"You've already had every chance in the world to love me right. So why the hell do you think I would possibly give you another?"
Fight. He needed to keep fighting. For love.
For Anna.
"Because you're brave enough to trust me. Because you're brave enough to know the truth when you finally hear it."
She blinked and he could see droplets on her eyelashes. "Whatever you think you saw in me, it wasn't bravery. It was stupidity."
"No, baby, no more lies."
Still hard inside her despite his climax, he shifted her closer with his hands on her hips, and heard her gasp.
But she didn't pull away.
It wasn't much. It wasn't forgiveness or redemption, but it was something.
And he'd take any little bit of hope he could get.
"People have been running from me my whole life. I've got scary down to an art form.
But you--you've never run." Her eyes widened with surprise. "You've never let me scare you away." He still held her close, their bodies still connected in the most intimate way possible.
"Don't let me scare you, sweet girl. Not when telling Ty those things was just a stupid act, just me trying to pretend I was too tough to fall in love. Not when you're the bravest person I've ever met."
He could barely breathe, the blood rushing in his ears making it hard for him to hear himself say, "Be brave for me, sweetheart."
Chapter Twenty-Three
Anna's family crowded the VIP box, along with her friend Virginia. She'd asked them to come and even though she could see they didn't understand why she was here at Cole's game, they came.
She didn't understand it, either.
All she'd known was that she needed to do this, needed to prove to herself that she really was brave. Cole had said the words to her again and again, but believing it for herself was something else entirely.
Last night, after their crazy floor-sex, he'd gone back to his house. And she'd been so lonely she was surprised she'd survived the night.
Since graduating from college, she'd lived alone. She'd liked the silence, enjoyed reading or listening to whatever music she wanted. Sure, she'd sometimes longed for a partner to share her life with--more as the years went by--but she'd never once felt lonely.
Not until Cole had gone.
Cole had only been in her house twice, but she could feel him everywhere. She'd never look at the entry the same way again, or the kitchen where he'd picked her up and carried her the afternoon after their wedding. And her bedroom...well, she simply couldn't go in there. So she'd slept on the couch.
And wondered all night about Cole.
If he was sleeping.
Or if he was as tormented by loneliness, by desire, by regret as she was.
If he was barely able to keep himself from grabbing his car keys and coming back, just as she was.
If he dialed her number dozens of times, hanging up before the seventh digit each time, like she had.
If he missed her as much as she missed him.
Sunlight streamed into the box as Anna yawned. Even with her new dog--the name on his tag was Lucky, amazingly enough--she'd been so lonely, she'd woken up both herself and him from crying more than once during the night.
Frankly, the hardest thing of all at the moment was trying to act like her mother and father and sisters and brothers-in-law and her friend weren't all looking at her like she was going to break in two.
Julie walked in and came over to introduce herself. "Hi everyone. I'm Julie Calhoun. My husband is one of the guys down there."
Alan, one of Anna's brothers-in-law, all but leapt out of his seat to shake Julie's hand.
"Wow, so nice to meet you. Ty is a legend. Congratulations."
If Julie was at all overwhelmed or amused by this greeting, she didn't show it. "I'll be sure to pass on your thoughts to him." She shook her head, laughing. "Although, frankly, that head of his doesn't need to get any bigger."
Knowing exactly how in love Julie and Ty were, Anna's heart squeezed with such longing she felt choked with it.
"Do you have a moment to chat?" Julie asked her quietly, after meeting the rest of her family.
"Sure." Anna forced a smile, knowing her family's eyes were on them as they moved out into the hall.
"How are you doing?" There was no pity in Julie's voice, and none in her eyes. Only natural concern.
"I'm here." Anna honestly didn't know how she was doing, just that she'd had to come to Cole's game.
She was surprised to see Julie smile. "I think they must put something in the Outlaws'
water bottles to make sure they're irresistible." Her smile fell away. "Ty wanted to call you to say how sorry he was for his part in all of this. But I knew he'd only make things worse."
"None of this is Ty's fault." Anna shrugged, trying to act like she was more okay than she was, just as she'd been doing all morning. "It isn't even all Cole's fault. It's my fault, too."
Julie looked down. "You're still wearing his ring."
She knew she should have taken it off, that it should have been off since Saturday morning when the news broke about their fake marriage.
Julie looked like she was about to say something more, when Melissa and Dominic came around the corner. If they were surprised to see her, they didn't show it.
Wanting to do anything but have another conversation about her personal debacle, she said to Dominic, "My father is a huge fan of yours. Would you mind coming in to say hello to him? It would absolutely make his year."
And as the great Dominic DiMarco charmed not only her father, but her entire family, Anna was able to step out of the spotlight for a little while. Only her mother continued to watch her with such deep concern that it broke her daughter's heart all over again.
