Avoiding Temptation

by K. A. Linde

  But still, she was shocked.

  Maybe because it was this ring.

  Maybe because it was this guy.

  Maybe because she hadn’t told anyone yet.

  In movies, she knew that the first thing people did when they got engaged, after they finished screaming or crying, was call everyone that they knew. They started with their parents and went down the list. Now, people posted it online as soon as it happened.

  But she hadn’t done that.

  Last night, Ramsey had asked her who she was going to call first. She had told him it was too late, and they could make calls tomorrow. Well, now, it was tomorrow, and she still hadn’t made any calls…or posted it online…or anything.

  She needed to tell her parents, and she needed to call Chyna. Those were the most important ones. Her parents would be happy that their little girl was getting married, but Chyna would flip her shit and likely fly down to Atlanta as soon as she heard. Lexi wasn’t quite ready for that much enthusiasm.

  Lexi hadn’t left her office all day because she was still working on that big case, so no one had even seen the damn thing. She had even ordered lunch in.

  Now, she was back home, waiting for Ramsey to get home, before she went to see Jack, and she felt like an idiot. What was wrong with her? A gorgeous, successful man wanted to marry her and live out the rest of his days with her in his life.

  That was the dream—someone’s dream.

  Ugh! She stood and stormed upstairs. That was her biggest problem…her biggest setback. She had never been the kind of girl who prioritized marriage. Sure, she wanted to get married—someday. But she was only twenty-seven years old, and she had so much else that she wanted to do and so many more places she wanted to go.

  See…now, she was being irrational. She could do all of those things with a man at her side, with Ramsey at her side, but it just felt different. Marriage had never been her end game. She wasn’t Bekah Bridges, for Christ’s sake!

  Just as she made it upstairs, determined to call Chyna and set this all right, she heard the front door open.

  “Lexi!” Ramsey called.

  “Up here,” she yelled back.

  Great. Now, she couldn’t even hide the fact that she hadn’t told anyone. This was going to be good.

  “Hey!” he said, a big smile plastered on his face. “Look at my gorgeous fiancée.”

  Ramsey bent down and kissed her lips, the taste of peppermint lingering on his tongue. Lexi smiled against his mouth as he wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up.

  “So,” he murmured against her lips, “how did your parents take the news? Are they excited?”

  “Well…”

  Ramsey placed her gently back down on her feet and looked at her with a stern expression. “You did tell them, right?”

  “I was super swamped at work today, and I just got home a bit ago.”

  “So, you haven’t told them?”

  Lexi shook her head. “No. I was about to call Chyna before you got home.”

  “Chyna before your parents?” he asked.

  She didn’t know why that was a bad thing. She loved her parents, and they got along, but Chyna was her family, too. They had gone to hell and back together the last couple of years.

  And maybe she wanted to hear Chyna’s opinion before telling everyone else. That wasn’t weird or anything.

  “Have you told your parents?” she asked, ignoring the question.

  “I wanted to tell them together.”

  Lexi blew out the breath she had been holding. She wasn’t sure why she was nervous about them knowing. It had nothing to do with Jack. At all. Not even a little bit. They were friends. Just friends for two years now.

  “When did you want to tell them?”

  “What about brunch on Sunday? The place where it all started,” he said with a smile.

  “Well, it all started in a club in New York.”

  “Where it all started over then. Is Sunday okay?”

  Lexi tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. She couldn’t even help it. She was nervous. Ramsey’s parents made her nervous. The possibility of seeing Bekah made her nervous. Lexi did what she could to avoid his sister at all costs. But she had said yes to Ramsey last night when it counted. It would be silly not to say yes to tell his parents two days from now.

  “Of course.”

  “Great. I’ll let them know we’ll be there.” He walked toward the bedroom door.

  “I’m still meeting up with Jack tonight,” she told him.

  “Oh, right. I forgot about that.” Ramsey stopped in the doorway and turned to face her.

  She saw that he had a question at the tip of his tongue. She could generally read him pretty easily. Whatever his question was though, she wasn’t sure she was ready to hear it.

  “I was just waiting to leave until after you got home.” Lexi grabbed her jacket.

  It was only October, and it was already too brisk to go without.

  “You’re leaving now? Should I make us dinner?”

  “Oh, I don’t know how long I’ll be. Do you want me to just text you?” she asked.

  “Sure, Lexi.”

  Ramsey opened his mouth like he was going to ask a question, but she averted her gaze and slid into her jacket.

  “Have you seen my purple scarf?” She couldn’t help but change the subject.

  “Hey, you,” Ramsey said, drawing her attention. “Come here.” He pointed to the ground in front of him.

  Lexi shuffled forward and stood before him.

  He wrapped his arms around her waist. “Are you okay with all of this?”

  “With all of what?” she asked like she had no clue what he was talking about.

  “The engagement, Lexi—telling everyone, getting married, being mine forever,” he said before dropping a kiss on her forehead. “I know how you feel about marriage, and we can wait, if that’s what you want. I just thought you were ready.”

  “Ramsey Bridges, are you trying to talk me out of it?” Lexi asked.

