Текст книги "Avoiding Temptation"
Автор книги: K. A. Linde
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Avoiding Temptation
K.A. Linde
Copyright © 2013 by K.A. Linde
All rights reserved.
Cover photo © Toski Covey Photography
Cover Designer: Okay Creations
Editor and Interior Designer: Unforeseen Editing
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to the distributor and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
To History and Fairy Tales
—August 25th
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Note to the Reader
Sneak Peek
Gold
Chapter One
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Other Titles by K.A. Linde
The phone buzzed noisily on the nightstand.
Lexi groaned. She wasn’t ready to get up and go to work yet. Throwing her arm out to the nightstand, she tried to switch off the alarm, but it continued to ring. Peeling her eyes open, she grabbed the phone off the nightstand.
“Who is it?” Ramsey murmured, pulling her back against him.
The screen flashed in her hand—Jack Howard. It was too early for that. She had to be at work soon, and she had far better things on her mind.
“Jack.”
“Too early,” Ramsey whispered, kissing her shoulder.
“You read my mind.”
Lexi clicked the Ignore button and let it go to voice mail. “I’ll call him back.”
“Mmm…” His lips traveled up to her neck. “Time for you to get up anyway.”
“No,” Lexi said, pulling the white covers up over her eyes.
“Come on, you’re going to be late for work,” Ramsey said, prying the covers from her hands.
She squirmed against him under the sheets, tangling their legs together.
“Can’t make me,” she quipped, turning over and burying her face into his toned chest.
“Oh…I can make you late,” he murmured into her mass of curly brown hair.
His nose found her ear, and he lightly brushed against it, causing her to squirm for all new reasons.
“Good,” Ramsey said. His hand trailed lightly down her spine before resting comfortably at the small of her bare back.
She hummed into his chest as he kneaded the tight muscles. Lexi’s hands wound up into his hair, and she slowly peeked back up at him. The smile on his face was lazy, comfortable, and so incredibly endearing. She couldn’t believe that after everything they had been through, he could still look at her like she was the greatest prize he had ever won.
“You’re so distracting,” she grumbled, pulling lightly on his blond hair.
“I’m the one trying to get you out of bed even though all I want to do is keep you in it all day,” he said before kissing her forehead.
“You’re going to make me late,” she teased, tugging harder on the locks of blond hair and pulling his lips down to her.
He didn’t argue with her as their lips melded together. She couldn’t figure out how he always tasted so unbelievably delicious. She hadn’t felt him get out of bed to brush his teeth, but the faint taste of peppermint lingered on his breath.
Nibbling slightly on his bottom lip, Lexi sucked it into her mouth. His breathing hitched, and he grasped her hips forcefully between his hands. She could feel the indents he was making in her lower back, which only fueled her forward. Sliding her leg across his body, Lexi straddled his hips and slowly started grinding herself against him. He assisted her in the movement, rocking her hips and pushing her harder against him. She could feel him growing for her through his green boxers. She wasn’t far behind him.
“You can’t go into work,” he groaned into her ear. “I’m not letting you.”
Lexi responded by pressing her lips to his. He smiled against her lips, encouraging her onward. He tried to push her harder, but she resisted, teasingly licking his lips as lightly as she could manage.
He growled deep in the back of his throat and grabbed her head, crushing their lips together. Lexi opened her mouth, allowing their tongues to connect, and she responded with her own enthusiasm. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she relaxed into his eager embrace.
He broke from her lips to kiss across her jawline, and she happened to take a glance at the alarm clock.
“Shit!” she cried, rolling off of him.
Ramsey groaned, reaching back for her. “Are you serious?”
“I’m actually going to be late if we continue,” she said, lying on her side next to him. She watched his chest heave up and down. A smirk crossed her face as she realized how turned-on she had gotten him.
“If you keep looking at me like that…” He trailed off, running his hand seductively down her side.
She giggled and swung her legs off the bed. “Sorry, I still need to shower.”
“I need a cold shower,” he mumbled, watching her stand up in nothing but peach lacy underwear.
“Well, you can go after me. Must be nice being your own boss,” she said with a shrug as she walked to the bathroom.
“I’ll let you boss me around.”
