Avoiding Responsibility E-Book

K. A. Linde

• Herausgeber: K.A. LINDE
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Serie: Avoiding
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Seitenzahl: 692

Beschreibung

A sexy angsty second chance romance from USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde…
Lexi gave up her past with Jack, only to find love and heartbreak with none other than Ramsey Bridges.
In an effort to win her back, he does the unthinkable—invites her to Jack's wedding.
She’s determined not to go. Seeing Jack would be madness. Getting back together with Ramsey would be just as foolish.
But her heart says otherwise.
One week.
She’ll give Ramsey one week and her worst nightmare wedding to change her mind. What could go wrong?

Leseprobe

Avoiding Responsibility

Avoiding Series Book Two

K.A. Linde

Contents

Also By K.A. Linde

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

Avoiding Temptation

Acknowledgments

Also By K.A. Linde

About the Author

Avoiding Responsibility

Copyright © 2012 by K.A. Linde

All rights reserved.

Visit my website at

www.kalinde.com

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Cover Designer: Perfect Pear Creative

www.perfectpearcreative.com

Photographer: Perrywinkle Photography

www.perrywinklephoto.com

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.

ISBN-13: 978-1948427371

A L S O B Y K. A. L I N D E

AVOIDING

Avoiding Commitment

Avoiding Responsibility

Avoiding Temptation

Avoiding Extras

Avoiding Boxset

WRIGHT

The Wright Brother

The Wright Boss

The Wright Mistake

The Wright Secret

The Wright Love

The Wright One

One Wright Stand (FREE!)

Wright with Benefits

Serves Me Wright

Wright Rival

Wright that Got Away

All the Wright Moves

CRUEL

One Cruel Night (FREE!)

Cruel Money

Cruel Fortune

Cruel Legacy

Cruel Promise (FREE!)

Cruel Truth

Cruel Desire

Cruel Marriage

COASTAL CHRONICLES

Hold the Forevers

At First Hate

RECORD

Off the Record

On the Record

For the Record

Struck from the Record

Broken Record

DIAMOND GIRLS

Rock Hard

A Girl’s Best Friend

In the Rough

Shine Bright

Under Pressure

TAKE ME DUET

Take Me for Granted

Take Me with You

BLOOD TYPE

Blood Type

Blood Match

Blood Cure

ASCENSION

The Affiliate

The Bound

The Consort

The Society

The Domina

ROYAL HOUSES

House of Dragons

House of Shadows

Following Me

February 13th

1

Present

A sing-song tune echoed from a distant location far removed from the king-sized bed where Lexi Walsh lay curled up amongst the sheets. The muffled chorus of a popular radio song hit her ears, causing her to roll over and bury herself farther into the depths of the bed. An arm wrapped around her waist and the warmth of a body pressed against her skin. The man trailed his fingers gently across her stomach, down the curves of her side, and over her toned thighs. She giggled as his touch turned more insistent, rocking her body back and forth.

“Mmm,” she groaned, her eyes fluttering open. “It’s too early.”

“I know,” he agreed, moving his hands back to her flat tanned stomach. “Too early for your phone to be going off.”

Lexi sighed and nuzzled into his chest. “Agreed.”

She laced their fingers together.

“Are you going to answer that?” he questioned, his breath hot against her earlobe.

Lexi lazily shook her head and shifted ever so slightly, imploring his lips to her ear. “Mmm, no.”

“You sure?”

She angled her body, allowing herself a look into his hazel eyes, and smiled. “Do I look like I want to get out of bed?”

A confident smirk crossed his face. “Not in the slightest.”

“There’s your answer then,” she muttered, yanking the sheet up around her bare shoulders and relaxing into him.

He responded by holding her tight against him as his other hand swooped up and ran through the long thick strands of chocolate brown hair. He splayed the curls out across the creamy white pillow and brushed her bangs off her forehead. He leaned forward in bed and planted a light kiss on her forehead careful not to adjust her easy slumber.

“That feels nice,” she murmured into him.

“I thought you’d fallen back asleep already.”

Lexi kissed his chest and held onto him a little tighter. “Not quite.”

“So, who could be calling you so early in the morning?”

Instantly, Lexi’s heart sped up. She knew the reaction was entirely irrational. The last time she had been awoken at such an early hour on a Saturday morning, Jack had called her. That fateful conversation nearly a year earlier had led to an outrageous week where she had not only traveled to Atlanta to see Jack and his new girlfriend, Bekah, but had been suckered into attempting to convince said girlfriend that Jack was ready for marriage. What a sham that had been!

