“Strike!”

Millie swaggered over to where Cole, Calum, and Laurella were standing by the rack of bowling balls. She high-fived Cole and stuck out her tongue at Calum. He’d been full of it on the way over, saying he was the master at bowling, and how he always won every game, no matter who he played against. She might not play very often, but she had a natural talent for bowling. Always had. Of course, she’d let him think that she sucked monkey balls.

“You know what they say, Calum,” Millie said with a grin. “To assume is to make an ass out of you and me.”

“Yeah, except Calum’s the only ass I can see,” Cole said, twirling a lock of her hair as she sat beside him.

Calum scowled, until Laurella sidled up to him, swept a hand over his backside, and murmured, “Aw, my little stronzo. Don’t worry. You’ve got a mighty fine ass.”

He smiled then and bent down to peck her lips.

“What does stronzo mean?” Millie asked Laurella, guessing it was Italian.

“Asshole.” Calum answered for her. “It’s her way of telling me she loves me. Isn’t that right, sweetheart?”

Laurella gave a glimmer of a smile. “Of course it is, tesoro.”

Millie suppressed a grin. Laurella sure seemed to have the magic touch to dispel Calum’s moods. He laced his fingers, cracked his knuckles, and then picked up his bowling ball.

“Okay, Frayser. You want a fight, you got one. Get ready for a play-off. Just you and me.”

She made a dismissive gesture with her hand, although her insides went all gooey, because this felt like a real family, and she was becoming a part of it.

“Do your worst, Brook.”

He limbered up and then rolled the ball toward the pins at the end. The ball crashed into them, scattering the pins in several different directions. If he got the strike, they’d tie the match. The very last one wavered, rocked back and forth, and then settled firmly on its base.

“Fucking hell,” Calum ranted.

Millie grinned. “Oh, what bad luck.” She got to her feet and did a little victory dance. “She shoots. She scores!”

Calum glared over at Cole. “What the hell did you do to her last night, bro? Coz I don’t recognize this girl from the timid little mouse who turned up almost two months ago.”

Cole tossed his wallet at Calum, who caught it with one hand. “Make yourself useful and go get us another round of drinks.”

“And a bottle of witch hazel,” Millie added. When Calum gave her a confused frown, she added, “You know. For your wounded ego.”

Laurella began to laugh. “Oh, Millie. You are priceless.”

Calum threw a deep scowl her way. “Next weekend, Frayser. I want a rematch.”

Laurella shoved him in the back. “Drinks. I’m sure Millie has better things to do with her time off than beat you at bowling. It’s a silly game anyway.”

Horrified, Calum clasped a hand to his chest. “I think you just ruined our relationship.”

The two of them walked over to the bar, still laughing together. Millie watched them for a moment, and when she turned back around, Cole was studying her.

“They’re good together,” she said, mainly for something to say because the look on his face made her want to do some very naughty things in a very public place.

“They are.” He carried on with the sexy-as-all-hell eye sweep that was getting her all hot and bothered beneath her clothes. She could swear a trickle of sweat just dripped between her boobs, even though the bowling alley had the AC set to sub-zero.

He held out his hand. “Come here.”

She frowned, because she couldn’t get her chair any closer. “I am here.”

He shook his head, and then patted his thigh. “Come here,” he repeated.

She gaped at him. “I can’t sit on your lap in the middle of a bowling alley.”

Cole twisted his head left and right. Saturday night was clearly bowling night for college kids because the lanes were full of horny teens and twentysomethings getting it on and not caring who was watching. When his gaze cut back to hers, she got the message without him having to say a word.

On unsteady legs, she got to her feet and straddled him, lowering herself into his lap. He settled one hand on her thigh, snaking the other up her spine until his palm was plastered to the back of her neck. His thumb skated over the skin right below her ear, and then he applied a light pressure to the back of her head until their lips were millimeters apart.

