Marriage by Mistake

were equally miserable. "Shall we go in?" he asked.
    "Certainly." Felicia preceded Troy into the sunny, upscale restaurant. She had been there once or twice, but on neither occasion had she felt gawky as she navigated the array of small linen-covered tables. She was acutely conscious of Troy behind her.
    The hair on her arms lifted electrically as he pulled out one of the high-backed chairs for her. But she smiled and accepted the seat as if there were nothing out of order. As if she went out to lunch, tête-à-tête, with nasty Troy Singleton every day of the week.
    "Uh...have any trouble getting into town?" Troy seated himself opposite her.
    "Not at all. Traffic was light today." Felicia delivered the social lie as she folded her hands in her lap. She wondered if it was a good or a bad thing that the restaurant, crowded at dinnertime, was completely empty now at lunch.
    "Good," Troy replied, about the traffic. "That's really good."
    Felicia's gaze hit Troy then slanted off to regard the trompe l'oeil mural on the wall behind him. He began tapping a thumb on the linen tablecloth. Thankfully for both of them, the waiter arrived with a well-trained smile and a pair of menus.
    Felicia took her menu and opened it as if it were a rope thrown to a drowning woman. Thank God, something to talk about. "I've tried the scrod here, but not the sirloin," she told Troy. "What do you recommend?"
    Troy frowned into his menu. "I've never been here before."
    "Oh." Felicia bit her lip. Goodness, the man could help . Or was she supposed to stave off the horrible silence all by herself?
    "Ahem. You think the pasta bolognese is any good?" Dark eyes glanced over the menu at her.
    "Ah." So he was trying to help. "That sounds delicious. I think I'll get...the Nicoise salad." She closed her menu and smiled brightly. Her poor mouth was going to be very sore by the end of this meal.
    "Right." Troy closed his menu as well. Their eyes chanced to meet. Felicia stiffened with her habitual response to him, the readiness to parry whatever he might throw her way. But he didn't throw anything. He merely flicked his gaze past her left shoulder and focused on whatever was back there. Restraining himself.
    But Felicia couldn't relax her state of readiness. It was too weird.
    Fortunately, the waiter returned before the awful silence could descend again. He took their orders, flashed the well-trained smile, and walked away.
    Troy cleared his throat. Felicia watched, mesmerized, as the long fingers of his hand folded over a corner of his linen napkin. Never, she realized, had she observed Troy nervous. Nor had she taken a good look at his hands. They were rather...artistic.
    "I guess we might as well get down to business," he said.
    Felicia couldn't take her eyes off Troy's hand, folding and pressing the corner of the napkin. Business, her mind thought. He was taking care of the wretched apology. Thank goodness.
    Troy cleared his throat again. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was deliberately cruel to you at the tennis courts the other day. I, uh, expect there was a better way I could have told you about Dean's marriage—if I had to be the one to tell you at all."
    Felicia raised her eyes from his hand at that. Oh, but you'd wanted to be the one to tell me. You were looking forward to it ! Polite as Troy was being today, she knew he basically loathed her.
    However. They were here to take care of a social duty. Felicia didn't want to start an argument or create any obstacle to concluding this obligation. So she retrieved her bright, well-mannered smile and claimed, "Really, there is no need to apologize. I—"
    She nearly claimed she had no interest in whether or not Dean was married but—again—that would only provoke an argument, and a stupid one at that. Troy had, in fact, guessed Felicia's fantasies regarding Dean. Her smile twisted as she instead admitted, "I doubt there was any good way to do it."
    Troy's dark eyes flicked her way. He was clearly surprised by her admission. "Maybe not a good way." His own words were careful. "But definitely a better one."
    Felicia shrugged. "I never had a claim on Dean. Do you know I saw them, Dean and Kelly, at the opera?" She smiled at Troy, desperate to get the focus of attention off herself. "They seemed well-suited, and quite happy."
    "You think?" Troy's brows curled. "Because actually that's another reason I should apologize. I'm not even sure this marriage is going to last."
    Felicia's eyebrows