Lexi twirled around, her hair swishing over her shoulder, to look at Ramsey. Her expression was scandalized as if she couldn’t believe he would say such a thing. She tried to remain serious for as long as possible, but the devilish look on his face as he stared at her like he was going to eat her up broke her resolve.
“Get your ass over here,” he demanded, scooting up on the bed to get a better look at her.
“You can watch my ass as I walk out the door,” she said, popping open the bathroom door.
Ramsey’s playful expression faltered and then fell off his face. When Lexi realized what she had said, she anxiously pushed her messy hair behind her ear. She hadn’t meant it the way it sounded, but with their history, it hadn’t been exactly the best phrasing.
Gulping hard, Lexi ducked her embarrassed face into the bathroom. She knew it was stupid to get so flustered about her statement, but some habits were hard to break. They’d had too many ups and downs to take her comment lightly—even if she had meant it that way.
Two years just hadn’t been long enough for them to completely forget about their breakup—at least, not with everything else that had happened since then.
Especially not with what had happened last month…
She knew their relationship was strong, but sometimes, it didn’t feel as strong as it should. Sometimes, it felt like too many other things got in the way of their relationship.
Sighing at her thoughts, she flipped on the shower and stepped inside, letting the water pour over her head. The water beat down on her as she tried to block out the heartbroken look on Ramsey’s face. Taking a deep breath, she held it in as she slowly counted to ten and then blew it out. The boiling hot water helped clear her head and dissolve the concerns that she still harbored. She couldn’t beat herself up about everything in her past and his past—their past.
A knock on the glass door broke her out of her thoughts. Cracking the door open, she stuck her head out to see Ramsey standing before her, still wearing nothing but his green boxers. She smiled at him, thinking he was going to join her.
“Jack keeps calling,” he said, holding up her phone to show her the two missed calls on the screen.
“Why is he calling this early?” she asked, her brows furrowing.
“Who knows?” he said with an easy shrug. “I thought you’d want to call him back when you’re done.”
“Yeah, I will. Let me just finish.” Just as she said that, her phone lit up again with Jack’s name on the screen. “Damn it.”
“Do you want me to answer?”
Lexi immediately started shaking her head. “Nah, I’ve got it,” she said, reaching back and turning off the water. “Can’t even finish my shower.”
Ramsey smiled at her and handed her a towel. She dried off as fast as she could.
“Just answer it,” she told him, knowing she would miss the call if she waited any longer.
“Hey,” Ramsey said, answering the phone. “Yeah, she’s right here. Just give me a second to go and get her.”
Ramsey held out the phone to Lexi as she hastily knotted her towel.
“Thanks,” she murmured softly, shaking out her wet hair and taking the phone out of his hands.
“No problem,” he said, stripping out of his boxers and stepping into the shower she had just vacated.
Asshole, she mouthed to him at the display before her.
He just shook his head at her and shooed her on. She knew this was payback for leaving him on the bed, but she didn’t like it.
“Hi, Jack,” she said cheerfully before sticking out her tongue at Ramsey as she left the bathroom.
“Lex,” he breathed into the phone.
Her heart stopped. She and Jack spoke on a regular basis but not like this. It had been a while—a long while—since she had heard the desperation, need, and desire in his voice. Had Ramsey heard it? Would he have known? She glanced back at the closed shower door and then felt bad for doing it. It had been two years since she and Ramsey had left Jack’s wedding together. Ramsey knew better.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to act like she hadn’t heard it either. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Do you have some free time today?” he asked.
“I really don’t. I’m going to be late to work as it is,” she told him happily, trying not to feed into his mood.
“What about after work or during your lunch break?”
“What’s going on?” she couldn’t help but ask. Curiosity was getting the better of her, and she wanted to know what was wrong.
“I just need to talk to you,” he murmured hastily into the phone.
“Maybe after work,” she told him. She wouldn’t normally spend the time, but something in his voice kept her from denying him.
“Thank you,” he said, breathing a sigh of relief.
“Yeah, of course. Jack,” she began, unsure of how best to proceed, “are you okay?”
He paused before answering. It felt like forever as the silence dragged on between them. She knew the answer even before he said anything. There was no one she could read better.
“I don’t know.”
“Can I help?” she asked, concerned and confused.
“I’ll meet you after work. Do you want me to pick you up?”
