Page 48 of The Love Lie
“We’re inevitable, darlin’.” He laughs softly at the thick twang in his voice, completely beyond his control, and at the flash of desire completely beyond hers. “I’m just waiting for you to realize it too.”
“We’re not inevitable, Cooper. We’re impossible.”
She flattens her hand against his chest, then pauses, as though she can’t decide if she wants to push him off or pull him closer. His lips twist with a grin.
“You’re lying,” he taunts.
She snaps out of her daze with a scowl and straightens her arm, forcing him to step back. A rush of cool air slices betweenthem as she ducks under his arm and starts walking away. Laughter plays on his lips.
“It’s okay. I forgive you,” he calls out as she picks up her pace. Softer, he adds, “Because the only person you’re lying to here is yourself.”
She doesn’t stop, doesn’t turn around. He loses sight of her and takes a minute to collect himself before following her back to the bungalow. Her door is already closed by the time he steps inside. Another night comes and goes. The sun breaks on their final full day in paradise, and he rises with it. This time tomorrow, they’ll be packed and ready to leave. He doesn’t plan on wasting the time he has left.
But Sam has other ideas.
She’s hiding.
She doesn’t come out to exercise. She doesn’t watch him swim. She doesn’t emerge for breakfast. If he couldn’t hear her shuffling around on the other side of the wall, he’d think she left early. When he invites her to lunch, she calls out a hastyno, thankswithout bothering to open the door.
All day, she avoids contact.
The last item on their itinerary is a private couple’s massage followed by a sunset dinner on their deck. He almost thinks she’s going to chicken out, until she slinks from the bedroom right after he lies face down on his massage table, as if she was waiting with her ear pressed to the door. Her bathrobe is cinched all the way to the throat. She keeps her gaze on her slippered feet as she crosses the room. He starts clucking softly under his breath, calling her out. She levels an indignant look at him.
“Got something to say, Cooper?”
“Not at all.”
Her masseuse lifts the sheet so she can undress privately. Just listening to the rustle of her robe hitting the floor is enough to tighten his throat, to get his blood pumping. It takes all hiswillpower to keep his mind blank as they lay side by side, in the nude, a mere foot apart. All he wants to do is kick everyone out and close the distance.
But he doesn’t.
He has the worst massage of his life and then stares at her while dinner is set up on the porch, silently daring her to look back. She studiously ignores him.
Come on, Cuj. Don’t let it end like this.
But she will.
She does.
The second dinner is laid out and the resort workers leave, she drops the mask and turns for her room. He won’t let her go so easy.
“I didn’t take you for a coward.”
She stops midstride, still not turning around. “It’s self-preservation, not cowardice.”
“What are you so afraid of?”
“Let it go, Cooper.”
“That’s not in my nature.”
“Let it go.”
“Look at me and I will.”
Her shoulders tense. She spins. An almost desperate glint lights her eyes. “Emily is my sister. She’s my best friend. You don’t understand. You have no idea the things she’s sacrificed for me. I can’t do anything that might hurt her. And if something happens between us, if it gets out, if the world turns on her… I just—I won’t be responsible for tearing her dreams apart. I can’t be. So let it go. Letmego.”
She turns back around and leaves.