She snatched a breath as his eyes roved over her face. They slipped south, pausing on her chest. His tongue swept over his bottom lip, and then he was kissing her. Like full-on, no-holds-barred kissing. In public. He rocked his hips ever so slightly, but it was enough for his erection to brush against exactly where she needed that hardness. She moaned into his mouth. It was as though he was releasing all of his pent-up energy, frustration, and need—grown over ten very long years—and now he could touch her, he found he couldn’t stop.

He broke off their kiss, his lips moving feverishly over her jaw, her neck. When his teeth bit down on her earlobe, she honestly thought she was going to come. It wouldn’t take much. A little more rubbing, a little more friction, and she’d have a memory to savor well into old age.

And then Calum returned and blew the sexy times moment to smithereens.

“Jesus, bro,” he said, setting down their drinks. “Making up for lost time? At least take it into the restrooms.”

Millie scrambled to her feet, despite Cole doing his best to stop her. “We were just… I mean… it wasn’t…” She stared helplessly at Cole. “Help me out here, would you?”

He chuckled and captured her hand, his callused thumb skating back and forth over her knuckles. “What Mia is trying to say is I can’t keep my hands off her.”

Laurella made an Awww noise, while Calum sniggered—and Millie exited stage left.

“Just going to use the restroom.”

She stared into the mirror and gripped the counter. She’d almost… in a public place. And what’s more, she’d loved it. She gave herself a virtual high five. Times were changing—and so was she.

Cole couldn’t keep his hands off of her. All those years she hadn’t given him a passing thought, and like Calum had pointed out, she certainly hadn’t noticed him in high school. But she’d been a silly young girl then and she’d paid a high price for her mistakes. But the passage of time and, very likely, her terrible experience with Tanner had given her a unique insight into men. She could have been put off for life. And if Cole was more like Calum, all dick waving and egotistical, she would have run a mile. She’d been on the receiving end of enough alpha smackdowns to last a lifetime. Not that she was saying Cole wasn’t all man, because he was definitely all man, with cream and a cherry on top. But he was also tender, thoughtful, calm, measured. He was exactly what she needed to discover the woman she was now, not the girl she had been back then.

She finished up, washed her hands and, with her head held high, strode back into the bowling alley. The noise volume had increased, and she was able to sneak over to their lane without being spotted. She was about to slip her hands around Cole’s broad shoulders and give his earlobe a good hard suck when the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and her pulse jolted into overdrive. She spun around and scanned the hall. Nothing looked out of place, apart from a minor altercation going on at the shoe exchange station.

With a metaphorical shrug, she put her Cole plan into action. Her teeth barely grazed his ear when she found herself back in his lap, this time sidesaddle. He nuzzled her neck.

“There you are. I missed you.”

Calum made a motion with his fingers, feigning puking, but his eyes were shining, his expression open and friendly. “Shall we go to dinner before Cole’s nauseating love fest makes me lose my appetite?”

Laurella got up from her seat and plunked herself right on Calum’s lap. Millie could swear she stuck her tongue in his ear. Whatever she did tore a low groan from Calum, along with a hiss of breath and a very clear, “Fuck.”

Laurella gave him a sweet smile. “Just checking you haven’t forgotten what the first flush of a relationship feels like. After all, we’re only six months in. I do hope you’re not getting bored already.”

Millie snorted a laugh. Laurella was fast becoming her favorite person, and not only because she could bring Calum to heel magnificently with very little effort, but also because she was great company and a lot of fun.

“I haven’t forgotten,” he said, his gaze roving over her like he’d found Heaven—and they’d given him an unlimited entrance ticket. “And I am definitely not getting bored.”

“Then give your brother a break, because if you make one more wisecrack this evening, Cole will be the only twin getting any tonight.”

Millie’s eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with her hand, forcing back a giggle that threatened to escape.

Cole full-on laughed.

Calum looked suitably chastised.

“Excellent,” Laurella said, giving his arm a condescending pat. “Now, where shall we go to eat?”