*
During her breaks at school the previous week, when everything had been going so well with Cole, Anna had studied up on football. For her second-ever game, she was no longer in the dark, and couldn't help but be wrapped up in the action, especially with Cole out there. And the truth was, knowing him so well lent an extra layer to the game. When he sacked the quarterback, she knew it was his testosterone coming into play. When he crushed a running back in the hole, she had to smile at his complete and utter confidence.
It had been a little over twenty-four hours since the article about them had hit. Twenty-four hours of being angry and feeling hurt and betrayed. And yet, she was here.
With the ring he'd put on her finger a week ago in Las Vegas still glittering on her left hand.
The field blurred before her eyes as she looked out on it and accepted the truth.
He'd hurt her feelings deeply and she didn't like him very much right now...but she still loved him. She would always love him.
He'd deserved to be punished by her for what he'd done--she valued herself enough to know that--but not being with him was punishing her, too.
A small half-smile curved her lips at the thought of taking him back--and finding other, far more pleasurable ways to make him pay. But then, gasps sounded in the room and half the people came out of their seats to press against the glass.
Anna looked around at everyone. "What happened?"
Her mother's face had gone completely white. "It's Cole. He was hit."
Anna jumped out of her seat and looked out the window, but she couldn't see Cole, only a dozen people making a circle around someone on the field.
Anna spun away, pushing blindly through the crowd in the VIP box for the door. She needed to be with him, needed to see for herself that he was okay.
"Anna." She realized there was a hand on her arm stopping her from running down the hall. Dominic turned her in the opposite direction. "The field is this way."
With that, he took off down the hallway, and she was so glad he wasn't waiting for her to catch up. As an ex-pro player, he was naturally fast, but love gave her strength and speed she shouldn't have possessed. By the time they got to the tunnel, she was running past
Dominic, past all of the guards.
Heading straight for Cole, she didn't see the crowd on their feet, didn't notice the eerie silence. All she could see was her husband lying on the grass.
All she could feel was love.
Not anger. Not bitterness.
Only love.
She'd thought coming to his game was being brave. But as she pushed through the crowd of coaches and trainers, she finally realized what real bravery was.
It was loving someone so much that she would take his pain as her own.
And it was forgiving the little mistakes, the bad decisions, the sometimes hurtful words, because she knew that none of that really mattered when it came right down to it.
Her husband had told her she was brave, time and time again. She hadn't believed him, hadn't thought he was seeing the real her--when all along he'd known her better than anyone.
"Be brave for me, sweetheart," was what he'd said to her last night before she'd sent him home .
She hadn't been able to do it then.
But she would be brave for him now.
*
Jesus, his head hurt. And he was tired. So damn tired. Cole wanted to stay asleep, knew that fading back to black would be a blessed relief from the pain shooting through him, head to toe.
But something stopped him from drifting away.
A soft hand in his, slender but strong fingers gripping his.
Anna.
No. She couldn't really be there, had no reason at all to be at his game. But the hand in his wasn't letting go. And he knew that touch. Would never, ever be able to forget her sweetly sinful caresses.
He had to open his eyes and even though it felt like he was trying to break through cement across his eyelids, he worked like hell to get the seal broken so that he could see his Anna.
Sweet Anna.
His reward was the most beautiful girl in the world smiling down at him. She wasn't crying. She didn't look scared.
She looked brave.
For him.
She was brave enough to declare her feelings for him in front of the entire stadium and the millions of people watching the game on TV.
He'd taken her love for granted once. He wouldn't ever do it again.
"I love you, Cole."
The words he hadn't heard her say since Saturday morning, words he'd been so desperate for, were like a shot of morphine, instantly taking away the pain.
"Ma'am, we need you to move away."
But instead of leaving him, she moved closer. She leaned down, the tips of her hair brushing against his face, her breath sweet on his earlobe.
"And I trust you."
Cole had been hit enough times over the years to know when to try to get up on his own and when to let the medics carry him off the field. But he hadn't had Anna at his side any of those times.
He hadn't had her trust, her love, to make him strong.
And now, there was something he needed to do, a reason he needed to get up that had nothing to do with playing football.
Pain came screaming back as he rolled to his side. Arms, hands tried to get him to lie flat, but when he growled at them to leave him the fuck alone, they backed off.
Only Anna remained, her hands giving him the strength he needed to roll to his knees.
Stars blinked in his vision and nausea roiled in his stomach as he pulled himself upright, still on his knees. Anna was right there with him, breathing with him. Apart from his grandmother, he'd never had anyone to lean on.
Until Anna.
She was the strong one, the woman who would be strong enough to give birth to their children, the woman who would be strong enough to forgive him for acting stupid sometimes, the woman who was strong enough to face down an entire stadium of people who probably thought she was crazy for still loving him.
And he would learn from her strength every single day.
She stood in front of him, both of his hands held firmly, lovingly, in hers, and he knew she'd wait patiently for as long as it took him to get to his feet.