  “I’m not joking with you. I’m not trying to talk you into or out of anything. I just want you to be mine.”

  Lexi opened her mouth to tell him that she already was, but he kept speaking before she could say anything.

  “I want you to be mine, Lexi. Mine. I want you to take my name. When people call you Mrs. Bridges, I don’t want you to have to correct them. That’s what I want. But mostly, I just want you to be happy. Are you happy?”

  “Of course, I’m happy.”

  “Good.” Ramsey’s smile returned with her answer, and he drew her into him. “So, you’re going to be okay with telling people…everyone?”

  “Yeah,” she said softly. With her hands wound around his neck, she couldn’t think of how she couldn’t be.

  Are we still meeting? Are you hungry?

  The message from Jack came as soon as she got into her car. She had thought that she was meeting Jack at the office, but it seemed like he had something else on his mind.

  Yeah. Did you want to get dinner?

  Well, there went her plans to be back to have dinner with Ramsey. She would have to text him and let him know that wasn’t going to happen. Whatever was going on in Jack’s head was a mystery to her. Though…hadn’t it always been?

  Thai 5.

  Huh. Fast-food Thai wouldn’t have been her first choice for dinner, but it did kind of sound good.

  Lexi maneuvered her car out onto the interstate toward the Thai restaurant. She had been there only a couple of times. Once, she had gone with her friend Brandon for sushi, but they had found another place they liked, so they had stopped going to Thai 5. It was pretty close to her office, but lately, she was so often in court that she would eat around there or at the Bridges offices.

  Fifteen minutes later, she pulled up in front of the restaurant. Jack was idling in his car, but he hopped out as soon as he saw her car park. He had been working really late days recently, so Lexi had thought that he would be coming stra
ight from the office, but he wasn’t wearing a suit. Instead, he had on a pair of dark jeans and a half-zipped, long-sleeved, dark blue pullover. She smiled when she saw the Chuck Taylors on his feet. So Jack.

  “Hey, Lex,” he said with a bright smile as he jogged up to meet her.

  “Hey.”

  She watched him as he approached, knowing that something was wrong. Dark circles were beginning to appear under his captivating blue eyes, and his hair was rumpled. Though it still looked good. Plus, the Chucks were a dead giveaway. They were like a security blanket.

  “You look nice.”

  “Really?” she asked, considering her outfit.

  She was wearing a loose, cream button-up tucked into a flowing coral skirt with her black jacket. She still hadn’t been able to find her scarf. At least, it wasn’t cool enough yet for it to be necessary, but she had thought it would go well together. Nothing fancy though.

  “Really.” Jack nodded and pushed her toward the entrance to the restaurant.

  He grabbed the door handle before she could reach for it, and then he opened the door for her.

  “Thanks,” she murmured, walking through the door.

  “Anytime.”

  The pair got into line behind another couple, and they waited to order. Lexi already knew what she wanted, but she was really more concerned with what was going on with Jack.

  “So, what did you want to talk about?” she prodded.

  Jack chuckled. “Not here, Lex.”

  His blue eyes seemed to stare straight through her, and she looked away quickly. She knew those eyes still had power. They were friends, but it wasn’t always an easy gaze to hold.

  Lexi cleared her throat before speaking again. “If not here, then where are we going to talk?”

  “I was hoping we could get into your office.”

  “What?” she asked, surprised.

  Jack had been to her office before, but usually, he would only meet her there to go to lunch or something. The office was closed. It was after-hours. He knew that. What could he want to go to her office for?

  “I just need somewhere private to talk to you.”

  “It’s closed, Jack.”

  “You have a key, don’t you?”

  “Well, yeah…”

  He looked at her pointedly, pleading. “So, we could still go?”

  Why was she letting herself get sucked in by that stare? It must have something to do with that desperation she had heard through the phone yesterday.

  “I mean, yeah, we can go, but why do we need to?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it here.” He actually looked uncomfortable. “Can we just go to your office? I was hoping we could get this to go.”

  Lexi sighed. This man always had his own agenda.

  “Fine. We can go there, but we can’t stay long.”

  He reached out and squeezed her right hand. “Thanks for understanding.”

  She stood still for a second as that same bolt of electricity shot through her body, like it always had. She saw it mirrored in his eyes, and then they both hastily dropped their hands.

  Same old Jack, yet…still so different.

  With to-go bags in hand, they returned to their respective cars and drove the short distance to her office. Jack got stuck at a red light right as she turned into the parking lot. Lexi easily slid her car into her normal parking spot even though there were closer places. It was just a habit at this point.

  As she waited for him to make it through that interminably long light, she stared down at her ring. Her jacket was long enough that it covered her hands, and unless Jack had been looking for it, he probably wouldn’t have noticed the diamond on her finger. She had been meaning to tell him over dinner, but now that they were bringing dinner to her office, it felt too intimate.

  Biting her lip, she yanked the expensive ring from her finger and placed it in the glove box. Ugh! She already hated herself for doing it. Her hand looked bare without the ring, and guilt seeped into every pore. She should tell Jack today. But…she couldn’t tell him. She hadn’t even told her parents or Chyna yet. Jack couldn’t be the first person to know.

