wanted to see what it felt like to really live.

"You're not hurting me, Cole. And you don't need to apologize."

"Good," he said in that low, rough voice of his that heated her up beyond reason,

"because I'd rather kiss you." And then his mouth was on hers and her insides were lighting up like the Fourth of July.

"Sweet," he murmured against her lips, between kisses. "Sweeter than sugar."

Her body ached to get closer to his, to shift so that she wasn't sitting sideways across his legs, but straddling him instead.

When he finally let her up for air, she had to say, "You taste good, too."

"Nowhere near as good as you, Anna," he said, his eyes still on her lips, which were throbbing from his passionate kiss.

"Kiss me again, Cole."

She didn't have time to take another breath before he was there, stealing it from her lungs, shifting her so that her breasts were pressed hard against his chest, her arms wrapped tightly around him.