Текст книги "Avoiding Temptation"

Автор книги: K. A. Linde

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Текущая страница: 7 (всего у книги 27 страниц)

“You signed a prenup?” Lexi asked.

She was having trouble keeping her cool. All she wanted to do was yell at Jack. She knew that from Bekah’s standpoint, it was a good idea to get a prenup drawn up. Bekah had insane assets, and anyone with money or who owned a business should get one signed. Not to mention, if either party had a history of cheating. Infidelity clauses weren’t all that common anymore because of how often they were thrown out in court, but Lexi highly doubted Bekah would push for adultery in a divorce case without knowing what she was up against.

“What?” Jack asked.

“You signed a fucking prenup. You know, that legal document that says if I cheat on my spouse, she gets everything!”

Jack sighed into the phone. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“How? How can that sound like a good idea to you, Jack? You’ve cheated on Bekah with me, if not with other people—”

“No one else,” he stated firmly.

Christ, she wanted to believe him. If he wasn’t telling the truth, he could end up losing a large chunk of money and the house and everything else.

“Did you have a lawyer present? Were there witnesses? Did she coerce you in any way to sign that document? How long ago did you sign? Was it rushed at all?” Lexi fired off a series of questions.

She shouldn’t be asking him about this. She should find someone to work his case, and then she should back far, far away. There was no way she could take on this case. She didn’t work in family law, and she definitely had a conflict of interest.

“Jesus, Lex. Slow down. Let me try to answer all your questions. I had a lawyer present, and other people were there. I signed it in January before we got married.”

She mentally calculated the time frame—right around seven months. That would hold in court.

Lexi brushed a hand back through her hair and sat down heavily on the couch in the study. Ramsey had converted Jason’s old room into a study for her shortly after she had moved in. She didn’t spend as much time there as she wanted, but she did consider it her space, which was nice. It was sparsely decorated and immaculate with a mahogany wooden desk and chair, her diplomas framed on the walls, a blue-green-and-white patterned area rug, and a plant sitting on a stand. Ramsey had insisted that the room needed a bit of life, so she had obliged him.

“What else did you ask me?” Jack said.

Lexi closed her eyes and shook her head. This was such a bad situation. She curled her legs up on the couch and lay down. She knew that she didn’t need to help Jack with this. He’d had a lawyer present when he signed the prenup. He could find his own. But she felt bad for him.

The thought of him getting taken advantage of made her chest ache and her stomach twist. Marrying Bekah had been a mistake, but it didn’t have to ruin his life. And Lexi had this terrible feeling that Bekah intended to do precisely that.

Though Lexi couldn’t figure out why. Bekah had won. She and Jack had gotten married. They lived in a house together just outside of the Atlanta proper. She was living her fairy tale. Bekah had known Jack had cheated on her before the wedding, and she hadn’t cared about it then. So, what was the motivation behind the divorce?

Lexi knew that if she got the answer to that question, she would finally be able to figure out Bekah. Until she knew, she would treat Bekah like an active volcano waiting to erupt.

“Coercion,” Lexi reminded him. “Did you feel an obligation to sign? Was there ever any talk of the fact that you had to sign? Anything like that at all that you remember?”

“No, uh…I don’t think so. It was a long time ago.”

“Three years is not that long to remember if someone forced you to sign away your livelihood if you cheat on her,” she quipped.

“I didn’t cheat on her.”

“Yeah,” Lexi said.

She had never considered Jack a liar. He had always sworn that he would tell her the truth in everything, but with their history, it did make it difficult to take this seriously, especially with Bekah claiming she had hard evidence against him.

“So, what should I do? I can’t use the same lawyer as last time. He works for Bridges now.”

Lexi narrowed her eyes. “Did he work for Bridges at the time?”

“No, he got hired about a year ago.”

Lexi cursed under her breath. A million-and-a-half scenarios ran through her head all at once. She was just going off of the information she had learned from the family law classes she had taken in law school, but those were two or three years ago at this point. He would need someone else—but who? She racked her brain to think of someone who would be good enough. She would have to ask around at work tomorrow.

“I’ll see if I can find someone, and then you probably need to make a pretty convincing case against her, Jack. I’d tell you to settle this in mediation and just get it over with, but I have a feeling that Bekah will take this to court,” Lexi told him.

“Okay,” he said with a heavy sigh. “This is so fucking frustrating, Lex.”

“I know,” she whispered.