  A tap on her window made her jump clear out of her seat. Her hand flew to her chest, and her head darted to the source of the noise. Jack was laughing as he looked at her through the window, and she scowled up at him. She opened the door really fast and heard him grunt as it collided with his knee.

  “Jesus, Lex,” he said, grabbing for the door to keep it from hitting him anywhere else.

  Lexi stood from the car and smirked. “Serves you right. You shouldn’t scare a girl like that.”

  “I didn’t think I would scare you. Chill,” he said, shutting the door for her. He experimentally stretched his knee out a few times, but then he seemed to walk just fine once they started up the hill to the entrance.

  When Lexi located her office key, she opened the door and quickly disabled the security system. Once Jack was inside, she reactivated the alarm, so no one could follow behind them. Then, she shut and locked the door. They took the elevator to the third floor, and Lexi flipped on the light switch, illuminating the open office space.

  Her office was one of the first doors, right next to the employee lounge, which was both good and bad. She always heard the latest gossip, but people frequently dragged her away from her work. Not to mention, she was one of the first people her boss would see when he walked in.

  “Do you want to eat in the lounge?” Lexi asked, pointing at the open door.

  “Sure.”

  The lounge was high-end with two black leather couches, a mounted flat screen television, a small but sleek kitchen, and a wooden table that could seat six comfortably. Jack walked inside and set the food down on the glass coffee table in front of the couch. She followed behind him and took a seat on one of the couches before reaching for her food.

  Lexi was anxious to know what he wanted to talk about. Too many scenarios ran through her head, but none seemed plausible. She never knew with Jack though—anything could happen. She wanted to broach the subject again, but he was already pulling out his pad thai and digging in, leaving no room for conversation. Seeing that he wasn’t going to talk about what had been so urgent yesterday until he was ready, Lexi reached for her sushi.

  Silence with Jack had never been uncomfortable. Even now that things were different between them, it still seemed as effortless as it always had. He didn’t seem to be in a rush, so she didn’t rush. She didn’t have anything else to do tonight besides finally telling Chyna about the engagement. At that thought, she bit down on her lip on accident and squeaked. Jack looked up at her with a question in his blue eyes, but she just swallowed her food and looked away. He didn’t know why she was jittery, and she certainly wasn’t going to tell him after prying that damn ring off of her finger.

  After they finished their food, Jack threw the rest away in the trash across the lounge. Then, he leaned back against the counter and stared at her. Lexi stared right back. She searched his face for a clue, for anything that would tell her what she was about to hear, but she didn’t like what she saw. His eyes were stormy and contemplative, his forehead was creased in thought, and his arms were folded lightly over his chest. Whatever it was…was heavy.

  “Jack,” she whispered unintentionally, “what is it?”

  “You remember that time we went to the beach together?” Jack asked.

  Lexi tilted her head to the side and eyed him suspiciously. What did that have to do with anything? And for that matter, how could he think she would forget? That had been the first time they had…been together.

  “Of course I do. What about it?”

  “I was just remembering how you looked at me that day when you saw me in the sand.” His eyes were distant as he seemed to be recalling the moment.

  “You weren’t supposed to be at the beach. You were supposed to be in Savannah,” she reminded him. “I was just surprised.”

  “Surprised.” He laughed and shook his h
ead. “You were flat-out shocked and lit into me, like it was all my fault for existing.”

  Lexi’s cheeks burned as she recollected the experience. She remembered he had been about to kiss her before Kate and Clark had interrupted them. He had deserved her sharp tongue.

  “It had a happy ending, I suppose,” he said with a shrug.

  Lexi narrowed her eyes. “Happy ending? Clark conning me into telling him we slept together was a happy ending?”

  Jack shook his head like he was breaking out of a trance—as if he had forgotten that was how the story had ended. “Sleeping with you was the happy ending.”

  She immediately dropped her gaze to her hands. What the hell was up with him? Recounting old memories and digging up the past—there was no point in any of that anymore.

  “What does this have to do with anything, Jack?”

  “Nothing.” He shrugged. “It doesn’t have to do with anything, Lex. I don’t even know why I brought it up.”

  “Jack, what’s going on? You’re acting really strange,” Lexi said, her gaze returning to his troubled blue eyes.

  “Bekah served me divorce papers,” he said flatly.

  “What?” Lexi snapped. “What did you say?”

  “She served me papers,” he said, his blue eyes showing as much pity and shock as she had ever seen.

  “After everything…she’s filing for divorce?” Lexi couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t fucking believe it. Bekah had done everything to keep her and Jack together, and now, she was going to divorce him after only two years. Lexi suddenly felt murderous. How dare she ruin everyone’s life over and over and over again like this!

  “I guess, Lexi. I don’t know what to do. That’s why I called you. I never thought this would happen.”

  “But did she at least give you a reason?” Lexi demanded.

  Jack hung his head and sighed. Her heart went out to him in that moment. He looked so lost and vulnerable. Those weren’t emotions she associated with Jack.