Marriage by Mistake (9 page)

"A science project," Kelly repeated. "You
mean he just got this out of a book or something?"

"Mm. And I was his 'test subject.' Nobody
expected I would actually go under." His lashes lowered. "It
just...happened."

Kelly could only stare at him, more baffled
than ever. Robby was just a kid, and a kid who'd only been fooling
around, for heaven's sake.

Dean waved a hand. "An accident."

"Yes," Kelly said. "I believe you." It
certainly hadn't happened on purpose. But how had it even happened
by accident? Dean didn't seem like he'd easily fall under the
influence of anything, much less a nine-year-old horsing around. If
he'd fallen into a trance, a deep one, it could only have been
because on some level, deep down...he'd
wanted
to.

But why would he want that?

Kelly frowned, trying to puzzle it out.
Meanwhile, Dean took a step back. "About Robby," he said. "Since
you bring up the subject."

Kelly blinked.

"You're only going to be here for two
months." Dean's jaw tightened. "Leave him alone."

The words were so unexpected that it took
Kelly a moment to understand. Her eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

Dean's gaze was cool. "You'll only hurt
him."

"Excuse me?" Kelly said again, louder.

"You know you will." Dean said this as if it
were a foregone conclusion. "Stepmothers    Anyway,
you'll be gone in two months."

"I will?" queried Kelly, and hastily changed
her question to a statement. "Oh, yeah, you bet I will." She'd be
gone in two months    or less. "But so what?"

"So what?" He appeared nonplussed.

"As if that has anything to do with
   " Kelly rose to her feet. He'd accepted her two-month
deal, only to inform her now that the outcome was predetermined.
And he topped it off with this insult. "It would hurt Robby more if
I ignored him." Indeed, how
could
she ignore that needy
child?

"No." Dean gave a sharp shake of the head.
"With all due respect, I know more about this type of situation
than you do."

"You do." Oh, yeah, he was the big expert.
His clear thinking about children led to Robby running away on a
regular basis.

"I do," Dean insisted. "Furthermore, Robby is
my responsibility, at least for the moment. So I would appreciate
it if you would    "

"If I would use my own good judgment in the
matter." Yes,
he
understood children, the man whose first
words to Robby had been, "you're filthy." The man who she now
realized was responsible for Robby not coming to join her for
breakfast.

"I mean    "

"Yes," Kelly bit out. "I
know
what you
mean." He thought she was completely insensitive, an idiot.

Dean's eyes narrowed. Kelly met his gaze
directly. He'd done it, made her angry, and she didn't mind if he
saw it, the jerk. He assumed she couldn't figure out how to behave
toward Robby. Who did he think she
was
?

They stared at each other, the air
practically crackling between them. Despite his utter wrongness
here, he projected power with his gaze, and surrounded himself with
an aura of inner strength. Facing him, Kelly felt her own strength
hum in response, felt a novel exhilaration. Typically she backed
down in the face of male anger, but not with Dean, not with the
most powerful man she'd ever met. Against she him stood strong;
heart pounding, nostrils flaring, blood tingling...

And turned on, she realized suddenly.
Passionately so.

Kelly stopped breathing. In the middle of
this nasty dispute she was feeling...sexual? But she couldn't deny
it. Heat was flooding all her interesting parts.

She saw Dean swallow, saw his eyes darken,
which told her he was feeling it, too. Something dangerous and
unexpected.

This was too weird. And yet, Kelly couldn't
look away from him. No, she just kept looking into his intense blue
eyes, feeling angry and...sexual.

Finally, he took a big step back.
"I'll...tell Maggie to put your things in the Lilac Suite."

Kelly didn't have to ask to know the Lilac
Suite would be at the opposite end of the house from his own
bedroom. "Yes," she murmured, "you do that."

But he turned on his way out the door. "About
Robby," he said softly. "Don't cross me."

Kelly thought it best not to attempt a
reply.

CHAPTER SIX

"No, no I understand. Thank you." Carefully,
not to indulge any of the frustration he felt, Dean set down the
telephone he'd been using at his downtown office desk. It was
already May, he'd just been told, too late in the semester to
enroll a new student.

