9
Megan spent a week fretting about the viewers’ requests for dates. True to his word, Adam had announced the plan on-air, surprising Leon, who actually loved the idea. And that made her even more nervous.
Thursday evening, her intercom buzzed again. She pressed the button and Adam answered. What was he doing here?
When she let him into her apartment he smiled, a folder tucked under one arm. “Hey.”
She eyed the paperwork. “What’s up?”
“Thought we could go over the suggestions together.”
Relief flooded through her. “You’re letting me pick?”
He shrugged. “We can read them together. Cross off any we don’t like. We’ll only keep those we both agree on. I think it would be fun to draw a suggestion out of a bowl on-air. It will give the fans something to look forward to each week.”
Each week. How long was this going to go on? When would Leon humiliate her? She pushed those thoughts away and opened the door wider, motioning for him to enter.
They sat on her couch, and Adam spread out the papers on her coffee table. “These are all the comments we’ve gotten this week, so there’s random stuff mixed in. Just pick up a page and start reading.” He pulled out a pen and a stack of note cards. “I’ll write down the ones we like.”
It turned out to be quite fun. They got all kinds of suggestions, from going miniature golfing to taking dance lessons. Adam even agreed to keep that one, as long as they started out with something simple.
“Ha, look at this one from Patricia in Georgia: ‘Go to a restaurant and pretend you’re food critics. Act like you’re tweeting about the food while you eat.’”
Adam laughed, a sound which she was beginning to enjoy a little too much. “That would be fun. We’re definitely putting that one in.”
“How do you feel about opera?”
His nose wrinkled. “Not in love with the idea. But I guess I could sit through it with a pretty enough girl by my side.”
“No, thanks.” She giggled. “Just wanted to see what you’d say.”
He playfully swatted at her. “Here’s a good one. ‘Make homemade ice cream.’ We could do that.”
“Now you’re making me hungry.”
He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “What’ve you got to eat?”
They ended up sprawled out on the floor with bowls of strawberry sherbet, pieces of paper covering almost every surface. Megan scooped a spoonful into her mouth, savoring the tangy taste. “I can’t believe how many comments we’re getting. This is all just in one week?”
Adam nodded. “Yeah, Leon’s beside himself. Look what this person said.” He shoved a paper under her nose.
“‘Adam and Megan make such a cute couple.’ Aw, that’s sweet.”
“Keep reading,” he said, his mouth full.
“‘When are they going to get serious and tie the knot?’ What? We’ve only just started dating!”
His chuckle made her laugh. “I know. And they’re not the only ones. Read this.” He handed her another paper.
“‘Adam should propose. I want to see the wedding online.’ Are they serious? Don’t they know we’re not a show? We’re real people?”
“We are a show, though. Some people have been watching us for months.”
She tossed the paper aside. “Well, they just need to cool it.”
Adam fished around in the bowl, prolonging the drama of the date drawing. “And the winner is…” He pulled out a card. “Alisha from Sacramento! Her date suggestion is: ‘Play Walmart Bingo. Create a bingo card for each other. Fill the squares with something you might find at Walmart. Be creative. When you see an item listed on your bingo card, cross it off. Loser buys dinner.’”
Megan smiled for the camera. “Sounds like an interesting date, Alisha. We’ll be filming it tomorrow, so be sure to tune in online.”
The on-air light went out, and Leon waltzed onto the set. “Great show today. And what a fun suggestion for a date.” He looked down at the fishbowl filled with index cards. “When did you do that?”
The hungry look in his eye didn’t go unnoticed by Adam. He hugged the fishbowl to himself protectively. “Last night. Thought it would be fun to draw one each week.”
“Yeah.” Leon stared at the bowl until Adam decided he was going to keep it under lock and key. The last thing he needed was to have Leon tossing in his own date suggestions.
Megan bit back an evil grin as they pulled into the Walmart parking lot. Adam frowned. “When are you going to show me my bingo card?”
“We’ll exchange as soon as we’re inside.”
He swung his Mustang into a space, and they all piled out of the car. The warmth of his hand on the small of her back radiated through her. The doors swished open as they neared. When they entered the building, she pulled out his card and handed it to him.
