Married By Mistake

before wash over her. The intimacy, the passion that she and Adam
had shared had been beyond all her expectations. And despite her limited basis for comparison, it had been clear Adam found it equally sublime. Enough to want to repeat the experience twice during the night.
    What next? Her body, which she’d believed to be sated, tingled in readiness. Not that kind of next, she told herself; what next as far as their marriage was concerned? She didn’t expect Adam to have fallen in love with her overnight. But surely they’d moved onto a different plane.
    The shower stopped, and Casey waited for him to appear.
    To her disappointment, he emerged from the bathroom fully dressed. Her cheerful greeting died on her lips, sent to its grave by the chill in his eyes.
    “We need to talk,” he said, and he sat on the very edge of the bed, leaving an expanse of quilt between them.
    Casey waited, suddenly not trusting her voice. Adam seemed to have trouble finding the words he wanted, and for a few moments there was only a strained silence.
    “Last night was a mistake. I know it was my idea, and I’d been pressuring you, but I was wrong.”
    “Why?” she managed to ask in a thin voice.
    “I should have realized that because you were...less experienced, it would mean more to you.”
    “While it meant nothing to you?” she asked, stung.
    His eyes darkened to indigo. “You know that’s not true.”
    Maybe he was just worried for her, and she could reassure him. She reached across the coverlet and laid her hand on his.
    He snatched it away as if burned. “Casey,” he said, “last night was incredible. But it doesn’t change anything between us. You and I still want very different things. You want a man who’ll adore you. It’s your dream, and it’s what you deserve. But...I’m not the one who can do that. Making love—having sex—just confuses things.”
    Tears pricked her eyes, but she refused to cry. “You don’t sound confused, and neither am I,” she said over the lump in her throat. She steeled herself to lie to him, prayed she would be convincing. “I don’t adore you, Adam, and I never thought you would be the man to adore me.”
    Was it relief that chased across his face?
    “I didn’t even take precautions that first time,” he said. “You could get pregnant.”
    “It’s most unlikely.” Casey didn’t bother to tell him why. There was hardly any point explaining her probable infertility when he’d just told her they had no future together.
    Again he had the nerve to look relieved.
    A surge of anger flowed through her, forcing back the heartbreak she knew would return later.
    “Leave me alone, Adam,” she said. “You were great in bed, but when it comes to relationships, you’re a washout.”
    If she’d hoped he would protest, she was disappointed. He nodded, then left the room.
    Casey heard him whistling on his way downstairs.
    She eased back against the pillows, let out a slow breath, as if by making only the gentlest of movements she could somehow keep her heart from shattering. Just as carefully, she spread her fingers on the quilt again, forced herself to take another breath in and out. The dull gleam of the wedding ring on her left hand caught her eye.
    She had more than this piece of jewelry in common with Adam’s mother. Like the woman who’d worn it before her, she had fallen in love with a husband who could never love her.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
    T HE LAST THING Casey wanted was to face Anna May and Henry, along with the rest of Adam’s extended family, for the lunch they’d planned. Why not just call an end to this charade now?
    Because then Dad and Karen would know the truth. Because it would hurt Eloise, and Casey couldn’t help wanting to postpone that moment. Because Adam needed more time to build his case against his father’s will.
    So they would go through with their performance.
    Fortunately, both she and Adam were too busy getting ready for their guests to have any awkward moments together. Adam planned to barbecue, and Casey had a half-dozen salads to assemble, plus Eloise’s favorite strawberry shortcake to bake.
    By one o’clock, all the guests had arrived, and the beef fillet was grilling. Casey moved between the clusters of guests, introducing her family to Adam’s, making sure everyone had someone to talk to and all glasses were filled.
    Eloise watched her, proud of her gracious yet unaffected daughter-in-law. She knew something wasn’t right between