Cole eased Millie into the booth and slid in after her. Calum and Laurella sat opposite. Calum had been well and truly brought to heel, and all of his quips and jokes had been confined to subjects that didn’t involve Millie and Cole pressing their groins together.

Calum had chosen the restaurant. It was a bit too pretentious for her liking, but as he’d clearly stated—with no room for argument—that dinner was on him, she wasn’t exactly in a position to argue.

Cole felt for her hand beneath the table and gave it a little squeeze. “You doing okay?”

She nodded, leaning in conspiratorially. “I’d have been just as happy with falafel or a hot dog from one of those street vendors.”

He chuckled and cocked his head in Calum and Laurella’s direction. “I’m with you. However, my advice is not to mention it to those two. You may bring on a coronary.”

Millie grinned and then jumped when his hand snaked up her leg and he whispered, “It doesn’t mean we can’t make it interesting, though.”

Oh hello, double somersault mated with the first dip on a roller coaster.

She swallowed and swiped her tongue over very dry lips. She picked up a glass of water that had miraculously arrived and drank greedily.

True to his word, Cole made the dinner very interesting, although she did have to slap his hand away once or twice when he pushed at boundaries she wasn’t yet ready to allow him to cross in public. The full-on kissing at the bowling alley was one thing. Letting him snake a finger inside her panties during dinner at a nice restaurant was definitely another.

The waiter dropped off the dessert menu. Millie groaned and rubbed her belly. She might not be totally comfortable eating in such luxurious surroundings, but holy hell, the chef here could cook. Saliva actually filled her mouth as she checked out the decadent list of sugary treats, despite her stomach being ready to burst.

Cole curved a hand around the back of her neck and thumbed her earlobe. It sent a tremor straight to her core. “What’ll you have?”

She automatically leaned toward him. “I’m so full, I shouldn’t have anything, but the salted caramel pecan cheesecake is calling to me, and I’m too weak to resist.”

He moved his mouth to her ear. “That’s how I feel about you. You’re my salted caramel pecan cheesecake.”

She was about to respond in kind when her earlier unease made a comeback. The hairs on her arms stood on end, and she glanced around the restaurant. And then she saw him… making a beeline directly for their table.

“Oh shit,” she said, looking around for an exit and a way to intercept Tanner before all hell broke loose. But Cole’s big body was in the way, preventing her from getting up.

“What’s the mat—”

He followed her gaze, and his voice trailed off. His face hardened. He got to his feet with Millie scrambling after him.

Cole body blocked Tanner. Her husband tried to get through again. Cole shoved him hard in the chest. Tanner stumbled back a step or two, his hands in the air.

“I don’t want any trouble. I only want to talk to my wife.”

Millie groaned as those near enough to hear—and considering Tanner had a loud mouth, that meant half the restaurant—suddenly realized they were witnessing a rather juicy piece of gossip. Their gazes jumped between the two angry young men close to a fist fight and the horrified wife—and assumed cheater.

Millie got hold of Cole’s arm, and she tugged to get his attention. “It’s okay, Cole.”

“It is not okay,” he said, his jaw clenched up all tight. “She’s told you already to fuck off, so what the hell are you still doing here, huh?”

Tanner held his hands in the air. “I don’t want any trouble. I just want to talk.”

Calum joined them, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Cole while Laurella moved next to Millie, close enough that Laurella’s silk top brushed against her bare arm.

“I said everything I needed to last Saturday, Tanner,” Millie said, her courage bolstered by the wall of support.

Tanner gave her a beseeching look, very unlike the normal hard, condescending, cocky expression she’d grown to know—and hate.

“Five minutes. That’s all I’m asking. We can sit at the bar over there.” He pointed unnecessarily and then turned to Cole. “You can see her from your table.”

Cole didn’t seem remotely reassured by Tanner’s suggestion. He widened his stance, his chest thrust forward, arms crossed in front, and he shifted a little to the side, partly blocking her view of Tanner. Oh God. He was protecting her. A fluttering set off in her chest, despite the seriousness of the situation. But this was her mess, and it was up to her to sort it out.