She knew how he felt about divorces, especially after his parents’ rough break while he had been in high school. A part of her felt bad for him for having to go through this, and then the other half wondered, as she always did, why he had gotten married in the first place.

“I did everything right once we got married. I so desperately didn’t want to be my parents, and I still can’t seem to get it straight. She’s still divorcing me, tearing us apart for no reason—a fake reason,” he said.

She could hear the anger and desperation in his voice, and it made her want to go over there and hug him even if he was talking about Bekah.

Lexi steeled herself for what she was about to do. “Have you tried…talking to her about it?” She wanted to gag at the thought of urging him to talk to Bekah about it…to even hint at encouraging him to convince her not to go through with it, but she needed to be a friend right now.

“Of course I’ve tried to talk to her. She won’t see me. I had to move out. I’m staying with Seth and feel so…so…I don’t even know.”

She could almost see him in that moment—his eyes closed, his hands fisted into his dark brown hair, the look of pain on his face. It made her want to do something, anything to take it away. Despite everything they had gone through, she could never make herself stop caring. It was Jack.

“What did she say when she gave you the papers?”

He gave a stilted laugh. “I want a divorce. Then, she handed me the papers and told me to get out.”

“Just like that?” Lexi asked. Bekah was the devil.

“Just like that.”

“Was there any forewarning that this might happen?”

“No.”

“She wasn’t acting strange…erm, stranger?” Lexi asked.

“What do you want me to say? That I knew my wife was going to divorce me? That I should have seen the signs? That I should have known better? Well, I didn’t,” he growled. “I didn’t see any of it, and yeah, that probably makes me even more of a fucking idiot. But I tried every day for the past two years with Bekah, and I was still trying up until that day she handed me the papers. Marriage isn’t easy, but I wanted my marriage to work, so I put in the effort.”

“I’m sorry, Jack,” she whispered. She didn’t know what else to say to that. She wasn’t sorry about Bekah, but she was sorry for Jack.

“Please don’t pity me, Lex,” he said so softly she almost didn’t hear him. “Don’t remind me that I gave you up for this.”

Her heart seemed to hammer in her chest, and she pinched the bridge of her nose. Her throat felt swollen just for a minute as she fought back the tears threatening to spill out. Why now? Why did he have to realize this now? Too little, too late. She loved Ramsey. She was marrying Ramsey. End of the line.

When she felt like she could speak again without her throat closing up, she said, “I’ll find you a lawyer tomorrow, okay? I should probably go.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

“Hopefully, this will all be as painless as possible,” she encouraged, assuming Bekah would do her worst because she always did.

“For who? Certainly not me…”

She hated agreeing. He had dug the hole himself, and now, he had to sit in it, six feet under—right where Bekah wanted him.

Lexi hung up the phone and rested her head back on the couch. She sniffled and hugged her legs tight to her chest. She needed to stop this feeling.

But she couldn’t help it.

She felt really, really bad for Jack. It was an emotion she was so not used to. Normally, the things she felt for Jack were, ahem…a little lower on her body. When had this happened? All she felt in this moment was sympathy. She did pity him—even if he had told her not to. The thought of Jack being married to Bekah had always made her sick, but the thought of him actually hurting from the divorce…well, that was a different feeling entirely. It was like so much of her wanted him divorced…wanted him rid of Bekah finally. But at what cost?

It was so messy.

She sniffled again and tried to think of something else—like her engagement. She needed to tell Chyna. That was all she had left—well, Chyna and Jack, but Chyna needed to know before Jack did. That was for sure!

Lexi sat back up and reached for her phone just as the door to the office slowly pried open.

“Lexi?” Ramsey asked, peeking his head around the corner.

God, she hoped she didn’t look like she had been crying.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah. I’m just about to call Chyna to tell her about the engagement.”

He eyed her likely bloodshot eyes and red cheeks cautiously, but he broke out into a smile at the word engagement. “Let me know what she says.”

“I will,” she said, producing her own smile for him before he retreated.

Yeah, messy didn’t even begin to cover it.

Lexi spent a minute straightening up her hair and sitting up properly as if Chyna could see her. It was ridiculous, but still, it made her feel better and helped her forget.

Chyna answered on the second ring. “Chica! I miss you. Come to New York for the week,” she said.

Lexi laughed. Oh man, she missed her best friend. “I have work this week. Maybe soon.”

“You keep saying that, but all you do is work.”

“We can’t all be like you, Chyna.”

“Obviously.”

