Avoiding Temptation (10 page)

“I will. Have fun on your date.”

“Chyna, it’s not a date!”

“If it wasn’t a date, then you wouldn’t be going to Daniel,” Chyna repeated. “Also, why are you going to
dinner
with him? Dinner, really? Couldn’t you just meet him for coffee to tell him to fuck off? Like, it’s really easy. Oh, I like my friends better than you, so fuck off. Right? No, you’re not doing that! You’re going to a hundred-dollar dinner and letting him
woo
you.”

“What would you do, Chyna?” Lexi snapped.
She was not letting him woo her!

“I would
not
do that!”

“And what? You would lay out your best friend’s dirty laundry to a room full of people instead? You’d totally break girl code and rat on me when there was obviously a reason I didn’t tell anyone that Jack and I had slept together at his birthday party because…right, I should be better than that.”

“
I
broke girl code? You slept with John! After you knew how I felt about him.”

“How exactly do you feel about him, C? Because you’re acting like I stole your boyfriend,” Lexi snapped.

“Don’t even. You know he was an ass to me and then caused the breakup.”

“But now, you’re fine! And John is not bothering you anymore. I’m not happy that you told everyone about what had happened with Jack that night, but I’m willing to get over it!”

“Then, get over it. You’re always hiding things. If you just communicated with everyone else, then this wouldn’t even be a problem.”

“All right, whatever,” Lexi said in frustration. “I can’t be you. I can only be me, so I just hope you’ll forgive me.”

She looked at Chyna deliberately before turning on her heel and walking out. Lexi closed the door behind her before she let the tears come. She couldn’t lose her best friend over this. She just couldn’t…

It wasn’t a date.

It definitely was not a date.

There was no way she was going on a date with John—but that didn’t explain why she had taken a lot of time to pull the straightener through her long hair, making it silky smooth, or why she had carefully applied the makeup she didn’t normally wear, or why she had found a dress that had once belonged to Chyna that had somehow made it into Lexi’s closet with the price tags still on it.

Well, she had to still look the part.
She had to still look like she was going to Daniel. They weren’t going to let her in if she was in an oversized T-shirt, running shorts, and tennis shoes. That was why she had put on her favorite pair of Manolos that Chyna had given her. There was no other reason—whatsoever.

It wasn’t a date. That was obvious.

Lexi shook off her worries and finally left her apartment. She wanted to think it didn’t matter what she looked like, but it did. It wasn’t about the dress code. It mattered to her. She had to tell John it was over, but still, a part of her wanted to look nice for him.

John had wanted to pick her up from her apartment to take her to the restaurant, but she had refused. She didn’t want to give him the wrong idea about what they were doing. This put some distance between them, and it helped to calm her down.

Nerves hit her full force as the cab driver pulled up in front of the restaurant after the short drive. A valet opened the door for her and assisted her out of the car.

“Thank you,” she murmured.

She walked across the red-carpeted entranceway that read
Daniel
in the restaurant’s signature design and in through the wooden double doors.

Lexi bit her bottom lip as she stared at the beautiful interior of the restaurant. She had always wanted to come here, but she had been intimidated by the luxurious surroundings. It had an all white interior with large columns artfully placed in archways that divided the rooms. Tables were evenly spaced throughout the room with crisp white tablecloths, sterling silver utensils, and bouquets of red roses. The lighting was dim and romantic. Daniel was a date spot, and Lexi knew it. Knowing it made her even more anxious.
She wasn’t on a date
. As far as she wanted to look at it, she was here on business.

“May I help you?” the maître d’ asked, stepping up to greet her.

“Yes, I have a reservation for two under Ward,” Lexi said. She fiddled absentmindedly with the deep purple clutch she held in her hand. At least she wasn’t pushing her hair behind her ear.

“Of course. Mr. Ward has already arrived. Allow me to escort you to his table.”

Lexi followed him across the main room, through a large archway, and into a smaller similarly decorated room. The maître d’ strode into the candlelit room and headed to the very back corner.

“Here you are,” the maître d’ said, gesturing to the table.

“Thank you.”

When the maître d’ left, Lexi caught her first look at John as he stood from the table. He was strikingly handsome in a charcoal gray suit with a black button-up. He didn’t have on a tie, and the top button on his shirt was undone. His short brown hair was styled, his hazel eyes looked dark in the low light, and his lips were pulled up into a smile at the sight of her.

“Lexi,” John said in greeting, his eyes roaming the curves clearly visible in the tight black dress she was wearing.

She saw a glint of desire in his eyes. She couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she approached him.

“Stunning,” he murmured.

He reached out his arms and took her hands in his, pulling her lightly toward him. Lexi teetered forward on her high heels as just that slight tug threatened to pull her off-balance. John caught her against his chest and wrapped an arm around her waist.

“Absolutely stunning,” he whispered into her hair.

His hands slid down her sides, and she quickly stepped away from him.

She smacked his hand lightly and shook her head at him. “No touching.”

He smirked devilishly. Lexi remembered why she had been able to forget everything that had happened when she had left Atlanta after breaking up with Ramsey. She had
really
wanted to forget though, so that probably helped.

“Oh, I forgot. Boyfriend.”

“Yes, boyfriend,” Lexi repeated.
He would do well to remember that.

He didn’t seem perturbed by that fact as he ushered her to her seat.

John pulled out the chair for her, and she sat down.

“Does your boyfriend know that you’re out to dinner with me?” he asked, scooting the chair forward.

Lexi sat up straight and swallowed. “He knows that I’m meeting you.”

Ramsey knew that she had agreed to meet John to straighten things out. He didn’t really need to know much more, just like Chyna.

