Go get laid, he’d thought. How complicated could that be?
They were sitting in a booth in the VIP section of Logan’s nightclub. The place was crawling with gorgeous women. They kept up a constant stream, passing close to the table, their smiles making it more than clear they’d welcome an invitation to join the three of them. And he’d bet they’d all be more than willing to engage in a little no-strings fun afterward.
And he couldn’t even begin to imagine it.
And it wasn’t because he was married.
Well, in a way it was. It was because he couldn’t get his wife out of his head.
She loved him.
She hadn’t admitted it.
He’d phoned Jean again just to check. She’d told him Lexi was home and she was fine. She’d also gone on to tell him that he was a bastard, and he should leave Lexi alone.
Hell, wasn’t that what he was trying to do?
The right thing. Because he was no damn good for her.
He glared at the other two men. This was their fault. “Things to do before you die…whose fucking idea was that, anyway?” he said, throwing back the whiskey and slamming his glass down on the table. Logan reached across and filled it from the bottle in front of him and topped off his own at the same time. Vito’s was still full.
“I think it was yours,” Logan said.
Had it been? He tried to remember back through the whiskey haze already buzzing in his head. “Never. Not in a million years would I have put myself in this situation. Besides, I had a broken leg at the time. Why would the two of you listen to a man who was in pain and obviously not thinking straight?”
“I take it things are not going well with your…wife?”
“Things are going shit. And I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to drink.”
“How about you?” Logan asked Vito.
“I’m not drinking. I have a gut feeling that drunk, I will make a decision that I will later regret. So I’m staying sober.”
Josh eyed up Logan. “Give us some good news. How’s your fantasy girl?” Logan had gone hunting for some one-night stand he’d had eleven years ago. He’d found her, together with the ten-year-old daughter Logan had known nothing about. “Is she everything you dreamed of?”
Logan was silent for a moment; he didn’t look like a man who had found the woman of his dreams. He drained his glass and exhaled. “Nothing like I remembered.”
“Sorry, mate.”
Fantasies were merely fabrication. Look at him and Lexi. She’d admitted he was her fantasy husband, and she hadn’t even known him. How could it be based on real life? If she spent more time with him, she’d soon find he wasn’t anyone’s dream husband. More like a nightmare.
Logan shrugged. “Some things should be left alone.”
“You get laid yet?” Vito asked.
Josh shook his head. He didn’t want to think of Lexi in terms of getting laid. It seemed somehow wrong. “Still working out the divorce.”
“I thought you were getting an annulment.”
“I was. Now I’m not. And like I said—I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Seems like we’re all fucked royally,” Vito said.
“Yup.” Josh agreed. “Let’s get pissed.”
Vito took a deep breath. “Fuck this.” He picked up his drink, swallowed the contents in one go, and pushed his empty glass toward Logan. “Fill it up.”
Three hours later, Josh tried to push himself up, almost managed it, and collapsed back to the table. “I’m heading home. If I can get up. I need to call a cab.”
“I’ll get Mark to take you,” Logan said. He waved a hand, and the most enormous man Josh had ever seen walked up—tall and broad with tattoos crawling up his neck and over his shaved head.
“And I need to get back to my hotel,” Vito said.
Josh made another effort to get up, this time managing it. “Come back with me. Lexi likes taking in lost causes. You’ll be right at home.”
They lurched across the floor, and he held onto Vito for balance. Shit, he couldn’t remember when he’d been this pissed. Not since he’d left the army, that was for sure. Vito swayed from side to side, and Josh grabbed him before he fell over.
“You sure it will be all right?” Vito asked.
For a moment Josh had no clue what he was talking about. How could anything be all right? Lexi loved him. It was a goddamned disaster.
“Me coming home with you?” Vito prompted when he remained silent.
“Of course it will. The more the merrier. And I’ll even introduce you to Prudence. She’s this really hot chick.”
Chapter Fourteen
When Lexi woke the next morning, she was alone.
Josh hadn’t come back last night. Had he gone home or somewhere else?
She’d tried to get hold of him to tell him that he was off the hook, and that her lawyer was looking into the quickest way to sever the knots that bound them.
Sally had told her Josh had left the office and she had no clue where he’d gone. Lexi had called his home number and his cell but gotten no response.