She had been set-up by Bekah and, inevitably, after a few rather inappropriate experiences with Jack, had convinced him that he was, in fact, ready to marry Bekah. After six years of trying to work things out between her and Jack, he had proposed to another woman with a duplicate of the ring he had promised only belonged to Lexi. She had walked away with some semblance of the closure she had desired, but returned to New York with a whole new world of heartache she hadn’t been prepared for.

But Jack hadn’t called her since she had left him standing alone at the airport in Atlanta, and she knew he wouldn’t be calling her now.

That didn’t lessen the thumping of her heart though.

“I…I don’t know,” she told him.

She didn’t care who was calling. She didn’t want to be forced from her tranquil environment to face the realities of the real world. And if she was honest with herself, a part of her was afraid that one day Jack would come crashing back into her existence. Didn’t he always?

Jack. The man who had taken her from a brilliant, confident, controlled woman to a love sick, uncontrollable girl at the first glance from his blue eyes. Together they had ruined relationships, friendships, and families with their heated desire and relentless passion. But those days were over.

The familiar lyrics began playing again, and this time Lexi could pinpoint the location of her purse amongst his impeccably clean décor. She sighed, wishing the noise would stop allowing her the peace and quiet she desired.

“Perhaps you should attend to that, while I go fix you some breakfast.”

Lexi groaned as he shifted next to her, hauling his tight ass across the bed and over to his closet stocked with expensive suits. He threw on a pair of black boxer-briefs and took the stairs two at a time down to the landing. He returned a second later with her purse in hand and placed it gently on the bed. She smiled up in his angular face and was rewarded with a kiss on the lips full of promises.

“Answer that,” he commanded, pointing at the phone that was still lit up from the previous phone call. “Come down when you’re finished.”

She watched his backside retreat down the stairs and out of sight before picking up her purse and fishing out her new cell phone. Up until a couple months ago, she had had the same old, dinged-up phone since college. They had had their rough spots along the way, like when she had lost all the numbers after dropping it in the toilet once, but it had been good to her nonetheless. Her best friend Chyna had finally gifted her something a bit flashier. She claimed it was a graduation present.

Her phone came to life at the tips of her fingers as she grumbled at the early hour. Her night had been pretty insane, and the last thing Lexi wanted to do was be awake at that moment. She groggily clicked on the message that claimed she had two missed calls.

Lexi cursed under her breath as the name filled the screen: Ramsey Bridges.

She could think of a million and a half reasons for him to be calling her. None of which she wanted to deal with at this moment in time.

Lexi threw her head back roughly against the down pillow and bit the inside of her lip to keep from cursing aloud. Just as she was about to swing her legs over the side of the bed and trek downstairs, the phone lit up one more time. This time the ding alerting her of a text message.

Reluctantly, Lexi clicked on the message and read it to herself.

Sorry it’s early and for everything else. Call me. Please. I miss you.

Lexi banged her head back and against the pillowcase in frustration. This could not be happening to her right now. She knew that she should wait to make the phone call. She had an incredibly attractive man making her breakfast downstairs and the last person, well second to last person, she needed to talk to was Ramsey.

But she couldn’t just ignore him. Something was up or else he wouldn’t be calling her. And despite her better judgment, she phoned him.

“Lexi,” he breathed into the other line.

His voice sent chills up her spine, and the intense way he said her name only made it worse…or better depending on how you looked at it. A wave of peppermint seemed to overtake her at the sound of his voice. She couldn’t believe that the taste of him could be so alive in her mind when he was thousands of miles away in Atlanta. She shook her head clearing her mind of her vivid imagination.

“That’s right.”

“Hey,” he muttered, surprisingly at a loss of words. “Uh, how have you been?”

“I’ve been great, Ramsey. Did you need something?” she asked, cutting the conversation as short as she could.

“Yeah, we have a lot to talk about.”

Lexi shook her head. No. She could not do this right now. “I don’t think we do.”

“Come on. You know we do,” he told her.

“Now isn’t a great time.”

“Oh, yeah, it’s early. Sorry about that,” he said. She could almost feel him scratching his head at that statement.

“It’s fine. Did you need something or were you just calling this early to chat?” she asked being as rude as she had ever been with Ramsey. Depending on the day, he could bring that side her of out better than anyone else she had ever met.

