Page 90 of The Love Rematch
“Rip this,” Emily says, passing him her shirt.
Cooper obliges and buttons pop off, flying everywhere. The sight draws her back to Jake, to her pink pajamas, her missing button, and her dream. Emily grabs a pillow and tears it down the center in a momentary fit of rage. Feathers explode in every direction. Cooper blows one from his lip and stares at her with a brow raised.
“I’ll pay for damages,” she mutters with a wince.
“Don’t you think this might be excessive?” he asks, eying the destruction while Emily tosses the feathers about the room. “This will be broadcast to about ten million people, remember? I don’t care for me. Hell, this will probably work in my favor. But you’re a woman, and as unfair as it might be in this day and age, you’ll be judged harshly—”
“I don’t care,” she interrupts and takes his hand before leading him to the bed. Emily sits cross-legged on the cushy mattress. Cooper joins her, leaning against the headboard with his long legs stretched before him and his red curls unruly. His lips are a bit swollen from their on-camera makeout session and they’re framed by a jaw that can only be described as chiseled. He truly is a handsome, handsome man. Life would be so much easier if she would just lean over, kiss him, and make this a true crime scene.
But she doesn’t.
Stupid, stupid girl that she is, her heart belongs to someone else. Tonight was the first step in goodbye, but it will take some time before she’s in any place to open herself up to someone new, which is why she’s made a decision.
“I’m not picking anyone at the end of the show.”
“What?” His jaw drops.
“Tomorrow at the puzzle ceremony, I’m sending Pierre home. You and Ethan will be the final two, and I’m going to turn down both of your proposals. Ethan is a jerk and he has it coming, but you’ve been so sweet, Cooper. So wonderful to me. So much fun to be around. And—”
“Such a great friend?” he concludes.
“Yes,” she says softly, not sure how he’ll react. “The only person I’ve been able to call a friend through this whole process. And okay, we’re friends who have on occasion made out and gone on extremely romantic dates together, but—”
“Friends, nonetheless.” He smiles ruefully. “I know, Emily. I may be a cowboy, but I’m smart enough to know when a woman is kissing me because she wants to, and when she’s kissing me just for show.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” He shrugs. “Everyone is using everyone on this set, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. I told you the real reason I’m here. And maybe there was a chance for us in the beginning, but honestly, I feel the same way now. We’re friends…who occasionally make out and go on romantic dates in front of ten million people.”
She snorts.
He chuckles.
There’s a moment of comfortable, companionable silence before he finally gestures around the room. “So why all this if you’re not planning to pick me?”
“Because I want America to pick you. I want the producers to make you the next lead, not Ethan. I want to help you, and your family, and your ranch, because you might not get it, but you’ve been a huge help to me. Being able to talk to you, being able to finally share my story publicly after keeping it in for so long, to have you not only listen but understand—it’s meant more than you’ll ever know. And all this,” she says, waving her hand toward the chaos, “will ensure you win. You were the perfect gentleman all season, but the good guy doesn’t always get the girl. You needed some edge.Thisis your edge.”
“I might never hear the end of it back home.” He shakes his head with a lopsided grin, and she rolls her eyes.
“You’ll survive. Besides,” she adds, “I’m the one who will spend the rest of her life known to America as the idiot who turned you down.”
“And what are you going to say?”
“The truth.” She shrugs and looks down to pick at an imaginary loose nail. “That I’m in no place to be in a relationship right now. That I need to focus on myself. That I’m a little bit broken, and I need time to heal before I can be the sort of partner I want to be for someone else.”
“Hey.” He reaches over and squeezes her fingers. “Your ex was the idiot.”
“Can I admit to something embarrassing?”
“More embarrassing than ten million people thinking we spent a sordid night tearing this place apart? Shoot.”
“I think I did this a little bit for him, too.”
“To make him jealous?”
“No,” she says quickly. “No, I wouldn’t use you like that. More to say goodbye.”
Emily pauses. Her thoughts drift back to the dinner and the momentary blip of eye contact she allowed herself to share with Jake. He was stoic and unmoving, with his jaw set, his arms crossed, and his expression hard. But she could tell, underneath it all, that he was breaking, same as she. The only difference was she wasn’t afraid to admit it.
