Page 10 of Her Fantasy Husband

A deal was a deal, and he was going to stick by it or…actually, she wasn’t sure what. But an annulment? No way. She could imagine her family getting hold of that information. Would it negate the release of the trust? She didn’t know, and perhaps she needed to find out. She made a mental note to talk to her lawyer; she’d get Sadie to set up a call after her meeting.

The day had started out so well, and now she was teetering on the edge of a precipice. But no way was she going to allow this guy to push her over. She glared at him, and his lips twitched.

“Seven-thirty sharp. And wear a suit.” Her brows drew together. “Do you have a suit?”

“I’ll find something.”

“Good.”

And then she was out of there.

…

She was cute when she was angry. Hell, she was cute period. But cute had never been his thing. And what was with the four-inch heels? They seemed totally out of character and had the effect of making her ass sway as she strutted away.

She had a great ass—curvy, shown off perfectly by the faded jeans—and a narrow waist. Her curls hung in a wild tangle to half-way down her back—had she even brushed her hair today? He shook his head. That had nothing to do with him. He was here to getawayfrom her, not get turned on every time she got near him.

The door swung shut behind her, and he sat back in his seat and picked up his scotch. He never drank in the middle of the day. Didn’t drink much at all, actually—his mother had been too bad an example for him to want to go down that route. But now, as he brought the glass to his lips, he breathed in the warm smell and took a sip. The taste reminded him of that night on the lifeboat after the cruise ship had sunk, when he’d drunk scotch with Logan and Vito—the two guys who had very likely saved his life—and they had all made a vow. They would go back and change one thing about their lives. “Things to do before you die,” they’d called it. And Josh had known straight away what he was going to do.

He was going to get laid.

Nice, simple, no strings sex. Because he hadn’t had sex in…way too long.

Partly because for the last five years he’d poured all his energy into getting his business set up, to the exclusion of all else. Slater Security was a bigger success than he could have ever imagined, but recently he’d found no pleasure in his work.

Which was why, when his company won the contract to provide security for a cruise line, and there had been a last minute opening for chief security officer on the ship, he’d jumped at the job. A nice, relaxing cruise to set his mind straight.

Ha.

But it had given him the time and space to realize that he’d put his life on hold when he’d said “I do.”

The marriage had been a business arrangement. He’d always known he’d never marry for real, so it hadn’t seemed like such a big deal at the time. Except for some reason, in the back of his mind, he’d never been able to shake the thought that he was married. That going with another woman was somehow cheating. Which was crazy.

But, crazy or not, he was going to have to cut ties to his fake wife before he could move on and have that no-strings sex he needed.

He’d thought it would be easy, hadn’t expected to meet any opposition, which had obviously been short-sighted of him.

For the first time he considered things from his wife’s point of view. Why had she entered into this marriage? He’d thought her some little rich bitch who wanted access to her money so she could party harder. Now he was revising that opinion. Her clothes had been old and basic—apart from the killer heels—and she wore no jewelry. Her fingernails were short and unpainted. If she was spending money, it wasn’t on her appearance.

Maybe something to do with her family? They obviously believed the marriage to be real. And she was determined to keep it that way.

And that was nothing to do with him, either. He wanted his annulment, though he was quite prepared to do it quietly if she wanted to go on pretending they were married. Or she could tell everyone they’d divorced. That part was up to her.

But the annulment itself? Somehow he needed to persuade her it was in both their best interests. He took another sip of scotch and remembered the taste of her on his tongue. His dick twitched in his pants. She wasn’t his type, but she’d felt good in his arms, soft and curvy and…

He groaned. He needed to get laid, and that was all. He needed to get out of this sham of a marriage, find himself a woman, and maybe then he could stop thinking about sex.

Because thinking about sex with his wife was not an option.

And it never would be, so his dick was just going to have to get over it and move on like the rest of him.

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