Page 2 of Her Fantasy Husband

Keep it together. She doesn’t know anything. And she won’t find out.

She opened the big bottom drawer in her desk and swiped everything off the surface and into it, then slammed it shut.

Wait.

She opened the drawer again, scrabbled beneath the rubble, hooked her fingers on the pile of photographs at the back, and dragged them out.

For a second, she stared at the top photo—her and Josh on their fourth anniversary celebratory holiday. They’d visited the Seychelles for a wonderful romantic break in the sun. Actually, she’d gone trekking in Nepal on her own, but it was amazing what Photoshop could do.

She put the picture prominently on her desk and placed the others around the room. The wedding photo. She looked so young and sort of round. But she’d hated boarding school and had spent a lot of time comfort eating. Once away from there, she’d found other comforts. The first anniversary—she’d slimmed down a lot by then, thank God. The second and third anniversary photos. They always managed to go somewhere nice.

In my fantasies.

Okay, office sorted. She glanced down at herself. There was very little she could do there. Not in the time she had. Though actually, time was irrelevant. She’d always been a disappointment to her grandmother, especially in the looks department. In a family of tall, slender women, and tall, broad-shouldered men, Lexi was a misfit.

Swapped by the hospital.

Her evil stepsister had once told Lexi she’d overheard that little theory. Sometimes Lexi believed it to be true, except she’d seen pictures of her mother. While Lexi didn’t have her tall, slim figure—total bummer—she did have her eyes and her dark red hair and freckles. Another mark against her.

She made do with tucking her hair behind her ears and wiping her sweaty palms down her jeans. She was plastering an inane smile on her face as the door opened—and there stood her grandmother. Unfortunately, not the round, cuddly, cookie-baking type of grandmother. Lexi doubted Grandmamma had ever baked anything in her life.

She was beautiful. Probably always would be. Age wouldn’t change that; the beauty went right down to the bones. She’d once told a fourteen-year-old Lexi that good bone structure was the most important feature a woman could have. Lexi had spent many hours afterward prodding her plump cheeks, searching—in vain—for bones.

Grandmamma wore a Chanel suit and high-heeled pumps, her hair in a perfect chignon.

Lexi sighed and resisted the urge to fidget, which always wound her grandmother up. But what the hell was she doing here? And why did this woman still have the ability to turn her into a mindless moron? Pathetic. Insecure. A wimp.

She came to a halt just inside the room, her gaze sweeping over Lexi. “You’re looking well, Alexia,” she said.

“I am?” That seemed unlikely.

“Although, shoes would probably help.”

She glanced down at her bare toes, curled against the hardwood floor. Where the hell were her shoes?

Her assistant cleared her throat. “Would you like some coffee?” Sadie asked.

Lexi dragged her attention from her feet and raised an eyebrow at her grandmother.

“No, thank you, Alexia. Your company is all I require.”

Hmm, why did that send a ripple of unease down her spine? “Thank you, Sadie. You can close the door behind you.”

Sadie’s face dropped at being excluded from the fun. Lexi glared, and her assistant backed out, closing the door behind her.

When she returned her attention to her grandmother, she was at the desk, staring down at the photo of Josh. She picked it up and studied it with narrowed eyes.

Lexi’s breath caught in her throat. She cleared it with a cough, the sound like thunder in the too-quiet room. “That was our fourth wedding anniversary,” she mumbled. “We went to the Seychelles.”

Her grandmother put the photo down. “I can’t believe he has the time to take you on all these holidays”—she waved a hand at the other photos around the room—“and yet in nearly five years he has never found the time to visit your only family.”

She licked her dry lips. “He’s away so much. We just want to be together when he’s free.” It may be time for a little forward planning. “For our fifth we’re thinking of re-affirming our vows. Josh has always hated it that we married in a registry office, but he couldn’t wait. Now he thinks a beach in Mauritius.”

Oh what a tangled web…

She hated lying. If she did it for too prolonged a period, she came out in a rash.

“How…romantic.” Her grandmother pursed her lips. Romance was not high on her priority list. “He’s a very handsome man, if a little…rough around the edges. And when do you think the rosy glow will fade enough for the pair of you to come and visit us? Perhaps we could all have dinner together while we’re in town.”

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