“No, I have something to ask you,” he stated hesitantly.

“Okay?” she asked curiously.

She knew that it would be better if she got off the line with him. She was at some other guy’s house, and it was too early in the morning for this kind of conversation. The last thing she wanted to do was be reminded of her past right now.

“Look, I don’t really know how to ask this of you so I guess I’ll just spit it out. Will you go to my sister’s wedding with me?” Ramsey asked in a rush.

Lexi sat there in silence unable to believe what she had heard. She couldn’t honestly believe that Ramsey would be asking her to go to the wedding. She had been doing everything she could not to have any knowledge of the wedding at all. And it hadn’t exactly been easy to keep her head down and out of the news.

She hadn’t received an invitation, which hadn’t really surprised her. On one level, she had been surprised Bekah’s vindictive side hadn’t surfaced and invited her out of spite. Another part of her was even more surprised that Jack hadn’t been begging her to come back again. After all, another year had rolled around and it was about time for him to try to ruin her life.

She hated thinking about Jack that way. Even though she had let him go back in the Atlanta airport, she couldn’t help but reminisce back to the good times of their so-called relationship. Apparently, he hadn’t been thinking about that or else her comments when leaving him behind would have struck home.

But now she had no idea of the date, time, or place of the wedding. She told herself this was more for her sanity’s sake, but she wasn’t sure if that was the only reason. She didn’t trust herself enough to not go, and she knew that she would only make a fool of herself if she made the mistake of attending.

That brought her back to reality. Ramsey had just asked her to attend the wedding she had been pointedly avoiding at all costs for the past year. He wanted her to go with him to see Jack and Bekah say their vows and become legally tied to each other. He wanted her to go to a wedding that he didn’t even want to attend.

There was only one explanation. Ramsey had lost his mind. There was no other way to describe it. He had to know, if anyone knew, that there was no way she was going to be in attendance.

“Lexi, are you still there?”

She snapped out of her trance. “Yes.”

“Yeah?” he asked, excitement evident in his voice.

“Yes, I’m still here.”

“Oh,” he said, “I thought you meant yes you would go with me.”

“Oh, no.”

“Lexi, please.”

“Ramsey, are you out of your mind?” she asked, running her fingers through her long brown hair as she tried to keep her voice level and under control. How dare he ask her such a ridiculous request!

“Probably a little bit,” he admitted.

“You’d have to be crazy to think that I would go with you.”

“Is this about me or Jack?”

Lexi huffed out an angry breath. “Do you really have to ask that?”

“You’re right. You’re right,” he quickly amended. “Sorry for asking.”

“Whatever. Ramsey, I’m not going to that wedding with you or with anyone.”

“Lexi, what happened a couple weeks ago…”

“Please don’t,” she whispered into the phone, resting her forehead into her hand, and wishing she had gone with her first instinct and ignored the call.

“I am sorry about…everything,” he murmured, his voice filled with emotion.

“I know. You said that.”

“I just…I don’t want to go with anyone else.”

Lexi could feel the tears beginning to well in her eyes at the admission. She really did not need this right now. She quickly swiped at her eyes hoping the effect of his words wouldn’t show through.

Stepping off of the bed and wandering toward the closet, Lexi stood before the full-length mirror and took a good long look at herself. Her eyes were rimmed pink, but as long as she held it together, the coloring would go away quick enough. Her cheeks were flushed, but it was a nice look with her tanned skin. She hadn’t let one tear trickle down her face. She was getting better at controlling her emotions.

“You can’t ask that of me Ramsey. You know it isn’t fair.”

“Can I just give you the date, and you let me know if you’re available?”

“What?” she shrieked. “No, don’t give me the date.”

Pulling the phone promptly from her ear, Lexi glanced around the room and over the balcony to see if she had caused a disturbance. She hadn’t intended on losing control, but the thought that after all her hard work Ramsey was going to spoil everything made her impulsive. After reassuring herself that her explosion hadn’t drawn any unnecessary attention, Lexi placed the phone back to her ear.

“Lexi? Hello, are you still there?” Ramsey asked.

“Yes, I’m here. Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell.”

“It’s fine. Look, I won’t tell you the date, if you don’t want to know, but will you at least think on it? I really don’t want to be there without you.”

“Did you ever think that maybe I don’t want to be there at all?” she whispered into the phone as she ducked into the bathroom.

