Marriage by Mistake (33 page)

###

"Too much air-conditioning?" Dean asked. He
glanced from the road to Kelly as he steered the 4 x 4.

"Hm? No. I'm fine." Kelly gave him a bright
smile. They'd been walking on eggshells around each other ever
since they'd gotten out of bed at the fancy resort that morning.
She wasn't exactly sure why. Maybe it was because something had
been said the night before, but not enough.

Yes, yes, it had been enough for her, enough
for right then, but not enough for either of them to feel
completely secure.

First thing in the morning they'd packed, had
a quick cup of coffee, and then driven straight over to the outdoor
camp to pick up Robby. Dean's half-brother had acted as if he'd
been away for a month instead of two nights. Kelly had felt her
nerves calm in the ebullient joy with which Robby had greeted
them.

Dean, too, had seemed to loosen up under the
onslaught.

He does love the kid, Kelly had thought,
watching Dean hook an arm around Robby's neck. He was capable of
the emotion. She'd felt the scared places inside of her soften.
Dean knew how to give love. He didn't quite know how to receive it,
that was all. That's why he'd stepped back from a real proposal,
one including an avowal of love. Despite his apparent confidence,
he was still wary of Kelly's response.

In the car now watching the summer
countryside roll by, Kelly wondered once again if she ought not
take the initiative. Maybe she should tell Dean that she loved
him.

Or would that be a disservice? Perhaps it was
better to let Dean believe in himself enough to take the plunge.
Waiting for Dean might take time, it involved some risk, but it
could turn out better in the long run.

Kelly was still pondering the matter an hour
later when Dean turned the car through the big iron gates of the
estate. As he drove down the long, winding road toward the house he
made a small, strange sound.

Kelly glanced over. "What?"

Dean only pressed his lips together and shook
his head. Meanwhile in the back seat Robby stirred. "Hey," he
muttered. Then he shot forward against his seat belt. "Hey!" he
exclaimed, full volume. "Dad! It's
Dad
!"

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Kelly craned her head to see the house.
Coming out of the huge double doors was a tall, trim man with a
crown of thick white hair. He stayed on the top step, feet apart,
hands on his hips    a picture of lord of the manor.

Handsome. Oh, from a hundred yards away Kelly
could see he was the very devil of a handsome thing.

Dean said nothing as he pulled up in the
circular drive. Robby was bouncing up and down in his seat. It was
clear that despite Kirk's prolonged absences    or
perhaps because of them    Robby adored his father. As
soon as Dean stopped the car, Robby was out of it, running. "Dad!
Dad
!"

Kirk laughed and grabbed Robby up in his
arms. He whirled around with the boy. Dean, meanwhile, turned off
the motor.

Kelly swiveled to look at Dean. He was
staring past her at the man still twirling the boy by the front
door. He didn't say a word as he popped open his car door.

Um, okay
, Kelly thought. She'd guessed
the relationship between Dean and his father was troubled. It
seemed she was about to see exactly how bad it was, and from a
front row seat.

Dean came around to open her door. No matter
how upset he was, he didn't forget his manners. Meanwhile Kelly saw
Kirk put Robby down.

"More later," the father promised his son.
Then his eyes turned to the car. An incredible smile took over his
face as Kelly stepped out. She was wearing jeans and an old
T-shirt, but Kirk's gaze made her feel like she was wearing
Versace. Charm. Oh, the man had charm by the busload.

"Well, hello," Kirk said.

"This is Kelly," Dean announced.

"Your wife." Kirk kept his blue eyes on
Kelly. He took her hand and lifted it. "You have no idea how
pleased I am to meet you."

Kelly inclined her head. She was speechless.
Everything she knew about this man was negative, yet his charm was
irresistible. She could actually feel herself warming toward
him.

Kirk released Kelly's hand and turned to give
Dean a hearty slap on the shoulder. "Couldn't have done better
myself."

Dean pointedly ignored this remark, instead
asking dryly, "Dropped by in time for dinner, did you, Kirk?"

"Uh huh." In the face of Dean's obvious
displeasure, Kirk stuck to his smile. "But I didn't want to be an
imposition so I brought my dinner with me, and yours, too. You
hungry, son?" This last was directed to Robby, who'd practically
melted against Kirk's side.

