Read Her Fantasy Husband (Things to Do Before You Die) Online
Authors: Nina Croft
Her Fantasy Husband (Things to Do Before You Die) (16 page)
“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.”
“There is?”
“The offer comes with strings attached. Lots and lots of strings.”
He took a step closer, cupped her cheek with his palm. “Strings don’t scare me anymore. Not when they tie me to you.” He lowered his head and kissed her until the room faded and everything vanished but Josh. She pressed herself against him, breathing him in, filling her senses with him.
This was her biggest fantasy, the one she had hidden even from herself, buried in her subconscious—the one where Josh came and claimed her for the entire world to see. Where he told her…
He drew back slightly. “I love you.” The words whispered against her skin.
She stared up into his blue eyes and saw the love there. “I love you, too.”
“Good. Now there’s one more thing.”
“There is?”
“Alexia Slater. Will you marry me? For real this time.”
“I knew the marriage was a fake,” her grandmother said. “I knew—”
Lexi whirled around. She slapped the envelope into her grandmother’s hand. “Bedtime reading,” she said. “Now go away and don’t spoil this for me.”
“Come on, Granny,” Harry said. “Let’s leave these two love birds alone. I think you’ve lost this particular battle.”
“She’s lost the goddamned war,” Josh growled.
Lexi waited until the others had gone then turned back to him as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring.
She held out her hand, and he slid it on her finger. “I will.”
Epilogue
“With this
string
I thee wed?” Lexi said.
Josh grinned. “I thought it was appropriate.”
They’d exchanged vows that morning—a quiet affair, with Logan and Vito as witnesses. He’d thought it appropriate, as they had been present at the start of it all. Evie had been there as well, and Harry and the rest of Lexi’s household. They hadn’t sent her grandmother an invitation, though he was sure Lexi would make an effort to heal the rift at some time. She was such a softie, and he wouldn’t have her any other way.
Vito had offered them his villa on the island of Sicily for their honeymoon, and they’d flown out straight after the ceremony. Josh wanted to show her where the cruise ship had sunk. Where it had all begun.
Now they were on Vito’s yacht, and the sun was setting, turning the calm sea to crimson and tangerine. He waved a hand into the distance. “The ship went down right there.”
“You must have been scared.”
“Not really. I do remember thinking at one point—when we nearly got cut off by the flames—that I was going to die. Hey, you would have been a widow.”
She shuddered. “Don’t even think that.”
“Well, you have Logan to thank that you’re not. He carried me out after I broke my leg. And Vito, he cleared the way—that’s where he got the scar. But it seemed unreal. Then later, when we were on the lifeboat, Logan was puking everywhere, Vito was cool, and I was in too much fucking agony to be scared.”
“So you decided you needed to get laid?”
“I made a solemn vow.”
“Really?”
“Hey, when you come face-to-face with death, apparently the need to procreate becomes the overriding imperative.”
“Getting laid and procreating are hardly the same thing.” She studied him for a moment. “Do you want to procreate? As in, have children?”
They’d never talked about it. He’d never even considered children before because he’d never believed he’d ever get married for real. But here he was.
It was scary, the thought of being responsible for another human being. Far more scary than going down on a burning ship. But he reckoned he could do it with Lexi to hold his hand.
“Yeah. I want the whole deal. We’ll probably need a bigger house.”
“I can afford it.”
“I know.”
“Does it bother you that I’m rich?”
“Not at all. You do so much good.” He took her hand stroked her palm. “So tonight, I think we need to get in some serious practice for the baby thing.” He drew her close, tipping her head so he could take her lips in a passionate kiss. “Tonight, I want to make all your fantasies come true.”
“You already have.”
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Acknowledgments
This series has been very close to my heart, as a couple of years I had my very own facing death experience when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I’m quite aware of the ways it can make you reassess your life and think of the things you want to do before you die. It can also make you appreciate the people closest to you—so I’d like to say a huge thank you to my husband, Rob, for helping me through the last couple of years, and for pushing me to keep writing, keep busy, and assisting me with drawing up my own list.
I’d also like to say thank you to everyone at Entangled Publishing, but especially my wonderful editor, Candace Havens, for all her great comments, edits and perseverance. And finally, to all the great women at Passionate Critters for reading my stories and letting me know what they really think.
About the Author
Nina Croft
grew up in the north of England. After training as an accountant, she spent four years working as a volunteer in Zambia, which left her with a love of the sun and a dislike of nine-to-five work. She then spent a number of years mixing travel (whenever possible) with work (whenever necessary) but has now settled down to a life of writing and picking almonds on a remote farm in the mountains of southern Spain.
Nina writes all types of romance, often mixed with elements of the paranormal and science fiction. If you’d like to learn about new releases, sign up for Nina’s newsletter
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Discover the
Things to Do Before You Die
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There’s nothing like a near death experience to make a guy reassess his life. Nightclub owner Logan McCabe starts by looking up the girl he’s fantasized about for eleven years. Abigail Parker only strayed from the straight and narrow once. It was supposed to be one wild night with a totally unsuitable man before she settled into her sensible future. Instead it changed her life forever. Logan claims she’s his fantasy girl, but the secret she’s keeping is the furthest thing from fantasy the dirty-talking, tattooed, ex-con is expecting…
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