“I know you don’t want to be there, but I have to be. It’s my sister’s wedding and since I have to go, I’d prefer to be with you. I always prefer to be with you,” he told her, using his easy charm. The words fell husky and persuasive off of his tongue.

She sighed quietly and closed her eyes as her mind traveled to a year ago. She had told herself she would contact Ramsey when she could hold her head up high. So much had changed and evolved, and it was harder now to resist him. He had always had an influence over her, drawing out emotions in her that she hadn’t realized she could even feel. Even in the beginning, his all-encompassing personality made her rude and took her out of her element. Those emotions had only intensified with time.

But she couldn’t let another man have control over her decisions. She was not, under any circumstances, going to see her sorta-non-ex-boyfriend get married, to anyone. She couldn’t do it and nothing he said was going to make a difference.

“Ramsey, I can’t,” she mumbled. “You have to understand. I just…can’t.”

“Please think about it,” he begged.

“I have to go. I’ll—I’ll talk to you later,” she said hanging up the phone without giving him a chance to respond.

She hung her head in front of the sink. How did these things keep happening to her? Here she was attempting to enjoy herself, to forget him, and he managed to bring up the one thing that would ruin it all—that damn wedding.

All Lexi needed was a fresh start. She thought she had been getting that with Ramsey, but with the way things had ended up, she knew that had been a mistake. Everything she had done—at least romantically—was a mistake.

It didn’t matter how he made her feel. She should have known better than to let her emotions get in the way of her judgment. Now she needed to get over it.

She wasn’t going to that wedding.

Lexi grabbed a long-sleeve, white button-up from a hanger on the back of the door and slung it on over her head. She scrunched the too-long sleeves up to her elbows and watched as they instantly fell back to her wrists. The shirt hit the top of her thighs barely covering her butt from view. After approving her appearance, Lexi trotted down the stairs and into the chic kitchen. She ran her fingertips across the black marbled countertop and approached the stove. She circled around the island in the center of the room and moved to wrap her arms around the man in front of her.

He jumped slightly, then bent down and kissed her on the forehead. “You surprised me.”

Lexi grabbed his left arm and pulled it around her body as he flipped a pancake over with the other hand. “That smells amazing.”

“Thank you. This is my mom’s recipe. Have a seat.”

He gestured for her to sit on a low-backed bar stool tucked under the counter. When she did, he placed a pile of pancakes covered in strawberries and syrup with bacon and orange juice in front of her. He turned off the stove, filled his own plate and moved to eat beside her.

“Oh my God,” Lexi groaned. “This is incredible.”

She shoveled the pancakes into her mouth not even caring that she probably looked ridiculous.

He chuckled softly to himself. “I like a woman with a healthy appetite.”

Lexi choked on the food she had put in her mouth, chewed a few more times, then swallowed. “Well, when you put it that way.”

She put her fork down and faced him. She tucked one leg up underneath herself.

“It was a compliment,” he reassured her. He drew her face toward him and kissed her lips affectionately.

“So, was your conversation important?” he asked.

Lexi nearly dropped her fork onto the plate at the question. She shouldn’t have been surprised that he would ask about the call since it had woken them both up much too early. However, she wasn’t prepared with a response. How could you tell someone that a guy you dated wanted you to go to a wedding with him for a guy that you had been sleeping with on and off for the past six years? Yeah, that wouldn’t exactly go over well.

“Uh, yeah, I suppose it was,” she mumbled.

“Ah,” he said, raising his eyebrows slightly, “you don’t want to talk about it.”

“It’s really not worth discussing.”

“All right,” he said doing the same. “What are your plans for the day?”

“I’m meeting Chyna to go shopping,” Lexi said, a smile creeping up onto her face at the question. She was happy to know that the sex hadn’t changed what was going on between them. He still wanted to see her. Butterflies crept up into her stomach at the knowledge that this could actually go somewhere—this could be something, if that’s what she wanted.

“Let’s do dinner then,” he suggested.

“Tonight?” she asked, lifting her eyes to meet his.

“Yes. We’re always so low key. I want to take you somewhere nice,” he told her, pulling her off of the bar stool and wrapping his arms around her waist.

“We’re not low key.”

“We’re low key compared to where I want to take you,” he said, pulling her back toward the bedroom.

“I’ll think on it.”

“Don’t make me wait too long,” he said, watching her strip out of his shirt.

