Page 14 of The Love Lie
“Want to make it up to me?” he asks suddenly, not really sure why, except he can’t bear to think of her wasting her time in a place like this buried in a computer.
She’s immediately suspicious. “How?”
“Have breakfast with me.”
“Breakfast?”
“We can go to the restaurant in the main building since you’re headed there anyway. You have to eat, don’t you? I’m starving.”
Her lips twist into a wry grin. “Well, an early-morning swim will do that to a guy.”
“Don’t knock it till you try it.”
“Is my underwear a requirement?”
He holds up his hands apologetically. “House rules.”
“That’s too bad.” She sighs and stares longingly outside before turning those overly round doe eyes on him. The innocence in her expression instantly fades, replaced by wicked delight. “I’m not wearing any.”
The words are a sucker punch straight to the groin. They land with a physical weight that leaves him exhaling sharply in pain.Sam simply grins and spins on her heels before marching back into her bedroom with an offhanded, “I’ll be ready in five.”
Fucking hell.Cooper shakes his head and water droplets go flying in every direction.Does she always have to have the last word?
His balls might not survive it.
His heart definitely won’t.
Because he likes it. Likes the fire in her eyes. Likes the silent dare. Likes the confidence. Likes the challenge.
He’s not sure who the first woman in the room had been—worried, and stressed out, and panicked about what her boss might think. But the second version of Samantha Peters—the sultry, biting ball-breaker—he likes her too damn much. And if all he has to do to bring that woman out is piss the first one off a little, well, he’s definitely the right man for the job.
He’s never been afraid of a little hard work.
CHAPTER FIVE
sam
At least Idon’t shovel cow shit for a living, Sam thinks for the twentieth time in about two minutes.God, why did I say that?
The snobby, self-entitled words are branded on her soul, absolutely searing. Any ounce of superiority she thought she had over the jerks in her office is officially gone. She’s an asshole, same as them, looking down on the rest of the world.
Except she really hopes that’s not true.
It was that stupid word.Fancy.Or maybe not so much the word, but the mocking way Cooper had said it. As if the thought of her in the banking world was a joke. As if she didn’t belong. In hindsight, it’s clear he meant it as nothing more than a teasing jab. He had no way to know how deep the knife would cut. But the moment he said it, she heard another voice in the back of her mind—the one she’s spent the better part of six years trying her best to forget.
You think you’re my girlfriend?
You’re a fucking charity case, Sam.
A pity lay.
And honestly, I’m running out of shits to give you.
Spencer’s words echo across the void, still as sharp as the day he said them. She doesn’t miss him. She doesn’t even hate him anymore. It’s nothim, but what he said that sticks with her, because the jabs taught her an invaluable lesson. That she could build her life around someone, that she could give him every bit of herself, could make him her world, and in less than a minute he could take it all away. Men aren’t dependable enough to act as a foundation. The only thing a woman can count on in this world is herself.
Sam closes her eyes, scrunching her face up tight.
Stay focused.