Robby jumped up straight. "You brought
dinner?"

"Oh, just a little take-out."

Robby squealed in delight. Dean said
nothing.

"Go on. Go on in," Kirk directed Robby,
chuckling.

Robby flicked the briefest of glances Dean's
way, then ran to the front door, struggled it open, and slipped
inside.

Kirk offered Kelly his arm. "Shall we?" he
asked.

Kelly glanced toward Dean. Were they supposed
to go along with this, whatever it was? Dean merely gave a vague
nod.

Well, all right
, Kelly thought, taking
Kirk's arm.
If this is the way you want it
. But she doubted
very much this was the way Dean wanted anything at all.

###

Dean knew he was more annoyed than he ought
to be. So what if Kirk decided to show up with take-out? So what if
'take-out' turned out to be a fourteen-course French dinner
complete with French waiters and a French chef the size of a
Volkswagen, all direct from Paris? So what? It was, officially,
Kirk's house. He could do what he wanted.

But it was a fact that as Dean sat there
watching Kirk play the benevolent host, he felt a growing
irritation. Where did Kirk get off acting convivial, as if he fit
in? Where did he get off acting like
he
was in charge?

But Kirk had no trouble playacting. He
divided his attention between Robby and Kelly, like some noble king
of the hill. He acted like a damned patriarch. And nobody disabused
him.

On the contrary, poor Robby was in seventh
heaven. It was going to take weeks to put him back together after
this    weeks! Not that Kirk cared about that part of
things, the real part. Kirk probably didn't even notice that Troy
had made himself scarce. Troy avoided Kirk whenever he could, torn
between an old gratitude for Kirk taking him in after his parents
had been killed, and a more enduring wariness regarding Kirk's acid
tongue.

No, Kirk didn't notice his nephew's absence,
nor did he notice that the gourmet food was wasted on Robby. On
Kelly, too, for that matter. Dean was amused to see her secretly
slip her portion of
escargot
back onto the silver serving
tray. Somehow she managed to avoid getting the frog's legs put on
her plate to begin with.

Yes, despite her show of good manners, Kelly
wasn't taken in by Dean's father, and for that Dean was grateful.
He only wished she'd stop sending sympathetic glances his way. He
didn't need sympathy. Yes, he was annoyed, but he'd live. He wasn't
a child any more, like Robby, to get taken in by the show and later
disappointed. On the other hand, he'd sure like to know why the old
man had shown up after all. Dean's telegram had been painfully
explicit. He wasn't wanted.

Kirk had his reasons, Dean supposed, reasons
that had nothing to do with taking care of his nine-year-old
son.

Dean was confident he'd be hearing all about
it soon enough.

"And so!" Kirk suddenly boomed. He placed his
palms on either side of his plate and beamed at Kelly. "Just how
did you meet my son?"

Kelly went still. So did Dean. What did Kirk
care?

"Uh." Kelly sent Dean another glance, this
one begging for assistance. Assistance? Hell, Dean couldn't even
remember
how they'd first met.

"Yes?" Kirk prompted.

Slowly, Kelly turned back to Kirk. She
scratched the side of her mouth. "We, uh, met outside my place of
business."

"Really?" Kirk was still beaming. "And what
sort of business are you in, my dear?"

"Oh." Kelly waved a hand. "I'm a dancer."

Kirk's smile dropped. For the first time
since they'd arrived back home, he came to a dead halt. "A
dancer?"

Dean felt his teeth grind. His father's
surprise was way overdone.

Indeed, eyes wide, Kirk now turned to Dean.
"We're not talking about Las Vegas, are we?" His disbelief was
enormous. Apparently Kirk knew the whole story.

"Oh, sure we are." Kelly spoke up cheerily.
"On the Strip."

Kirk rounded on her. "And I suppose you met
outside the
stage door
?"

Why not
? It was on the tip of Dean's
tongue to say it, to demand Kirk explain why
Dean
wasn't
allowed to meet women outside stage doors. But Kelly jumped in
first.

"Actually, it was by a slot machine," she
explained.

"A slot machine!" Kirk gasped. "You can't
tell me my son was gambling!"