“Never,” she told him. His pupils dilated and he began to walk toward her. “Hey now. I really do have to meet Chyna.”

“She can wait,” he breathed against her neck.

“It’ll be another hour before I’m out of here.”

“You make that seem like a bad thing,” he said, nibbling across her collarbone and up her neck. “Stay.”

“I can’t.”

“Please,” he pleaded.

“As much as I want to.”

“Then stay.”

“Another time,” she said, extracting herself from his grasp. “Next time.”

She pulled her tight black dress from the previous night back over her head and slid into her heels.

Snatching her purse up off the bed, Lexi kissed him one more time. “When is next time?”

“I’ll call you,” she breathed, reluctantly removing herself from his eager arms, and exiting the apartment.

Lexi hailed a passing cab. The yellow car slowed to a stop and she fell into the backseat.

As she was whisked across town, Lexi tried not to think about her conversation with Ramsey. She had an entire list of things she needed to accomplish—mostly related to pampering herself post-Bar madness.

She had sent out her resume to over a dozen law firms in the past two weeks, and was waiting patiently for offers pending passage of the Bar exam. She wasn’t too worried about either scenario though. The bar had been grueling, time consuming, and painfully nerve-racking, but it was over.

All in all, she figured she had passed and that was all that mattered. The job offers would present themselves in good time. She had been fortunate enough to have intern positions for the past two summers, and due to that good fortune, Lexi was even less concerned with finding a job. Thus, relaxation was in order.

Now, Ramsey was calling her trying to take away her last few weeks of bliss before entering the real world. She needed some serious downtime to forget about that conversation. Luckily, she was supposed to be going out with Chyna all day, which always helped.

“Mr. B,” Lexi said, nodding her head to the doorman Bernard as she stepped out of the taxi and approached the entrance to Chyna’s Upper East Side apartment.

“Miss Lexi, it is always a pleasure,” he said. He pulled the door open wide for her.

“Always a pleasure to see you as well.”

He tipped his hat in thanks, letting her pass through the frame. The elevator stopped on the top floor, and Lexi breezed down the hallway to her destination. Fishing through her tiny clutch, she realized with despair that she had left her keys behind somewhere. She cursed under her breath. She banged on Chyna’s door hoping she was both alone and awake. She had forgotten, in her clouded thoughts, to ask Bernard if Chyna had arrived home alone last night. Just as Lexi was about to dial Chyna’s number, she heard the sound of the bolt sliding out of place. The door creaked open about an inch and one of Chyna’s emerald green eyes was visible.

“Yes?” Chyna asked, eyeing her up and down.

Lexi smiled. “Hey, C. Let me in.”

Chyna slammed the door closed, fiddled with the lock, and then reopened the door. “Are you in walk-of-shame attire?” Chyna asked. She flipped her long black hair over to one shoulder and pulled the door all the way to the wall.

“Good to see you too,” Lexi mumbled sarcastically.

She stepped through the entranceway in her four inch heels and across the white marbled foyer.

“Oh yes. It’s always good to see you, chica,” Chyna said, slamming the door shut and following her to the living room, which was currently in shambles. Lexi scooted away from a disturbing looking plaster and over to the covered black leather sofas. She took a seat and sighed resting her head back against the plastic covering.

“At least I’ll only have to endure this the first time.”

“Oh, so you think this will continue?” Chyna questioned, lying back against a cream psychiatrist’s chair that Lexi had never seen before.

Lexi realized her mistake and attempted to pivot the conversation. This wasn’t what she was here to talk about with Chyna, and she didn’t particularly want to discuss her love life.

“Has Frederick approved these changes?” Lexi asked, glancing at the half-upturned carpet, strings of bamboo blinds, and other, more exaggerated, environmental pieces.

Chyna upturned her nose at the comment, swinging her legs back off the chair, and onto the floor. “Frederick does not matter.”

Lexi laughed out loud. She always did have a flare for the dramatic and a not so secret crush on her rather gay designer. “Frederick would murder you if he saw this room.”

“Precisely,” Chyna said her eyes glimmering with thoughts of indiscretion. “But enough about me. Tell me about your walk-of-shame.”

“Chyna, I told you, it’s not a walk-of-shame.”

“I know. I know. So, is it serious?”

“We’ll see,” Lexi said, shrugging her thin shoulders. “I think he wants it to be.”

Chyna glanced back at Lexi with a devious look in her eyes. “Of course he does, darling.”

