Avoiding Temptation (22 page)

Her opinion was asked over and over again, and Lexi frankly didn’t have an opinion on much of it. The longer she sat there, the more her hands became clammy. Then, it got worse. The back of her neck felt sticky with sweat. Her forehead beaded. She felt her throat begin to close up as if it were swollen. Her stomach twisted like she might be sick, and it took everything in her to sit through one more question about her taste on anything.

Lexi pushed her chair back abruptly and stood. “I, uh…need to use the restroom,” she said. She twirled her hair around her finger and then threaded it behind her ear.

Ramsey and Sherri looked at her with concern in their eyes as Lexi extricated herself from the stifling room and rushed down to the restroom. She thought she literally might be sick, but the farther she got away, the better she started to feel. It was like the time when she had walked with Bekah into the jewelry store in the mall. Her whole body had protested.

She splashed some water on her pale face and tried to get herself under control. It made no sense that she was this tense from looking at color palettes. She even liked Sherri. She was straightforward but determined to figure Lexi out, even when she gave Sherri practically nothing to work with.
But how would Lexi be able to get through this process if sitting in a wedding planner’s office made her nauseated?

She rested her head in her hands and held back the tears. She felt ridiculous and wished she could make it all go away.
Why did she have to make this all so difficult?
Chyna had been so enthused. All of this would be better with her best friend here to hold her hand and walk her through her anxiety. Every time she looked at Ramsey when she felt like this just made it worse, like she was letting him down.

Taking a deep breath, she straightened out her hair and walked back down to the room. Sherri and Ramsey were chatting calmly as if Lexi hadn’t just stormed out. He was always so collected with other people. They had their moments, but country club born and bred made him eternally polite. He never said the wrong thing. Sometimes, he would go on and on and on while he was getting his thoughts together or when she threw him off guard, but still…he always said just the right thing.

She swallowed her pride, knowing that she would continue to say the wrong thing on a pretty regular occasion, and stepped into the conference room. “Thanks for waiting for me.”

“Of course, dear,” Sherri said, leaning her hip against the table. “We were just discussing costs and such. Nothing for you to worry about.”

Costs. Nothing for her to worry about.
That was for Ramsey to deal with.

“I think we’ll take a few days to think about it, Sherri,” Ramsey said. He walked over to Lexi and put his arm around her shoulder.

“Of course. Half will be due when you decide, and I’ll need a date to make sure I don’t already have something booked,” she said with that same toothy smile.

“Thank you so much for your help,” Ramsey said.

“It was wonderful to see you again, Ramsey, and to meet you, Lexi.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” she said.

Ramsey steered her out of the office, down the hall, and out of the boutique.

She glanced over her shoulder and saw Sherri talking to Eve and laughing. Lexi wondered if they were talking about her…if they were wondering how long Lexi and Ramsey were going to last after Lexi’s freak-out. She didn’t want to think about that. It wasn’t healthy for her already fragile psyche.

Lexi remained silent on the drive back to their condo. She felt pretty foolish. She had been so worried about looking and acting the part that she had completely lost it. She knew that wedding planning wasn’t always easy, but they hadn’t even picked out a wedding date yet. The only things that she really knew were that Ramsey was the groom and Chyna was going to be her maid of honor. Lexi was going to need to get her stuff together if they wanted the wedding to be a reality.

Ramsey took an unexpected turn, and Lexi raised her eyebrows.

“Where are we going?”

“Just the long way home,” he said with a smirk that suggested he wasn’t telling the truth.

“Oh, really?” she asked. “This seems like really far out of the way.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The way his eyes gleamed told her otherwise, but she decided to let it go and wait to see where he was taking her.

About fifteen minutes later, they pulled up in front of Morelli’s, and Lexi laughed.

“Ice cream?” she asked.

“You looked like you needed some,” he responded before getting out of his car.

Morelli’s was a local Atlanta ice cream shop that had opened relatively recently and won the hearts of everyone around. With an old-school style walk-up menu and over thirty flavors that changed daily, Morelli’s was the best place in town, and it had been rated best ice cream in Atlanta almost since its inception.

Even in the chilly October weather, the place was still packed, and they filed into line. Once they reached the front, Ramsey ordered a scoop of the butter pecan with a cone, and Lexi chose the coffee fudge almond.

Cones in hand, they walked over to a bench and sat down.

“So…what do you think?” Ramsey asked after a minute.

“I like her,” she admitted.

“You do?” He didn’t seem convinced.

She took a deep breath and stared down at her ice cream.
Seriously, it was heavenly.
“She seems nice and put-together. She knows what she’s doing, and she I think she’s genuinely interested in what I want…what we want. You’re very comfortable with her, and that means a lot, too.”

“I am. She’s very professional.”

“I know. I can tell. I was very worried that she would expect me to be Bekah, but she didn’t treat me that way at all. I won’t have time for everything she mentioned, and I don’t know two things about putting a wedding together,” she told him, finally looking up at him. “Plus, I don’t really want to sit through another one of those meetings again.”

Ramsey burst out laughing. “That’s my Alexa right there,” he said, leaning forward and kissing her lips. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” she murmured softly.

“And you’re sure you want to hire her? I only want what’s best for you.”

“Yes,” she said, nodding slowly. “Let’s do it.”

Lexi yanked the door open to the courthouse and strode through the double doors. She had just gotten out of work, so she fit the lawyer profile that afternoon in a gray pencil skirt suit and cream blouse. She had left her jacket in the car, but her dark brown leather messenger bag was slung over her shoulder. The only thing that would identify her as out of sorts was she had pulled most of her dark brown hair into a messy bun at the back of her head earlier that day, and it had fallen out with loose tendrils framing her face.

