Page 5 of The Love Lie
His jaw is so chiseled it might as well be cut from stone. Red hair curls out under the brim of his hat. His skin is the perfect shade of sun-kissed that can only be achieved by long days spent working outdoors. He crooks his lips in a lazy half-smile, bringing out the dimple in his right cheek, and Sam’s knees go weak. When he sweeps his gaze over her dress, tracing every line of her curves, a flush spreads across her whole body. The moment those crystal-clear emerald eyes meet hers, it turns to an inferno.
She may actually whimper.
I could kill Emily right now. Just murder her.
Sure, Em said he was handsome. And okay, her description of him as a six-foot-two redhead with six-pack abs was technically accurate. But so is describing the sun as warm. Sam had been expecting a good-looking cowboy. Instead, she’s facing a god.
Her throat goes dry.
She’s woozy, parched.
The man is sex on a stick and all she wants to do is lick him.
What? No.
Well, maybe.
Okay, yes.
Yes, licking is definitely on the list of things I want to do to him.
Cooper comes to a stop about a foot away, and it’s all she can do not to drool. The hotness overload leaves her lightheaded. He opens his mouth and she tries to concentrate on what he’s saying—she really does—but all she can think about as she watches his lips move is how they’d feel pressed against her skin. Every inch of her body is on fire from the fantasy playing out in the back of her thoughts. But just as those imaginary lips begin to work their way south, she realizes he stopped talking and she has no idea what he just said.
Stupid overactive imagination.
Sam blinks into the lengthening silence.
Focus.
Focus.
The cowboy drops to one knee and takes her by the hand, his fingers rough and calloused. The slight scratch sends a pleasurable shiver down her spine. Those hands have been places. They know things. Just like that her thoughts are off and running once more, wondering exactly what they can do as he lifts her fingers to his lips. The gentle kiss leaves her breathless, and that’s before he offers a wicked grin Sam can feel all the way to her core.
Her muscles clench.
“So what do you say?” he asks, looking up at her with those captivating green eyes, his Midwestern drawl turning her bones to noodles. “Will you make me the happiest man in the world?”
Only one thought enters her mind. “Sure.”
When he slides the ring over her finger, reality hits.
The proposal. The TV show. Her sister.
Fuck!
CHAPTER TWO
cooper
Panic floodsthose large golden eyes, and for the first time that morning Cooper finally understands what the hell is going on. Why her gaze filled with heat the moment she saw him on the beach. Why the sight of it stirred a similar reaction in him. Why she looks exactly the same but feels entirely different.
He’s spent the past six weeks with Emily. He’s kissed her on camera and he’s joked with her off-screen. He’s held her in his arms. He’s dug his fingers into her thighs while she wrapped her legs around him. He’s done just about everything someone can do when pretending to fall in love with another person on national television, and more so, he’s become her friend. Which is all to say, he knows Emily.
And this sure as shit ain’t her.
Hello, Samantha, he thinks as the wheels visibly spin in her gaze. Cooper understands her panic. Emily would have told her the plan before they made the swap. It’s been figured out for days, ever since that fateful night they shared in the dream suite while the cameras were down. Instead of the night of passion the show intended, he and Emily were finally able to tell each other the truth—that they cared for each other ina completely platonic way, and nothing more. So rather than cement their relationship, they used the hours to plan their mutually beneficial exits. He was going to propose. She was going to let him down easy. He’d walk away as the obvious lead for the next season, securing the publicity he’s so desperately hoping will help his family’s ranch. And Emily would walk away with her head held high, her jewelry business thriving, and her future open for the man who truly held her heart. It was a win-win situation, now completely undone by a single, clearly stated word.
Sure.
