Marriage by Mistake

direction. Grimacing, Kelly turned. Their eyes met. A funny quiver went through Kelly's stomach. He still had those amazing blue eyes, the elegantly chiseled features, the whole aura of vital, healthy male.
    But on a stranger . The man she'd known—even the man she'd loathed—was nowhere.
    She tried a smile. "I guess it's my turn to owe you an apology."
    His brows knit.
    "I didn't believe you when you said you'd been hypnotized."
    He grunted. "Under the circumstances, understandable."
    Kelly sighed. "Yeah, well, it did sound pretty incredible. Add to that, the tendency of the male to slink off once he's got what he wanted. That's why I—" She stopped and waved a hand.
    His gaze was steady. "That's why you made sure I married you first."
    Kelly looked away. She nodded. Neither of them said anything then. There was a peculiar tension in the air. They were strangers—but not quite. They'd been physically intimate. He understood that by logical deduction, but Kelly actually remembered. Lord help her, but she remembered far too well.
    While Kelly felt the air in the room stretch tight, he cleared his throat. "Well I guess we should finish our business, if that's all right with you?"
    "Business?" Kelly's voice came out too high. "Oh yes, right, of course." She nodded vigorously. "The divorce. You've more than convinced me. I'll sign on whatever dotted line you say." She wanted to get out of there. The situation was even more humiliating than she'd imagined. That whole, dramatic scene in Boston— God.
    His chin jerked. "Yes, well, thank you very—But that isn't the business I mean."
    Kelly blinked. "No?"
    For the first time, his steady gaze slipped. "I mean," he said, staring over her left shoulder, "we need to talk about your move to Boston. Closing your apartment. Quitting your job."
    "Wha—? Excuse me, what?"
    His gaze drew back to her. "We are married, Miss Williams. Usually that involves living together."
    Kelly stared at him. "What?" she asked again.
    Dean raised a pair of haughty eyebrows. "I've come to take you home with me."
    Kelly stood rooted to her spot.
    He had no such mobility problem, turning and strolling toward the coffee table. "I'm afraid you will have to move to Boston." His voice was impossibly matter-of-fact. "There is no practical way I could relocate to Las Vegas."
    Still staring in his direction, Kelly blinked. "You mean—you think we're married?"
    He sat on the floral chair and looked up at her. "Aren't we?"
    "No." She waved a finger between the two of them. "Didn't you just get through explaining that to me?"
    "What I explained was that I do not remember the event. I am convinced, however, that it did indeed happen."
    Kelly made herself breathe. "Well, yeah, it happened but—you weren't you ."
    "Oh? Who was I then?"
    "You were hypnotized!"
    His jaw tightened. "The hypnosis could not force me to do anything against my will."
    "Please. Don't tell me those old men wanted to bark like dogs."
    "Pardon?"
    Kelly waved her hands. " You didn't want to marry me. You were under the influence of something—Troy's suggestions. You didn't intend to do it."
    On the floral chair, he went still. "A part of me did," he said softly.
    Kelly paused, digesting that. "A part of you?"
    The tops of his cheeks went pink. "A part of my mind . I knew what I was doing. I knew I was making a promise, and now I intend to fulfill it."
    He seemed utterly serious. But—he couldn't be. Shouldn't be. This whole thing was like the dog-barking. A joke.
    He heaved a deep sigh. "I'm the man who married you. I am."
    Kelly inhaled. "But—"
    "No 'but's. I am the man you met five days ago in Las Vegas, the one who did...everything I did. I simply don't remember it."
    Kelly frowned hard. "No."
    His gaze was crystal blue. "Yes."
    "No, no, no." She took a step back. "I know the man I met. He was—" She stopped and flapped a hand. "He wasn't you ."
    The Dean in front of her raised a pair of dubious brows.
    Kelly huffed a breath. "He was...fun, mellow. Personable. And he wouldn't be...doing what you're trying to do."
    Those supercilious brows dove downward. "He wouldn't be trying to honor his marriage vows?"
    "No! I mean—" Kelly stopped, frustrated. In fact, she had suspected just such craven behavior of 'her' Dean.
    The present Dean looked satisfied. "Consider that you knew me for less than forty-eight hours."
    "But—"
    "You were bound to discover I wasn't exactly the man you had imagined."
    "Well yes, but this is something