Lexi pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Because you spoke to Ramsey this morning?” Chyna asked, batting her eyelashes.

“Wha…?” Lexi asked. “How did you know that?”

“You have that look on your face,” she said as a matter of fact.

“And what look is that?” Lexi asked, mystified by her friend’s observation skills. She would have never guessed

“Like this,” Chyna said.

She looked doe-eyed, her mouth turned up into a half-smile as if she were keeping a secret from the rest of the world, her head tilted slightly upward, and a small sigh escaped her lips.

“I do not look like that,” Lexi cried.

“You had that exact look when you walked through my door. I’d know it anywhere. You have looks when you’re thinking about someone. I know you too well not to notice.”

“Oh yeah? Who else do I have one for then?”

Chyna’s eyes slanted seductively sideways, licked her pouted lips, let a smirk cross her face, and breathed out heavily a few times. Lexi stared at her in awe wondering what this was all about.

After a second, Chyna returned to her typical look and said, “That was when you think about Jack.”

Lexi colored slightly at the reenactment. “Whatever.”

She wished she could cover her embarrassment. They didn’t typically talk about Jack, because it tended to bring up memories Lexi didn’t like to dwell on.

“Anyway,” Chyna said, “what did Ramsey call to talk to you about? He did call right?”

Lexi nodded slowly and pushed her fingers through her hair as she yanked the ponytail holder out of place. She stood up from the plastic covered furniture and made a slow circle around the part of the room that wasn’t a disaster.

“This can’t be good,” Chyna ventured.

“No, it’s fine. I’m just letting it get to me.”

“Well don’t, whatever it is, don’t let it get to you. You know you need to work on not letting these boys control your emotions, chica.”

“I know, C. Don’t remind me. That’s all I’ve been thinking about since he called. I need to control myself. But it’s not that simple.”

“Girl, I know better than anyone. I’ve been here through it all for you,” she said reassuringly. Chyna stood and moved next to her. “So what’s up with him? Something different?”

“He…” Lexi sighed hating that she had to say this out loud, “he invited me to the wedding.”

“What?” Chyna asked. “As in Jack’s wedding?”

“Yeah, as in Jack’s wedding,” Lexi confirmed.

“Is he out of his fucking mind?”

“I asked him if he was,” Lexi said.

“You can’t go!”

“You think I don’t know that? He wanted to go with me—to be there with him.”

“I know how hard it must be, but you can’t let him do this to you,” Chyna told her. “It doesn’t change what happened. I know it doesn’t make things better. But at least you know now.”

“I know,” Lexi said nodding. “He’s just, you know…Ramsey.”

“I know,” Chyna agreed sympathetically. “But you can’t go to that wedding. Did he tell you the date?”

Pop music sounded in the living room, causing both girls to jump. Lexi walked around the side of the couch and scooped up her purse.

“No. Thank God,” Lexi told Chyna, reaching into her bag. “I almost had a heart attack right there when he tried to tell me the date.”

“I’m not surprised.”

“Hold on,” Lexi said. She answered the call. “Hello?”

“Lexi,” Ramsey said.

“Uh…” Lexi stammered, glancing anxiously at Chyna and mouthing who the caller was.

Chyna shook her head vehemently and held her hand out for the phone as if she were ready to dismiss the call at any moment.

“Hey,” Lexi said, waving Chyna away.

“Hey. I know I called earlier, but you said you would talk to me later and I thought now is…well…later. You know? I didn’t really get to talk to you this morning, and I need to talk you,” he said, babbling nervously.

This made Lexi smile despite herself. He was always so cute when he babbled on about things. Chyna glowered at Lexi’s reaction and poked her in the side to remind her to stay on track.

“Yeah, well this morning really wasn’t a great time, but the answer is still no, Ramsey.”

Lexi wandered down the hallway and into an empty guest room to continue her conversation in peace.

“I know. I mean, I knew all along you were going to say no.”

“Then why even bother asking me?”

“I was hoping you might change your mind, if you knew everything.”

“I’m pretty sure I know everything,” she grumbled.

“Parker is going to be there.”

Lexi cringed to keep from saying anything stupid. She really did not want to be having this conversation. When she had left things with Jack, she had promised that she would never again let anything like that happen…not even close. She needed control. She needed to be in control. Ramsey swayed her emotions in a completely different way than Jack, and she was all right with that. It was just when the lack of control started creeping in that she couldn’t handle it.

