Текст книги "Avoiding Commitment"

Автор книги: K. A. Linde

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Текущая страница: 19 (всего у книги 29 страниц)

“Do you want to get out of here?” he questioned into her ear.

She leaned her head back against his chest and swayed to the music. She wanted to leave with him, but she had promised Chyna. She hadn’t even thought about Chyna for ages which could mean that she had already ditched her for someone else except Chyna was usually good for her word. If she agreed no guys for the night, then she would find Lexi by the end of the night and they would both go home alone. Lexi sighed…both go home alone. She needed to find Chyna. “I’m here with a friend. I can’t leave without her.”

He located her much more quickly than Lexi would have been capable of alone. His height gave him a distinct advantage. “Chyna, time to go,” Lexi commanded peeling her off of some guy she had locked lips with. Whoever he was didn’t look too pleased, but after seeing Armani Guy he quickly backed off and vacated the premises.

“Alexa,” she shrieked, “the love of my life!”

Lexi giggled as Chyna tackled her, forcing them both back into Armani Guy’s hard chest. “Oh, excuse us,” Chyna trilled batting her long lustrous eyelashes.

“It’s not a problem. I was just helping, Alexa, find you,” he said smiling politely at Chyna.

“Ohhhh,” she said her eyes moving from Lexi back to Armani Guy. “Well, thank you for that. She’s hardly ever able to find me on her own.”

“So she told me.”

“It is time for me to go,” Chyna said faking a yawn. “I guess I should check out. I’m sure you can find your own way home, right chica?”

Lexi knew this act. It meant that Chyna approved of her choice. “Can you excuse us for a minute?” she asked Armani Guy. As he nodded, she yanked Chyna out of earshot from him. “No guys, remember?”

“Yeah, but did you see that Armani suit?” she asked, her eyes leaving Lexi’s and glancing back at his build.

“Yes, I did,” she said snapping at her to get her attention back on her.

“Did you see those muscles?”

“Yes, I did,” Lexi growled.

“Did you see the way his green eyes blazed at the sight of you?” she purred.

“Chyna, cut it out. I saw, but it’s a girl’s night. I can hook up with him another night.”

“You are insane, but I love you!” she exclaimed planting a drunken kiss on Lexi’s lips.

Lexi rolled her eyes. “Yes, I know, dear.”

“Just for the record, I think you should go for it.”

“Well, I’m not going to. Some other time,” she said as she turned towards Armani Guy. “Sorry, we have to get out of here.”

“We?” he asked incredulously. She pointed between her and Chyna and his face transformed at the realization that she was going to leave without him. He had put in all that work for nothing. She could tell he wasn’t pleased. They had hit it off, but she wasn’t ready to go home with him yet. Not tonight at least.

“Sorry. I know you have that meeting,” she quickly improvised. “Maybe we can meet up some other time.”

“I’m leaving the city tomorrow, but maybe I could get your number and the next time I’m in town we can meet up.”

Chyna grumbled something in her ear, but she swatted her away not wanting to hear her voice of reason. Of course she should go home with this guy, but that really wasn’t going to help her tonight. She was too drunk at this point to go home with his guy. She quickly punched her digits into his Blackberry and then dragged Chyna to the door.

As they drove back to Lexi’s dorm, Chyna kept staring at Lexi in dismay. “I don’t want to hear one word,” Lexi said pointing her finger in Chyna’s direction.

Chyna pulled a zipper across her lips, but raised her eyebrows in further disapproval. A few minutes later as they entered the dorm, Chyna couldn’t hold back any longer. “You should have gone with him.”

“Yeah, I probably should have, but there will be other guys and other nights.”

Chyna scooted closer to Lexi as they reached the top of the stairs and began walking down the stained hallway Chyna had been so uneasy about earlier that afternoon. “Yeah, but he was delicious.”

“I guess he was.”

“I hope he calls you though.”

