Page 45 of Her Fantasy Husband

You wish.

He studied the photographs as they went out; coming to a halt in front of one he hadn’t expected to see. It was a blow up of one she’d had in her office. Their wedding photograph. He was in uniform, while she was wearing a dark purple dress. It felt like a lifetime ago. He was pale, lines of pain bracketing his mouth. He’d only just gotten out of the hospital, and, remembering, he reached up and rubbed his shoulder.

At that point he’d still had a plan. A purpose. Still believed that he’d get Evie back and they’d be a family again. That belief hadn’t survived for long.

Lexi looked…young. Her face fuller. She had a bright smile that wasn’t totally reflected in her dark eyes.

She halted at the door to see what was holding him up, her eyes widening as she took in what he was looking at. She cleared her throat. “I thought it would look odd if I didn’t have at least one photo of you on the wall. In case someone came up here.”

But she’d said no one ever came up here.

He followed her back down the staircase, his feelings all over the place. She was doing his head in. One minute he thought he had a handle on everything. The next he felt as though he was adrift in that lifeboat once more. He shook his head. She was different than anyone he had dealt with before. But he could do this. He’d been in the SAS for God’s sake. He was tough, trained to withstand torture. How hard could a few nights with Lexi be?

“So,” Lexi said to the room. “You’ve all met Josh. As I told you, Josh and I have been married for five years. We love each other.”

“Obviously,” Tom muttered, and Lexi glared.

Josh sat on one of the chairs around the table, legs stretched out, trying to look relaxed.

“Josh has spent a lot of time out of the country, but he’s here to stay now. If anyone asks, that’s all you need to say.”

He looked at the faces around the room, they didn’t seem happy but one by one they nodded.

“Good,” Lexi said. “It’s going to be easy as pie.”