Page 20 of The Love Lie
“I don’t know.” He shrugs. “When the cameras were up, we made out and held hands and did all that stuff. Then when they went down, we just didn’t. It wasn’t that complicated. There was no fire between us.”
Like there is betweenus.
“Yeah…no,” Sam murmurs, as if hearing the unspoken implication. “That’s not going to work.”
She drums her fingers on her mouth for a moment, drawing his gaze to her pink lips, then folds the plump lower edge between her teeth.
Christ.
He snaps his face forward again. “Rules might not be a bad idea.”
She gasps in mock shock and covers her heart with her palm. “Did you just agree with me?”
“Don’t let it get to your head, Cuj.”
“Too late.” She grins, then holds her hand up and sticks out her thumb. “Rule one. No kissing.”
He rolls his eyes. “We’re supposed to be engaged. And big as it is, I don’t think that rock alone will convince them.”
She shifts her hand, providing them both a better glimpse at the engagement ring on her fourth finger. The two-carat cushion-cut diamond is nearly blinding in this sunlight, encircled by a row of smaller diamonds and set on a platinum band. When he first saw it, he thought it was a bit gaudy. But then he suddenly flashed back to this moment with his mom. They’d been sitting next to each other on the couch—him watching football, her flipping through a magazine—when he glanced over to find her studying a jewelry ad.
If I was going to pick out a ring, which one do you think?
For that girl you’re seeing now?she’d murmured without even glancing up.None of them.
He’d snorted. But inside, an urgency had tightened his gut, because she was there and lucid and he didn’t know how many more nights like that he had left. So instead of letting it go, he’d pressed.Humor me.
She’d sighed and shifted on the couch, something serious passing over her expression before she paused and tapped adiamond.This one, so everyone within a mile radius will always be able to see she’s yours.
He’d completely forgotten about the memory until he sat down with the jeweler in front of the cameras, the scene a formality, just another romantic moment bought and paid for by the show. He hadn’t even been thinking about Emily when he picked it, since he knew she was planning to turn the proposal down before he even had time to drop to one knee. He’d been thinking of his mom. Looking at it now, he can’t deny the woman had good taste. The ring, so similar to the one she once picked, looks stunning on Sam’s elegant finger.
“Gorgeous as it is…” Sam sighs. “You’re right. How about no kissing on the lips, then?”
“Done. Forehead okay?”
“Sure.”
“Hand?”
“Yup.”
“Shoulder?”
She swallows. “Okay.”
“Neck?”
“Too intimate,” she murmurs as a flush creeps up her pale cheeks. Damn if he doesn’t like the sight. “Okay, so, rule one—no kissing unless it’s on my forehead, hand, and shoulder.”
“Or mine,” he cuts in teasingly.
“Or yours.”
“And rule two?”
“No touching my boobs or butt.”
“Likewise.”