Dean rubbed a hand over his mouth. He should
have started this process a week-and-a-half ago, when Robby had
first dropped on his doorstep, but he'd resisted being the one
stuck with the task.

Now...? Well, all morning he'd been hearing
variations on the same theme: too late in the semester, Robby's
grades not up to par, the obstacle of a good recommendation from
his last school, and so on and so forth.

Dean leaned back in his chair. It seemed his
half-brother had burned his bridges when it came to decent boarding
schools. That was a problem in more ways than one. Not only was
Robby missing out on some much-needed education, but Dean couldn't
get him out of harm's way.

Instead the kid was stuck at home, stuck in
the same house with that woman.

A helpless snort escaped Dean. Hell,
he
was stuck in the same house with her. In his own way, he
was in just as great danger as Robby. Dean pushed out of his chair.
He paced across the scrupulously white carpet toward the windows
where downtown Boston stirred beneath him.

He barely noticed the city bustle, pondering
instead his reaction to his wife. Whenever he was around her,
something like a drug shot through his system, arousing his body
and scattering his brain cells. He couldn't
think
straight
when near her.

He'd never experienced lust this strong.
Almost...out of control. Almost enough to make him do
something...stupid.

Dean hated acting like a coward, yet he'd
been doing just that. A coward, he'd stayed at the office until
late that first night, until he could be sure Kelly had retired to
her bedroom.

Much good that had done. He'd gone up to his
solitary room and dreamed about her. Wild, erotic dreams. They'd
been like nothing he'd ever experienced, the sex unlike any he'd
ever had. No holds barred, skin and teeth and tongues. Animal,
frantic   

Satisfying.

Dean drew in a deep breath. God, had it been
satisfying. Too satisfying. And so he couldn't help wondering: was
the dream based on memory? Had the sex between them really been
that good?

Dean's breath hissed out. No. He couldn't let
himself wonder. He'd go crazy. He'd spend every waking moment
scheming how to get her into bed, how to achieve that satisfaction
in reality.

He'd act like a damned fool.

Cars and people hurried past each other on
the street below. Deliberately, Dean relaxed his tight jaw. First
of all, it had been a dream, not a memory. Secondly, he was his own
man, heredity notwithstanding.

He didn't have to act like a damned fool.

Even if he might want to.

###

Kelly was thrilled to find Dean's basement
gym. She could stay in shape and be ready to go back to work the
minute this trial period marriage was over.

On Monday morning she jumped onto Dean's
state-of-the-art equipment, ignoring the voice chattering inside
her head that after four days in his house she was doing absolutely
nothing about learning who 'this' Dean really was.

It wasn't her fault, though. Dean was
avoiding her. He left every morning super early and came home super
late. Not her fault.

In the plain-walled gym, Kelly pumped away on
Dean's stationary bicycle. Well, all right, truth be told, she was
glad Dean was avoiding her. She felt very confused about him. He
was cold, disapproving, way too authoritarian. He didn't even
like
her.

And yet    and yet    she
couldn't help feeling there was something there, some
thing
  

On the stationary bicycle, Kelly shook her
head. What was there was pure lust, a simple physical attraction.
She wanted it to be more than that. God knew, she
missed
the
man she'd married, but a girl had to face reality.

He wasn't there. In fact, he'd never been
'there.'

Kelly worked out for two solid hours, really
getting into it every time she started wondering about 'her' Dean
again. Finally, exhausted, she wiped her face, threw the towel
around her neck, then used one last burst of energy to hop up the
stairs.

A light flickered from an open door on the
second floor hall. Sounds of explosions drifted forth. Panting from
her jog up the stairs, Kelly stalked down the wood paneled hall to
investigate.

Past the open doorway, Robby sat cross-legged
on a carpeted floor. His tongue peeked out of one corner of his
mouth as he concentrated on his joystick and a TV screen. Toys
littered the room beyond him, the windows of which were covered by
a set of heavy curtains.