The way Ramsey brought Parker up like this hoping to influence her decision made things even worse. She and Ramsey weren’t together. It shouldn’t matter to her whether Parker was going to be there or not.

But it did.

Of course it mattered to her, which is exactly the reason why he brought it up. And it was exactly why she couldn’t let it get to her or else he would have her hook, line, and sinker.

“Great,” Lexi stated as fake cheerful as she could get.

“Look, I want you to be there if Parker is going.”

“You want me to be there because Parker is going to be there?” Lexi asked incredulously. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“I’d feel more comfortable knowing you’re around.”

She really hated hearing him beg her. If things had been different and they hadn’t gone through so much together, then maybe she would have changed her mind, but probably not. She had to keep reminding herself what he was asking her to do. She could not go to Jack’s wedding under any circumstance.

“So you can control what’s going on?” she asked dryly, a sting of venom in the comment.

He sighed heavily once more. “No, that’s not it at all. Parker is just…you know, and I want you to be there too.”

“Ramsey, as much as I’d love to be around you and Parker at the same time,” Lexi told him sarcastically. “I cannot…no, I will not go to that wedding. Can you not understand? This is Jack we’re talking about marrying your sister. I cannot fathom a reason good enough to go.”

“To visit me?” he asked hopefully.

“If I wanted to visit you Ramsey, I would fly to Atlanta. I wouldn’t have to go to that miserable wedding to see you,” she muttered angrily. “So please, don’t ask me again.”

Lexi could hear the defeat in his next breath. He was weighing whether or not to push her on the subject. It wouldn’t be smart on his part. She wasn’t wavering on this one.

“All right, Lexi. I won’t ask again. Sorry for bothering you. Will I see you again?”

She didn’t know how to answer him either. She strode across the bedroom to stand in front of the large vanity mirror on the hard oak dresser. Her mind was telling her that she should tell him no, but she couldn’t help that her heart was telling her otherwise.

She hadn’t seen him in the nearly three weeks since she had left him all alone in Atlanta. A wave of déjà vu passed over her in the aftermath of her reminiscence. She had now left two men behind in Atlanta.

Jack—it was difficult to even think about him—was a necessary loss. They were self-destructive when in each other’s company. Their emotions were too strong, too heated. Their senses heightened and imaginations set free. They left a path of pain for whoever ventured near, and Jack and Lexi weren’t immune to the catastrophes they created. There was a reason the sin of lust was whirled around for eternity in Dante’s Inferno. No matter where they went, they couldn’t help but ceaselessly be in a whirlwind, always crossing that fine line between love and lust.

But did Ramsey have to be a necessary loss as well?

“I…I don’t know Ramsey,” she mumbled finally giving him the best answer she could muster.

“Well, that’s better than no.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Please let me see you. I promise I won’t bring up the wedding again. I just…I miss you. I’m so sorry about everything. I’ll understand if you’re mad at me and don’t want to see me, but I really, really miss you. I’ve never met anyone like you, Lexi, and I don’t want to waste any more time letting you slip through my fingers.”

“I don’t know,” she murmured, not wanting to let him know that his words were affecting her.

“I wish I was there to kiss you,” he whispered huskily.

“Ramsey,” she said warningly, but her voice had lowered impishly with the comment.

“Tell me you’ll see me again,” he commanded, but the words were gentle.

“I…” she trailed off. “Are you planning on being in New York?”

She assumed he didn’t have plans to be up here, not that money was an issue. But if he didn’t already have plans, then she could stall a little bit longer. If he crashed back into her life so soon, she wasn’t sure she’d have the will to walk out again.

“Actually, I am,” he told her cheerfully knowing, somehow, that he had her in a corner.

“Oh,” she blurted out in surprise. She hadn’t been expecting that. Maybe he was bluffing. “What are you doing up here?”

“I have…business to attend to.”

Lexi’s eyes darkened. She did not want to have anything to do with his business matters. “Well count me out.”

“Something for good ole Daddy, Lexi,” he mumbled, obviously perturbed about the whole situation.

“Oh.”

That changed things. His father owned Bridges Enterprise, a multi-million dollar conglomerate. He frequently had Ramsey attend to business matters when he was traveling. Ramsey, who hated working for his father, usually did them more for Bekah than anyone else. They had a strange bond as brother and sister. A bond Lexi didn’t much like since Bekah was the scum of the universe.

“So, what do you say?” he asked hopefully.

