Page 60 of Her Fantasy Husband

“Everything okay?”

She turned. Josh was naked and obviously unashamed. For once he wasn’t hard, though she did detect a little twitch as she stared.

Telekinesis?

“Fine,” she said. “Just my grandmother coming to visit. Don’t worry. Jean sent her away.” She sank onto the bed beside him. “I brought some ice cream.”

“Did you? You ever have a fantasy involving ice cream?”

“I might have done.”

“You want to share?”

She grinned and reached for the tub. “How about I show you this one.”

That evening, Josh was like a tornado rushing around the rescue center. Maybe he was in a hurry to get back.

“Come and see Toby,” Lexi said.

She opened the door of Toby’s run, and the dog approached her slowly, head down, tail drooping. He wasn’t doing well in the center. She thought about taking him home, but he was still in quarantine so she had a few more days to decide. She glanced at Josh. When the dog saw him, his tail started wagging, and his eyes perked up. “He likes you,” she said.

“Did you find his owner?”

“Yes. He’s been admitted to a hospice. They don’t think he’s going to last long. We’ll take Toby to see him tomorrow.”

Josh crouched down beside the dog, rubbed his head. “Poor fella. Lost the one person in your life. Welcome to the real world.”

“That’s a cynical attitude.”

“Realistic. What will happen to him? Will he be put down?”

“No. We don’t put any animals down here, unless they’re suffering and there’s no hope. We’ll try and find him a home, but it’s hard with older dogs. And he’s black.”

“Is that a problem?”

“I don’t know why, but they seem harder to re-home.” She looked to where he was crouching, the dog’s head resting on his thigh as Toby gazed up at him.

“You could take him,” she said.

Josh glanced at her, a frown drawing his brows together. “I don’t want a dog.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want the responsibility, and my loft is hardly suitable.”

“Toby wouldn’t mind.”

He gently moved the dog’s head and straightened. “I would.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Don’t start thinking of me as some sort of do-gooder. That’s not who I am. Or who I want to be.” He turned and walked out of the run, waiting for her while she gave Toby a last pat and followed him out.

“I’m not your fantasy husband, Lexi.”

She didn’t answer, couldn’t think of what to say.

“The sex is great,” he said. “But I’m not looking for more than that.”

“Neither am I.”

He raised an eyebrow. He clearly didn’t believe her. He obviously needed something more. “Look, I admit it. I’ve spent an awful lot of time thinking about having sex with you. But it never went further than that. I never swore eternal love or anything. And it’s clear we have absolutely nothing in common. The sex is fantastic, out of this world, but I don’t expect anything else, and I don’t want anything else.”

“Good.”

He didn’t sound as though it was good, though. He sounded…confused, his expression troubled.

“Come on,” she said, “let’s go—” She almost said “home,” but cut off at the last second. “Back to my place, and I can take advantage of you.” She grinned, and then waggled her eyebrows for effect. “How does it feel to be a sex object?”

Some of the tension went out of him. “After five years? Fan-fucking-tastic.”

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