Page 6 of A Winter Wish

Lexie dropped her voice. “What am I doing here, Angela?”

“Call me Ange, everyone does.” She handed Lexie her water, gestured to where the two men were sitting around a glass coffee table.

“Is this part of the office?” Lexie asked. At that, the balding man seemed to notice her and looked up from his papers, took off his reading glasses, and gave her a polite smile. Lexie gave him a nod in return, moved farther into the living room—and stopped dead. Because she could see his face now—the man with the dark hair, the man who, although he was resolutely looking out the window rather than at her, she knew would have dark brown eyes with a fiery amber glow at their center. The man from the funeral, who’d looked at her with disapproval as she’d left. The judgment she’d seen on his face still gave her a sour feeling.

“Ugh, what the hell is he doing here?”

She blurted it out without thinking, and now she felt heat rush to her face as he turned to look at her, raising one eyebrow—the one with the faint scar through it.

Who was this guy? Why was he here, in this flat above her dad’s office? What the hell was going on?

“Sit down, Lexie love,” said Angela—Ange. She had taken the other armchair, opposite the balding man—which meant the only space left was next to the man on the sofa. She hesitated, but saw no choice, so she perched next to him, as far from him as she could get, and crossed one leg over the other, trying to take up less space.

“Now, Lexie,” Ange said, seemingly oblivious to Lexie’s discomfort, “this is Howard—he was your dad’s solicitor.”

Howard gave her another polite smile. “Very nice to meet you, Lexie. Though I wish it were under better circumstances.”

“A solicitor?” Lexie sat up a bit straighter. “Wait, you’re not…Is this about my dad’s…?”

“It’s his will, yes,” Howard said gently.

Lexie glanced at Ange. It made sense that she would be here, as her dad’s PA. But who was this random glowering man? And why was she even in the will? She felt a headache pressing in against her temples.

“Look, I’m sorry if I’m being really dense here—”

She broke off at the tiniest snort from the man next to her, so quiet she wasn’t sure if she’d imagined it. When neither Ange nor Howard reacted, she continued.

“But could someone please explain what’s going on? My dad left something to me in his will, is that it? Or do you need a signature or something?” She and Rachel would be his next of kin, she supposed—did that mean she had to sign off on something? She glanced at the front door, wondering if Rachel was coming too. Was Rachel the type to be late? She had no idea.

The solicitor put his papers down on the glass coffee table, then bridged his hands on his knees. “I’ll jump right in, then. As per the instructions in your father’s will, you have been left half of R&L Travel.”

She blinked at him, the words landing all wrong in her brain. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”

“R&L Travel—the company your dad founded.” He gestured to the travel brochures on the tables. “Half of it is now yours.”

The man next to her clenched his jaw, the muscles spasming, and Lexie swallowed, rubbing her hands on her jeans. Why was it so hot in here? And what did that mean—that he’d left his company to her?

Ange picked up the thread. “Lexie, I know this may come as a bit of a shock, especially as your dad hadn’t had a chance to convey this to you before he passed, but—”

“I don’t want it,” she blurted out.

The solicitor and Ange looked at her—and the man next to her did too now, his gaze burning the side of her face. She wanted to scowl back at him. What was he, some kind of solicitor’s assistant?

“This isn’t…” Lexie swallowed. “Look, this must be some kind of mistake. I have no interest in owning this company. I don’t even know what it does.”

“It’s no mistake,” Howard said gently. “Half of the company now belongs to you—and half to Theo.” He gestured to the man next to her.

She let out a sound of disbelief. “What? To…” She turned to look at him. “Who even are you?”

“I’m Theo,” he said blandly.

“Right, I gathered that thanks, but what—?”

“Theo worked with your dad,” Ange interjected, “almost since the company’s inception.”

The throbbing in her temples grew stronger, and Lexie put her hands to her head. “So what…?” She gestured at Theo. “We’re supposed to split the company? Do we sell it and share the profits or something?”

Howard cleared his throat. “Well, there are some stipulations.”