“I doubt he will,” Lexi said coming to a stop in front of the door and fumbling for her keys.

Lexi pushed the door open and immediately veered towards the bedroom. Chyna shut the door behind her and walked towards the lumpy couch. She plopped down allowing her aching feet a reprise from their tormentors. Just as her butt hit the cushion, she jumped up screaming at the realization that whatever she had sat on was not a cushion. And now it was moving.

Lexi darted back out of the room sobering up as soon as she heard the blood-curdling cry echo throughout the apartment. “Chyna, what is it?” she cried unsure what she would find. Lexi gasped in surprise at what appeared to be someone rising from the dead. The figure’s head hung limp and arms were stretched out in front like Frankenstein’s monster. A low menacing moan escaped the person. Just then the figure’s head snapped sideways as Chyna slammed a pillow into the side of his head. Lexi rushed back to the front door, latching on to the handle in the event that they needed to make a run for it, and flicked on the dorm light.

Chyna brought the pillow viscously back down on the intruder several more times. A yell sounded from the person seated on the couch. “Oww, stop that.”

“Get out of here! You can’t take our stuff!” Chyna screamed smacking him across the face another time.

“I’m here to see Lexi, Goddamn. Chill out,” the intruder cried shielding himself from Chyna’s assault.

“Chyna, stop,” Lexi demanded her feet frozen in place as she stared forward. Chyna paused mid-swing, and then brought the pillow back down to her side. She glanced back at Lexi in confusion. The intruder looked to where she had spoken ignoring the possibility of another attack. Lexi’s throat caught at the sight. “This is Jack.”

“Jack. Jack, Jack. You mean the Jack?” Chyna asked stumbling on the name.

Lexi nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well then,” she mumbled tossing the pillow onto the loveseat, “guess that’s my cue. Sorry.” She walked to Lexi and gave her a quick hug whispering into her ear, “Let me know if you need anything, sweetie.”

“Jack, what are you doing here? How did you get inside? How did you know where I was?” she asked letting loose a string of questions that had flown through her head at the sight of him.

He stared at her in awe. He stared at her like he had never seen her before. He stared at her like she was his lifejacket and he was sinking.

“Jack,” she whispered the earlier memories that she had briefly evaded her were clouding her vision once more.

He stood quickly and scooped her into his arms. “I’ve missed you so much,” he whispered sweetly into her ear.

Goosebumps cascaded up her arms as she circled his neck. “I’ve missed you too,” she admitted.

When he pulled back, he rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes breathing her in. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” She couldn’t believe this was happening to her. She felt like she was so drunk that perhaps she had passed out and was dreaming about Jack being here.

“Don’t ask that. I’m sorry for everything. I ended it with Kate. All I saw was you when I looked at her.”

“Me.”

“Yeah. I was an idiot for staying with her. You’re what I want.”

“Me?”

“Yes, Lexi. You.”

“Oh,” she whispered breathlessly, pushing her fingers up into his dark, thick, mess of hair and twisting the strands around her fingertips.

“I shouldn’t have come like this.”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” she agreed shaking her head.

He pulled back to look at her and her breath caught again as his brilliant blue eyes locked onto her. “I really am sorry for everything, Lex.”

She nodded knowing he meant it. She let the memory of him telling her that he loved her for the first time wash over her. It had been so long since she had allowed herself to think of that without tears springing to her eyes. He was here for her. He had come to New York for her.

“I didn’t mean to scare your friend.”

“Don’t mind Chyna. She’s probably already asleep. How did you get inside anyway?” she asked her brow furrowing.

“One of your roommates let me in. I told her I was a friend of yours and that I’d wait to see you,” he said sheepishly.

“Ugh,” she groaned, “you could have been anyone. I’m going to have to talk to them about this.”

He pulled her closer against him again. “Aren’t you glad they didn’t turn me away?” he asked, his mouth turning into his characteristic smirk.

