Page 19 of Her Fantasy Husband

I mean seriously, Lexi?

She had no presumptions that she was beautiful. She wasn’t ugly; she was okay, but not a super model or anything, and she’d bet Josh could get anyone he wanted. Why would he go for her?

But he did kiss me back.

The memory of that kiss had her nipples tightening and heat pooling in her belly. She wiped her palms down her side and cleared her throat. “Where are we going?” They’d been driving for ten minutes, and she had no clue where. Though they were heading vaguely back toward her place.

“We need to have that talk. Where do you suggest?”

She thought for a moment, her mind racing furiously. “You could take me home, and we could walk on the Heath. It will be quiet.” And she’d be close to home if everything went badly wrong. Which she suspected it might.

He gave a brief nod, and she sat back and tried to relax.

The journey took twenty minutes and she gave him directions toward the end, driving past her house and round the back to a side street from where they could enter the Heath.

Josh climbed out of the car, shrugged out of his suit jacket and tossed it on the backseat. He came around, but Lexi was already clambering out of her seat.

He nodded toward her feet. “You can walk in those?”

“Oh yes. I can walk in anything. I’ve had a lot of practice. I’ve always hated being short.”

He gazed down at her, a long way down. “You’re still short.”

Grr.“Gee, thanks.”

She led the way to a small gate that led onto the Heath. There were a few dog-walkers, but Lexi guided him away from the main paths and toward her favorite place.

“Did you know the Heath is the biggest area of undeveloped land in London?” she said.

“I’d never really thought about it.”

“Well, it is.”

He walked fast and despite her claims she could walk in anything, her heels were sinking in the grass. The sun was going down, but the night was still warm. Reaching up she pulled the clasp from her hair and ran her hands through it, releasing some of her tension.

It had been a stressful day. She heaved a huge sigh, then peeked sideways. He’d rolled up his sleeves, showing strong, tanned forearms, and the edge of the black ink of a tattoo. Did he have more? He’d never had tattoos in her fantasies, but she wasn’t averse to the idea.

His expression was distant, as though unaware of her presence, and he moved with the lithe grace of a predator. He’d obviously looked after himself since he’d left the army. There didn’t appear to be an ounce of spare fat on him. She sucked in her belly as a wave of inadequacy washed over her. Self-doubt had been a constant companion in her teen years. She’d thought the negative emotion banished, but here it was again.

The truth was, no way was she going to try and seduce him. Because she’d fail, and then everything would be an even bigger disaster than it was right now. And maybe he’d even hate her. And she didn’t want that.

It was a stupid idea. Just another fantasy. And she needed to get real here and deal with the problem, because if she didn’t sort it out, things could get in a huge mess, very quickly.

She sighed again, and he turned to her. “Something wrong?”

“Lots of things.” Then she shrugged. “And it’s been a long day.” She waved to a huge oak tree up ahead. “We’ll sit and talk there.”

She sank to the grass and stretched her legs out in front of her, tracing the run in her stocking while he settled beside her, his back against the broad trunk, knees bent, forearms resting on them. “It’s amazing—we’re in the middle of London and there’s nobody around.”

“You’ve never been here before?”

“No.”

“The gates close at ten. But I have a key—Tom is a grounds man here—he gave me one.”

“Tom?”

“He lives in my house.”

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