“No, I’m driving today,” she told him. She didn’t mind driving through the city, but she despised parking, so Ramsey usually dropped her off just to avoid the hassle.
“Okay,” he said wistfully as if he had been looking forward to picking her up from work.
“Jack, really, what’s going on? I’m going to be thinking about this and stressing all day at work. I’ll be distracted, and you know I have that big case,” she reminded him.
“I know, but we have to talk in person. I…I can’t talk about this on the phone,” he said, his voice cracking.
Lexi’s mind was swimming with possibilities. She wished she had actually woken up on time. Then, she wouldn’t have to wait until after work to find out. “All right. I’ll see you after.”
“See ya,” he said before hanging up the phone.
Ramsey walked out of the bathroom a minute later, towel-drying his blond hair, nude. Her eyes traveled over his gorgeous body from his messy blond hair, to his bright green eyes, to his strong jawline, across his hunky shoulders, down the six-pack abs he had worked so hard for, to the defined V, leading to where she really wanted to look.
“You checkin’ me out?” he drawled as if he hadn’t come out of the bathroom like that on purpose.
“Yep. Wondering how late I can be without getting yelled at,” she said.
Ramsey chuckled, wrapping the towel around his waist to cover up some of the distraction. “I don’t want you to get yelled at.”
“It might be worth it,” she murmured, watching him walk into his closet.
“So, what did he want?” Ramsey called from the other room.
“Bah,” she grumbled, not really giving him an answer.
“That good, huh?”
“He’s so…Jack sometimes,” she said, putting on cream lace underwear with a matching bra.
“Can he be anything else?” Ramsey asked.
Lexi wandered into the bathroom and diffused her hair over the sink as she contemplated the question. Could Jack be anything other than himself? It was something she had taken a lot of time to think about over the past two years. It was something she didn’t really want to think about with his desperation still ringing in her ears.
After applying her makeup for the day, Lexi tangled her hair into a tight bun on the top of her head. She thought it looked more professional in court than her wild curls.
She walked back into the bedroom and changed into a pencil skirt and a mint-green silky blouse, giggling at the appropriateness of wearing this around her Ramsey.
“We’re still on for dinner, right?” Ramsey asked, peeking around the corner of the closet to stare at her as she threw on a blazer over the blouse.
“Fuck,” she said, whirling around. “I thought that was tomorrow night.”
Ramsey shook his head. “Tonight. Can you still make it?”
Lexi bit her bottom lip. “I just promised to meet Jack, and I have that case right now—”
“It’s okay. We can reschedule,” he said, his expression falling. He disappeared back into the closet.
“I don’t want to though,” she said, adjusting the jacket. “We’ll make it work.”
“Sure,” he said, coming back into the room with a crisp white button-up, undone to reveal his toned abs.
She just stared at him. “You’re going to make me even later,” she whispered, eyeing his body.
He smiled and walked over to her. She trailed her hands down the defined muscles and to the waistline of his pants.
“You’re going to get out of your obligations?” he asked, pushing his hands up into her still damp bun and bringing his lips down onto hers.
“Of course I am,” she murmured as she pulled away. “I’m a good girlfriend.”
“Yes, you are.” He brushed his nose against hers. “Now, get out of here before you’re actually late,” he said, smacking her ass.
The day at court was as grueling as ever. She had gotten a job in corporate law, and she had spent more time in court working with assholes than she ever thought possible. This week though was really hitting her quota for the amount of time she could spend dealing with such stupidity. Her nerves were constantly on edge, and she had been returning home just to spend more time working on the one case she didn’t want to think about. She had hoped she would get out of court early, but the likelihood of that happening was practically impossible. She had never met anyone who could bicker so fiercely. Half the time, she felt more like a babysitter than a lawyer.
She would have handed the case over to a colleague long ago if it hadn’t been such a good commission, and she wanted to prove she could get through it. The last thing she wanted to be seen as in the firm was the girl who couldn’t hack it. She hadn’t been there long enough for them to take her seriously.
By lunch, she wanted to pull her hair out. Nothing was going as she had planned, and her client was being completely uncooperative. She kept trying to give the company the legal advice they were paying her for, but then they would go in the opposite direction of her judgment.
Pulling her phone out of her purse, she walked down the hallway as far away from everyone in the courtroom as possible. She knew she should be spending her break devouring her lunch and reviewing her materials, but she just wanted to forget everything else.
