Roxanne's Redemption (12 page)

She scanned the crowd
looking for her
friends.
She
was just about to text them, when she saw Ava waving at her
. She
was running out of breath by the time she reached their table
.
S
he was so happy to see them
that
she hurried—almost r
an
—to their table.

She smiled and hugged them, when she got to them
.

Lexi was wearing a black one-shoulder dress with c
hain embellishment at the sides.
Ava was wearing a
red cowl-neck sleeveless dress.
Kira was wearing a cobalt blue rhinestone strap dress
.
Roxanne gaped at her in shock when she saw that
the
back half of her hair was dyed to match her dress.

Kira laughed at her expression.

Sometimes she wondered how after all these years they still remained friends when they had nothing in common.
Ava
ha
d
a
d
o-first-ask-questions-
later
personality;
Lexi
ha
d
a very forgiving and trusting
personality.
Kira
was
a go-with-the-
flow
girl
and Roxanne
was
a
believer in
happily ever after
.

“Something is bothering you. What is it?” Ava asked
Lexi.

“Nothing is wrong,” Lexi
replied
.

Ava snorted
.
“Sure and I'm saying my vows
for the
nun
nery
tomorrow.”

Lexi snickered. “You wouldn’t know a nun if one was standing in front of
you and you don't even know what a nunnery looks like.
”

Kira
laughed so hard she
hiccupped
.

Ava glared at Lexi. “Lexi Leighton if you sit here and
lie to me,
I’ll strangle you.”

All eyes turned to Lexi.
S
he opened her mouth then closed it and grimaced
.
“I've been trying to find a way to tell you about Zach’
s father.
But
thinking about it
brought pain long forgotten
to the surface
.”

“Hon, you don't have to talk about it if you don't
want to. You know that right?”

“I know
.
B
ut
it’s
past time I talk about it
,”
she smiled
—
but it
didn't reach
her
eyes—
before
contin
uing
.
“I met him in my third year of college. He was in med school
.
I think I fell f
or him the first time I met him,
but I didn't
realize
it.
A
t the time I was
worried about
the plans my mother had for me. I really thought
it was meant to be until
six months
later
when
he told me he was moving to Texas with his high school sweetheart
and
they
were going to get married and start a family
.”

She stared down at her hands
then looked at them
as she continued
,
“
H
e never intended to tell me and
it hurt because
all the time
s
I told him I loved him
,
he was making plans
to get
married
to another woman.
I never expected him to repeat it
,
but a part of me
had
hoped
he
would
,
except
he never did.”
A
tear
rolled down her cheek, she wiped it away
quickly
,
not realizing that they
’d
already
seen
it
.

“I'm sorry,” they said
simultaneously
.

“Thanks, but
it’s
not
anyone’s fault but my own
.
”

“Do you know if he had any family here?” Ava asked.

“We never talked about our family much and I was fine with that,
because
I never wanted to t
ell him
about my family.”

“You still love him don't you?” Kira ask
ed
as she squeezed her hand gently.

Lexi smiled sadly
.
“I tried to stop loving him, but no matter what I do a little part of me won't let go
.
Plus
,
Zach
looks just like him
,
so
when I try to hate
him it just feels
like I
’m
trying to hate my son.”

Roxanne knew what she was experiencing—
to some extent
—because she
wanted
to hate Daniel for hurting her, but deep down some part of her had known that he wasn’t the one for her
,
no matter how much she
’d
wished differently.

They wer
e quiet until Ava turned to her.
“What's happening with you, Roxanne?”

Roxanne groaned silently
,
and then
shook her head wishing Ava would drop it
or
c
hange the subject. No such luck.
She
raised one perfectly arched brow
in query
. Roxanne sighed and decided to
talk and get i
t
over with
.
The o
nly problem
was,
what she wanted to say wasn’t what came out.

“Daniel came to my ho
use
Thursday night.” As soon as it slipped
out
she felt like
banging her head on the table
.

“What!” Ava shrieked
.

Roxanne stifled the
giggle
that almost escaped
.

She sighed
and
repeat
ed
the
conversation
she
’d
had
with Daniel
on
Thursday night
.
When
she
finished
,
their mouths were agape and their eyes were wide
.

“Please tell me you told him to go to hell or fuck off. Either will do,” Ava
said
seriously
.

Roxanne winced. “No, but…” she hurried before Ava could say
anything
else. “I did tell him that I forgave him, but I wouldn’t
take
him
back
.”

They nodded.

Roxanne exhale
d
shakily, glad that they accepted her response
.

“So, who is
the
man you're helping?” Ava asked casually.

She shook her head. She should
ha
ve known Ava wouldn’t be satisfied until all her questions were answered.

Roxanne scowled at her
.
“It’s my boss
,
Sebastian Ferguson.”

Ava’s
eyes widen
ed
before she controlled her expression.
Roxanne
smiled
.
She
was going to make Ava spill whatever she was hiding
.
Right after she
ordered
another drink.

“So
,
Ava
,
what’s up with you?” Roxanne asked.

“Oh
,
same old
,
same old,” she answered.

“Nope
,
I'm not buying that
.
N
ow
talk
.”

Ava glared at her
.
When
it didn't scare
Roxanne
as
she’d
clearly
meant it to,
she
scowled
before answering.
“My boss is driving me and my hormones
crazy
.
I don't want to
want him,
because he’s a playboy and I don't want
to be another notch on his bedpost
, but my freaking hormones just don't care
.”

Kira giggled.

Ava
got
married right out of college
.
It lasted
about a year before
she
fil
ed
for divorce
.
They knew why she divorced the guy, but they knew there was more to it than not loving him anymore
.
So they didn't ask any questions, knowing Ava would tell them when she was ready.

“
It’s your turn,
Kira?”

“
Umm, let’s see
I'm in the studio a lot
now. The
paparazzi
won't let me l
i
ve my life in peace
a
nd
I get
some
fan
mail
s
that
make
my skin crawl
.
Before
you all ask
, yes
,
I
already
h
ir
e a bodyguard.”

“You
r
life is very…” Lexi said
,
trailing off.

Roxanne and Ava second
ed
that with a nod
.
A few
minutes later
their drinks arrived and they drank and laugh
ed,
oblivious to
the
eyes watching them.

* * * *

By
the time
the seventh woman
came to
their
table propositioning him, his brothers, Nick or all of them
,
Sebastian was ready to leave. That was until his gaze zeroed on Roxanne hugging some women at few tables from
t
h
eirs
.
He
couldn’t stop
the
smile from spreading across his face
or his dick gr
o
w
ing
hard
to the point that he had to adjust
it
so the zipper of his jeans didn't leave a permanent tattoo.

“Damn woman!”

Sebastian turned to look at his brother
who
was looking
—
well glaring was a better description
—
at the table were Roxanne sat. “
Which woman are you complaining about now
?”

“My
executive assistant Ava Alexis,
she’s sitting at that table with three other women
,
laughing.”
The annoyance in Joshua’s voice made Sebastian chuckle
.

“It’s not funny
.
She
gives me a boner
every day
I see her and she doesn't even talk to me if it isn't about work
.
She
doesn't even smile at me and I've never done anything to her; well I don't think I did,” he grumbled.

Nick ch
uckl
ed
. “
Is it me or does that woman in the blue look familiar?”