Page 80 of Her Fantasy Husband

Wow, Harry had grown a backbone after all these years.

They started bickering among themselves, and she let the conversation roll over her for a minute, until her ears started to hurt. Why couldn’t she have a nice family? But in a way she did. She had Jean and Tom and Sarah. And for a while she’d had Josh.

But that hurt too much.

Time to move this on and get out of here and back to…what? A house without Josh.

She cleared her throat. No response, so she banged a spoon on the table and finally everyone fell silent.

“Right,” she said, “the reason I asked you to meet me here today is—”

A commotion at the entrance made her turn her head. Josh stood in the doorway, and her heart melted. Had he come to help her face her grandmother before he walked out of her life forever? He was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday and looked a little the worse for wear…and totally gorgeous.

A waitress was talking to him, gesturing to something beside him, and she dragged her gaze from Josh. A big black dog stood at his side. Toby. With a red bow around his neck.

What was going on?

He spoke to the waitress and pointed toward their table. The girl’s eyes widened, then she gave a quick nod and a grin and let Josh and his companion past.

“Alexia?”

Her grandmother spoke from beside her, but Lexi waved a hand at her distractedly. “Shh.” She couldn’t take her eyes from Josh. He caught and held her gaze as he came toward them. Pushing back her chair, she got to her feet and took a step closer.

Josh came to a halt a foot away.

She licked her lips. “How did it go with Evie?”

He smiled, his eyes crinkling. “Wonderful.”

“I’m glad. She still loves you.”

“I know. I think maybe I might be lovable after all.”

“I think so.” She glanced down at the dog. “And Toby likes you.”

“Hmm. But Toby needs a permanent home,” he said. “And he reckons my loft apartment isn’t suitable.”

“He can come home with me.”

“I’m afraid me and Toby are a family now. Where he goes, I go.”

She sniffed. “Oh Josh. You’re always welcome in my home. For as long as you want.”

“How about forever?”

She wiped her hand over her eyes and bit her lip. “Forever sounds good to me.”

She was hardly aware of her grandmother standing and coming around the table to halt beside them. “I think it’s about—”

She turned to her and held up a hand. “Grandmother, I love you. But if you say one nasty thing to the man I love, I will cut you off, and you will never get another penny from me.”

“Alexia!”

“Shut up.” She turned back to Josh. “Where were we?”

He grinned. “You were offering me a forever home.”

“There is one problem though.”

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