Kelly crossed her arms over her chest and
leaned one shoulder against the door jamb. She hadn't ignored
Dean's little brother, but she hadn't sought him out, either. It
seemed best not to rock that boat. Though, darn it, she wanted
to.

Look at the kid
. His every brain cell
was concentrated on what Kelly could now see was a battle between
chaps-wearing cowboys and scantily clad women. Both sides were
armed to the teeth. Kelly dabbed her still-dewing forehead with her
towel. This was not right. A child shouldn't be spending his time
this way, self-absorbed and sedentary. "Hey," she heard herself
say.

There was no answer to this greeting. Just a
kapow from the TV set, followed by the sound of shattering.

Kelly drew her thumb along her lower lip.
Yes, the boy needed attention, but if she gave him any, it would
only make trouble for her in an already difficult situation.

Kelly bit her thumb. On the other hand, what
was more important: taking care of her own comfort, or helping
another in need? Kelly straightened from the door jamb. She spoke
again, louder. "Hey!"

Robby started. Instead of an explosion from
the TV set, there was a thud. He turned, looking outraged. "For the
love of    ! Oh, it's you." His look of outrage turned to
something bashful. It was all the confirmation Kelly needed that
she was right to interfere. "Uh, hi," Robby said.

"So." Kelly skirted a field of checker
squares as she approached Robby. "Good game?"

"It sucks." Robby's attention drifted back to
the TV set. His fingers crept toward his joystick.

"But you've got a good score there." At least
Kelly thought the numbers lit at the right of the screen
represented a score, and it looked high.

Robby shrugged. "I've had plenty of time to
practice, since I got expelled."

Expelled? "Oh." Kelly cleared her throat. She
hadn't realized...though she supposed she could have guessed. He
should have been in school. "Uh, what happened?"

Instead of answering he started pushing the
button of his joystick. Explosions burst onto the TV screen. Then,
abruptly, he admitted, "I ran away."

Kelly thought of the recent tree house
business and wondered just how ingrained this habit was. "Oh."

Robby turned to glare at her. "I hate living
in a
dorm
. With a
roommate
. Roommates are the
worst
."

Kelly's eyes blinked wide. A roommate? Why,
that meant boarding school. Good heavens, he was only nine. They
were already farming him out to boarding school? Not giving him a
family life?

"Um..." Since Kelly didn't dare express the
outrage she was suddenly feeling on Robby's behalf, she switched
back to her original goal. Expelled or not, Robby needed something
social and constructive to do. "I...well, listen," she said. "If
you're bored with the video game, then...see, I am so bored, too,
and desperate to get out of here. Would you    ?"

"What?" Robby sat up straight. He stared at
her, little-boy appalled. "You're going to leave? Already?"

Kelly was taken aback by his expression of
distress. "Well    "

"You can't leave," Robby stated.

"Anywhere?" Kelly blinked.

"No. I made a bet with Troy that Dean could
keep you at least two weeks."

Kelly's jaw dropped.

Robby jumped to his feet. "Look, I know he
seems a drag, all stuffy and 'should' and 'shouldn't'-ing, but he's
a straight-up guy, you know. Always there when you need him."

"...Always there."

"Right. Like when they kicked me out of
school. Dad was nowhere to be found but Dean came to get me."
Robby's gaze skittered sideways. "He always does."

Kelly spoke very slowly. "I'm...not leaving
Dean."
At least not yet
, she added silently to herself. At
the same time, she thought: Robby and Troy had made a bet? And Troy
hadn't thought Dean could keep her two weeks?

Robby visibly relaxed. "Good. I mean, not
even my Dad has had a marriage that lasted less than two
weeks."

Kelly stared at him.
Was that so
?
"Yes, well." Carefully, she cleared her throat. "All I'm asking is
to get out of the house. You know, like to a park."

"A park?" Robby's look of relief changed to
one of bewilderment.

"Yeah. Grass, trees, maybe a swing set or a
baseball diamond, you know the kind of place."

Robby looked even more bewildered. "You don't
have to go anywhere for that. We have it all here."

Kelly rolled her eyes. "You do not have
everything
here." Like other boys to play with, for one
thing. "Let's ask Jackson."