“How was your weekend?” Lexi asked. She knew Chyna wasn’t really known for small talk, but Lexi hadn’t seen Chyna for a while. It made Lexi feel better to know what Chyna had been up to.

“Oh, you know, same old, same old,” she said dryly. “Went to the club, got drunk, got picked up by a guy, and went home with him. So hot. He’s an architect.”

For a second there, Chyna almost had her fooled. She had been about to freak out on her friend if she was cheating on Adam. They were so good for each other, and Lexi knew she wasn’t the person to talk about cheating, but damn, she would have lit into her friend. Adam was too good of a person for that.

“Jesus, Chyna, you about gave me a heart attack,” Lexi groaned.

Chyna laughed wickedly. “So, I let Adam pick me up from the club and take me home. This time though, I wasn’t passed out from getting roofied, and he fucked me.”

“Y’all are ridiculous!” Lexi couldn’t stop shaking her head. Only Chyna.

“We just know how to have fun. How are you and Ramsey? I swear, for a man who used to manage strip clubs, he is a lot less fun than he could be, Alexa. I mean, sure, he can throw a party, but all I’ve heard you talk about is the medical wing. Work, work, work. Don’t you do anything but work?” Chyna asked.

“Well, he proposed,” Lexi said offhand, staring off across the room while waiting for Chyna’s reaction.

“What?” Chyna cried. A crashing sound blasted through the phone and then a series of curse words before Chyna came back. “Fuck! I dropped the phone. Are you fucking serious? Did you tell him yes?”

“No, Chyna. I told him, why the hell did I spend three years of my life with you when I have no intention of marrying you?” Lexi drawled sarcastically.

“You’re a bitch. I hope he smacked you.”

Lexi giggled. “Of course I said yes!”

“Oh my God! This is so fucking exciting. When should I come down? This weekend? We need drinks! Shots! Hookers! Whatever you want, that’s what we need,” Chyna yelled into the phone.

Lexi could practically see her bouncing around her apartment.

“You want to come down this weekend?”

“Yes! Are you kidding me? My best friend is getting married. I need to be there to celebrate with you, chica.”

Lexi smiled brightly. Now, this was what it was supposed to feel like to be engaged. It had only taken her a week to get the giddy feeling back. She had been so happy when Ramsey had asked her. She had been shocked beyond words. She wasn’t sure why she hadn’t seen it coming, but then when it had been right in front of her, she couldn’t believe it had happened to her.

Ramsey had worked so hard to make the night perfect, to make it memorable, and it had worked. She knew she would never forget what it had felt like, walking through the park, the candles, the picnic.

“Yes, come down! We’ll party here to celebrate,” Lexi said after a few seconds.

“So, how did he ask you? Tell me everything. Did it happen today, over lunch, or what? Come on, dish!” Chyna said enthusiastically.

“Um…” Lexi said awkwardly. She had forgotten about this part—the part where she hadn’t called Chyna for four days when she should have called her right away.

“Oh no,” Chyna groaned. “What’s wrong?”

“He asked me on Thursday.”

“Thursday? Why did you wait so long to call me?” Chyna asked, sounding hurt.

“I, uh…well, I had a freak-out about it.”

“Already? I thought you were excited about this.”

“I am excited! Ramsey wanted to tell his parents in person, so we told them over brunch today.”

“In front of Jack and Bekah?” Chyna gasped.

“Um…well, not exactly. Jack wasn’t there.”

“Why not? Aren’t they, like, white-picket-fences and shit now? Oh my God, does Jack not know, Alexa?” Chyna asked. “Please, please, please tell me that Jack knows.”

“They’re getting a divorce,” Lexi said quickly, releasing the breath she had been holding.

Chyna was struck silent on the other end.

“That’s why he was calling to talk to me earlier during the week.”

“No,” Chyna murmured.

“I know.”

“I don’t understand.”

Lexi sighed. She wished she could explain, but even she didn’t really understand any of it. Jack and Bekah had been married for two years with no problems as far as Lexi could tell. Jack was still Jack, but things had changed.

She didn’t even know if she could articulate it clearly. How could someone be the same person he had always been and yet so different? Then, this…she had never seen the divorce coming. With the Bridges’ abhorrence for divorce and Jack’s personal feelings toward the matter, she had thought their marriage would have been a one-and-done deal.

Now with him back—nope, she wasn’t thinking about that.

“So, let me get this shit straight. Jack has finally come to his senses and is divorcing Bekah. What is his reasoning? Irreconcilable differences?” Chyna asked.