She didn’t think anyone would recognize her where she was headed anyway. Her office worked on corporate matters, not family law.

Jack had frantically called the day of her meeting with the wedding planner to let her know that a temporary hearing had been set up to decide immediate circumstances before an official court date could be held. The court had expedited the case to be heard only three days from then. Lexi had been shocked that they had moved it up so quickly. That typically only happened in extreme cases when children or money were involved.

Lexi wondered if Bekah had bought off the judge. If that had happened already, this really wasn’t going to go well.

Jack had spoken to the attorney she had gotten for him, but Jack hadn’t called Lexi for advice. She had given him everything that she had on that front and then some. But the way he had spoken to her…the need in his voice…it had pierced her heart.

“I wasn’t lying when I said that I didn’t have anyone else. I’m living with Seth right now, but I can’t
talk
to him about this. What would he understand about a broken marriage? He and Sandy are the picture-perfect couple,” Jack had said.

“I’m just trying to stay out of it, Jack,” Lexi had tried to tell him.

She hadn’t told him that she was keeping a promise to Ramsey. Sure, she had never actually told Ramsey that she would stay out of it, but she had felt obligated to do so. It had been an unspoken agreement of sorts.

“I know. It’s just that this is the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through, and it feels like I have a transmittable disease or something. None of my friends want to get caught up in this, and I still have to go into work every day at Bridges. I don’t know why I thought you would understand that, Lex. You’ve just always understood me,” he had said softly.

“Jack,” she had groaned, “it’s not that I don’t understand.”

He had sighed heavily on the other end. “Forget I asked, all right? I know you have your own life. I doubt Ramsey wants you involved in this. If I know him, I’d bet he asked you to stay out of it.”

Lexi had remained silent.

“I see. And here I thought, we were past all of that.” He had sounded defeated…like he had hit rock bottom.

“Jack,” she had whispered. She had hated the desperation in his voice.

“I mean, I was there for you this summer when you had nowhere else to go. Chyna was in her own state of bliss and a thousand miles away. That’s what friends do for each other.”

She had swallowed at the memory that sometimes hit her again like a sucker punch. Just when she had grown complacent—no, not a good idea to think about that.

“All I’m asking is for you to be my friend now…when I need you,” he had said softly.

She had felt glad that she couldn’t see those pleading blue eyes again. She had almost told herself that she had imagined the way he had talked to her in her office when he had told her about the divorce. He hadn’t wanted her. He had only been relying on a friend—a friend he needed again now.

“They won’t let me in the courthouse, and it’s a terrible idea for me to be there anyway,” she had told him.

“Meet me after?”

So, that was how she had ended up walking into the courthouse directly after work. She turned down the hallway toward the family court area and took a seat outside. Jack should be out any minute. She was a bit surprised they weren’t already done. These things didn’t take that long. It was usually the mediation and actual trial that took the most time.

She tapped her foot on the tile floor and looked down at her watch.
Any second now.

As if on cue, the door opened, and Bekah walked out. Lexi scrambled to her feet. She didn’t want to be sitting if Bekah said anything to her. Lexi didn’t want Bekah to be able to look down at her at least.

Bekah’s lawyer followed. He looked familiar. He was probably one of the attorneys Lexi had investigated when searching out one for Jack. The lawyer nodded at Lexi and urged Bekah to keep walking, like he knew it was in her best interest not to stop.

Bekah didn’t listen.

“What a surprise!” Bekah said. She looked at Lexi smugly as if she had expected her to be here.

Lexi didn’t like falling into Bekah’s plans in any way. “Bekah,” she said curtly.

“Do you really think this is the best place for you right now?”

“Around you? No, not particularly,” Lexi responded dryly.

Bekah bristled, which was highly entertaining. Lexi liked to see her uncomfortable. She was just a little too perfect with her long blonde hair, perfect chunky bangs, and baby blues. She had on a rather innocent-looking pink dress and modest heels. Lexi assumed Bekah was playing the victim card just by her appearance.

“Let me just give you some friendly advice,” Bekah said, stepping forward toward her.

“Just what I always wanted.”

“If I were you, I’d stay away from Jack.”

“Is that so?” Lexi asked, arching an eyebrow.

“You shouldn’t even be here right now. What does Ramsey think about all this?”

“The best part about all of this, Bekah, is that it’s none of your business,” Lexi said. She shot her a big fake smile before turning her back and walking away.

Jack appeared in the entranceway a minute later. He didn’t look happy. Things must not have gone well. Lexi hadn’t thought they would.

“What happened?” she asked, concerned.

“She won.”

“It’s not over.”

Jack pulled out a paper. “I don’t even know where to start—exclusive use of the marital home, exclusive use of the motor vehicle, freeze on all joint accounts, payment of her attorney’s fees. Christ, her fucking attorney fees—when she’s a fucking vice president of Bridges,” he growled. “Plus, I still have to pay my half of the house and utilities—the house I can’t
live
in.”

Lexi knew that wasn’t the worst they could have done. Every single day, she was thankful that kids weren’t involved. Money could be spent and earned. It was just a piece of paper that people valued. What really mattered, money could never touch. It could make things easier, but it was such a fragile aspect of life. It was something that people so easily allowed to make or break their happiness.

“It’s okay. It’s not the worst it could be, and you’ll have time to plan a defense before you go to a full trial, if it comes to that.”
When it comes to that.