Read Online Reluctantly Married by Victorine E. Lieske - Free Book Online Page B

made a mistake. I tried to humiliate you. But it only made me feel terrible.”
    Unable to fully trust him, but curious as to what he wanted, she decided to play his game for a while. See what he was up to. “Everything worked out in the end. No harm done.”
    A look of relief flooded him. “I want you to know, I don’t agree with everything Leon’s doing.”
    The mention of their boss made her stiffen, and she tried hard to keep a scowl off her face. “Neither do I.”
    “I don’t think we need to argue to get good ratings.” He shoveled a forkful of pasta in his mouth.
    She thought about his words. “Then how do you propose we get people interested in the show?”
    His smile turned her middle into Jell-o. “Our online dating. It’s skyrocketing the popularity of the morning show.”
    “Won’t that get boring, though, after a while? Just watching us go out on dates?”
    “That’s why I think we need to mix it up a bit.” He took a swig of his soda.
    “Why do I have a bad feeling about this?” She stopped eating and waited for him to drop the other shoe.
    He grinned. “Don’t look so worried. I was just thinking that having our fans write in and make date suggestions might be fun.”
    She narrowed her eyes. “Date suggestions?” It didn’t sound that bad, but a foreboding feeling settled in.
    “Sure. I’ll ask our viewers on Monday where we should go for our next date. It’ll give them a chance to participate.”
    Warning flags popped up. “What if they suggest something we don’t want to do?”
    Steam rose and curled up from his spoonful of vegetable soup. “We can weed out the bad suggestions.”
    “Heights are off the table.” She gave him her best ‘you’ll die if someone suggests bungee jumping’ glare.
    “Of course.” He tipped his soda can up, taking another swig. Why was that so sexy on him?
    She looked away. “I guess. If we have full control over what we end up doing…”
    “Great!” His smile gave her goose bumps. “One last thing.”
    Oh, heavens. What now? “Hmm?”
    “I don’t think we should tell Leon yet.”
    “I agree with that. He’ll find a way to turn it into something horrible.”
    “I’ll sneak it into the show on Monday. Leon will love it anyway, it will draw people to the website.”
    They finished eating in silence, Megan trying not to notice the way Adam’s shirt clung to his muscles, still damp from the rain. Or how her insides got all mushy when his lips curled into a grin. She cleared the table, hoping to give Adam the hint to leave.
    When she was done, she didn’t sit back down again. Instead of standing, Adam looked up at her. “Can I ask you something?”
    She folded her arms. What she wanted to say was, “No. Now take your lying butt out of here.” What she really said was, “Sure.”

    Adam cleared his throat, leaning back in his chair. What was he doing? Maybe she didn’t want to talk about it. Instead of coming out and asking, he hedged. “I didn’t want to say anything while Dale was filming, but you mentioned something that made me curious.”
    She pulled her chair out and sat, her blue eyes staring at him. “What?”
    “Did you have a bad childhood?” He didn’t mean to blurt it out.
    She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
    Heat crept up his neck. He’d better explain. “I mean, you said something about parents screwing up their kids, so I just figured…”
    Megan sat there staring at him, her mouth still hanging open.
    Great. He shouldn’t have said anything. So stupid. “You don’t have to tell me, if it’s too personal.”
    She regained her composure. “No, it’s okay.” She stared down at her lap. “My mom and I…we never got along.”
    He’d already figured that out, but he didn’t want to be rude, so he waited for her to continue.
    “Nothing I ever did was good enough. Like when I made her breakfast in bed for Mother’s day. I couldn’t have been more than ten years old. I wanted to surprise her. I