Lexi knew that was what Chyna’s parents had filed their divorce as in New York.

“Bekah is divorcing him.”

“I’m sorry…what? That Bitch is completely mental. Why the hell would she divorce him?”

Lexi bit her lip. She hated this conversation. Chyna was the one who was going to go mental when she heard the reason.

“She claims that Jack cheated on her, and she is filing a fault divorce, so she can run off with any money he made during the marriage. Apparently, the idiot signed a prenup with an infidelity clause in it.”

Chyna burst into laughter. “Wow. Give me a minute with that one,” she said, her laughter coming harder. “I told her that he’d cheated on her on her fucking wedding day, she still went through with the wedding, and then two years later, she’s filing for divorce for infidelity. That’s…wow…that’s rich. I mean, why is she dragging this out anyway? She has a fortune of her own. As shitty as it is, I get why my parents dragged it out. They both were worth a ton of money, and neither wanted to get screwed. Bekah doesn’t need his money.”

“That’s the million-dollar question—quite literally,” Lexi said under her breath.

“Well, just because he is getting a divorce doesn’t mean you can’t tell him you’re engaged, chica. You know that, right? I mean, I know he’s different, but it’s still Jack.”

“I know, C.”

“Right, you’ve always known. You’ve always known everything.”

“Chyna…”

“I’m just looking out for you. You’re marrying Ramsey. He’s a good guy. You love him. Remember that.”

“God, I haven’t forgotten any of that, all right?”

“Just saying.”

“So, are you finished reminding me of things I already know? And can we get back to planning your trip this weekend?”

“Just don’t be stupid.”

“Thanks for that one.”

“Jack makes you stupid.”

“He’s married!” Lexi snapped. She did not want to have this conversation. She had been fighting that battle with herself. She didn’t need Chyna’s help with it.

“Not much longer…”

Lexi spent the next day at work searching out the best divorce attorney in Atlanta who didn’t currently work under the Bridges hegemony. She was fucking pissed by how difficult it was to do that. How did they possibly have five of the best attorneys in-house? Didn’t that seem a bit ridiculous to anyone else? Who had allowed them a monopoly on the market?

Fucking Bekah Bridges—that was probably how.

The girl never stopped plotting. Three of the attorneys had been acquired in the last year since she had been married to Jack. It didn’t seem coincidental, but Lexi didn’t know how to prove that it was connected. It made her eyes hurt.

In the end, she just plucked up the courage to ask her boss about it.

He suspiciously eyed her. “You thinking of getting a divorce before you’re even married?” he asked.

“Just asking for a friend, sir,” she said.

“Did I hear you got engaged?”

Lexi smiled sweetly. It was the only way to deal with her boss. “That’s right,” she said, showing off the ring.

Her boss whistled between his teeth. “That’s a big diamond.”

“Yeah, he spoils me.”

It wasn’t something she would have normally said, but her boss cared about pedigree, power, and privilege. Ramsey had all three, and sometimes it helped situations.

“Good man you have there.”

“So, sir, about that attorney. Do you think you could put me in contact with one?” she asked, batting her eyelashes.

“Yeah, I know a guy. I’ll give him a call on my lunch break and put him in contact with you,” he grumbled. “Oh, and Lexi…”

“Sir?”

“Any progress on the Bryant case? I want that one resolved this month. It’s eating away time,” he told her before promptly turning around and walking away like he hadn’t just handed her an impossible task without a second thought.

“Great,” she said, storming back to her office.

At least she was getting that fucking name.

Lexi spent the rest of the afternoon buried in casework. She hadn’t even bothered surfacing for lunch, and by the time she was ready to leave the office that afternoon, she was starving and still without a contact for the divorce attorney.

She hesitantly wandered over to her boss’s office.

His assistant was looking bleary-eyed at the computer screen. “Can I help you?” she asked.

“Yeah. Is Chuck still here?” Lexi asked.

“No, he never came back after lunch.”

“Great,” Lexi groaned. “Did he happen to leave a message with you about a divorce attorney?”

His secretary glanced around her desk before shaking her head. “Nothing here, sorry. Did you want me to phone him?”

“No,” Lexi said quickly. The last thing she wanted to do was to draw more attention to herself than she already had. The next time she talked to her boss, he would probably tell her to close the case by the end of the week rather than the end of the month. “Thanks.”

She would have to remind him about it some other time. There wasn’t all that much time to waste, but there was nothing she could do at the moment.

