Anna couldn't believe how wrong these women were about Cole. He'd bit off Julie's head because he was trying to keep their lies from being revealed, not because he cared about his new wife.
"I still can't believe he managed to keep you a secret," Julie said. "When did you say the two of you met?"
Anna knew she wasn't a good liar. Not only did she preach to her first graders day in and day out about the value of honesty, but she simply didn't like the way lying made her feel, like gears were grinding together in her gut, pulling and tugging at her insides.
Thankfully, before she could answer, the game began and everyone's attention turned to the field. She peered out at the men in their uniforms. She wanted to ask which one was Cole, but it would be way too suspicious if she did. Fortunately, he wasn't hard to pick out. Not when she already knew how he moved, the broad set of his shoulders, his tight hips. He looked up at the VIP box between plays and she couldn't stop her body from reacting. From wanting.
Needing.
As she watched the players move on the field, she was glad to find herself quickly picking up on the rules. Time passed and she had almost started to feel comfortable, when suddenly Cole thundered into a player from the other team, knocking the huge man to the ground without even breaking stride.
"Oh, my God."
She was too stunned by what she'd seen, by the brutal way he'd stopped the other team from advancing down the field, by what she now realized was his job, to keep the words from leaving her mouth, to keep what she was sure was a clear expression of shock from her face. He was paid to be violent, given so much money for being huge and hard and unstoppable that he could pay for a mansion on the hill in San Francisco, for an expensive sports car, for a penthouse in Las Vegas, for the jewels he'd offered to buy her.
But bigger than her shock at what she'd just seen her husband do, was her shock at herself.
Because instead of being horrified at the violence, instead of wanting nothing more to do with Cole as the other man was helped, limping, off the field, her body had heated up...and she wanted her husband now more than ever.
She wanted all of that barely leashed violence unleashed over her. On her.
In her.
Realizing that both Julie and Melissa were staring at her, questions in their eyes, she shot to her feet. She had to get out of here, had to go somewhere she could be alone and pull herself together.
Somehow, she had to figure out a way to stop reacting with such pleasure every time she saw Cole, or said his name aloud, or even thought about him, about little things like how good he'd been with her family, especially her mother. He'd been perceptive enough to realize that her mother was upset and he hadn't pushed, hadn't tried to get Jackie to like him. He'd just been himself, been easy with all of them, telling them football stories he'd had to know they would like, and by the end of the night, Anna had caught her mother smiling at him despite herself.
"I have to go--" She paused awkwardly.
"The restroom is just out the door and down the hall to the left," Melissa said, concern lacing her brows.
"Thanks."
Splashing her face with cold water in the bathroom, taking the time to repair her light makeup, Anna stepped outside a sliding door into the cool air off the Bay and tried to breathe deeply. But she didn't have enough time to figure out a way to deal with her response to Cole, to tamp down on it and contain it in a little box, one she would only let herself open for the sensual pleasures he'd promised her.
Still, no matter how hard it was going to be to hold firm, she couldn't give up the fight.
Not when she knew with utter certainty that if she gave in to the insidiously soft emotions growing by the second behind her breastbone, she was going to be in a whole lot more trouble than just being caught telling a couple of lies.
If she deviated from their agreement to simply stick it out through his grandmother's illness, she was going to get caught wanting more. So much more that she could already feel herself drinking in every single one of Cole's touches, his kisses, his gazes.
If there was one thing she knew with utter certainty, it was that no man--especially one this rich, famous, and good-looking--would ever want his fake temporary wife to fall in love with him.
Finally, when she heard loud cheering and saw people beginning to file out into the parking lot, she made herself return to the VIP box. Cole would be worried if he couldn't find her. Besides, she might not be the most adventurous woman in the world, but she wasn't a total coward either. Not anymore, anyway.
Thankfully, neither Julie nor Melissa acted like anything was strange about her disappearing for so long. They introduced her to the other players' families and everyone was incredibly nice, despite their clear curiosity over her sudden appearance in Cole's life.