“Very glad,” she agreed allowing his lips to fall on hers and savoring the taste of him. In fact, what was going on in her head was how glad she was that she hadn’t gone home with Armani Guy, because what she had come home to was nothing compared to what she had found at a club. She applauded herself for her stubborn nature.

“Lex?”

“Yeah?” she mumbled licking her lips.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she said for the first time, allowing herself to tell him how she really felt. Then she got lost in Jack’s kiss once more.

CHAPTER 17

PRESENT

“Mmm,” Jack grumbled holding onto Lexi’s waist tightly, “where ya goin’?”

Lexi sighed back into his embrace loving the feel of him pressed against her. At the same time, her stomach rolled knowing that she shouldn’t be wrapped up in him like she was. She had been lying there half the morning, her stomach knotting and unknotting for every thought she had about Jack. They had talked the night away and managed to stay closer to the friend’s side of the spectrum, but she knew they couldn’t stay there. She knew she didn’t want to stay there. Nor did he. In fact, he had been the one that said that he wanted to be with her. Luckily, she had kept her wits about her long enough to tell him she wanted him, but only if she could have all of him.

Yet, it was still nagging at her. If she had really meant that, she would have left last night. She wouldn’t have stayed up with him and imbibed a bottle of wine. She wouldn’t have woken up this morning with his arms wrapped around her.

“I…I’m going to make some coffee,” she whispered attempting to extract his hands from around her middle.

“No. Don’t leave me, Lex,” he begged nuzzling into her neck and trailing light kisses across her skin.

Her body reacted wonderfully to his touch, forcing her back to arch and head to lean back. “Jack, you can’t do that.”

“But I wanna,” he mumbled obviously still half-asleep. “You taste so good.”

She giggled at his slurred speech and attempted to push him away again. That only made him latch on harder to her. “Jack, come on.”

“I love it when you talk dirty,” he muttered seductively, biting down on her earlobe.

Lexi smacked him playfully on the arm and wiggled out of his embrace. “I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t be too long,” he said, his face nearly covered by the covers once again.

Lexi trekked out of the room in nothing but her red boy short underwear and one of Jack’s old band t-shirts that was much too big for her. She padded down the hallway and into the living room. Her eyes roamed the maze of candles displayed around the room and sighed at the memory of last night. She had promised herself she wouldn’t do this. But the only way to change it was to leave the apartment and return home this minute.

But she couldn’t do that. She was not physically capable of leaving him like this. Yes, things had happened in their past that made her angry with him. Yes, he was as arrogant as they came. Yes, he had a girlfriend who he had been thinking of marrying.

Despite all that, she couldn’t leave. She had wanted to be with Jack for so long that the thought of leaving him without finding out if they actually could be, would break her heart all over again. She knew that she had probably given him more chances than anyone else would have bothered with, but those women didn’t understand what she was going through. If they weren’t willing to push through the hard times and savor the good times, then they didn’t understand men at all. Everything wasn’t always going to be peachy keen, and Lexi knew that, but she had been around Jack long enough to know how he worked. And one thing she knew, the one thing that kept her going through it all, was how she felt about him.

She had never wavered in her affection for him. Six years was a long time to wait for someone. And though times had been trying, Lexi knew deep down that Jack was what she had always wanted. Everything and everyone else had just been a distraction to help her forget him.

Lexi pressed her cold hand to her head hoping to soothe out her concerns. Exhaustion was starting to set in and the last thing she needed was to add a headache to that mix. She fumbled around in her purse until she located her cell phone, then trudged into the kitchen and began brewing a pot of coffee.

She had a missed call from her parents that she knew she ought to return right away. She was supposed to have gone home yesterday, but with everything that had happened with Jack, Ramsey, and Bekah, she hadn’t been able to get away. Guilt pushed past exhaustion on the top of her list as she cleared away her parent’s number, and punched Chyna’s instead. She couldn’t face her parents yet.

