Avoiding Temptation (38 page)

She fucking loved this man.

They might have their problems, but every couple had problems. She could get past everything that had happened. She could deal with the problems they had faced, like she had been since the beginning. Because here and now…was the right decision.

She wasn’t going to fight him on this.

And she didn’t as he pushed her over the edge, sending waves of pleasure from her core to the very tips of her fingers. She closed her eyes, savoring that feeling, and then she let her body relax back into the bed. Ramsey collapsed over her before pulling out.

“I love you,” he said.

He kissed her lips and then slid off the bed to head into the bathroom.

Her endorphins spiked and then released. It was like she was hitting the bottom of a sugar high. She rolled over and buried her face into the pillow.

If this was how she was supposed to feel, then why did she have to keep reminding herself she was happy?

Atlanta was a bustle with tourists throughout the holiday season. Traffic clustered the interstates, the malls were packed with Christmas shoppers, and everywhere Lexi went, the city was full of Christmas cheer. It was unseasonably cold for the South. These low temperatures didn’t normally hit until the end of January or early February, and they lasted only a few weeks at most. She was surprised to be constantly clad in her New York attire of sweaters, knee-high boots, and peacoats. She loved the layers, but she was already missing the summer.

The law firm had given her two weeks off around Christmas, and she had no idea what to do with herself. Last Christmas, she’d had three days off. She figured the extra time off came from paying her dues…or maybe they had just seen how much of a wreck she had been recently. It certainly didn’t help when her relationship woes had made it into the news.

When Elisa had been hauled out of Opera that night two months ago, she had been arrested for trespassing. The local Atlanta news had reported on the event, including a picture of Ramsey and Elisa together outside of the venue. It had been all sorts of humiliating.

His father had been worried about the backlash against the company and ran a series of press releases, trying to do minimize the damage. But aside from the embarrassment, it hadn’t done anything to the medical wing. In fact, it seemed to get the word out even more, and the new building was flooded with people. Lexi just hoped the company didn’t try to use personal scandals to get more business after this.

The one benefit from all of this was that Ramsey had been incredibly chill about everything in her life. Going to lunch with Jack was no big deal. Spending time with Brandon didn’t irk him. She didn’t know if he had just let go of his concerns or if he just didn’t want to put her through anything else after that. She wanted to believe that he trusted her, so that was what she was going with.

Either way, it was a relief not to have to worry so much. Ramsey had always said that he didn’t care about Jack and Brandon or anyone else as long as they kept their hands to themselves, but she had never really believed him. After that incident with Elisa when Lexi had been left standing in the middle of Opera with a glass of vodka poured on her, then Jack saving her from Bekah, and no one but Cierra and Parker to look after her—well, things had changed.

And it seemed that the change was needed.

Even when she had hung out with people when Ramsey had said he didn’t care, she had still felt like she was tiptoeing around him in some ways—but not anymore. It was like someone had flipped a light switch.

So, when John called her out of the blue, she actually answered the phone. If Ramsey was going to be cool about everyone else, then surely, she had nothing to hide regarding John.

“There’s a name I haven’t seen on my phone in a while,” Lexi said when she answered.

“Babe, I’ve missed your voice,” John said seductively.

“You don’t strike me as a man who wants a talkative woman,” she joked.

“Just you.”

“Oh, ha-ha!” Lexi rolled her eyes.
The man never gave up.
“What did you really call me about?”

“It’s cute how you think I’m joking.”

“It’s cute that you think I’m that oblivious.”

John chuckled through the phone. “I don’t, not at all. I’m actually just coming into Atlanta for the weekend. Bridges kept me on for the main contact for the medical wing, and they’re due for a sixty-day inspection checkup. I heard that you had the week off, and I wanted to see if you’d be interested in keeping me company.”

“How the hell do you know if I have the week off?” Lexi asked, sitting up straighter.
Christ, how did he always know things about her?

“You do, don’t you?”

“Yes, but how do you
know
?”

“That hardly matters.”

“It’s just weird that you always know these things. Who do you talk to? Is it Adam or something?” Lexi probed.

“Do you just not want to spend time with me? Is that why you’re stalling?” he asked with a laugh. “I hardly believe that, or you wouldn’t have picked up my call.”

“Don’t try to change the subject.”

“Or is it your boyfriend who doesn’t want you hanging out with me? Is he trying to avoid another company scandal like his big fuck-up with that Elisa chick? Shouldn’t he have known better than to go outside with her that night?” John asked, tsking softly under his breath.

Lexi ground her teeth together.
Elisa
. Just the name brought bile to her throat in these circumstances. She was a step below Bekah on the hatred scale.

“You’re not making your case at the moment,” Lexi grumbled.