The line clicked over, and Jack’s voice filled her phone. “Hey, Lexi. I thought you didn’t have time for lunch.”
He sounded like himself again, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
“I don’t,” she told him, opening up a side door to a meeting room before locking herself away from the outside world.
“You sound tired,” he mused.
“Thanks,” she grumbled. “I appreciate it.”
“Just an observation.”
“Well, keep it to yourself.”
“Are you okay, Lexi?”
“Yeah,” she said, leaning her head against the doorframe. “Just stressed.”
“I know you are. I
f you ever need to talk and take your mind off the case, you know I’m free,” he told her.
“I know, Jack,” she murmured softly.
“If you want me to be here for you, I am.”
She held her breath and closed her eyes, counting to ten before releasing the breath. This wasn’t why she had called him. She knew he would be there for her if she needed him to be.
“I just called because I can’t meet after work. I forgot that I already have plans,” she vaguely told him.
“You can’t meet?” he asked, the need filling his voice once more. “Lex, I really need to talk to you.”
“I know, I know. And I want to talk, but I can’t tonight. Can you wait until tomorrow?” she asked, struggling to turn him down. She had completely forgotten about her plans with Ramsey, and she didn’t get enough time with him as it was. She couldn’t cancel everything just because Jack needed her.
“Yeah,” he whispered. “Yeah, it can wait.”
She could almost see the defeated look on his face—those blue eyes begging and pleading, the forward tilt of his head. “I’ll…I’ll talk to you tomorrow then.”
“Yeah, all right,” he muttered into the phone.
“Are you going to be all right until then?” she couldn’t help asking, knowing he was going to shrug it off regardless.
“I’ll survive. Will you make it through court?”
It was Lexi’s turn to shrug. “Can I murder my clients?”
“Can you be your own defense attorney?”
“Yes?”
“Then, do it. You’re the best.”
Lexi chuckled, loving the easy banter between them. Today was one of those days when she wished she could get out of work to go have lunch with Jack. When he was around to lighten her mood, it was easier to forget the headache that had become all but a constant fixture from this job.
“You’re silly,” she told him through her laughter.
“There’s that smile. That’s better.”
She could tell his own smile had returned.
“Thanks, Jack.”
“Anytime. I’m here.”
“See you tomorrow.”
“Bye, Lex.”
She hung up the phone, her mission accomplished, and she went back to the insufferable job of working with these corporate hacks. Sometimes, on days like today, she wanted to turn them all in and make them handle their cases on their own. They weren’t worth the trouble she had to go through for them.
Knowing she had plans made the day drag on longer than usual. Her client even noticed how antsy she was to be dismissed from court for the day. Her feet were tapping under the table, her legs were bouncing up and down, and she couldn’t help continually checking her watch. She practically sprinted out of the courtroom as soon as the judge released them.
She found a place to change into something more appropriate and raced across town on autopilot. She floored the car, weaving through traffic, on her way to the restaurant.
Snatching her phone out of her purse, she pressed the button for Chyna.
She answered on the first ring. “Chica!” Chyna cried over the background noise.
Lexi rolled her eyes. She loved her party-animal best friend. “Hey, C. Are you drunk already?”
“Well on my way,” she said with a giggle. “What’s wrong?”
“Wrong?” Lexi asked. How did Chyna always know these things?
“You think I don’t know you, chica? Come on, spill it!”
Lexi thought that she knew her best friend pretty well, but sometimes it felt like Chyna could read her mind.
“Jack called me this morning.”
“And? Isn’t that normal?”
“Yeah. Yeah, it is,” Lexi said, trying to figure out how to explain. “But he sounded like…Jack.”
Chyna was silent for a second. All that Lexi could hear was the music in the background and a cacophony of people talking.
“You mean he sounded like…Jack?”
“Yeah…I mean, I don’t know. He just said he had to talk to me, and he sounded desperate. Am I reading into things?”
“I’d tell you to trust your instincts, but your instincts suck.”
“Chyna!”
“What? Jesus, do you think he’s going to try anything? I’ll come kick him in the balls again for you, if you think that.”
“No, I don’t think he’s going to try anything.”
“Then, go see him. Are you on the way now?” Chyna asked. “I bet you are.”