But that wasn't where he was trying to go. Instead, he shifted again so that one of his knees was still on the ground, but his other foot was holding the rest of his weight.
Her eyes went wide as she realized what he was about to do. And then the woman who had been a ray of light for him from the first moment he'd met her threw her head back and laughed.
"Only you would stage something like this, Cole," she said when she looked back at him, even though they both knew he hadn't staged anything until now.
He knew what she was doing, knew that she was giving him back his strength, cell by cell, starting with his heart.
He looked up, saw the screens all around the stadium were holding tight on him and Anna, the crowd of medics and trainers and coaches moving away from them. Eighty thousand people held their collective breath.
"I love you, Anna." Each word cost him sweat as pain blistered through his ribs. "I've loved you from the first second I saw you. My sweet girl with the halo."
One tear fell down her cheek, and then another on the opposite side.
"Will you make me the happiest man alive, sweetheart, and marry me all over again? For real this time."
He knew no one could hear them, although he suspected there was quite a bit of lip-reading going on. Just like everyone else, he held his breath waiting for her answer.
He didn't deserve a yes, but damn it, he wanted it anyway. And if--when--it came, he was going to grab hold of Anna's love and never, ever make the mistake of letting it go again.
Only, her lips didn't move into a yes. "No." She shook her head. "I won't marry you all over again."
He didn't know how he stayed upright, how he managed to remain conscious. But then she dropped to her knees in front of him.
"Our marriage was always real. Right from the start, right from that first kiss, I knew I loved you. And that I would spend the rest of my life with you."
She kissed him and eighty thousand people finally went wild.
But none as wild as the bad boy who never in a million years thought a good girl would be his downfall...and his entire salvation.
*
Three months later It was one hell of a party, the kind an Outlaw threw when he wanted to share his joy with the world.
Sitting beside his grandmother, who was firmly in remission as of the previous month, Cole watched Anna dancing with her sisters, pride etched into every line on his face.
"Anna's going to be a wonderful mother."
Cole shot a surprised glance at his grandmother. He and Anna had found out she was pregnant several weeks ago, but they'd wanted to keep something for themselves this time. His wife wasn't quite showing yet, apart from the fact that her beautiful breasts had filled out a bit more, but they were planning to tell everyone the amazing news later today.
"And you're going to be a wonderful father, honey." Tears sprang into Eugenia's eyes as she gripped his hand. "Thank you for making my wish come true."
And when his wife turned and smiled her sweet smile at him from among the dancing, happy crowd, Cole simply squeezed his grandmother's hand in response.
Her wish wasn't the only one that had been granted.
THE END
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Other titles by Bel
la Andre..
LOVE ME
(c) 2010 Bella Andre
It's been five years since Lily Ellis and Travis Carson got married and fell in love in TAKE ME....now it's finally time for Janica Ellis and Luke Carson to get their very own happy ending.
If there's one thing that Janica Ellis is absolutely certain of, it's that she and Luke Carson are totally wrong for each other. She's a wild, artistic and outspoken fashion designer. He's a type A, workaholic trauma surgeon (who just happens to be sizzling hot and her brother-in-law!). But Janica is about to be proven wrong when opposites attract...in the sexiest possible way.
After a life-changing night in the ER, Luke is desperate for escape - and relief from his personal demons. For five years he has fought his attraction to his sister-in-law, but when he's pushed too far, he can't fight it another second. He needs her. Desperately. He's spent his whole life doing the right thing. For one night, he's going to follow desire instead. Straight into Janica's arms.
Janica can't believe Luke is finally at her front door...and that he's kissing her like he's been waiting his whole life to touch her. But even as their sensual connection deepens with every touch of skin on skin - and the man she always thought was such a good boy turns out to be sinfully, toe-curlingly bad between the sheets - Janica soon realizes she wants more than Luke's body. She wants his heart too. But what will Luke do when one night of extreme passion turns into an all or nothing proposition?
Enjoy the following excerpt for LOVE ME...
Janica couldn't get enough of Luke.
She could feel the warmth of his skin beneath his clothes as her hands roamed down his back, then back up and across his broad, muscular shoulders, but it wasn't good enough. She wanted to know the feel of him beneath her fingertips.
Skin on skin.
Let the love begin.
Oh yeah.
She couldn't remember ever feeling like this, so utterly consumed by a man, so frantic to get him naked, to feast her eyes and hands and mouth on every inch of his body. Sex had always been at the top of her favorite-things list, but this desire--this total, all-encompassing need--was something else entirely.
So different, in fact, that as she yanked his T-shirt out of his pants and broke their kiss long enough to pull it up over his head, she started freaking out a little bit.
Because with his torso bared before her, with all of that hard heat at her disposal to caress and run her tongue across, she wanted so many things so powerfully all at once that instead of being able to do any of them she found herself paralyzed.