Marriage by Mistake

difference between whom, Kelly?"
    Good question. Kelly waved a hand. "I thought he was a different person. I mean, he's cold, closed-off, and—and—disapproving." Yes, and that same man had kissed her in the middle of a stream. He'd soaked his fancy business suit, wrestled a fish. Who was Dean ?
    "He's...more," Kelly said out loud.
    "More than cold, closed-off, and disapproving?" Troy's frown deepened. "Not that I know of."
    "You're wrong." Kelly laughed, but it was a weak, just-got-hit-in-the-belly kind of laugh. Dean was more. He was loyal, hard-working, and dependable. And when she closed her eyes she could see him standing there with his hands on her face, a look of stark yearning on his own.
    He wanted more, too. He wanted love. He really did. In fact, he might even want to love her .
    Kelly didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. Dean wasn't the man she'd married, but he wasn't not him, either. Oh, how complicated everything had become!
    "Personally, I don't think Dean is anything more than that cold, closed-off person you were talking about," Troy spoke up, sounding worried.
    "Oh, but he is." Kelly couldn't dismiss the truth. "He just needs—" What? What did Dean need?
    "To change his personality?" Troy's eyes widened. "Yes, I believe we could all agree on that."
    "No." Kelly put her napkin down. She pushed out of her chair. "What he needs...is to be able to express his personality."
    "Uh...doesn't he do that already?"
    "No." Kelly paced the length of the dining room table. "He doesn't feel safe. And why should he? No one's ever made him feel that way."
    Troy's brows drew down. "Don't get me wrong. I like having you here. But—" He grimaced. "But come on. Dean , not feeling safe? I can't think of anyone more supremely arrogant than my cousin."
    Kelly arched her brows at Troy. "Is that right?"
    "Yeah." But Troy's gaze averted, and he shifted in his seat. It was all the confirmation Kelly sought.
    Troy seemed to know it. "Okay, fine," he said. "Dean may have his...little problems. But I'm sure he feels safe . Or, even if he doesn't, how could you make him feel that way?"
    "I don't know how." Kelly gripped the back of her chair. "I only know I have to try."
    Troy's gaze narrowed. "You have to try." His eyes became mere slits. "Why?"
    Why ?
    While Troy's regard was narrow, Robby's was wide, and curious.
    Why ?
    Kelly refused to acknowledge the immediate answer that came to mind. She stalked back toward her chair. "How...? Now, that won't be easy, of course." In fact, she hadn't a single, viable idea of how to make Dean feel safe, how to allow him to be who he really was.
    But she would think of something, because this was important, vital, no longer a choice. She had to help him.
    "No, I don't know the how of it," Kelly admitted and sighed with a wry smile. "But it looks like I have 'til Monday to figure it out."

    CHAPTER TWELVE

    It would have been a great weekend, Troy thought, with Dean guaranteed to be gone, except that he had this apology deal with Felicia to get over with on Sunday. Or at least Troy thought he'd get the apology over with on Sunday, but late Friday night he hit the button on the answering machine in his bedroom and found out she was going to keep the wretched thing hanging over his head—again.
    "...so very sorry," Felicia's voice claimed, in her best high-society accent. "I completely forgot about this luncheon I absolutely must attend on Sunday for the Head Start Support Foundation. Really, I don't know how it slipped my mind. So, please, let's set another day. Next week perhaps..." Her voice trailed off as she muttered a few other inanities and said goodbye.
    With one hand loosening his silk party tie, Troy used the other to put a finger over the stop button on the machine and slowly depress it. He could feel a muscle in his jaw clench. She was putting it off—again.
    He might not have minded, he might even have approved of Felicia's delaying tactics if it wasn't looking more and more like his apology was going to be necessary.
    Hell. Dean and Kelly looked like they might actually take a stab at being married to each other. His stuffy, uptight cousin had kissed her. Quite a smooch, if Robby was to be believed. And at dinner that night Kelly had sounded far gone, like she was falling in love, for heaven's sake.
    Troy shook his head. Kelly was either heading for one terrific drop or...she was going to end up married, really married, to Dean.
    The idea of Dean being permanently off the