Page 16 of The Love Lie
Is that seriously happening right now?
A flutter!
Hell. No.
She doesn’t do feelings. One-night stands? Sure. The occasional fling? Yeah. Friends with benefits? Absolutely. But feelings? It’s a hard line—one Sam’s not about to cross anytime soon.
She tries to rip her hand free, but he’s made of freaking iron. The arm wrapped around her waist doesn’t even budge. Her rage intensifies.
So does the flutter.
Grrrrr!
She tugs again. He squeezes her fingers, completely unperturbed. “Someone might be watching.”
It’s a fact.
But the way he said it also makes it sound like a dare.
She’s never hated her competitive spirit more than she does in this instant, but even so, she relaxes against him and lets him guide her forward. He smirks and flexes his hand. The tip of his thumb slides precariously close to the bottom edge of her bra.
It does NOT make her heart lurch in her chest.
No way.
Not even a little.
“One inch higher,” she hisses through her forced smile, “and I’m hip checking you off this pier. I know how much you love to swim.”
He leans close enough to brush her cheek with his nose. Warm breath hits her skin, and a trail of goose bumps ripples down her spine. “If I go down, Cuj, I’m taking you with me.”
She shrugs. “You can try…”
This earns her a dubious glance. Which, okay, yeah, he’s practically a giant compared to her and it would take him little effort to toss her like a rag doll into the ocean, but there’s one attack that can down even the burliest of men.
Sam reaches subtly with her free hand.
She prepares her thumb and her pointer finger.
When he’s least expecting it, she strikes.
His ass is shockingly firm—the man is a freaking Adonis—but she still manages to grab a sliver of loose skin through his jeans. Freshly manicured nails at the ready, she pinches with everything she’s got.
Cooper yelps.
Actually yelps.
The hand around her waist snatches back as he jolts in pained surprise. Sam takes the opening to dash out of reach. “…but you have to catch me first.”
With that, she’s off.
He recovers almost instantly, but she’s shockingly quick, and shockingly scrappy. Halfway down the pier, she flings her flip-flop up, snatches it midair, and chucks it over her shoulder. Then grins when a gruffooffills the air.
I hope it hit him right in his smug freaking fa—
An arm suddenly snakes around her waist. She cries out as he sweeps her clean off her feet as if she weighs nothing at all. A hand digs into her hip, another curls under her legs, and before she knows it, she’s somehow been flipped over his shoulder with her ass precariously close to his face.
“Put me down,” she demands haughtily. At the moment, attitude is all she has.