"Oh, no. I mean, it was just a quarter
machine," Kelly quickly clarified.

Kirk put a hand over his heart. Dean felt
more annoyed than ever, and that was before Kirk's eyes narrowed on
Kelly, before he tried to look, almost, serious. "Tell me, if it's
not too much to ask    just how well did you two know
each other before you tied the knot?"

Dean's eyes widened. Now that was the last
straw, Kirk playing holier-than-thou. "We knew each other well
enough," he claimed, firm. But he caught Kelly's eye. For an
instant the truth hit him like a two-by-four. They'd only known
each other for two days. Everything Kirk was implying was,
well...true. But fine. That    that was still irrelevant.
Dean waved an arm, determined to regain control of the
conversation. "Why don't you tell us what brought
you
home,
Dad?"

There was silence around the table then. Even
the waiters, who probably didn't understand a word of English, shut
up. Dean met Kirk's eyes and smiled. He could easily imagine Kirk's
true situation. He'd screwed up his trust fund, his latest wife was
suing him, or he was running from an irate mistress. It was no
surprise when Kirk backed down.

"We'll discuss that later," he said, sounding
lofty.

Dean smirked to himself. Oh, he'd just bet
they would.

###

With dinner done, Kelly felt dazed. Something
was happening between Dean and his father but she couldn't tell
exactly what. Once the meal was over, Robby glommed onto Kirk and
dragged him out of the room, chattering something about a really
great video game. The French waiters rushed the table like a pack
of piranha, stripping linens and piling china.

In the midst of all this, Dean remained in
his seat, tapping his thumb rhythmically on the table top. "I'm
sorry about that," he finally said.

"Sorry?" Kelly asked. "What do you have to be
sorry about?"

"The hypnosis, how we met    that
was all my responsibility. You didn't have anything to do with
it."

Kelly was surprised. Where was this line of
thought coming from? And besides    "What do you mean? I
fell in    I mean, I decided to go out with you, to marry
you. Of course I had something to do with it."

Dean turned to look at her directly. "You had
no idea what you were getting into."

"Well..." Kelly couldn't argue with that. The
man she'd married hadn't told her anything about his real life. But
then, he hadn't had much time to tell her anything. She'd just
figured they fit.

And as it turned out, they did.

Dean rose from his seat with a sigh. "Don't
worry. I'll do everything in my power to get Kirk out of here by
tomorrow."

"Well, I    " Suddenly they were
talking about Kirk again.

"He only wants something    money,
help with his lawyers, a place to hide. It should be easy enough to
gratify him." Dean stretched as though he were perfectly at ease
and smiled down at Kelly. "He'll probably come by the study to
discuss it with me as soon as he can shake Robby."

"Oh." Frowning, Kelly rose from her seat,
too. "Then I guess...I'll see you later?"

"Of course." But Dean's casual expression
faded. "Don't worry. I won't let Kirk become an issue in our
lives."

Their eyes met. In that moment Kelly saw
that, in fact, Kirk was going to be a big issue in their lives.
"O-kay," she said slowly.

Abruptly, Dean smiled again. "Your bedroom
tonight?"

Her bedroom? Kelly halted. They were keeping
separate bedrooms? Even after their agreement to 'keep things
going?'

They were going to have to talk about this.
Just like they were going to have to talk about Kirk and Dean's
problems with him. And maybe they had to talk about the hypnosis,
for good measure.

Somehow, Kelly was sure, all these things
were connected.

But they needed time and privacy. So in the
dining room, surrounded by French waiters, Kelly just smiled.
"Sure," she replied. "My bedroom." She leaned forward and kissed
him. They
were
going to talk. She was not going to let this
fester. Heck, this might even be a chance to break through Dean's
remaining defenses. "See you," she murmured, and smiled with extra
warmth as she turned and left the room.

###

Dean knew it would take Kirk a while to
divest himself of Robby. He also knew Kirk would take his own sweet
time before dragging whatever sorry problem he had to his older
son. So Dean sat behind the desk in his study and attempted to busy
himself with some neglected paperwork.

But he couldn't concentrate. The more he
thought about it, the more furious he became. For weeks Kirk had
ignored Robby and his school situation. Now he rode in and thought
he could play the white knight.