Anna didn't deserve to pay any price at all.

Unfortunately, none of that made a damn lick of difference to their current situation. A situation that was entirely his fault.

"Should I make the call?" Julie held up her phone, her eyebrows raised.

"Make the damn call."

He'd hit the tape room later. First, he needed to beat the crap out of some tackling dummies.

* * *

Anna couldn't believe the way her day had gone. If she'd been smart, she would have gone with Cole's suggestion to have the school get a substitute--and stayed in his bed all day. Instead, she'd naively walked into a situation so far beyond her control, she didn't have the first clue about how to get it back in line. She'd never seen so many parents come to pick their kids up, especially the fathers of girls and boys who usually took the bus. By the time the last of them cleared out, it felt like she'd been smiling that pasted-on smile for hours.

After hiding out in her classroom at lunch, her colleagues weren't any better when she got to her weekly planning session. Between the squeals over the size of her ring to the not-so-veiled questions about what it was like to be married to a big, strapping Outlaw--they didn't care about the married part, just the marital relations part--Anna's budding headache turned into a biting migraine.

Only her friend Virginia acted like a normal human being. Feeling much as she had with her mother, as soon as they were in the car, Anna said, "I'm really sorry I didn't tell you about Cole."

"You don't need to apologize for anything, Anna. I can see exactly why you felt you had to keep your relationship private." Virginia snorted. "I've never seen people act so crazy." Then she smiled. "You look different today."

Anna had to laugh at an assessment that was all too accurate. "You mean because my hair is standing up on end and my eyes are bloodshot?"

"No. You look happy. Happier than I've ever seen you." Anna shot her a surprised look as Virginia added, "Almost like you're glowing."

Glowing? She could actually glow after the day she'd had?

The thing was, despite her exhaustion, just thinking about Cole had a smile moving to her face--and heat coursing through her veins.

He's worth all of this.

"Anna, can I ask you something?"

Virginia's hesitant words had caution riding her again. "Sure." She forced herself to add,

"Anything."

"I remember seeing a picture of Cole in a magazine a couple of weeks ago and--" Her friend grimaced, shook her head. "Never mind."

But Anna wasn't stupid. She knew without being told that her new husband was a lady-killer of serious proportions.

"He was with another woman, wasn't he?"

For a moment she thought Virginia was going to cry. "You're married now. You're happy.

I shouldn't have said anything, but you're one of my closest friends. And I can't stand it if he hasn't been honest with you."

Hating herself for being the dishonest one, Anna said, "Thank you for being my friend."

She wanted so desperately to come clean to someone. And she hated lying to such a close friend, one who cared enough about her to risk their friendship by warning her about possible trouble with her husband.

"Honestly, Cole and I are doing great. And I know that this is going to sound really strange, but if you see any other pictures--" She was a hundred and ten percent positive Virginia would. "--please remember that appearances can be deceiving."

Finally, Anna thought, she'd said something true.

Chapter Fifteen

Virginia followed her into Cole's huge house. "Smells great. Does he have a cook?"

Anna made a sound that she hoped could be construed as either a yes or no, depending on what the right answer turned out to be. But when they turned the corner to the kitchen, she had to stop and brace her suddenly weak legs.

Was there anything sexier than a man who knew how to cook?

Cole's back was to them as he stirred food in several pans, then leaned over to check the oven. Anna was starting to realize how much money her husband had. He didn't need to cook to feed himself. And he certainly didn't need to do a damn thing--like cooking dinner--to try and charm himself into her pants. One hot look was all it ever took.

He was picking up a knife and turning to his cutting board on the kitchen island when he saw them. "Anna, sweetheart, you're home."

Her name on his lips--along with the endearment and the intense heat in his eyes as he drank her in--made thrill bumps run all along her skin.

"Hi."

She suddenly felt shy, but Virginia was going to get suspicious pretty soon if she didn't act a heck of a lot more comfortable with her husband than this.

"Honeybuns," she said brightly, "this is my friend Virginia."

His mouth quirked up into that wonderful half-smile she couldn't get enough of. After turning down the burners on the gas stove, he moved forward with his hand outstretched.

"I really appreciate you bringing Anna home, Virginia." He reached out to Anna and threaded his fingers through hers as he pulled her close and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"There's plenty of food. Stay for dinner. I'd love to get to know one of Anna's friends."

Virginia looked between the two of them. "Thanks. And everything smells great, but I don't want to interrupt your plans."

Selfishly, Anna was desperate to be alone with Cole. How, she suddenly wondered, had she gone so many hours without touching him? Without kissing him? Without being held against his heat? Without breathing in his clean, masculine scent?

But at the same time, the dinner invitation felt so normal. Like he was really her husband.

And she was really his wife.

Hope was carving out another notch inside her chest as she said, "We'd love for you to stay, Virginia."

"Well, if you're sure, then I'd love to."

As they set the dining table and helped plate and carry in food, Anna loved the way Cole made Virginia so comfortable. And she was surprised to find out that her friend was a pretty big football fan. But although he could have easily kept the conversation all about him, he was truly interested in getting to know Virginia better. How had she not known that Virginia had lived in France for several years after college?

From the way people talked about Cole and the part of the game she'd seen on Sunday, Anna understood that Cole was a great football player, but every moment she spent with him made it clear to her that he was so much more than just a spectacular athlete.

He was a great person, period.

As she all but licked her plate clean, she had to laugh at herself. He could have won her love on dinner alone.