Chyna picked up after a few rings, and by the sound of her voice, she must have still been sleeping. “Hmmm? Hello?” she mumbled into the phone.

“Morning, sunshine.”

“Alexa, is that you?”

“Yep. Sorry I didn’t call you back.”

“I’m sorry, am I supposed to know who you are?” she grumbled irritably into the phone. “The Alexa I know never forgets a phone call.”

“Oh, shush you. It’s not like you never forget to call me back.”

Chyna yawned loudly. “Fine. What’s up? I’m sleeping.”

“Actually, you’re awake now.” Lexi heard rustling on the other line and rolled her eyes.

“I’m only half-awake. Hold on, chica. Let me kick him out. I have no idea why he thought he could stay the night.” A loud smacking sound could be heard followed by a howl from the gentleman who had shared her bed the night before. A slur of words in Spanish cut through the line, and Lexi was pretty certain the majority of which were not pleasant. Chyna’s voice raised an octave as she insulted him back in Spanish. A smashing sound came next from what Lexi guessed was one of the pieces of priceless china she kept around her room breaking into a million pieces. A second later a door slammed and Chyna returned on to the phone. “Sorry about that. He doesn’t speak much English, but he’s maddeningly handsome with all that Latin passion. Mmm mmm mmm.”

Lexi giggled at her best friend. “I’m sure he is, knowing you.”

“Now, spill everything. You went on a date and then didn’t have the decency to discuss all the sordid details with yours truly. I’m horrified. Does that mean it went too well and you’ve been locked in his apartment for two days, or was it so bad you were afraid to talk to me?” she asked waking up at the prospect of sharing dating stories.

“Neither, I suppose. I had a lot going on, but I had an amazing time if you must know,” Lexi offered loving how excited her best friend sounded.

“And I must. Tell me everything. Who is he? Where did you find him? What did you do? Where did you go? How good was he in the sack?” she asked adding extra emphasis to the last question. “I can’t believe this happens when I’m so far away,” she groaned sounding ridiculously sexy.

Lexi shook her head at Chyna’s over-the-top personality. “We had a picnic at a laser show outside of the city. It concluded with a gorgeous fireworks display that he arranged with the park specifically for us.”

“Ooh la la,” she cooed, “Not candlelit dinners and caviar, but we can work with it,” she interjected. “So, who is this Mystery Man? And please, do give me details!”

“He’s actually…Bekah’s brother. His name is Ramsey. Ramsey Bridges,” she said cringing as she uttered the words. She bit her lip as she waited for Chyna to erupt on her.

“Bekah. Jack’s Bekah? Hmm…well, interesting turn of events, but again we can work with it. What’s he look like? Is he sexy?”

Lexi giggled. “Yeah, he kind of is. Tall, really tall with bright green eyes and sandy blonde hair. His body is killer too. David Beckham-esk physique we’re talking here.”

“Damn! Sexy and wealthy.”

“Chyna!” Lexi exclaimed scolding her.

“What?” she asked, pretending to be confused by her friend’s outburst.

“You know what.”

“Don’t act like that isn’t important. You’ll be in law and he has a trust. After hanging out with me, chica, how can you live with anything else?” she asked bluntly. Chyna never refrained from discussing how important it was to find someone with similar means when you were dating. This went back to her standards of men’s clothing as well as to his taste in alcohol, cars, apartments, and down the list. She approved of very few men for anything past the first date.

“Yes, well,” Lexi said rolling her eyes, “he is supremely wealthy. And God is he good looking, Chyna. If you had picked him out in a club, you wouldn’t have even given yourself time to get a drink from him before dragging him off to your place.”

“Watch yourself. I might have to come visit my best friend and do just that.” Lexi knew that she was only half-joking. What Chyna wanted, she typically acquired. The only things in life she hadn’t been able to control were her parent’s separation and the fact that her gorgeous designer friend, Frederick, was one hundred percent playing for the other team. He was the only man she had ever met that was too gay to sleep with her and it bothered her every day.