“So, it is the boyfriend then?”

“No,” she snapped. “Ramsey doesn’t care who I hang out with because he doesn’t have anything to worry about.”

“Of course he doesn’t, babe,” he said.

She could almost see his smirk.

“Then, you’ll have no reservations about spending some time with me while I’m in Atlanta, all alone, right before Christmas.”

And that was how Lexi ended up touring the Bridges medical wing with John the week before Christmas. It had been fully functional for just over two months now, and as far as Lexi could tell, it was running smoothly. Ramsey didn’t complain half as much as he used to before it had opened, so she assumed things had fallen easily into place.

John was in a crisp black suit and black tie when he met her outside of the glass front entrance to the Bridges medical wing. By the look of the suit, his work for Bridges was paying off handsomely. Years back, Chyna had taught her how to pick out an expensive suit, and Lexi would put her money on a Fifth Avenue boutique.

She had dressed more casually in an oversized cream sweater paired with a burgundy skirt, patterned tights, and knee-high caramel riding boots. She had a navy knit infinity scarf wrapped around her neck twice, and her long brown hair hung loose. Her hands were stuffed into the long sleeves of her sweater as she jogged up to John. Her cheeks and nose were pink from the wind, and she shivered.

“Inside,” she said in greeting and then walked toward the building.

He laughed and caught up to her easily. “This is not cold weather.”

“You told me that last year, and it didn’t matter then.”

“Wow…was that a year ago?” he mused aloud.

Lexi nodded. It was hard to believe that it had been a year and a half since she had walked out of Jack’s wedding, since she and Ramsey had worked things out, since she had told John that they couldn’t date. It was a bit surreal that they were all in her life still in some capacity.

As much as John knew about her life, she never asked him about his. She tried to keep it as professional as possible. He always tried to cross that line just a little bit at every interaction, but she never tried. She wondered if she should ask him about his life, but then she stopped herself.
What good would that do?
He would just think that she had taken a renewed interest. He took that from everything she did.

But she was curious. It wasn’t like he was
actively
pursuing her, but he still was trying to see her when he was in town. That made her think that he wasn’t dating anyone seriously. She hated when her curiosity got the better of her.

Lexi blew on her hands as she walked into the hospital. She wished she had brought her coat with her. She hadn’t wanted to have to carry it around with her though in case Cierra wasn’t there to let her stash it.

“Need me to warm you up?” John asked, coming up behind her.

“No, thank you.” She jumped away from him, and her eyes darted around the cavernous entrance room.

Ramsey knew that she was coming into the hospital today, but she hadn’t been sure when they were actually going to arrive, so she hadn’t let him know the specific time. He really could be anywhere inside, but she hoped that they ran into him. Maybe she should just text him.

She fingered her phone in the pocket of her skirt, but then she decided against it. If he knew she was already here, then he would come seek her out. She preferred to avoid awkwardness at all costs. John, after all, was the man who she had slept with after she had broken up with Ramsey. He might say he was okay with it and even act like it, but she sure didn’t like standing between them.

“This way,” John said, motioning her toward the elevators.

“What’s the plan?”

“Haven’t you wanted to walk every floor in the building?”

“No. Not really,” she said honestly.

“No, me either. So, we’ll skip some. Pop in here and there, and scare people half to death.”

“You should have brought a clipboard,” Lexi said.

“We’ll nab someone else’s.”

They hopped onto the elevator, and John chose a floor seemingly at random. She was sure that he had detailed instructions about what he was supposed to be doing, but he hadn’t shared that with her. That was fine by her. She didn’t want to know any more about the inner workings of the medical wing than she already did from living with the person who had started the company over a year ago.

They wandered up and down the hallways, talking about trivial things. He would stop to talk to people in various rooms, and she would wait outside for the few minutes that he would be inside. She did a lot of people-watching and felt a bit like she was watching a television hospital drama with all the people chatting and wandering between disasters—not to mention, the obvious love interests.

John announced that they were halfway through, and they stopped for a minute, so she could pick up some coffee. She wasn’t sure why she was tired…or maybe she was just craving her coffee. Either way, the bitter taste was the pick-me-up she needed. Also, the liquid gave her courage to actually ask John the questions she’d had at the back of her mind.

“So, are you seeing anyone?” Lexi asked, blowing on her coffee.

“Why? Are you still interested?”

“Nope. I have Ramsey. I was simply curious.”

John looked at her sideways, assessing her, before answering, “Nothing serious.”

“So, you are seeing someone! What’s she like? Is she putting up a fight?” Lexi asked with a giggle.

She didn’t know why she found this amusing. It could just be because he always made fun of her about Ramsey. She just couldn’t hold it in.