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Authors: Alyssa Kress
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actually here to lecture
you."
Dean glanced up sharply.
"Now don't jump all over me." Troy hitched a
hip on the edge of Dean's desk. "You know you deserve one."
"I have no idea what you're talking
about."
"Come on, Dean. You haven't told her the
truth, have you?"
Dean raised a brow. "The truth?" Surely Troy
didn't expect him to tell Kelly what he really thought of her just
then, which was pure dirt.
Troy sighed. "The hypnosis, Dean. You haven't
told her the truth about the hypnosis."
Oh, that . Dean lowered his brow. He
sat down and opened a desk drawer. "Of course I told her. She knows
I was acting under hypnotic suggestion when I met and married her.
That's why she's here."
"But she doesn't know what the hypnotic
suggestion was."
Dean frowned at the contents of the drawer.
"So?"
"So?" Troy straightened off the desk.
" So ?"
"She doesn't need to know."
Troy's eyebrows shot into his hairline. "Like
hell she doesn't! She thinks you were tricked into marrying
her."
"I was."
"Bull."
Slowly, Dean stood up. Troy was off base
here, completely off base. That had to be why Dean's heart was
galloping. "She doesn't know anything about hypnosis. She would
misunderstand."
"Or maybe understand all too well." Troy set
his palms on Dean's desk. "You wanted to marry her."
Dean clenched his jaw and placed his palms
opposite Troy's. "I wanted to have sex with her."
"You did both."
"Yes," Dean hissed. "Because I couldn't get
the one without the other."
That gave Troy pause. His eyes narrowed. "I
told you to do what you wanted, instead of what you should. You
wouldn't have married her unless you'd wanted to."
Dean snorted. "Sure I wanted to
that night."
The two men's gazes locked. Dean's breathing
wasn't as steady as he'd have liked. He hated what he'd done, the
stupidity and impetuousness, and now he had to stand here and
confess it all to Troy. But that was better than having anyone
think he'd wanted this marriage, for God's sake.
Slowly, Troy straightened. His expression
turned quizzical. "You're telling me the marriage was only a means
to an end?"
Dean rolled his eyes. "Elementary, my dear
Watson."
"But "
"Troy. Do I share a single interest or value
with this woman?"
"But "
"Do I?"
Troy's brows tangled. He didn't bother trying
to answer Dean's question. "Only a means to an end. You're saying
you were considering divorce, even as you were pronouncing
vows?"
"No." Dean wasn't ready to condemn himself
that far. "I'm saying I wasn't thinking about the consequences. I
wasn't thinking about anything but what I wanted at that moment."
Namely, sex. Completely uninhibited sex. Dean didn't have to
remember to figure out that much.
"Oh." Troy's frown eased. "You mean, you were
acting like the rest of us."
Dean looked away. "Not all men are completely
irresponsible."
"No, just the ones in our family." Troy
laughed.
Dean's jaw set. "I don't intend to carry on
that tradition." And so far in his life, he hadn't. He had a trust
fund, too, but that hadn't kept him from making his own way in the
world. He'd worked hard about things that mattered. Last year the
FDA had approved a drug for multiple sclerosis that his company had
developed.
But Troy was still smirking. "Mm hm. You're
responsible, straight and narrow which is why you
choose to conceal the truth about the hypnosis from your wife."
Dean's teeth crunched together. "It's not
concealment."
"Then what would you call it?"
"I'd call it intelligence. Kelly
came home with me for one purpose only: to find out 'who I
am.'"
"And ?"
"And I don't want the waters
muddied with some fantasy I'm something I am not ."
"Uh huh ."
Dean only barely kept himself from slapping
his palms on his desk. "I don't want her to create a fantasy of
something I am not, and never could be. Or even want to be." Love , she had said.
When hell froze over.
But Troy's brows arched. "It's rather
unclear, though, exactly what you want to be."
Dean glared at
you."
Dean glanced up sharply.
"Now don't jump all over me." Troy hitched a
hip on the edge of Dean's desk. "You know you deserve one."
"I have no idea what you're talking
about."
"Come on, Dean. You haven't told her the
truth, have you?"
Dean raised a brow. "The truth?" Surely Troy
didn't expect him to tell Kelly what he really thought of her just
then, which was pure dirt.
Troy sighed. "The hypnosis, Dean. You haven't
told her the truth about the hypnosis."
Oh, that . Dean lowered his brow. He
sat down and opened a desk drawer. "Of course I told her. She knows
I was acting under hypnotic suggestion when I met and married her.
That's why she's here."
"But she doesn't know what the hypnotic
suggestion was."
Dean frowned at the contents of the drawer.
"So?"
"So?" Troy straightened off the desk.
" So ?"
"She doesn't need to know."
Troy's eyebrows shot into his hairline. "Like
hell she doesn't! She thinks you were tricked into marrying
her."
"I was."
"Bull."
Slowly, Dean stood up. Troy was off base
here, completely off base. That had to be why Dean's heart was
galloping. "She doesn't know anything about hypnosis. She would
misunderstand."
"Or maybe understand all too well." Troy set
his palms on Dean's desk. "You wanted to marry her."
Dean clenched his jaw and placed his palms
opposite Troy's. "I wanted to have sex with her."
"You did both."
"Yes," Dean hissed. "Because I couldn't get
the one without the other."
That gave Troy pause. His eyes narrowed. "I
told you to do what you wanted, instead of what you should. You
wouldn't have married her unless you'd wanted to."
Dean snorted. "Sure I wanted to
that night."
The two men's gazes locked. Dean's breathing
wasn't as steady as he'd have liked. He hated what he'd done, the
stupidity and impetuousness, and now he had to stand here and
confess it all to Troy. But that was better than having anyone
think he'd wanted this marriage, for God's sake.
Slowly, Troy straightened. His expression
turned quizzical. "You're telling me the marriage was only a means
to an end?"
Dean rolled his eyes. "Elementary, my dear
Watson."
"But "
"Troy. Do I share a single interest or value
with this woman?"
"But "
"Do I?"
Troy's brows tangled. He didn't bother trying
to answer Dean's question. "Only a means to an end. You're saying
you were considering divorce, even as you were pronouncing
vows?"
"No." Dean wasn't ready to condemn himself
that far. "I'm saying I wasn't thinking about the consequences. I
wasn't thinking about anything but what I wanted at that moment."
Namely, sex. Completely uninhibited sex. Dean didn't have to
remember to figure out that much.
"Oh." Troy's frown eased. "You mean, you were
acting like the rest of us."
Dean looked away. "Not all men are completely
irresponsible."
"No, just the ones in our family." Troy
laughed.
Dean's jaw set. "I don't intend to carry on
that tradition." And so far in his life, he hadn't. He had a trust
fund, too, but that hadn't kept him from making his own way in the
world. He'd worked hard about things that mattered. Last year the
FDA had approved a drug for multiple sclerosis that his company had
developed.
But Troy was still smirking. "Mm hm. You're
responsible, straight and narrow which is why you
choose to conceal the truth about the hypnosis from your wife."
Dean's teeth crunched together. "It's not
concealment."
"Then what would you call it?"
"I'd call it intelligence. Kelly
came home with me for one purpose only: to find out 'who I
am.'"
"And ?"
"And I don't want the waters
muddied with some fantasy I'm something I am not ."
"Uh huh ."
Dean only barely kept himself from slapping
his palms on his desk. "I don't want her to create a fantasy of
something I am not, and never could be. Or even want to be." Love , she had said.
When hell froze over.
But Troy's brows arched. "It's rather
unclear, though, exactly what you want to be."
Dean glared at
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