Free Bird of Paradise by Katie MacAlister

She took a deep
breath. “—agree to be my date once a day for the next two
weeks.”
    The words didn't hurt nearly as much as she thought
they would, at least, not until Adam's eyes narrowed on her.
    “You'd turn us in?”
    “Not if you help me,” she said miserably, feeling
terribly guilty about blackmailing him, but seeing no other choice.
It wasn't as if he really was a nice man. He wasn't. His nipples
exploded on national radio every night. His appearance of niceness
was all a sham, an act to make people believe he was the sort of
man who'd care for a stray cat and adopt him when others would have
ignored the animal, or had him put down.
    Besides which, as the television show producer
warned, the odds of making it past the first round of elimination
were not good, especially for someone like her who so obviously
stood out from the rest of the tanned, fit women. “One date per
day, and positive comments each night in the confession booth
should be adequate. That will leave you time to pursue Sally or any
of the myriad other women who seem to wish to be with you, although
I should warn you that Sally does not appear to be the least bit
fond of you. You might wish to rethink your strategy with regard to
your pursuit of her. She seems most adamant that you leave her
alone.”
    “I wish I could,” he ground through his teeth,
looking like he wanted to do someone bodily harm. Despite the
gentleness of the kiss they shared earlier, she had a horrible
suspicion it was herself he was thinking of. No doubt he didn't
appreciate her pointing out the fact that the woman he was smitten
with wasn't interested in him. All of which would make his kissing
her reprehensible, except it clearly wasn't intended as a sexual
indicator. It was more of a sympathetic kiss, a kiss for a woman
who posed no sexual threat, a kiss for a pathetic woman afraid of
lizards, a…a pity kiss.
    Oh, Lord, had it come to this? Pity kisses?
    “I can't believe you'd turn us in. I thought you
liked…er…Jesus,” he said with a hint of steel in his voice.
    She pulled her mind from the abject misery that was
her life, and reminded herself that she was strong and completely
capable of living her life without him. Happily. “I do, but this is
business.”
    One glossy eyebrow cocked at that.
    “What I mean, of course, is that I take the dating
situation very seriously, very seriously indeed, almost as if it
were my business. Which, in a way, it is.”
    “Let me see if I have this straight,” Adam said,
frowning at her. “You are blackmailing me into being one of your
dates each day?”
    She flinched at the baldness of the statement, then
told herself that blackmailers had no right to be so squeamish.
“Yes.”
    “Every day?”
    “One per day will suffice, I believe.”
    “At the conclusion of which, I am to report to the
confession booth that we had a wonderful time together and are
completely compatible in all ways, and that I hope to date you
again the following day.”
    “Well…whatever it will take to gain us the points.
You might not have to lie quite so vehemently. Perhaps just a
little exaggeration will be required.”
    He looked a bit perplexed. “Why do you think I'd
have be lying by saying we had a wonderful date and I wanted to see
you again?”
    She stared at him in surprise. He really was a good
actor. That or he believed she was so pathetic, he needed to
bolster her ego a bit. Maybe he wasn't quite as hardened and jaded
as he thought. That pity kiss had certainly done a lot for her, at
least until she recognized it for what it was.
    But there was the issue of his nipples exploding all
over the place, not to mention his hobby of making women
multi-orgasmic.
    She sighed, confused by the dichotomy of his
character. There was a definite blaze of something in the depths of
his blue eyes that didn't say he pitied her. It almost seemed as if
desire lurked in the sapphire depths. She spent a moment in
contemplation of what it would be like