John brushed her hair off her neck, his fingers skimming the soft skin. Lexi shivered at the touch.

“That’s what I thought.”

Lexi bristled at that comment. She wasn’t hiding this from Ramsey. She just didn’t want to cause him to unnecessarily worry.

“He doesn’t have anything to worry about,” she said.

John walked around the table and took the seat across from her. He just cocked his head and smiled at her.

“What?” she asked. She didn’t want to be flustered by that look.

“I highly doubt that he’s not worrying. If I were him, I’d be worried.”

“I don’t see you as the worrying type,” Lexi said, deflecting.

John chuckled. “No, I suppose I’m not. I never really have been.”

Lexi wanted to swipe that smug look off his face. She was reconsidering coming here. She hadn’t wanted to in the first place, but after he had convinced her in Atlanta, she had somehow convinced herself that it wouldn’t be that bad.

But now, she was remembering what had drawn her to John in the first place. He was arrogant, practically to a fault, and instead of it coming across as cocky and irritating, he just seemed to exude sexuality. He was used to getting his way, and when Lexi had been depressed after another failed relationship, she had been happy to let him have his way. She hadn’t put up a fight at all.

Now, she had to start building a brick wall against his charm.
It wasn’t exactly easy.

Before she could say anything, the waiter arrived with a rather expensive bottle of red wine that he had John taste before pouring. John proceeded to order a three-course meal for both of them, including an eyebrow-raising expensive
caviar that only a connoisseur could appreciate. Lexi didn’t even know if she liked caviar, but she was sure that she could have tried it somewhere else for less than that price.

She remembered then why she had avoided these kinds of places. Not only did they cater to the rich and powerful, but the waiter also hadn’t even checked with her once to see if what John had ordered was what she wanted. She was sure it would be delicious, but it was a personal preference. She could order for herself. She had been doing it for twenty-five years after all.

It reminded her of the time that she had thought Ramsey was going to take her somewhere this fancy. Instead, he had taken her to a picnic at Stone Mountain with a laser show and fireworks included. He had made it romantic without showing opulence. She liked that about him. He never had to take her to fancy dinners or made her feel helpless to try to win her over. If John thought this would work on her, he was going to have to try harder
—not that she wanted him to try harder.

“So, have you changed your mind about Ramsey Bridges yet?” John asked with a smile that said he knew she hadn’t.

“No, I haven’t.”

“Well, I have the rest of dinner then,” he said, checking the large Rolex on his wrist.

“John…” Lexi said, trailing off when his hazel eyes met hers again.

“So, let’s start from the beginning.”

She turned her head to assess him. “The beginning of what?”

“Of what made you change your mind about Ramsey.”

“Have you never gone back to an ex before?”

She found that hard to believe. Her world had been full of walking in and out of Jack’s life and now Ramsey. It was something she had grown accustomed to. Sometimes, people deserved second chances—and in her world third, fourth, fifth…

“Once.” He didn’t elaborate.

“So, it didn’t work out? And now, you’re going to try to apply one situation to all of them?” she asked.

“No. All situations are different. Mine…was an exceptional circumstance anyway. I just want to know what
your
exceptional circumstance was.”

Had there ever been an exceptional circumstance that had brought her back together with Jack or Ramsey? Jack…no.
She knew there hadn’t been. They had just kept crossing paths and falling back into bed, drowning in years of lust and love, and they had never been able to tell the other one no.
Ramsey…well, she didn’t know.
He had lied about so much—Parker…mostly, Parker. But he was trying to change, and his heart was in the right place.

She didn’t even know where to begin.

“So, I’m guessing there isn’t one?” he asked.

“What’s yours?”

“She quoted Oscar Wilde when she asked for us to get back together.”

“What?” Lexi asked. “You’re not serious.”

“No. Though, she did quote Oscar Wilde. Can’t hurt.”

Lexi laughed softly and took a sip of her wine. The waiter returned with the first course, and she picked at the appetizer before her. She didn’t even know what it was, but it was good.

“Oscar Wilde is your exception.”

“The man was a genius. What’s your exception?”

“I don’t have one,” she admitted.

Blue eyes maybe.
She almost chuckled to herself at the thought.
Stupid fucking blue eyes.

“Everyone has one. You probably just don’t know what it is,” he said, his eyes staring deeply into hers.

“Maybe.” She needed to move forward with this conversation.

She didn’t want him to convince her otherwise about Ramsey. Even if she was having a good time with John, it didn’t matter. She wasn’t going to be that person again.

“I didn’t really come here to talk about Ramsey.”

“I didn’t either,” he said, leaning forward in his seat. “I came for
very
different reasons, Lexi.”

Lexi flushed at the implication in his words and the sensual way in which he had said them.

“It’s over, John. I know I led you to believe this could be more than it is, but it isn’t,” she got out quickly. “We had sex—that’s all.”

“Do you think because we only had sex once that it was a one-night stand?” John asked curiously from across the table.

“I, uh…” Lexi said, unsure how to answer. It had been more than a one-night stand, but it couldn’t be anything more than that now.

“I can assure you that neither of us treated this as just a meaningless fuck. You can try to tell yourself that all you want…but you’re just lying to yourself.”

“Look, I don’t think it would be fair—”

“Oh, don’t give me fair,” he said, slamming his hand down on the table. “I don’t want fair!”

Lexi jumped at the fierceness in his voice that hadn’t been there before. He was really serious about all of this. From across the table, she glanced into his eyes and felt the anger simmering just under the surface. John took a breath and reached for her hand. He wrapped his hands over hers as he kept his eyes locked on her gazes.