Page 73 of Her Fantasy Husband

“He’s…stunning.” She hadn’t meant to say that; it had just fallen out. But it wasn’t often you got up to find sleeping beauty on your sofa. But she did realize she might have been less than diplomatic. “Not as stunning as you, obviously.”

“Obviously,” Josh said drily. “Vito owned the cruise ship that sank. You could say he’s to blame for all this.”

Presumably by “all this,” he meant having to spend time with her. She decided not to grace the comment with an answer.

He slid his feet out from under the dog, gave the cat a gentle push so she jumped to the floor, then sat up and groaned. “Jesus. My head hurts.”

“Hangover?”

He didn’t deign to reply, just pressed a hand to his forehead.

“Coffee and painkillers?”

He gave her a small smile. “Please.”

“Then we have to talk.”

“We do.”

“Don’t worry. It’s good news.”

She got up and headed for the door, scooping up Prudence as she left. Vito groaned and rolled onto his side.

She made a pot of coffee, dug some painkillers out of the drawer, and put everything on a tray. Jean came in as she was leaving. “Did you know the lounge is full of beautiful men?”

Lexi nodded but didn’t stop to talk about it. She carried the tray into the sitting room and put it on the coffee table between the two sofas. Josh had disappeared and the other man was lying on his back, his arm flung over his face, his legs hanging off the edge. He had to be at least six-foot-three, long and lean.

Josh appeared at that moment. He’d clearly splashed water on his face; his hair was damp at the edges. He still wore the suit trousers from yesterday and his shirt was wrinkled. He nudged the sleeping man in the shoulder as he passed.

“Vito, you lazy bastard, time to wake up.”

“Piss off,” the other man mumbled.

Josh raised a brow but took a seat next to Lexi.

A minute later, Vito’s arm dropped, and his eyes opened. He caught sight of Lexi and sat up quickly, wincing.

“Mi scusi, signorina. I didn’t know we had company.”

“This is my wife, Lexi,” Josh said.

The dark eyes studied her for a long moment. “Ah, much becomes clear.”

Not to her it didn’t. She handed out painkillers and coffee and sat watching the two of them.

The coloring was completely different, Josh golden while the other man was dark. Everything about Vito screamed wealth, from his immaculately cut hair to his perfectly manicured fingers. But despite the obvious differences, they both gave off an air of assurance, as though they knew they were better than everyone else and had nothing to prove.

She felt totally intimidated, between the two of them. They were so…perfect.

She waited while they both finished another cup without speaking. She was guessing last night had been a heavy drinking session—had Josh been drowning his sorrows? Had he been bemoaning to his friends the fact that his crazy mess of a wife had inconveniently fallen in love with him? Vito clearly knew something about her.

Finally, they both put their cups down.

“You mind if I go wash up?” Vito asked Lexi.

“Of course. The bathroom is across the hall, the blue door.”

“Grazie.”

---