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.
A case of mistaken identity perhaps? He could feel a frown forming between his eyes. This wasn’t going as planned, and he hated the unexpected. Casting the receptionist a last look, he shook his head, and strode toward the door.
He pushed it open and peered into the room. His gaze locked on a small redhead in jeans and a white T-shirt, who stood in front of a big, wooden desk. Her eyes were wide and filled with…horror? He took a step into the room and opened his mouth to explain who he was—just as she launched herself toward him.
“Josh!”
He didn’t have time to answer as she crashed into his chest. His bad leg almost gave out beneath him. He braced it, reached instinctively for the door for balance, but it slammed shut behind him, and the force of her momentum backed him up against the wood. Her fingers were clenched on his shoulders, her legs wrapped around his waist, and one of his hands automatically curled around her, holding her in place.
His cock stirred in his pants at her closeness, her smell, her hot breath—
Jesus.
He shook his head. Definitely not what he expected. She was staring into his face, and he had the strangest impression she was trying to tell him something. Her eyes were huge, and she had the longest, curliest lashes he had ever seen. He opened his mouth again as she lowered her head and kissed him.
His mind went blank, and his body came to instant alert, heat sizzling along his nerves.
Her lips were closed, and she was jamming her mouth hard against his. But she was soft and curved in all the right places, and it had been years since he’d had a woman in his arms.
Leaving one hand on her ass, holding her in place, he brought his other up to burrow in the soft curls at the base of her neck. She backed off slightly at his touch. He really needed to tell her who he was. Why he was here.
“Easy, honey. I’m—”
Her lips came down on his again, cutting off his words. Her breasts pressed against his chest, her legs tightened around him, rubbing against his cock so the blood drained from his veins, sinking to his groin. He groaned against her lips.
What the hell?