The delicious aroma emanating from the machine was mouth-watering. Lexi poured two mugs full of the hot brew. Then she leaned back against the counter to finish her conversation and wait for the coffee to cool down. “That’s kind of the reason I called you. I need you here this weekend,” she said forcing her hair behind her ear several times as she waited for Chyna to as the question she was dreading.

“Before I get onto the subject of why you might need me in Atlanta this weekend, you didn’t answer my question. How good is he?” she asked for the third time.

“I didn’t sleep with him,” Lexi admitted reluctantly.

“Oh. So that’s why you need me there this weekend,” Chyna announced.

“What? No. I don’t need you here to help me get with him. I could have if I’d wanted to, but there are a few uh…issues with that. Like a certain someone,” she said sipping on her coffee.

“Alexa, what have you done?”

“Oh, Chyna,” she cried exasperated with herself, “I just need you here. I went to talk to Jack to get everything clear between us, but it didn’t work out the way I had planned.”

“Did you sleep with him?” Chyna shrieked into the phone.

“No. No, I didn’t.”

“Don’t lie to me, Alexa Mae.”

“I’m not lying. I didn’t sleep with him. I promise, C. But he wanted to. And we would have, if I hadn’t stopped his advances. Now he’s saying he wants to be with me for real this time, and I just don’t know what to do, Chyna. He’s what I want. Of course, he is. I just don’t want things to backfire in my face,” she said, confessing all her fears.

“Oh, baby, you shouldn’t be doing this to yourself,” Chyna cried maddeningly. “You know he’s just going to hurt you. That’s what he does. He hurts you. He drags you down.”

“But he doesn’t,” Lexi eagerly protested. Though, she wasn’t quite as certain about that as she let on. “He makes everything right with me. You’ve only seen the worst of the situation. You only saw what happened in New York. If I can make it right with us, that’s what I want. That’s what I’ve always wanted.”

“Shit!” Chyna cursed.

“What?”

“I told you not to do that. God, he completely changes you, doesn’t he?” Chyna asked sighing heavily. Lexi could tell that she was starting to get pissed off. She heard Chyna take a few calming breaths before continuing. “You are absolutely right, chica. I need to be there. I’ll talk to Daddy about using the jet. I should arrive in Atlanta in a matter of hours. I’ll have a car pick me up at the airport, and then we can talk this all out together. Possibly a shopping spree to get our minds off of what potential disaster you are creating in your life.”

“Chyna, you can’t come down here thinking…” Lexi stopped mid-sentence and set her coffee mug down on the counter silently. She thought that she had heard something at the door. She had been pretty sure she had heard something, but she had been so heated in her conversation she had almost missed it. She strained her ears to listen for another potential noise.

“Thinking what?” Chyna asked snippily.

“Hold on one second,” Lexi said listening more closely this time. Someone was knocking on the door. She jogged down the hallway and pressed her eye to the peep hole. Ramsey’s face appeared distorted and warped by the curved glass, but it was definitely him. “Shit!”

“What?” Chyna cried surprised by Lexi’s outburst. “What’s going on?”

Lexi rushed back down the hall her heart leaping to her throat as she panicked. “Ramsey is here.”

“Here where?” Chyna questioned her.

“Oh shit, shit, shit,” Lexi mumbled under her breath pushing her free hand through her messy bed-ridden hair.

“Alexa, calm down. Where are you? I thought you were at your parents,” she asked trying to get a grasp on the situation.

“No, I’m not. I really have to go,” Lexi told her thinking about what she would have to do next.

“Where are you?”

Lexi hated that she had to admit this to Chyna. “I’m at Jack’s place. I’ll see you in a few hours, chica.”