She took the elevator down to the parking garage, got into her car, and drove out of the building. Stopping by the nearest drive-through restaurant, Lexi ordered some much-needed food, and then cut across town to Ramsey’s office.

Last night, she had told him all about Chyna’s freak-out about the wedding and how she was going to come into town for the weekend to celebrate. He had been ecstatic to hear it. By the look on his face, it almost seemed like he had been afraid that Lexi wasn’t excited about the prospect of their engagement. It wasn’t that she wasn’t excited. She had just had so much other stuff piled on top of her all at once. Listening to Chyna freak out about it had brought Lexi back to reality, and now, she was looking forward to the celebration.

In fact, she was on her way right now to celebrate. She had gotten out of work a little early, and she was surprising Ramsey at the office. They hadn’t spent as much time together prior to the engagement, and she thought it would be a sign of goodwill, proving that she really was invested in him. She loved him. All this talk of divorce made her anxious to show it.

Lexi had a pass to the staff parking lot, so she could come and go whenever she wanted. She found the closest open spot and parked her car. She had stuffed down the burger while she was driving, and she was finally starting not to desperately crave food. She could still eat more, but she didn’t feel like she was dying. Maybe she could grab something light with Ramsey on the way home. She smiled at the thought as she entered the medical wing.

It was a bustle of activity as doctors, nurses, and patients flitted about in the midst of activity. Lexi smiled at a wide-eyed receptionist at the front. She had caramel-colored skin with long black hair and brown eyes.

“Hey, Cierra!” Lexi said with a wave.

Cierra had been with the company since day one, and Lexi thought she was one of the best hires. Cierra had a great smile and was always able to calm people down like no one else.

“Hey, Lexi!” she said, waving. “Good to see you today. How is your case coming along? Are you kicking ass?”

Lexi chuckled and shook her head. “I wish it were over. How are things here?”

“Peachy. Smooth-sailing. Some of the doctors called out. I guess something has been going around, but it’s been fine. No complaints at least,” Cierra said with a giggle.

“They should know better than to complain to you about it anyway.”

“You know that’s the truth.”

A patient walked up then, and Lexi stepped back.

“See you later, Cierra.”

“Bye, girl.”

Ramsey’s office was on the top floor of the colossal building. He had always preferred his office at the clubs to be shrouded in secrecy with a full view of everything else that was going on. He hadn’t wanted something so extravagant, but the architects had said that offices were best on the top floors to get them out of the way. Then, they had kind of gone out of their way to make sure Ramsey had something nice. He had considered firing them over it, but Lexi had talked him off the edge. It had been a nice gesture.

She stepped out onto the top floor and over to Ramsey’s office. The lights were off, and his secretary was missing. He hated having a secretary, but with the added responsibilities, it was a necessity.

He should still be here though. He never left the office this early. Plus, most days, he would call her to let her know when he was on his way home to her. Sometimes, she was impressively domesticated, and she would cook him dinner if she got home first. She wasn’t a great cook by a long shot, but he never complained about it.

And that was why she was a bit confused as to where he was.

Lexi pulled out her phone to call him when she heard voices coming from next door. Maybe someone else knew where he was.

Taking a deep breath, she walked to the other office—Parker’s office. Her secretary was also absent, Lexi noticed as she approached. Her stomach knotted uncontrollably even though she knew she was overreacting. Ramsey had proposed to her last week. There was nothing going on with him and Parker. There hadn’t been anything going on with them for years. She wished her stomach would cooperate, but it wouldn’t. It never did when she knew they were together. And she most certainly knew they were together now.

Her hands balled into fists as she rounded the corner and stared through the glass windows into Parker’s office. It was as it always was—a hot mess. Paperwork was stacked high on every surface. Parker rarely ever got to them because she would spend more time in surgery, helping people, than anywhere else. Medical equipment sat in boxes, some half-opened, some still in plastic containers, while a few others were out and looked like she had been trying them out. A bicycle was in the corner. Lexi wasn’t sure what it was doing there. Parker didn’t live close enough to bike into work, and Lexi wasn’t sure what people would think if Parker took that thing into the elevators. Some clothes had been strewn into the corner—a couple pairs of scrubs, the black maxi dress she had worn yesterday, a few other random articles of clothing, and at least three pairs of shoes. She must practically live here.

But what Lexi didn’t want to take in as she surveyed the room was what she couldn’t help but see.

