Page 21 of The Love Lie
She ignores him. “Rule three. We’ll follow through on everything in the itinerary to maintain the ruse, but the bungalow is our safe space. In there, we’re just two strangers who happen to be sharing a room. No pretending. We’ll keep that to public places.”
“Makes sense.”
“Rule four.” She’s on a roll now. “Nothing too personal.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t need to know your deep dark secrets and you sure as hell don’t need to know mine. We keep it surface for the next few days. Let’s just agree to have fun.”
“Okay…”
“And rule five.” She stops walking and turns to look up at him. They’re about ten feet from the yacht. The others are already on board. “When these five days are up, we never see or hear from each other again. You and Emily will coordinate your breakup for the live show, and you’ll leave me out of it.”
He frowns. “That seems extreme.”
“Those are my terms. It’s the best way to make sure my sister’s business isn’t affected by my mistake, and the best way for you to get what you want for the ranch.”
“You’re sure?”
“Positive.” The smile she gives is sharp enough to cut. Suddenly all he sees is a shrewd businesswoman with steel in her veins. But rather than scare him off, it just makes him curious to know why she has an iron shield so at the ready.
“Okay, Cuj,” he says somewhat reluctantly, but what choice does he have? “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
She holds out her hand.
He takes it.
An uncomfortable pang reverberates around his chest as they shake on it, but the deed is done. She drops his fingers as if they’re on fire and leans down to slip off her shoes. Cooper follows. They place them in the provided basket and then turn together toward the pristine white yacht towering overhead. It’s three stories tall and almost obnoxiously large for five people.
“There’s one more thing I have to know,” she whispers.
“Shoot.”
Sam looks up at him and narrows her eyes. “What the hell happened with my sister in the dream suite?”
It’s the last thing he’s expecting, and a laugh barrels up his chest before he can stop it.
Nothing.
Nothing happened in the dream suite. But Emily sure wanted to make it look as though something had, so they spent half an hour throwing stuff on the floor and gasping as loudly as they could for the cameras all while trying not to crack. The result had been a veritable crime scene—something he knows the producers lapped up the following morning, which is probably why they keep bringing it up.
And he could explain this to Sam.
He could be honest.
But he won’t be.
Because what’s the fun in that?
“Oh, Cuj,” he murmurs as he wraps his arm around her waist and pulls her tightly to his side. “You’re not ready for that story yet.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
sam
The deep rumbleof his voice is pure seduction. Her heart lurches in her chest as he offers a devilish grin.
You jerk.
