Page 63 of Deceptive Lies

Not even close.

In fact, it was as far away from okay as it could be.

But Cooper was a good guy. He’d saved her life, he’d fought for her, and he didn't even know her. And now he was going to stay with her no matter what. He wouldn't leave her alone, not for anything, and that terrified her.

When she tried to struggle back to her feet, Cooper’s fingers curled around her biceps, easily holding her in place.

“We have to keep walking,” she protested, trying to force her way out of his hold.

It didn't work.

Cooper’s hands held firm, his touch careful not to squeeze too hard on her bruised body, but they were still an unbreakable hold. “No, honey, we need to rest for a few minutes.”

“We’re not moving fast enough.” Willow knew it was her fault, and she would give anything to change it, to have more strength, more stamina, and power through regardless of her injuries.

“We’re moving as fast as we can.”

“I'm sorry,” she said, her voice catching on a sob she somehow managed to stuff back down before it could fully erupt.

“You don’t have to apologize, you're giving this everything you have.”

“It’s not enough.”

“It’s all we can ever do, Willow.”

Darn him for being so noble, honorable, compassionate, and kind. She wanted him to just ditch her and get himself out. After all, this was her mess not his.

There was only one thing she could do right now.

If she didn't give him permission, he wouldn't do it.

He was too caring, his heart was too big, and she wasn't going to allow it to get him killed. Not on her account.

Just because she hadn't known Cooper for long didn't mean this was hard to do. In fact, it was surprisingly easy. She might be signing her own death warrant, but she’d save Cooper’s life and that was all that mattered.

It made this more than worth it.

Stopping fighting against his hold, Willow sank back against his chest, willing to take this one last moment to soak up the warmth and comfort of his touch. Because this was it. As soon as she said the words, it would all be over.

“Cooper?”

“Yeah?” There was a slight hint of trepidation in his tone like he somehow knew that whatever she was going to say, he wouldn't like.

Time to spit it out. The sooner she said it, the sooner he could get himself to safety. “You have to leave me behind.”

His entire body went stiff.

The hands that had been smoothing up and down herarms stilled.

In fact, his chest barely rose and fell.

Seconds ticked by and he didn't say anything. Willow would have thought that he hadn't heard her, but she knew he had.

“Cooper? You know I'm right. I can't do this.” Those words tasted bitter on her tongue. If there was one thing she hated, it was admitting failure. Normally, she wouldn't, but these weren't normal circumstances, and the stakes were higher than they had ever been before.

This was a matter of life and death. Cooper’s life. Her death.

“Youcando this,” he countered vehemently, and the fingers on her biceps tightened until she winced, and he immediately loosened his hold. “You can do this, Willow, I don’t want to hear you saying you can't.”

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