Marriage by Mistake

lunch." Here Troy cleared his throat. "I, uh, believe I owe you an apology."
    An apology! Felicia didn't know whether to fall over in a dead faint or scream. Troy wanted to apologize ? To her ? Good God, did he feel sorry for her?
    "So please call me back," Troy said. He rattled off a phone number and ended by saying, "You may think I've already taken care of my obligation by calling and leaving a phone message to say I'm sorry about the way I dumped Dean's marriage news on you." Then Troy's voice got weird, almost stern. "But you and I both know that an apology recorded on an answering machine doesn't cut it. I have to take you somewhere, and you have to come . That is...if you intend to accept my apology." There was a pause before he said, "So that's it."
    The answering machine beeped and a computer voice announced, "End of messages."
    Great , Felicia thought, glaring at the miserable machine. Just great . Troy was right. If he was going to apologize, properly, and if she intended to accept that apology—which she was bound to do—then they had to meet, in person.
    As if losing Dean hadn't been bad enough.
    Felicia crushed her teeth together, because the urge to open her mouth and scream was strong. Oh, how she hated Troy. She hated him, hated him, hated him!

    CHAPTER TEN

    It took until the next morning for Kelly to regret her kissing impulse of the night before. In her baby-doll, she sat on the edge of her bed and rubbed her forehead. What had she been thinking? No. That was the trouble. She hadn't been thinking.
    Kelly sighed, pushed off the bed, and dragged herself into the shower. What she'd done last night was try to rationalize what she'd wanted to do all along: kiss Dean. She'd let her physical attraction for the man overrule her senses.
    Kelly stood under the shower with her head lifted toward the spray. Unfortunately, she'd made a promise down there in the garage. She wasn't leaving.
    But that didn't mean she had to proceed with this insane idea of 'releasing' Dean. Why, every women's magazine in the country, every self-help book on the shelves would say as much. It was impossible to change a man. You had to accept him the way he was.
    Kelly wasn't ready to accept Dean the way he was.
    She stepped out of the shower, drew on a pair of shorts, and then wiggled into one of her colorful tops. She was stuck here then, she thought. Seven-and-a-half more weeks. But she wasn't going to try to help, change, or improve Dean during that time.
    Hungry for breakfast now, Kelly went down the stairs. At the archway into the morning room, she stopped short. Dean sat at the table with Troy and Robby.
    Dean? Kelly blinked. She'd been sure he'd skedaddle after that kiss in the garage. She'd been certain he'd avoid her now more than ever. He wouldn't want to have anything to do with her or her proposed mission.
    But there he sat, reading a newspaper. He looked up, caught Kelly's eye, and nodded a greeting. As if there was nothing unusual about the situation, kiss included.
    Suspicious, Kelly stepped into the room. She squinted and took a seat across from him. Pride aside, she knew Dean couldn't possibly consider that kiss ignorable.
    "'Morning, Kelly," Robby called from behind a bowl of cereal. "How was the opera?"
    "Yes." Troy looked haggard, as if he'd woken much earlier than his wont. "How did you two enjoy yourselves?"
    They were obviously checking up on their bet. Considering Troy's evident exhaustion, Kelly wondered just how high the stakes were in this wager. She gave them both a big, noncommittal smile. "The opera was fantastic."
    "You were home later than we expected." Troy's eyes narrowed as he fingered the edge of the unused plate in front of him.
    "You waited up?" Kelly felt an instant of embarrassment, then realized Troy couldn't have witnessed what had happened in the garage, even if he had waited up.
    "I was...on the Internet," Troy explained. "You know how you can lose track of time."
    "Oh, yes," Kelly agreed sweetly, only mildly annoyed now. "All those adult websites."
    Dean snorted—the first hint he was even following the conversation—and Troy turned red.
    "It's a legitimate user group," Troy claimed. "Besides, Dean's the one who needs adult websites."
    Robby snickered, though Kelly couldn't imagine he knew what they were talking about. Meanwhile, Dean merely smiled and folded over a page in his newspaper.
    Troy turned to him. "What's going on with you, Dean? I'm about to lose my bet here."
    "Yes,