Page 115 of The Love Lie
“That’s me,” she chirps, turning back to Cooper, pulled toward him by some inner instinct she doesn’t want to temper. The crinkles at the corners of his eyes tell her everything she needs to know. He leans back in his seat and drapes his arm around her, then hugs her against his side as his chest swells with what she knows is his first full breath in three weeks. “Though someday, maybe, I might be Mrs. Kelley, too. I haven’t decided if I’m really the taking-my-husband’s-last-name type, but it does have a nice ring to it.”
Keith stares at her, then at Cooper, then somewhere offstage. If downtown Los Angeles had crickets, they’d be chirping up a storm in the silence that follows. It’s probably no more than a second or two, but beneath the blinking red lights of a dozen cameras, she feels as though it goes on for a year. Suddenly, the host snaps out of his daze and looks directly into the lens.
“We’ll be right back.”
Theon airsign blinks off.
“What the FUCK,” he explodes, jumping to his feet. Nina runs onstage and starts talking to him too softly for anyone else to hear. Every member of the studio audience launches into conversation all at once. In the center of the storm, Sam watches Cooper, and he watches her, each wearing a silly, stupid smile across their lips.
“Couldn’t have given me a little heads-up?” Cooper comments, arching a brow. “I’ve been out of my goddamn mind, Cuj.”
“Yeah? Just wait until you hear what’s next.”
“What?”
“Hey.” Nina snaps her fingers, drawing their attention. “Thing One and Thing Two, save it for the show.”
Sam rolls her eyes.
Cooper grunts.
“I amnotgoing to miss her,” he says under his breath.
No, you definitely won’t.Sam laughs softly. A ten-second countdown begins as the producers scramble to quiet everyone down. She leans up until her mouth hovers beside his ear, needing to give Cooper one moment that’s just for him.
“I was out of my goddamn mind, too, cowboy,” she whispers. “I love you.”
He whips toward her.
The countdown hits one.
They’re live.
“So,Sam,” Keith says, the easygoing laugh back as he keeps his cool, collected mask firmly in place. “You sort of dropped a bomb on us there. Care to explain?”
“There’s not much to explain.” She shrugs, trying to keep as calm as possible as nervous bolts snap down her spine.This is it. They have to believe me. Theywillbelieve me.Everything—her heart, Cooper’s ranch, Emily’s business—it’s all riding onthis moment and this one little white lie she absolutely needs to get right. “I’ve been Sam the whole time. When my mom went onWake Up, America!asking for help finding my sister a boyfriend, she didn’t realize that Emily had recently gotten back together with her high-school sweetheart. No one except for me knew about it. Things were still fresh. My sister never imagined that the clip would blow up. She never dreamed the producers of our favorite show,The Love Match, would come calling asking her to be the new lead. But when they did, she couldn’t accept. She was already in love. It wouldn’t have been right to lead thirty men on when her heart belonged to someone else. But we both knew what this kind of exposure could be for her jewelry business, a dream she’s been chasing her entire life, a dream I want more than anything for her to achieve, especially since I’m also the CFO of the company. So I suggested we pull a trick out of our old identical-twin playbook and switch places.”
“Switch places?” Keith asks.
“I told her I would come on the show and pretend to be her. No one would know the difference. I was single at the time. We could still give America exactly what they wanted. I thought I would come out here, date a bunch of cute guys, wear my sister’s fabulous jewelry, and then go back to my life, simple as that.”
Keith glances between her and Cooper, then drops his gaze to their intertwined hands. “And then you met Cooper?”
“And then I met Cooper.” She laughs and shakes her head. “What was I supposed to do? Let a little thing like my name come in between us? I mean, look at him, ladies.” Sam gestures at him, grinning as the audience hoots and hollers their approval. She looks up at the man in question, hoping he sees the complete honesty shining in her eyes. “I knew falling for him would break every single one of my rules, and I tried not to. Lord, how I tried. But when have rules ever mattered when it comes to love? I knew being with him would risk everything. Iknew there was a chance that all of you amazing people watching the show would never forgive me or my sister for lying to you like this. I knew my actions could destroy her dreams. I knew all of that, but when he looked at me, none of it mattered.”
The audience swoons.
She has them in the palm of her hand, and yet, just as she said, none of it matters. The only things that matter are the warm green eyes lighting her up inside, the arm holding her close, the thumb drawing circles on the back of her hand. She’s not speaking to them—to the cameras, the audience, Keith, the producers. They all fade away, until it’s just her and Cooper in the middle of their own universe.
“I’ve been scared for a long time, scared of giving my heart to someone, afraid they might break it. But when I thought of walking away, of never seeing you again, I realized something. You already had it. The moment we met, I gave you a little piece of myself. And with each passing day, I freely gave more and more, until eventually, I looked around and realized you had it all. Falling in love with you was so easy I didn’t even realize it was happening until I was completely head over heels, but I know what this is now. I know what we are, and I’m sorry I ever doubted it. I’m not afraid anymore. I need you. So…”
Sam disentangles herself from Cooper and scoots back on the couch. She removes the ring on her finger and holds it out to him.
“The first time you gave me this ring, you didn’t know what you were agreeing to,” she says. “Now it’s your choice. Break my heart if you have to, Cooper. I probably deserve it. Or be with me, therealme. No rules. No limits. No fear.”
The studio is utterly silent, as if everyone is waiting on the same collective inhale. Cooper takes the ring between his pointer finger and his thumb, the brush of his skin like a match to sandpaper, setting her on fire. Her heart races. Yet he’s utterlycalm as he slowly twists and turns the gem, as if inspecting the cut. Suddenly, he tosses the ring high and deftly snatches it from the air. Beneath the brim of his hat, he wears an expression that can only be classified as sinful while he lifts his chin to look at her.
“I have one rule, Sam.”
