Page 6 of The Love Lie
Unfortunately, he’s far too intrigued by Sam to be annoyed. Why did she say yes? Why did she go off-script? And why, oh why, did his heart lurch the moment she did?
Sam opens her mouth to speak.
Alarms he doesn’t understand go off in Cooper’s head. While he made a promise to his mother to always be a gentleman, he knows if he doesn’t act now, he’ll lose his chance to get answers. The show will be over. This woman will slip through his fingers. And the spark warming his chest for the first time in six years will sputter out. So he does the one thing he knows will keep her from talking.
He yanks on her hand so she falls into his lap and slides one arm around her waist in an exaggerated dip. She gasps softly, taken by surprise. Her eyes flash with undeniable interest. Using the opening, he slides his fingers through her hair, grips the back of her head, and kisses her with everything he’s got.
At first she goes rigid.
Cooper almost stops. The last thing he would ever want to do is kiss a woman against her will. But when he starts to retreat, she grabs the collar of his shirt, arches her neck to deepen the angle, and pulls him closer.
Hello, Samantha, he thinks again, this time unable to stop a grin from twisting his lips as he sinks into the kiss. Her lithe body presses flush against him, her frame petite but not at all fragile, perfect for, well, things he shouldn’t be thinking about when a dozen cameras are watching him from every angle, just hoping for a show.
Still, he doesn’t pull away.
There’s a subtle taste on her lips he can’t quite decipher, one he needs more of as he slides his tongue against hers, sucking on the flavor. Memories stir, of fragrant flowers and fresh air, as if he’s galloping across the springtime plains with nothing but the sun and sky and open land stretched before him. A cool breeze brushes his cheeks, like a promise of wild, untapped freedom.
“Cut!”
Sam doesn’t pull away. And well, shit, he’s not going to be the first to break, so Cooper just keeps moving against her pillowy lips, intoxicated by that sweet elixir.
“Cut!”
She pulls him infinitesimally closer as a quiet groan escapes her lips. He digs his fingers into the soft curve of her hip.
“Cut!”
Sam shifts her face just enough to deepen the kiss, her mouth opening wider in invitation. Cooper pulls her hair taut, taking the lead and arching her head where he wants it, eager to accept. Then—
“Cut!” Nina shouts for the fourth time, but she must’ve obtained a bullhorn, because the sound comes blasting across the beach with the force of a hurricane. “For the love of god, cut, before we all self-combust. It was a hundred freaking degrees before you two started going at it like dogs in heat. I’m sweaty enough as is.”
Sam rears back, slightly dazed. She drops her gaze to his mouth and darts out her tongue, licking the taste of him offher lips before she swallows. It immediately makes him think of other places he wouldn’t mind having her tongue. Heat rushes through him like a bolt of lightning, straight to his groin.
No, I wouldn’t mind that at all…
Before the situation becomes embarrassing, horror floods her eyes. She sucks in a breath and narrows her gaze as if in accusation, then shoves him hard in the chest. Of course, seeing as he’s twice her weight with about a foot on her, instead of the push moving him, it only serves to send her flying backward. With a yelp, Sam crash-lands on her ass by his feet.
“Graceful, Em.” Nina snorts. Then louder, she calls, “Let’s get a close-up of Cooper putting the ring on her finger, some wide-angle shots, and then the season is a wrap, people!”
“Wait!” Sam gulps, cutting her face toward the producer. “Can we do that again? The proposal, I mean. I can be more enthusiastic, more energetic, more excited, more—”
She looks to him for help.
Cooper shrugs. “I thought it went pretty well, myself.”
Sam bares her teeth like a lioness, and it’s all he can do not to laugh out loud. He can’t explain why he finds her obvious exasperation so amusing, only that he does. And the devilish cowboy inside, the one he thought he’d left behind a long time ago, can’t help but keep pushing those beautiful buttons. So he rubs his thumb over his bottom lip, and then pointedly displays the pink lipstick he knows is staining his skin.
Her eyes flare with heat.
He wishes he could tell if it were fury or lust, but she turns her attention back to the production tent before he gets the chance. Honestly, he’ll take either one.
“One more time,” Sam pleads. “Please.”
“We don’t need it,” Nina says.
“But—”
“You were perfect, Emily. Absolutely perfect.” The producer turns to the side and snaps her fingers. “Makeup, get over here. We need—”
