The Pretend Marriage: A Werewolf Romance by Dawn Steele Page A

he’s trying to gauge which of us is the worthiest candidate to take up the post.”
    “By making you kill each other?” She wrinkles her nose. “I don’t think much of his interview process.”
    He laughs. “Maybe that’s in his grand design.” He gets up. “Come on. I’m starving. Let’s go for lunch.”
    “If I go down for lunch, I might end up throwing my plate at Jeff’s mug.”
    “That mightn’t be a bad thing, except that you’d probably induce Cassie into premature labor.” He grabs a shirt and dons it, much to her chagrin.
    Still, she can’t help admiring the way he won the hare contest and the grace in which he accepted his challenges. A lesser man would not have displayed the teamwork with Ethel that he did. A warm, fuzzy feeling smooshes through her tummy when she thinks of this. She studies his profile as he gingerly puts his pants on, taking care not to dislodge her bandage. There’s so much more to you than meets the eye, Jake, she thinks, and a pang fleets through her chest.
    Lunch is a tense, brittle affair. Jeff avoids sitting next to and talking to Jake, who similarly ignores him. Cassie’s face is pinched and drawn. Mariko makes conversation with everyone, but her exchange with Jake is guarded and wary.
    After lunch, Peter ushers everyone to the lounge.
    “And now for those better halves who didn’t participate in this morning’s challenge, we have a very exciting time planned for you.”
    Terry is apprehensive but gratified when Jake takes hold of her hand for moral support. I can get used to this . She warns herself that he is only doing it for show, of course. They have to put up a semblance of a loving husband and wife for the audience.
    But it’s nice to feel his warm palm against hers. Every time he has physical contact with her, she experiences a thrill – the way she used to as a teenager whenever a cute boy glanced in her direction. Only the feeling now is deeper, more intense. It is quite possibly something she has never experienced before. Certainly not with Burt, which was a much more physical reaction. But what she is feeling now is more connected. More in tune with her inner spirit.
    It is not only physical attraction, she is sure of it.
    Peter says, “From the pulse pounding rush of this morning’s adrenalin filled event, we now have something more cerebral. Martha, will you do the honors since this is your idea?”
    Martha takes center stage – or rather, center lounge in the midst of all the sofas and two seaters and mismatched armchairs, all upon whom are draped the contestants. She beams like the very moon herself.
    Uh oh, Terry thinks. Cerebral doesn’t sound good. She can’t remember the last time she could actually answer any Jeopardy question without Googling the answer.
    “You can do it,” Jake murmurs beside her.
    Uh, I wasn’t exactly valedictorian in class, she wants to tell him. Her heart sinks. She’s going to let him down so bad.
    Martha says, “ Now let’s go by this morning’s lines. Whoever has already competed today to my left and the others to my right. Come along now.”
    There are lots of good-natured groans as everyone takes their places. Jake gives Terry’s hand a squeeze before they part.
    “Peter will now hand all of you a set of questions.”
    Peter passes a sheaf of papers and a box of pencils to both lines. “Take one each and pass them down. Write your name above each sheet and fill all the answers up, please. The line on the left gets to write your preferences, and the line on the right gets to guess what they are. The object of this game is to see how well you know your partner.”
    “Whoever gets the most number of correct answers wins,” Martha adds.
    “What if there is a tie?” Jeff asks.
    “Then we’ll have a tiebreaker.”
    Terry takes hers. She eyes the list of questions in amazement.
     
    1.         What is your partner’s favorite color?
    2.        What is your partner’s favorite movie?
    3.