Page 3 of Her Fantasy Husband

Never going to happen.

“Unfortunately, you’ve just missed him. He left yesterday. He’ll be out of the country for…ages, but otherwise…”

“Don’t you want him to meet your family?”

Hell no.

“Of course I do.”Not.“But he might feel a little out of place.” She smiled. “As you said—he’s a little rough. Not like you and Daniel.” Daniel was her grandmother’s fourth husband—they’d married when Lexi was eighteen—a New Yorker and one of the reasons Lexi had made the somewhat impetuous decision she had back then.

Her grandmother’s eyes narrowed even further, studying Lexi with an intensity that made her twitch. “When are you going to give up this little hobby?” She waved a hand around the office.

Hardly a hobby. It was a registered charity with a turnover of millions of pounds. But Lexi just smiled sweetly.

When she didn’t answer, her grandmother continued. “At some point you have to accept that you can’t save the whole world. Or buy love.”

Lexi’s cheeks flushed, but she kept her smile fixed in place. She wasn’t trying to buy love. Was she? She liked helping people, and she had the money, so why shouldn’t she help them?

“Why not come back to New York?” Now her grandmother’s tone was conciliatory, and Lexi wasn’t buying it. “We’ll hire you one of those personal trainers to get you in shape, and maybe introduce you to my personal shopper. You’ll fit in—all it takes is a little effort.”

Lexi gnashed her teeth. “I’ll give it some serious consideration.”Like hell she would.

Her grandmother gave her a sharp look. “It’s time for you to forgive us, Lexi. When are you going to admit that we only wanted what’s best for you?”

Crap.

Though maybe, in her way, her grandmother had only wanted what was best—but for herself and her own narrow-minded view of what mattered in life, so totally different from Lexi’s that throughout her childhood she’d felt like a changeling. It had taken a jolt to make her realize she had to find a way out before she lost herself completely.

“I have forgiven you.”Like, never. “It’s just our lives are so different now. You live on another continent, I’m married…” She resisted the urge to cross her fingers behind her back.

“Well, you can come to dinner tonight. Daniel has a favor to ask you.”

“He does?” She couldn’t begin to imagine what. And that was another lie. There was only one thing Daniel and her grandmother ever wanted from her—money.

Though usually her grandmother kept the requests to Lexi’s once-a-year visit to New York.

“We’re at the Ritz,” her grandmother said. “Eight o’clock and don’t be—”

The telephone rang, interrupting her flow. Lexi gave her a weak smile, edged around her, and picked up the phone. The flashing red light indicated it was Sadie. “Yes?”

“You have another visitor.” Once again Sadie was speaking in hushed tones.

“I do?” Gosh, she was popular.

“Yeah. And just let me say…wow! You lucky girl. I’ll send him straight in.”

Sadie ended the call before Lexi could answer.Him?A really bad feeling was swelling up inside her.What were the chances?She stared at the closed door, her eyes growing wide, her legs growing weak as the handle turned…

…

The receptionist stood with her back to him, whispering into the phone. She’d seemed to recognize him, which was strange and unexpected.

Joshua Slater shifted his weight onto his good leg, rubbing absently at his thigh as he waited. He’d broken the leg six weeks ago when the cruise ship he was working on had crashed and sunk in the Mediterranean. Now his mind drifted back to that night and the decision he’d made while floating in the lifeboat afterward. Coming face-to-face with death had a way of making you reassess your life, decide what was important.

Maybe he should have gotten his lawyer to send the annulment papers, but he thought it only polite to visit in person. He wasn’t expecting any opposition. Whatever his “wife’s” reasons were for entering into a fake marriage nearly five years ago, her circumstances had no doubt changed. Like his.

The receptionist turned with a big grin. “You can go right on through”—she nodded to a door opposite—“Lexi is going to be thrilled to bits to see you.”

She is? Doubtful.

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