“Five minutes,” she said.

Cole’s head swiveled so fast, she half expected him to reenact a scene from the Exorcist.

“You don’t have to speak with this dirtbag.”

She swept a hand down his arm, ending at his fingers, which she squeezed. “I know.” She moved her mouth to his ear, so only he could hear. “I need to finish this once and for all, especially now.”

She strode past Tanner toward the bar. When he didn’t follow, she tossed a, “Clock is ticking,” throwaway comment over her shoulder and internally hugged herself for being so brave. No doubt Cole had a lot to do with her rediscovered sass. She owed that man an orgasm for the amazing job he was doing to rebuild her self-esteem and confidence. And her eternal gratitude. His belief in her had given her strength, and in turn, had loosened Tanner’s hold over her. He didn’t terrify her anymore.

Millie pulled out a chair at the bar and sat. Tanner joined her a few seconds later. He looked a little stunned, as though he wasn’t sure what had happened to the downtrodden wife he’d been able to push around for the better part of ten years. When they’d spoken in Central Park, she’d still been under his influence to a certain degree, so she’d let him do most of the talking, but after the last week, and especially this weekend, everything had changed—because now she was with Cole.

The bartender headed their way but Millie waved him away. She turned to her husband. “What do you want, Tanner?”

“I want you back.”

She sighed. He’d said the same in Central Park. “We’ve had this conversation.”

“I can change. I will change. I’ll do it for you.”

She almost felt sorry for him. Almost. Except Tanner was an expert at fooling people—apart from her parents. He’d never been able to pull the wool over their eyes, hence his successful campaign to estrange her from them. But everyone else—his friends, the young players he worked with, the coach of the football team—all thought he was the perfect husband and that they had the perfect marriage.

“You had ten years to change, Tanner.”

He went to grab her hand. She yanked it out of reach.

“And you could have told me you were leaving,” he said, a definite undercurrent leaking into his tone. “But we all make mistakes.”

Her eyes widened. “Mistakes? You think systematically trying to destroy me over the last ten years was a mistake?”

He huffed, his appeasing mask slipping. “I can only apologize so many times. How long are you going to punish me?”

Tired of the same conversation, she swiped a hand over her face. They were getting nowhere fast. And then a thought came to her. The earlier sense of unease at bowling, the prickling sensation she’d felt before she’d seen Tanner making his way over. And something Cole had said when Tanner first turned up after she’d met her parents for coffee.

“Have you been following us tonight? Were you at the bowling alley?”

“Have you fucked him?”

Her eyebrows shot up. Yep, he’d followed them. And he’d seen her making out with Cole. “Excuse me?”

His eyes narrowed into slits. “Brook. Have you let him put his dick in you?”

Her vision clouded, and her hands shook. She jumped down from the chair. “This conversation is over.”

He gripped her arm. “I haven’t finished with you.”

She didn’t even get to yank her shoulder upward because Cole got a hold of Tanner. “Oh, you’ve finished,” he almost growled, shoving Tanner’s arm up his back. He winced in pain.

“Go and sit down, Mia. Now.”

She should feel bad about the agony twisting Tanner’s features, but instead, she wanted him to hurt—badly. She wanted to rake her fingernails down his too-perfect face, to slice open his balls with a rusty nail. She sucked in a few deep breaths in a bid to calm her rapidly escalating anger while Tanner struggled to escape Cole’s grip. Cole must be too used to handling criminals resisting arrest, or simply those who’d had a little too much to drink and fancied taking on a cop, because he barely broke a sweat.

She jabbed a finger in Tanner’s face. “It’s over, Tanner,” she said, and then added on for good measure, “You’ll be hearing from my lawyer.”

She didn’t have two red cents to rub together, let alone spare cash for a lawyer. Still, saying it felt damned good.