Page 63 of The Love Lie
“So you figured out your next step?”
“No. I figured out yours.”
Sam gives Nina the opening to elaborate. She doesn’t.
Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Don’t do it.Sam can practically hear Nina’s victorious smirk in the taut silence, but she can’t help it. Her nostrils flare and she practically growls, “Which is?”
“A trip.”
“A trip?”
“You’re going to Nebraska.”
Forget butterflies. Locusts swarm across her chest like the warning of an impending apocalypse. “Nebraska.”
“You do remember that’s where—”
“Yes, I know that’s where he lives.”
“You’re going to see him.”
“No, I’m not,” she blurts, even though her heart is doing a happy dance as excitement brightens every crevice of her brain. “We agreed to keep Cooper out of this.”
“He has no idea we made an agreement. I kept my end of the bargain. But this is out of my hands. The lead and the F1 always get one secret meetup before the live finale. Cooper said he can’t leave his ranch again, so it’s got to be there. Though I guess it doesn’t have to be you. I could call Emily—”
“No,” Sam cuts in.
Nina snorts. “Still haven’t come clean, then?”
No. She hasn’t. She’s been dodging Em’s calls for two weeks, keeping her text messages vague, and only replying to emails related to business. As far as her sister knows, everything in the Maldives went exactly according to plan and she sent Cooper packing with a gentle, mutually approved goodbye. No proposal. No engagement. No problems. Luckily for Sam, Em is far too deep in her love bubble to notice how shifty she’s acting, but it’s only a matter of time. She’s not entirely sure why she’s so adamantly against being honest with her sister, but the idea of letting Em know how much she messed this up terrifies her. Maybe because it’s just one more card in the carefully built house of lies she’s told her sister—her love of New York, that night with Jake, this whole crazy thing with Cooper. If she confesses once, the whole stack might come tumbling down. “None of your business.”
“Actually, it’s all my business. Literally. It’s my job, and I’m putting myself on the line for you, Sam. So do you want to go to Nebraska or not?”
Yes.
It’s exactly what she wants.
It’s what she’s been telling herself for two weeks she absolutely cannot do, but it’s exactly what she wants. To see him again. To be near him. To be in his arms. She wants it so much it terrifies her.
But Nina doesn’t need to know that.
“How long is the trip? I need to make sure it’s okay with work.”
“A long weekend. Three or four days. Not much.”
Three or four days, Sam thinks. Just enough time to get him out of her system for good. At least, that’s the lie she’s going to tell herself to justify what she says next. “I think I can arrange that.”
“Good. I’ll email you with the details. Until next time—”
“Wait!”
“Yes?”
Shit. Shit. Shit.She isn’t doing this. Yes, she is.Fuck. “Can I have his phone number? In case of emergency?”
“What kind of emergency?”
“A…packing emergency.”