Ramsey was sitting on the couch, completely relaxed, with one arm on the armrest and the other on the back of the couch. He had a gigantic smile on his face, and he looked like he had been laughing all afternoon. Parker was lying back on the couch, her head on the opposite armrest, with her feet pressed against Ramsey’s thigh. As Lexi stood there, she watched Parker say something that Lexi couldn’t make out. Parker then threw her head back in laughter as she kicked out at Ramsey for whatever he had said in response.

Lexi felt numb from her fingers to her toes. She stared unblinkingly at the display before her, knowing that it was just them. It was just Ramsey and Parker and the way they interacted, the way they had always interacted. It was this inherent familiarity that they had since they had known each other their whole lives…and loved nearly as long. Chyna had once equated it to how Lexi was with Jack.

Maybe it was. Maybe it was platonic at this point. Maybe it shouldn’t make her sick.

It wasn’t like they were having sex on the couch or anything. They weren’t actually doing anything, except sitting around and laughing. They were completely clothed aside from Parker not wearing shoes. There was no reason for Lexi to feel like this, but she still did.

Ramsey noticed Lexi first, straightening visibly before standing. Parker realized that Lexi was there next, but instead of adjusting herself, she just smiled brighter and waved Lexi inside.

Lexi moved mechanically to the door and walked in. A part of her wanted to turn around and just walk away. She wouldn’t do it, of course. Ramsey and Parker hadn’t been doing anything wrong. Lexi was just making up about a billion scenarios in her head. But that was all it was—her imagination getting the best of her.

“Hey, y’all,” Lexi said as the door closed behind her.

“Lexi, speak of the devil, we were literally just talking about you,” Parker said, her feet falling onto the ground as she sat up on the couch.

Just talking about me now…when you were laughing?

That was what Lexi wanted to ask, but of course, she didn’t.

“What about?” she asked instead.

“We were talking about the look on my parents’ faces when we made our announcement this weekend,” Ramsey filled in.

That was funny? Lexi thought it had been pretty horrifying.

“Anything that makes them look like that is a good thing,” Parker threw out there.

“And here I thought, they hated me,” Lexi said, staring between them.

Parker shifted her feet and stared at the ground.

Ramsey shook his head and started to walk toward her. “They don’t hate you.”

“They don’t treat many people very well,” Parker said. “I mean, they were rotten to me for years.”

Ramsey turned to look at Parker, who promptly closed her mouth.

Lexi shrugged. Great. Now, she was being compared to Parker. Well, it wasn’t the first time.

“At least I have years then, I guess,” Lexi said. She knew it probably sounded bitchy, and the words had only tumbled out of her mouth because she was so thrown by the situation.

Parker pursed her lips, and Ramsey took another step toward Lexi.

“Can I talk to you?” Lexi asked.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Ramsey said, taking her hand. “See you tomorrow, Parker.”

“Bye, y’all,” she said softly as they exited the office.

Ramsey walked next to Lexi down the hallway. He opened the door to his office for her and flipped on the lights. Once the door closed behind him, he turned back around toward Lexi, who had moved to the center of the room.

She felt pretty shitty for saying that to Parker. Nothing was going on. But it was hard not to feel upset about it all, especially after the summer. She just wanted to forget everything about it. She really just wanted a life without Parker, but it wasn’t one she could have. Ramsey and Parker were working together. They had opened a company together. Lexi had said she was okay with it. So, she just needed to be okay with it.

“Sorry,” she said immediately, shaking her head. She was flustered, and it sucked! “I got off work early. I wanted to surprise you. I feel dumb.”

“Lexi, it’s all right. You’re not dumb. I’m glad you’re here.” He walked across the room and pulled her into his arms.

She breathed in his peppermint scent and let it calm her nerves. This engagement was making her a spaz. She needed to chill.

“You know there’s nothing between Parker and me,” Ramsey stated calmly.

“I know,” she said. “I know there’s nothing. I’m not worried. I just feel dumb.”

“Stop calling my fiancée all of these terrible things. She’s wonderful and beautiful and mine,” he whispered before he leaned forward and kissed her.

Lexi tilted her head back and opened her mouth to meet him. God, he tasted heavenly. She wound her hands behind his neck and let him press his body flush against hers. Their lips moved together, breaths intermingled, hands desperately held on to each other…to forget everything else.

She wanted to push the moment. She wanted to take this feeling and stretch it to infinity. Because here, right now, she didn’t feel anything but his lips on hers. She didn’t overanalyze, she didn’t reconsider, she didn’t freak out. She just felt Ramsey—her fiancé. She actually allowed herself to feel rather than think.