“Don’t hang up…”

Lexi clicked off the line before Chyna could even finish her statement. She paced in a circle, feeling more and more nervous as the seconds ticked by. The knock on the door forced her to spring to action, and she rushed down the hallway to Jack’s bedroom. She burst through the door in a panic. Jack’s head was buried under a mound of pillows when she walked in.

“You were gone too long. Come lay down,” Jack said patting the bed beside him.

“Ramsey is here!” she cried hopping onto the bed beside him and yanking a pillow off of his head.

“What?” he asked jumping up like he had been jolted with electricity.

“Ramsey is at the front door,” she repeated. “He’s banging on the front door like a freaking maniac. Did you know he was coming over?” she asked frantically brushing her hair away from her face as she looked into his now frightened blue eyes.

“No, I didn’t know. What is he doing here?” he asked brushing his hand through his own hair and cursing under his breath.

“How the hell should I know? He’s at your front door. You have to go get rid of him. He can’t see us together. Shit would hit the fucking fan.”

“I know. I know. I’ll see what I can do. Shit!” he said hopping off the bed and throwing a t-shirt over his head. “What the fuck is he doing here?”

“I don’t know, just get rid of him,” she said shoving him towards the door.

“I’m going. Just stay in the guest bedroom or the bathroom until he leaves. I’ll go find out what he’s doing here,” he said as he jogged down the hallway. “Don’t make a peep,” he warned.

Lexi rolled her eyes. As if she was stupid enough to do that. She walked into the guest bedroom leaving the door ajar. She wanted to be able to hear what they were talking about while still remaining hidden. She leaned her head back against the wall and strained to hear what was going on at the front door.

“I’m coming,” Jack yelled racing down the hallway and unbolting the door. “Ramsey, hey man, what’s up?” he asked casually leaning against the doorframe to block his view of the inside.

“Hey, sorry to barge in on you like this,” Ramsey said eyeing him reproachfully as he looked at his ragged appearance, and then glanced at his watch revealing the time to be nearly noon. “Bekah told me that you weren’t going into work today, and that you should be home. I just wanted to see if I could talk to you for a bit.”

“You know, right now really isn’t the best time,” he said scratching the back of his head and yawning wide. “I was up all night punching numbers. I’m pretty beat, and since I’ll be out all weekend, I really need to get in as much work as I can.”

“Oh, it’ll only be for a few minutes,” he said towering over Jack. “I have a few questions to pass by you.”

Ramsey brushed past Jack before he received an answer. “Sure, come right in,” he remarked sarcastically shutting the door as Ramsey entered the living room.

“So...” Jack said following him into the room. “Coffee?”

“No, thanks. I just had a few questions,” he said leaning back against the sofa and crossing his arms, “about Lexi.”

Jack’s head snapped to the side at the last statement. “Excuse me?”

Ramsey’s eyebrows lifted at Jack’s reaction, but he otherwise gave no sign that he had noticed his sharp intake of breath at the mention of Lexi’s name.

“I wanted to find out a little more about her. What she’s like, where she’s from, how ya’ll know each other, what she’s doing here…that sort of thing,” he said easing Jack into the situation.

“Uh…well, why don’t you ask her?” he said regretting that statement as soon as he said it. That wouldn’t exactly be the best thing for him to do. He could imagine Lexi’s phone going off in his room while Ramsey dialed it from the living room. That thought made him cringe. No, that certainly wouldn’t go over well.

“I’m just curious about her. I don’t want to come on too strong. I’ve only known her for a couple days. Don’t you think it would be strange for me to be asking her all these questions? I know you. You’re practically my brother,” Ramsey said clapping Jack on the back. “I don’t see why you wouldn’t share some valuable information with your brother.”

“Yeah, man, I would, but I don’t feel comfortable sharing her personal information without talking to her first.” Jack didn’t know what Ramsey’s interest in Lexi was, but he didn’t like it. He knew he was acting defensive about the situation.

