Page 59 of Meet Cute Reboot

My nerves settle a bit. I shrug. “For as long as we need? It’s no harm, is it?”

He does a quarter turn and rests his other elbow on the railing, leaning his weight into both. Several meters away, a pair of dolphins crest and then dive for another minutes-long swim. Luke is looking down. He missed them.

“First,” Luke starts, “they could find out that we have a history, and if they do, they’ll lose confidence in Cupid. Second, I’ve turned over a new leaf. I’m all honesty all the time now.” He peers at me over his shoulder.

“Except tonight. You played along with me.”

“I’m doing this for you.”

His eyes pierce through the darkness into my chest. Blood radiates from the point of entry, heat diffusing through my heart. “You’re not doing it for you?”

Luke looks down at the water. “I have a stake in the company. Of course. But...” He pushes off the rail and does a one-eighty, paces toward the boardwalk, and then back again, stuffing his hands in his pockets to mark the end of his short journey. “Thereare other ways to market. I just think this could blow up in our faces.”

To be honest, I hadn’t thought about our little charade going south. I didn’t think I needed to worry about it. How could I have known we’d garner this much attention with our livestreams? How could I have known that a cute, busty waitress would smash her chest into Luke’s face? It made for some great entertainment, and it doesn’t hurt that my company name is attached to it.

“I think you’re over-analyzing it,” I say finally. “I also think you still haven’t learned to tie your shoes.” The laces on his right shoe are undone. Both aglets rest expectantly on the wood decking, waiting to trip him. “I swear.”

I walk over to him and bend down like I’m his mom. “You make two bunny ears. Like this.” I look up. “Are you watching?”

“I know how to tie my shoes.”

“No, son, you don’t.”

Luke laughs. “Fine. Show me.” He crouches down.

“Okay. Two bunny ears. One. Two.” I demonstrate. “Then, tuck one bunny ear under the other bunny ear and pull. To make it stronger you can even double knot it.”

I look at Luke and realize he’s not watching my demonstration. He’s watching me and tracing my face with his eyes. His lips are slightly parted. I can hear the in and out of his breath.

“I’m so sorry,” he says.

I swallow and glance down. “You’re fine. We’re just talking business.”

“No.” He rests a hand on my cheek. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

Tears prick the backs of my eyes, another unexpected twist to this evening. Old emotions well up in my chest, the hurt, the betrayal, the loss. They pour down like a heavy rain and Ibecome lost behind the curtain of water. I can’t see Luke as he is tonight. I only see him as he was, the night he betrayed me.

I stand.

“I can’t do this.” I walk around him and head up the pier.

“Cassie, wait,” Luke calls after me.

I shake my head and keep walking.

Chapter 13

Cassie

When Luke and I were dating, we usually spent our Thursday nights watching reality shows on the Discovery Channel, but that particular Thursday—the night I found out he cheated on me—he brought aged wine and steaks for the grill. Before he arrived, he called and suggested I dress up a little, forego pajama pants and sweatshirts for fancier attire. You can’t eat a fifty-dollar steak dinner in jammies and slippers, he said.

I thought he was going to ask me to marry him.

He’d hinted about it in his joking way. During one of our Saturday afternoon walks along the beach, he got down on one knee, gazed up at me, and then bent over to pick up a seashell. When we took a three-day trip to Pigeon Forge, he earned a plastic ruby ring with his skeeball tickets and placed it ceremoniously on my finger, eyes serious, saying, “Will you marry me, Cassie Sears?” I gave him a playful punch on his arm and answered, “I know you can do better than this, so the answer is no. I’ll wait.”

I still have that ring. It’s in the wicker basket in my bathroom, under a pile of half-used shampoo bottles and rejected Bath and Body Works shower gels. A week ago, I dug through the dusty, soap-filmed bottles and found the ring tarnished and dull. Instead of throwing it away, I tossed it back into the basket and covered it up with recyclable plastic.

I wore a red wrap dress. It cinched on the left, accentuating my modest, but pleasing hourglass shape. The plunging neckline highlighted my lack of cleavage. Just the beginning swells of my breasts showed. I dressed them up with a jeweled cross necklace and slid on a matching bracelet and anklet, capping off my feet with strappy black sandals.