Page 17 of The Love Lie
He barks out a laugh. “Not on your life.”
“Put me down,” she repeats, but this time she slams her fists against his back, kicks her feet, and squirms as she’s never squirmed before.
His stride doesn’t even falter.
“Put me down!”
She goes for his butt again, but he bounces his shoulder to dislodge her hand. “It’s adorable you thought that might work a second time.”
“Cooper,” she demands.
“Yes?”
She doesn’t need to see his face to know he’s grinning. The arrogant lilt of his words is enough.
They stop at the edge of the pier.
Crystal-blue water glitters below.
He snakes his hands up her thighs, reaching for her waist. She knows exactly what he’s planning to do, so she twists his shirt in her fists until she’s got a secure grip. She’s not going down without a fight.
“You don’t want to do this,” she warns.
“I really think I do.”
Fingers clench around the small of her waist. He lifts up, and for a moment she’s weightless, then—
“I leave you alone for twelve hours,” someone calls from behind, the sound filled with gentle reprimand.
They both freeze.
Sam only met the producer three days ago, but she recognizes Nina’s voice even before she lifts her head to find the woman fifteen feet behind them on the pier dressed in a black minidress and combat boots. She has her hip cocked to the side and her arms crossed. A bemused expression lights her brown eyes. “What the hell are you two doing?”
Sam opens her mouth, but nothing comes out. Cooper, too, is noticeably silent. An awkward moment passes before Nina arches a brow.
“Is this some sort of weird foreplay?” She narrows her eyes, taking them in. And then shakes her head. “You know what? Never mind. I saw the dream suite. I’m not sure I want to know what weird shit you two might be up to now that I no longer have to film it.”
Again with the dream suite…That’s the third time the producer has mentioned it—whathappenedin there? Samwould have bet money that her sister refrained from that level of intimacy with any of the contestants during the show, especially with Jake nearby, but with the way Nina is talking, she’s suddenly not so sure. Part of her is impressed—Go, Em!—but a far more annoying part of her is undeniably intrigued. Emily is practically the definition of vanilla, which means if something kinky went down, it was because of the man currently holding her like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder.
Just like that, the pesky flutter returns.
He slept with my sister.
He had what was apparently a very memorable, totally insane, off-camera night SLEEPING WITH MY SISTER! STOP FUCKING FLUTTERING!
Cooper chooses this moment to finally lower her to the ground, and bylowershe means let go just enough that she slides down the front of his body, every inch of her against every inch of him, feeling every ridge of his washboard abs on the way down. The moment her feet hit the pier, he clamps his arm around her waist again and digs his fingers possessively into her hip bone.
The flurry turns to a frenzy.
I’m supposed to be Emily.
We’re supposed to be in love.
He’s supposed to be touching me like this.
Get your head on straight!
“We were on our way to breakfast,” Cooper explains.