“Come on, Jack. I’m not digging around for personal information or anything,” Ramsey said, “I’m talking to you about her. Obviously ya’ll were together a long time ago.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Have you seen the girl? She’s hot. I wouldn’t have blamed you for getting with her before you met Bekah. She’s a polar opposite from my sister though,” Ramsey said falling easily into the playboy persona he exuded around the majority of the people he knew.

“Yeah, that’s for sure,” Jack agreed. “And, yeah, I mean, we were together back in college, but that was a long time ago.”

“And I’m sure she’s changed a lot since then, but fill me in,” Ramsey pleaded seeing Jack begin to cave under his requests.

“Well, alright,” Jack agreed looking across the room at the cracked bedroom door. He remained composed despite the nagging feeling creeping throughout his body. “What did you want to know?”

“So ya’ll met in college and dated while you were there, why is she still in your life?” he asked bluntly. He figured it was best to dive in so he wouldn’t give Jack time to sugar coat his answer.

Jack’s face flushed at the accusations behind his words. “What do you mean why is she in my life? She’s a good friend of mine.”

“Really?” Ramsey asked nodding his head at the obvious lie.

“Yeah…really,” Jack said more vehemently this time. He couldn’t help glancing down the hallway again wondering if Lexi was listening to every word they were saying.

“How come I’ve never met her before? Never even heard you talk about her before?” he probed.

“She lives in New York,” Jack said stating the obvious.

“Yeah, but we go to New York on a pretty regular basis. Ya’ll never met up while we were out or anything. Bekah or I were with you at all times, and from what I’ve gathered from Bekah, she had never met her either.”

“We’ve been out of touch up until recently,” he admitted hating how much information Ramsey was capable of weaseling out of him. “You don’t mind if I get some coffee?” he asked hoping to put some distance between them.

“Not at all,” Ramsey said watching him enter the kitchen and reach for an already full mug of coffee. “Why are there two mugs?” he asked curiously, immediately glancing around the apartment as if a stranger were about to jump out at him.

Jack smiled as he brought this coffee back into the living room. “That was from last night,” he improvised quickly.

“Alright,” Ramsey said not convinced with pretty much anything Jack was telling him, “So, ya’ll just recently got back in touch. I’m surprised Bekah’s alright with this.”

“I’m not sure why you’re giving me the third degree. I love your sister. Lexi is just an old friend. That’s all,” Jack announced to Ramsey.

“Well, that’s good to hear especially since we went out the other night,” Ramsey added nonchalantly. All the while, he kept his eyes locked onto Jack. The reaction elicited was almost uncanny. Utter shock seemed to sweep his body, starting at this clenched fists and racing up his arms into his tensed shoulders. Jack’s jaw tightened with the growing anger that sent through him. His blue eyes were darkening by the second.

“You did what?” Jack asked hoping to keep his voice level, but knowing he was failing.

“Yeah, I took her out for a picnic.”

Jack clenched and unclenched his fists a couple times. All he felt like doing in that moment was throwing his fist directly into Ramsey’s smug face. He needed to get out of the situation before he did something he would regret. “Well…that’s great,” he finally said lamely, breathing out as slow as he could.

“Yeah, so anything else I need to know?” Ramsey asked giving him a smug grin.

Jack shook his head. “She’s leaving soon. I wouldn’t press your luck. I’ve known her a long time, and she doesn’t really go for, well…guys like you. No offense.”

“None taken,” Ramsey said amused at Jack’s reaction.

“I mean with your job and the people you associate with, not to mention that you live in Atlanta, it wouldn’t be best for her.”

“Of course not,” Ramsey said agreeing with him for the hell of it.

“She’s different than your other girls.”

“How so?”

“Lexi’s special in her own way. She’s smart…more like brilliant, and motivated. She’s going to make something of herself. She’ll know if you’re playing her like you normally do,” Jack told him, his gaze focusing on the hallway where he knew she was listening in.

“I wasn’t planning on it, but thanks for the talk,” Ramsey said extending his hand out to Jack.