His eyes grew wide. “These aren’t things you find at Walmart.”
She grinned. “Sure they are.”
“A crying baby?”
“You can find that one without even trying.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Someone wearing slippers?”
“I’ve seen it.”
He smirked. “Okay, fine. Here’s your card.”
She stared at the paper, a myriad of words too long to pronounce staring back at her. “What is acetylsalicylic acid?” Then one she recognized jumped out at her. “Monosodium glutamate? That’s MSG, isn’t it? What did you do, give me a list of impossible to pronounce ingredients I have to go find?”
A smug smile settled on his face. “Everything on that card can be found at Walmart. You just have to find out which product has it.”
She whacked his arm. “This will take me forever.”
He laughed. “No longer than me trying to find…” He searched his card. “Someone sporting a mullet.”
She giggled. “Okay, you’re on.”
“Rule number one: We must stay together.” He slipped his hand around hers.
“That’s not fair. You’ll just pull me away from the right products.” She couldn’t hide her smile. Darn him. Why did he have to be so handsome? And why did she turn into a nitwit whenever he was around?
“We’ll take turns leading the way.” He looked at his watch. “Five minutes each. You can go first.” A woman brushed past them, two small children in tow. Dale stepped back to let them through.
“Deal. And we’d better get out of the way, people are trying to get carts.” She tugged him aside. “What’s rule number two?” Her hand tingled where his skin touched hers.
“No googling stuff on the Internet.”
She pretended to pout. “Fine. Rule three?”
“We both have to see the item before we can cross it off.” He took a pencil from his shirt pocket.
“Makes sense. Any more?”
“Maybe we should set a time limit.”
She peered up at him, brushing a strand of hair back over her ear. “Why?”
“Because this might take forever.”
“I’m pretty competitive.”
He grinned. “So am I.”
“Then let’s go!” She tugged him into the store, heading for the soup aisle. When her five minutes were up, she’d already crossed off three items, but none were in the same row.
“My turn,” he said, a sly look on his face.
“You know, this middle one is supposed to be the free square. I have no idea what monocalcium phosphate is, or how to find it.”
He glanced at his sheet. “Yeah? Well, you put ‘Person in hair net’ on mine.”
“See? I gave you an easy one.”
“Oh, I forgot they have a deli here.”
They ran like idiots, hands clasped together, so he could check off his middle square, Dale struggling to keep up with the camera. Megan couldn’t help but get into the game, timing him and getting excited when she found another square to mark off. After a few more turns, she held up her card. “If I can find Glucuronolactone, I’ll have a two-way bingo.”
“I just need to find someone wearing pajamas.”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s usually pretty easy.”
“Really? Do sweats count?” He pointed to a girl shuffling toward the frozen foods.
“No. Those could be workout clothes. They need to be obvious sleepwear.”
“All right, I’ve got five minutes, I can do this.” His face grew determined. “How fast can you run?”
“Faster than you.”
“Oh, you are so wrong.” He took off down the aisle, and she followed. When they got to the end, Megan underestimated how quickly she needed to turn. She slammed into the corner of the potato chip display. Bags of Lays Barbecue flew everywhere, and she stumbled, landing right on one. A loud popping noise sounded, and chips shot out, skittering down the tile floor.
A frumpy woman in Walmart attire rushed to her. “Hey, what are you doing?”
Adam came to her side and picked up a bag of chips. “I’m sorry, it was my fault. I’ll pay for the broken merchandise.” He stooped and picked up several more bags. Megan’s throat grew tight. He didn’t have to take responsibility. It was obviously her fault. She wasn’t sure what to think about him stepping up and helping. Most of the time, people blamed her for things that went wrong.
The woman noticed Dale standing there filming and recognition dawned in her eyes. “You’re Adam Warner!”
Adam gave her a sexy smile. “Yes.”
She fluffed her hair, smiling at the camera. “Well, no harm done. Just be careful in the future.”
His grin widened. “Cross my heart.”
As they cleaned up their mess, Adam leaned over. “I wonder how many dates will end with us getting kicked out of some place?”
She giggled. “Let’s not find out.”