“I have dinner plans with Ramsey.”
“Is not knowing eating you up? Do you want to skip dinner?” Chyna giggled.
“Oh, shut up. I can’t skip dinner.”
“But you want to.”
“I have to go, Chyna. Tell Adam hey for me.”
“Will do, chica. Tell Ramsey and Jack hello for me.”
Lexi hung up the phone with a shake of her head. Chyna had a way of reassuring her while also throwing her off-balance.
Lexi would figure out what to do about Jack tomorrow. She was already running behind for dinner, and that should be her priority.
Slamming on the brakes in front of the valet booth, Lexi rushed out of her car and tossed the keys to the waiting valet. He looked at her in surprise as she tugged her skimpy dress down and hobbled past him toward the entrance. She reached down and adjusted her slingback heels. She was late. She was unbelievably late, and she felt like nothing short of a disaster. With curly tendrils falling haphazardly from the ponytail holder, her hair was still knotted into the messy bun she had worn to court that morning. Her makeup was still intact, but she hadn’t checked it anytime recently. At least her assistant had remembered to pick up the black halter dress from the dry cleaner, and her slingbacks had still been in her car. She slung her wildly inappropriate hobo bag over her shoulder and steeled herself to walk into the restaurant.
The maître d’ gave her a once-over as she paraded into the restaurant, and then he turned back to the buxom blonde before him. Lexi ground her teeth in irritation. She didn’t want to deal with these people any more than she had to. The blonde seemed to occupy all his attention, so Lexi just continued walking toward the dining room.
“Reservation?” he asked, blocking her path.
“Bridges,” she explained confidently with the arrogance and authority she had sometimes seen Ramsey use.
“Ah…Mrs. Bridges,” he said with a fake smile.
“Oh!” she said awkwardly. “We’re not married.”
“My apologies,” he said, the contempt returning. “Easy mistake.”
“Yeah,” she grumbled.
It was a mistake that had happened way more than she liked. Everyone mistook her for Ramsey’s wife. They had been to so many functions where that happened. It wasn’t like she wore a goddamn ring or anything! Just because they had been together for two years didn’t mean they had to get married immediately! She wished that people would just stop asking her! Rings made her nervous. Why ruin a good thing when it was working without a ring? Ugh!
“We’ll have someone escort you to your seat,” the man said, snapping his fingers at a hostess.
“Thank you,” Lexi said, following the snobby woman through the restaurant.
Watching the crowd of people made Lexi entirely uncomfortable—the couples picking at their food, the women barely munching on a piece of lettuce, the men distracted by someone else’s wife. Was this where her life was heading? She shuddered at the thought and tried to push it aside. She had never liked Ramsey for his money, and oft times, she would forget he was as wealthy as he was. She was bringing in a handsome salary herself, but something about the way these people were acting tonight ruffled her feathers. She had never been that person, but it was easy to see how money changed people. Holding back her unmitigated qualms, she forced a smile on her face and tried to hide her apprehension.
“Here you are,” the woman said, smiling politely at Ramsey.
“Hey,” Ramsey said. His gorgeous smile appeared on his face at Lexi’s approach.
“Hey,” she managed, walking past the hostess.
Ramsey stood, wrapped his strong arms around her, and kissed her forehead. She breathed him in, during even the briefest of embraces, and smiled at the minty smell he exuded. It never got old.
“It’s so good to see you,” he murmured.
Lexi couldn’t help but giggle at his cute PDA moment. Maybe those other couples could take note and pay more attention to each other. Taking her seat across from him, Lexi crossed her legs under the table and unfolded her napkin before laying it on her lap.
“So…you’re late,” he mused with a knowing glint in his eyes.
“Yeah, court ran over. I’m sorry,” she told him.
“You didn’t end up seeing Jack?” he asked, only half-joking.
“No, I ended up rescheduling with him,” she said, shrugging. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow, I guess.”
“Well, I took the liberty of ordering for us. I hope you don’t mind,” he said, gesturing to a vodka-cranberry placed before her.
“No, that’s fine. I needed this,” she said with a laugh.
“I figured as much. This case is taking a lot out of you.”
“The people are relentless,” she said before sipping on her drink. “I just can’t catch a break. One asshole client to the next.”
“We should get away,” he told her.
