Cole had found something special in Anna.

Now he just had to hope that one stupid, stubborn conversation didn't come to light...and pray that it didn't all go to hell.

Chapter Twenty

Anna had never felt so good. Or so happy. So incredibly happy that sometimes she was sure she must be dreaming, that she was going to wake up one of these days and realize Cole wasn't real, that she'd invented him to be her perfect man. Strong, dominant, sexy, and yet so caring, so warm, so wonderful.

Neither of them had to get up early on a Saturday morning and for the first time since coming home to San Francisco, they'd had a chance to have leisurely morning sex. Not, she thought with a smile as she burrowed deeper in the covers, that there had been anything particularly easygoing about it.

They were way too hot for each other to make it too long without combusting in each other's arms.

And the thing was, Anna had had enough easygoing sex before Cole. She loved the hot flash of attraction, loved how powerless she was to her desire.

Because that's what Cole was to her. A deliciously sensual drug that swamped her system.

She craved his touch. His warmth. His words whispering over her skin. From the first moment that he'd kissed her, she'd been lost, with no desire to be found.

Time and time again, she'd forgotten to protect herself against pregnancy when they made love. But instead of being worried, instead of wondering how she could possibly have let herself get so carried away, she found herself noticing the tenderness in her br**sts and wondering if maybe, just maybe, in nine months she'd be seeing Cole's eyes on a little girl or boy.

Everything she'd ever wanted was coming true, things she'd almost stopped dreaming about.

All because of the beautiful man walking into the bedroom holding two cups of coffee.

Her cell phone jumped on the dresser across from the bed. The ringer was off, but Cole eyeballed the screen. "It's your mother."

"I'll call her back later."

She took the mug from him, sipping from his lips first. She'd barely tasted her coffee before he took it from her and put both of their mugs down on the nightstand.

"You don't mind cold coffee, do you?"

She shivered in delicious anticipation at the wicked look in his eyes. "Isn't that why they invented microwaves?"

She went to her knees to reach for him and his arms immediately surrounded her, her mother's call and the coffee completely forgotten. But then, her phone jumped again--and this time she could hear his ringing, too, from the drawer in the closet where he put it at night.

Cole's hands stilled on her skin. He tilted back just far enough that she could see into his eyes. "Sweet Anna, you know how much you mean to me, don't you? You know how happy I was to find you in that club in Vegas, don't you?"

The only time she'd seen him look this serious was when he'd been talking to his grandmother's doctors. "I'm happy, too, Cole."

But the frown between his brows didn't ease, but only burrowed in deeper. "I should have told you how I feel a hundred times by now, baby. I should have been sending you cards and flowers to let you know what you mean to me."

Her heart all but stopped pounding. She had to force herself not to hold her breath, to keep breathing. She'd hoped, prayed, for this moment.

Both of their phones rang again and he seemed momentarily distracted. Now she was frowning, too.

"Tell me now, Cole. Whatever it is, I'm right here. Listening."

His gaze bored into hers and she swore her heart actually quaked behind her ribs.

"I love you, Anna. So much."

Dreams really could come true. Even the ones that seemed impossible.

"I love you, too."

"Promise me that you'll remember, sweetheart. No matter what happens. Promise you won't forget that I love you."

She opened her mouth to promise, to tell him there was no way she could ever forget that he loved her, but just then his doorbell rang in unison with both their phones.

"What's going on? Why is everyone trying to get a hold of us this morning?"

He didn't answer her, just cupped her face in his big hands and kissed her with the very love he'd just professed.

He moved away from the bed and put on his jeans, looking like he was going to face the executioner.

"What's going on, Cole?"

He closed his eyes, stood in the middle of his bedroom like a man who was just about to lose everything. "I f**ked up, baby. Big time."

She was up out of the bed now. Her heart, which had been so full just moments before, was abruptly poised on the edge of a knife.

"How?"

"I said some things to Ty in the locker room. Stupid things. Because I was freaking out about everything." He ran a hand across his stubbled face. "The journalist came to the stadium to ask some follow-up questions. I think she overheard our conversation. I think that's what this is all about."

Everything froze for Anna in that moment. The very air went so still before her that she could see the dust motes stopping their dance in front of the window's morning light.

"What did you say to Ty?"

"I'm sorry, baby."

He was moving toward her, but when she held up a hand, he stopped immediately.

"What did you say?"

"Ty was pushing me, so I told him the truth about how we met. About why we got married." He ran a big hand through his hair so that it stood on end. "But the truth has nothing to do with how we met or why we got married. The only thing that's true is how much I love you."

The knife made its first cut into her heart.

"So, let me see if I understand you correctly. You told Ty our secret just because he asked you one little question, but I've lied to everyone I love again and again."

She couldn't believe her voice was so steady. But maybe it was because she was so cold.

Frozen from the inside out. Tears couldn't possibly come from a block of ice. There had to be warmth for water to drip.

And there was no warmth anymore.

"I'd take it all back if I could," the man she'd loved so much swore. "I'd rewind back to Wednesday night and say different things. I'd go back to that moment and tell him I was in love with you. Hell, I'd go back to that night in the club and know without a doubt that I was going to fall in love with you."