Marriage by Mistake

didn't want Dean to think he could impose his terrible life philosophy on Robby! Discipline, self-control, and the rewards of applied persistence.
    It was the philosophy of a man who'd had to make do as a child—a man who couldn't even see what he was missing: any real happiness.
    Kelly looked out at the streetlights dotting the darkness and felt an ache in her chest. Sent away at age six! It was obvious Dean had never known a moment's emotional security. Nobody had ever taught him it was okay or safe to care.
    Kelly snorted softly to herself. What Dean needed was someone to impose a new philosophy on him .
    In the darkness, Kelly went very still. Oh, no. No, no, no. She hadn't just thought that. She hadn't. Yet she drew in a sharp breath.
    "Something wrong?" Dean spoke for the first time since they'd left the parking garage in Boston.
    Kelly cleared her throat. "Um, no. Nothing's wrong." And it wasn't! She hadn't just thought about trying to impose a new philosophy on Dean. Doing something like that— Well, for one thing, it wasn't her place. And for another, the man wasn't the least bit open to such a thing. He was quite satisfied with himself just the way he was.
    Of course, he didn't even know who he was .
    Kelly choked.
    "Swallow the wrong way?" Dean looked over. Their eyes met briefly. Briefly, because Kelly jerked her gaze away.
    Good Lord. Dean knew who he was. She was the one confused. She kept thinking she saw 'her' Dean under there.
    Oh, but you have .
    Kelly clenched her teeth. She hadn't. She hadn't! But the little voice inside chattered otherwise. She had seen moments, instants in time. There'd been moments of...connection.
    No! Kelly scowled and shook her head to get rid of the tightness in her chest. All right, maybe there'd been moments. So what? They were only moments. Did she imagine she could string them together to recreate the gentle, caring man she'd known for two days in Las Vegas?
    That would be delusional. Part of her whole self-destructive bit. Dean was the man she saw before her: stiff, cold, and formal. Annoyingly superior. Bossy.
    Not exactly a soul mate.
    Definitely not—and never would be—the man she'd met in Las Vegas. He was not—and never would be—the man she'd married.
    Kelly's last thought echoed in her mind. She was just realizing its import when the iron gates of Dean's estate appeared in the car's headlights. She sat staring dumbly forward as Dean pushed a remote control button in the car and the gates swung open.
    So she'd completed her investigation. This Dean was not the man she'd married. After only a little more than a week she'd figured it out. Decided.
    Dean drove through the gates and up the winding drive toward the house.
    Kelly felt heavy inside. The trial period was over. Her vows carried no weight. She could go home. She should go home. Immediately.
    At a fork in the drive, Dean bore right. Five garage doors appeared before them. One began scrolling open. Dean moved the car into its slot, shifted into park, and turned off the motor.
    Kelly bit her lower lip. She ought to tell Dean it was over. Now. Then leave in the morning.
    Dean opened his car door with an expensively hushed click. Without looking at Kelly, he got out of the car. She sat there, depressed beyond words as he rounded the hood of the car—her exquisitely mannered, soon-to-be-ex-husband. He bent and opened her door with another classy hush.
    Kelly pasted on a polite smile and turned to face him. He looked back, devilishly handsome, and utterly chill. His lips were beautifully formed, and perfectly straight, with not a smile or expression of any kind playing upon them. His eyes were the crystal blue of an angel, but they expressed not one ounce of human emotion. Oh, he was the most remote human being she had ever seen. Utterly alone.
    Kelly's polite smile faltered.
    Dean's expression, impassive as it was, seemed to freeze. "What?" he demanded. "You've been upset for the past five miles. For God's sake, what is it?"
    Kelly couldn't possibly get her smile back in place. Yes, he was remote and chill, no doubt about it. Not 'her's' at all. But she'd suddenly remembered Troy's bet with Robby. Troy thought Dean wouldn't be able to keep her for two whole weeks. And he'd be right! The thought made Kelly's chest squeeze.
    "Kelly," Dean's voice was warning.
    She could barely breathe. God, she was going to do it, become the next person in the chain, the chain of people who had left Dean, making him the