Married By Mistake

joining the family business instead.”
    Even if he had run off to Charlotte, the racing capital, he’d probably still be on the receiving end of constant demands from his grasping relatives.
    “Are you married?”
    Did he look like a sucker for punishment?
    She rushed on without waiting for him to reply, as if it was a relief to be revealing her doubts. At least someone was enjoying this. “Joe and I started dating in high school. We drifted into our engagement at graduation—that was seven years ago. We said we’d wait until we could afford to buy a house before we got married.”
    “Good idea,” Adam said. He inched his hand toward the phone.
    “Every time we set a wedding date, something happens to change our plans,” she said. “But now I need to hurry things up. Now, I have to get married.”
    A shock of...surprise surged through Adam, and he forgot about the phone. He stole another quick look at Casey’s figure, to see if he’d missed any suspicious bulges. No sign of a baby—but pregnancy would explain her emotional state.
    She looked as if she was about to break down again. Adam, inured to tears through years of dealing with weepy female relatives, planned to wait her out. But something about the way Casey’s eyes shimmered, then widened as if to say she wasn’t about to cry, no, not at all, got to him. He whipped his handkerchief out of his pocket and offered it to her.
    She took it without a word. He read the Emergency Fire Instructions pinned to the wall while he tried to ignore the way her snuffling did funny things to his insides. Eventually he gave up, and glanced sideways long enough to find and pat the creamy shoulder nearest him. At his touch, Casey straightened, drew on some inner reserve to blink the tears away, and met Adam’s gaze full on.
    “I’m sorry.” She blew her nose one last time.
    “Why don’t you tell me more about Joe?” Dwelling on her husband-to-be’s good points might cheer her up.
    “He’s very nice. We have a lot in common,” she said. “He’s about to join the navy, which means he’ll be away a lot, but I can handle that.”
    For all Casey’s dreams of being adored, Adam would bet the marriage she had lined up with Joe would be a lot happier than one based on some infatuation.
    “Unless,” Casey said, “I pull out now, and wait for a man who adores me.”
    He wished she wouldn’t keep saying that. She had stars in her eyes when she talked about love and adoring.
    Besides, if Casey was pregnant, she should marry the father of her child. The pretty-well-perfect father of her child.
    “You could wait a long time for a man who adores you,” Adam said, and was annoyed to find he felt like a heel, telling her to abandon her dreams. More forcefully, he added, “You might never find one. Marry Joe and be happy with what you’ve got.”
    “Casey!” A voice from the doorway startled them. Adam recognized one of the production assistants. About time. Casey leaped to her feet.
    “There you are.” The woman’s voice was overly bright. She flashed Adam a look of sympathetic exasperation. “They’re waiting for you in makeup. We need to hurry.”
    Casey hesitated. She swallowed, then turned to Adam. “You’re right, I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Her voice held the faintest question, so Adam nodded reassuringly. She smiled, a proper smile this time, which made her eyes glow more green than gray. “It was nice talking to you.”
    “You, too. And—” he might as well admit he knew what she’d been alluding to “—good luck with the baby.”
    Her eyes widened. He saw confusion, the dawn of understanding, then amusement chasing through them. She laughed out loud. “I’m not pregnant.”
    “So why did you say you have to get married?”
    She beamed, still amused. “It’s complicated. Family stuff.” She stuck out a hand and said, “Bye, Adam.”
    “Goodbye, Casey. And good luck.” Whether it was because he knew what desperate measures family could drive a person to, or because he felt unaccountably relieved she wasn’t pregnant, or just because she was dressed in such formal, elaborate style, Adam did the weirdest thing. Instead of shaking her hand, he lifted it to his mouth, pressed a kiss to the back of her fingers.
    And found himself sorely tempted to kiss Casey Greene all the way up her arm and keep right on going.
    * * *
    C ASEY HAD CONVINCED herself she had her nerves under control. She’d gotten over that crazy bout of crying