Page 40 of Reluctantly Married

His heart jumped into his throat and his pulse raced. He knew the answer. “Yes.”

Doctor Lemon drew closer. “You love her.”

The realization smacked him in the face, and he blinked. She was right. It had to be. Why else would he be willing to risk death for her? He slowly nodded.

Doctor Lemon turned a smug smile to the cameras. “I think we’re ready to begin our first exercise.”

Megan sat on a flimsy folding chair, back to back with Adam. Doctor Lemon—the faker—stood against a wall of books, directing some young crewmen to tie their arms together with rope. Two cameras fastened near the ceiling filmed them.

“Ouch, that’s too tight.” Megan squirmed.

The crewman winced. “Sorry. Is this better?” He loosened it a little bit, but not much.

“They need to be tight.” Doctor Lemon folded her arms. “The point of this is to work together to get yourselves out of this situation.”

After everyone left and the door was closed, Megan looked around. There was a small mahogany desk with a leather office chair, one lamp, and a wall filled with books. A large, expensive-looking rug took up most of the floor. “That’s it? We’re somehow supposed to work together to get untied? How are we to do that?”

One of Adam’s low, sexy chuckles came. “I’m not sure.”

“I can’t hardly even wiggle my arms. Why’d they tie them so tight?”

“Probably so we don’t cheat.”

Megan blew out a breath. “Okay. Fine. But now what do we do?”

“Maybe there’s a knife or a letter opener in that desk.”

“Good thought. Do you think we can stand?”

Adam entwined her fingers with his. “If we push against each other.”

“Okay.” She tried to ignore the tingles his touch sent up her arms. “On the count of three.” She counted, and they both pushed up. They managed to stand, but they were uncomfortably straddling their seats. “Let’s go left. Ready?”

She took a step, only to realize Adam hadn’t moved and it jerked him off balance. They teetered for a second, then toppled to the floor, Megan landing on top of him. A grunt came from underneath her.

“Oops! Sorry,” she said, trying to peer over her shoulder at him. “You okay?”

“Fine,” he choked.

She squirmed for a minute, trying to roll them over, but only succeeding in wiggling her backside up against his. Heat seared her face. “Um, I can’t seem to get off you.”

“No worries. I’m rather enjoying myself.”

“Adam!” she squeaked. “You pig. Move!”

He sighed and rolled them into a sitting position. “You’re no fun.”

She held back a giggle. “We’ll stand, then walk to the desk. Ready?” She waited this time, until he gave his assent. They pressed against each other, successfully standing. Moving toward the desk took a little more cooperation, but they were able to do so without falling.

They maneuvered around to the drawers and slid open the top one. “Empty.” He didn’t sound too disappointed, and Megan hid a smile. She had to admit this wasn’t so bad after all.

They checked each drawer with the same results. “Now what?” She tried to blow a piece of hair out of her face.

“What’s that on the shelf, over there?” He pointed to the far wall, where something silver glinted in the light.

They navigated to the other side of the room, where they found a pair of scissors on the shelf near where Doctor Lemon had been standing. “Ha! We did it.” Megan grabbed them and slid her fingers through the handles.

“Now you can cut the ropes.”

---