Ellen laughed. “You have had to keep your engagement a secret until today. How has that been for you?”
Adam slung his arm around her shoulders. “It’s been torture. I’ve wanted to shout out to the world, ‘She’s mine, so get your slimy French lips off her!’” He winked, and a blush touched Megan’s cheeks.
Ellen grinned at that. “He was good looking. It must have been hard watching her date and kiss other men. Especially when they all looked like that.” She pointed behind them, where a photo of the guys from the show splashed on screen. They were posed, putting all the models from GQ to shame.
Adam’s arm tightened around her. “Yes. But I really didn’t get to watch what happened on their dates until the show aired.”
Megan was surprised how pained his expression came across. Dang, he was a good actor. He actually looked upset. If he only knew what had really gone on, how disgusting Luc’s slobbery kiss had been, or how juvenile Anthony was. The cameras had made him look like a smooth rock star. She bit back a giggle and tried to pay attention to what Ellen was saying.
“Now you’re engaged, and the wedding is only two weeks away. How romantic, getting married in Acapulco.”
Two weeks. That was all there was left before the fake wedding. She swallowed the lump in her throat. Strike that. The wedding would be real. A real minister…a real marriage certificate. She glanced down at her hand. Even a real ring. And though she didn’t want to admit it, she couldn’t deny her love for Adam was real as well.
She shook her head. What did she think she was doing?
Show after show, Megan came onstage to be greeted with a kiss by Adam. And each time, the kisses knocked her off kilter. Why did he have to do that?
Listening to the audience, she knew why. They loved it when he kissed her like he wanted to devour her for dinner. She, however, was coming undone. If he didn’t stop, she was going to inject her lips with Botox to numb them up so she could keep her head on straight.
The one nice thing about her busy schedule was the fact that she had no time to fret about the wedding. When it finally arrived, she hadn’t even worked herself up over it. She’d been too busy.
But now, staring at herself in the mirror while a zillion people buzzed around her yanking her hair and applying makeup, it finally sunk in. Today she would get married. To Adam.
When they finally had her hair and makeup perfect, she slipped into her dress. Some designer had made it especially for this event. It was gorgeous, of course. Form fitting until it flared out below her waist, with pearls and lace, and a material that shimmered. She felt like a beauty queen wearing it.
Someone attached a train to the back and a veil to her head, and she was ushered into a room for photos. Apparently they were afraid she wouldn’t look as good after the ceremony, because they spent an excruciatingly long time capturing her image in a zillion different poses. Then she was shoved into another room for a live pre-ceremony interview.
She sat on a hard wooden chair and stared at Doctor Lemon, trying her best not to smack the smug look off her face.
“So, Megan, today is your wedding day. How do you feel about marrying Adam, after all that’s happened?”
The question paired with the look on the woman’s face startled Megan. What was she doing? Was this when she would confess to being a fake? When everyone would laugh at Megan for being so gullible? She gritted her teeth and took in a deep breath. “It’s my wedding day. How do you think I feel?”
Doctor Lemon laughed. “You’re right, wedding days are full of crazy emotions.” She clasped her hands together and rested them on her knee, studying Megan. “It took you a long time to admit to having real feelings for Adam. When did you realize it?”
The past few months flashed through Megan’s mind. Honestly, she’d fallen for him on that first stupid date. Watching him eat that macaroni and cheese with his chocolate milk. And then that kiss. She’d been in trouble from the beginning. But she couldn’t say that. “It became clear to me while doing the show that Adam was the one for me.”
A slight frown crossed Doctor Lemon’s face, but she smoothed it out. “What do you like most about Adam?”
There were too many things she liked about him. That was the problem. His deep, sexy voice. The way his dimples made the butterflies in her stomach multiply. The way he’d set her at ease for his fake proposal. His knee-weakening kisses. That masculine smell of his—she cleared her throat. Best not to think about those things. “The way he thinks of me first.”
That seemed to please the faker. “Any plans for after the wedding?”
Yes. Megan planned on getting as far away from him as possible. She forced a tight smile. “We’re honeymooning here in Acapulco. Then…” she shrugged. “I guess we start normal married life.”
Doctor Lemon ended the interview soon after. Then they shoved her into a lobby to wait for the ceremony to begin. She knew it was an outside wedding, but that was all she’d been told. As she waited with the camera man for someone to come get her, the door opened and her father emerged.
“Daddy?” Megan’s throat closed. She couldn’t believe it. It had been over two years. He opened his arms, and she ran into his embrace. He wore a stylish black tuxedo, and his salt-and-pepper hair was a lot more salt than the last time she’d seen him.
“I wouldn’t miss my baby girl’s wedding.”
His face blurred, and she blinked back the tears. “I didn’t know they were bringing you here.” Emotions surged through her, constricting her heart. No matter how old she got, or how accomplished she felt, being with her father turned the clock back and she became Daddy’s little girl again.
“They wanted me to surprise you.” His gravelly voice melted over her like butter. Even though her wedding was a sham, she still appreciated having her father to walk her down the aisle.
“And Mom?” She held her breath, surprised at how much she wanted her mother there. Their relationship had always been rocky at best.
His gaze flickered down, which said it all. “She couldn’t come.”
