"Please, Anna. Take this chance to be crazy and marry me."
She blinked once, twice, three times in clear surprise at his plea, her beautifully long eyelashes fluttering against her cheekbones. He had to press a kiss to each eyelid.
"Marrying you is more than crazy, Cole. It's certifiably insane."
God, he loved hearing his name on her lips. A sudden vision came at him of her lying beneath him on his bed, her eyes shining with pleasure as she cried out his name.
She was right. Getting married was insane, for so many reasons. He hadn't told his grandmother he was married, or even engaged. He'd just said that he'd found love. So then, why did it seem so crucially important that Anna agree to marry him?
Insane didn't even come close.
"I don't get it. Why would you want to marry me?" She looked up at him, her lack of comprehension clear in her beautiful eyes.
Would her eyes ever not take his breath away?
But instead of crafting an answer that would convince her to marry him--something other than the inexplicable Because I think I could fall in love with you that kept ringing through his brain--he found himself telling her the only other thing in his head.
"Your eyes are like the ocean, Anna. So beautiful I could stare into them forever."
She looked stunned and pleased in equal measure, but then, suddenly, she was looking away from him and saying, "Oh no."
Following her gaze, all he saw were people dancing and drinking, the same as they had all night.
"What's wrong?"
"My sisters. They look worried."
She had sisters? And they were here, in this bar, right now?
A moment later she was cradled in his arms again and he wasn't sure if he had pulled her closer--instinctively claiming her--or if she was the one hiding out against his chest.
"Shoot. They're coming over here."
He felt his heartbeat kick up, knew he was about to lose her, that she was about to disappear from his life as quickly as she'd come into it, but then her hands moved to his, her slender fingers strong and sure, her blue/green eyes clear and beautiful as she tilted her face up to his.
"Yes, Cole, I'll marry you."
This time he was the one floundering. "You--you will?"
"Yes. I will." She shot another quick glance at the three women advancing on them. "But we need to leave right now or it isn't going to happen."
And the next thing he knew, his innocent angel was pulling him across the dance floor, through the throngs of people, and out through the casino so fast that even the paps didn't have time to catch a shot of them...on the way to their wedding.
Chapter Three
"Welcome to Cupid's Wedding Chapel. How may I help you?"
Anna was more than a little surprised by the question. They were in a Vegas chapel at eleven at night. Was there something other than marriage on the menu?
"We want to get married," she blurted, the words all sliding into one another in her haste to get them said.
Cole shot her a half-surprised, half-amused glance and she sucked in a breath as she took in his beautiful face. Oh God, was she really doing this? Was she really about to marry a man that she didn't know anything about apart from his first name?
She shot a glance at his face, her eyes automatically going to his mouth. No, that wasn't true. She knew how well he kissed. That the merest touch of his lips to hers, the slow slide of his tongue against hers, had her wanting things she hadn't even known were out there for the taking.
Thrill bumps ran up and down her skin as he brushed his thumb across her palm, again and again in a circle that had her practically panting with lust. Truthfully, she still hadn't gotten used to holding his hand. From the moment they'd left the club, down the back street behind the casino to the nearest chapel, he hadn't let go.
Holding his hand shouldn't have been such a big deal--and really, it wasn't. The thing was, Anna loved holding hands. Really, really loved it. Almost more than she liked sex, in fact.