“That’d be nice,” she said, sending him an amused smile. “What did you have in mind? And when can we make it happen?”
“When does the case end?” he asked.
The look on his face showed that he knew it wasn’t going to be over anytime soon. She didn’t even need to voice that. She had been up late, working on it, for far too long.
“We’ll go after,” he added.
“Sure,” she murmured softly. She took another sip of her drink. “Why did you choose this place anyway?”
“The restaurant?”
She nodded.
“Because you like it. You do like it, right? Should we have gone somewhere else? We can still leave,” he mumbled, trying to recover from a misstep he hadn’t made.
“No, no, it’s fine,” she said quickly, giggling to herself at his adorable reaction. “I do like this place. It’s so classy though. Sometimes, I feel dirty when I walk inside.”
“Isn’t it supposed to have the opposite reaction?” he asked curiously.
“Let me rephrase. I don’t feel clean enough to eat here. I feel like someone needs to polish me, like the silverware,” she said, holding up and examining a pristinely polished fork. “I could never get forks this clean.”
“What’s this about, Lexi?” Ramsey asked, reaching across the table and taking her hand. He didn’t let go, and he slowly swirled a figure-eight pattern against the top of her hand.
“I’m just tired,” she murmured, glancing away from him, “and I didn’t get to eat lunch. Just irritable, I guess.”
“Hey,” he said, tugging on her hand lightly until she looked back at him. “I love you. You’ll get through this case.”
She sighed and nodded. She wished she could tell him about all the other things on her mind, but this wasn’t the place. How could she ask him in the midst of these people whether or not she was going to end up like them?
Lexi knew that she was thinking too much into it, and her stress was starting to seep into her personal life, but she had a hard time preventing it from happening. Being surrounded by such opulence reminded her too much of the people she worked for—the people she wanted to forget.
Trying to clear her mind, she placed a smile on her face and asked Ramsey about his day. He already knew that hers had been stressful, but she needed to remember that he had a stressful job, too. Sometimes, it was easy to get wrapped up in what she was going through at work and the doubts she was having about her future. Putting in the effort to find out about Ramsey’s day eased her mind, and dinner arrived shortly after.
By the end of the meal, her apprehension about the evening had dissipated, and they had slipped effortlessly into a debate about who was going to pay for the meal. Ramsey won, of course. He always won, but Lexi found it amusing to prod him on the subject. Maybe one day she would be able to convince him otherwise.
Latching on to his arm, Ramsey led Lexi out of the dining hall. She wished that they could do this more often…that they had more time. Snuggling against his arm, they exited through the main entrance and into the late October air. The valet smiled at their approach and motioned to his assistant to grab the keys.
“Take a walk with me,” Ramsey said, pulling Lexi away from the parking lot and waving dismissively at the valet.
“But our cars.”
“They’ll take care of it. Don’t worry about it,” he said, continuing to lead her away from the restaurant.
“Are you sure?” Lexi asked. She was concerned about leaving the only real possession she cherished alone in a parking lot so late at night.
“Of course. Where do you think we are?”
“I guess you’re right,” she agreed reluctantly, glancing back over her shoulder at the valets standing around. “Where are we going?”
“I just wanted to walk with you and forget the rest of the world. I miss our time together. We’re both so busy.”
“I know this case is really something else.”
She felt like she was always making excuses. She never had enough free time anymore, and when she did, she would have so much else to do that she wouldn’t get to spend it with Ramsey.
He laced his fingers with hers as they veered toward the nearest intersection. The city lights gleamed all around them, and she shuddered a little bit as the crisp evening air reminded her that winter was just around the corner.
“Are you cold?” he asked, putting his arm around her and rubbing her arm.
“Just a little.”
“I’m glad we were able to get dinner tonight. It’s nice to see your pretty face.”
Lexi giggled slightly at all his compliments. She was now glad he had asked her to walk with him. She had forgotten how nice it was to just get away. He hadn’t been lying at dinner when he said they needed a vacation. They both worked too much to do it though.
Ramsey gestured for her to cross the street, and she traipsed across the grimy crosswalk in her slingback heels, being careful not to trip over a pothole.
“Let’s go in,” he said with an easy smile as he motioned toward one of the entrances to Piedmont Park.
“This late at night?” she questioned him, slightly uncomfortable at the prospect.
