Josh spent two more days in bed; two of which the only thing the dictator, formally known as Lux allowed him to eat was broth.
On the night of the second day, when he was sure she was asleep, he snuck down to the kitchen and went hunting for real food. What he found in the fridge made him laugh out loud. There was a dish with a note attached to it giving detailed instructions of how to heat the casserole she’d left for him.
Josh had no clue what it contained, but it was delicious. There was also enough of it that by the time he’d finished, he no longer felt as though the word broth should be eradicated from the English language. Intent on eating real food, he hadn’t noticed a plate of fruit on the table. Along with the fruit was another note that simply said, eat it all!
By the time he’d rinsed off the utensils and stacked them in the dishwasher, his mind turned to Lux. He wondered if she was awake and whether he should pay her a visit. Dismissing the idea, he turned off the lights and returned to his room.
Once in bed, he closed his eyes as a natural sleep claimed him.
Chapter 22
Always an early riser, by 6:30 am, Lux made her way downstairs. Her first stop was the kitchen. As she’d suspected, the food she’d left out for Josh was gone. Actually, Lux was surprised she’d been able to keep him in bed for so long.
The amount of griping, and underhand remarks he’d thrown her way yesterday was her clue, she wouldn’t be able to keep him in bed for another day.
Taking a bottle of water, she drank a few mouthfuls as she made her way towards the gym. While it wasn’t ideal for her exercise routine, it would do. The room was large and contained all the prerequisite equipment one would expect to find in a modern gym.
What pleased her most was the bank of mirrors and a piece of apparatus over in one corner that she could use as a barre. Lux pulled the appliance in front of the mirror and began to warm up. It had been a while since she’d been before a barre, and she battled with the ability to push aside all thoughts of the changes that were taking place in her life. She also needed to give serious thought to her marriage and where it was heading.
Forty minutes later, she was dripping with sweat, and her muscles strained as she demanded even more from her body. By the time Lux was near the end of her workout, she was exhausted, but pleased with how much she’d accomplished. The punishment she applied to her body was only a fraction of the demands expected of her when she had aspirations of being a professional ballet dancer.
As she warmed down, Lux felt a tingle run along her spine. He was near. She wanted to spin around to locate him, but she finished her variation. By the time she finally allowed herself to relinquish concentration, he was gone.
Having arrived in the country with literally the clothes on her back, Lux didn’t have an extensive wardrobe. MacKenzie and Aviva had taken her shopping, courtesy of Josh’s credit card. She hadn’t wanted to spend too much of his money, but every time she turned her back the pile of clothing she’d selected grew. In the end, she’d stopped protesting because both women had ridiculously good taste.
For some reason, Lux spent more time than usual getting dressed. Selecting a pair of low-rise, cream jeans, she matched it with a polo necked brown sweater that showed a glimpse of her stomach whenever she moved her arms. She finished the outfit with a pair of over the knee cream leather boots.
Her Caribbean glow still remained so she kept her makeup to a minimum. A touch of mascara applied to her already thick lashes and a hint of lip gloss later, and she was ready to leave her room.
When she arrived downstairs, Josh was sitting in the kitchen a cup of coffee in his hand. Lifting his cup, he silently asked if she wanted a drink. At her nod, he rose and fixed her coffee the way she liked it.
Lux took a seat and watched him. Dressed similarly in dark jeans and sweater, he looked the picture of health.
When he handed her the cup, Lux took it with a smile. After her first sip, she became aware of his silence. Glancing at him from under her lashes, she saw that he watched her with a seriousness that caused the hairs on her arms to rise. Only just managing not to squirm at the attention he was heaping on her, she looked away as awareness took over her body.
Lux was annoyed at herself; all it took was one look from the blasted man for her to be completely aware of him.
Josh laughed and she cut her eyes back to him annoyed that he found her nervousness amusing. “What’s so funny?”
“You are. The way you’re wiggling around in that chair is giving me all kinds of ideas.”
“I couldn’t care less what ideas you’re having!”
“Liar. All I have to do is look at you for you to wish you were sitting on my dick.”
“How about this; why don’t you take your over inflated ego, and your dick and get lost!”