“Uh, all right then,” she agreed, listening to the devil on her shoulder, “you can visit, but Ramsey…”

“Yes?”

“Don’t you dare bring up that wedding,” she warned him.

2

SEPTEMBER ELEVEN MONTHS EARLIER

Using her excess student loan money, Lexi signed up for Pilates classes upon returning to New York. She just wanted to forget everything that had happened in Atlanta. She was still in shape from her semi-regular jogs around the city, but it wasn’t enough. No matter what she did, law school managed to add a few extra pounds when she wasn’t looking. Not to mention after two years without gymnastics, her flexibility was basically shot. She could barely fall into a regular split, and to any prior gymnast, it was an embarrassment.

Lexi rolled over on her purple mat as the teacher instructed her into a plank position. Her core muscles hardened underneath her as she struggled through the push-up like pose. She could feel her body begin to shake from the effort, but she held her head high and kept a smile on her face to loosen her features. Just when she thought she would collapse, the teacher instructed them to release. Lexi pushed over her toes, laying her legs flat against the mat, and arching her back. Her abdominal muscles expanded, and she let her head drop backward.

Rolling back over her toes, Lexi shot her butt up into the air in a downwards dog position giving her calves and shoulders a thorough working. She alternated feet, pressing each heel into the ground, and holding the move.

The tiny Pilates instructor came up behind her and flattened out her back, adjusting the position to extract the maximum potential out of the movement. “Very good,” she complimented. She flung her waist length braid over her shoulder as she stood and moved to another student.

Lexi breathed into the position letting all the built up energy of the past month release from her body. Her course work was rigorous for her final year of law school, but the anticipation of graduation looming over everything relaxed students and faculty alike. Relaxed was a relative term, of course, since she still had reading for obscure law courses in statutory interpretation and other such material that was supposed to prepare her for the Bar and the “real” world.

Just as the instructor began working them through the next series of movements, a loud jingle began playing from one of the bags stuffed against the adjacent wall. Lexi’s face colored as she realized that was her ring tone. Cell phones were strictly forbidden unless turned off. Lexi hadn’t even realized that her phone had been on until that second.

Jumping up from her seated position, Lexi scrambled to the other side of the room and switched it off. The teacher gave her a disapproving look, and then went back to her work. A few other faces still glared at her as she flipped open the phone and glanced down. Chyna’s name appeared across the front and a text filled the screen.

911! Get your ass over here.

Lexi groaned inwardly at the abrupt change of course her afternoon was taking. She stuffed her cell phone back into her purse and threw it into the pile with her other stuff. She wanted to kick herself for giving into Chyna’s hysterical whims, but her friend was important to her. And if Chyna said there was an emergency, Lexi came running. Chyna had always been there for her when she needed her most.

With that in mind, Lexi rushed back to her mat and began rolling it up. She slipped the cover over the squishy material and slung it over her shoulder.

“Kathy, I have to run,” she said.

“Come back and make it up later in the week,” Kathy said, her smile warm and understanding. The woman was a god send, honestly.

After signing up for a make-up session with the receptionist, Lexi rushed out on the busy Manhattan street and pulled her phone back out to text Chyna.

What’s the 911, chica?

She pushed a loose wisp of hair behind her ear and continued down the street dodging pedestrians. Almost instantly she had a return message.

Tell you when you get here. Hurry!

Lexi sighed and broke into a light jog. She wasn’t certain if it was necessary for her to be rushing to Chyna’s apartment, but she didn’t want to take the chance. Chyna was prone to dramatic flairs, but it wasn’t typically a 911 situation. Running out of breath and energy, Lexi briskly walked the next few blocks, resting momentarily as she reached the door front to Chyna’s apartment. Her lime green messenger bag smacked one last time against her back as she reached forward to hold onto a pole for support.

“Miss Lexi, are you all right?” a concerned Bernard asked her.

“Fine, just ran across town. Chyna said it was 911,” she managed to get out through gasping breathes. “You know anything about this, Mr. B?”

Bernard averted his eyes to the ground and gulped. “I can’t really say,” he mumbled.

The two years Lexi had known Chyna, Bernard had always given her a straight answer. Yes, he sometimes answered her in a goofy, even sarcastic, manner, but he still answered her. She had never been blown off by him. He had never had a reason to. His reaction pumped a fresh wave of adrenaline into her system, and she bolted through the open door. The elevator took a century to reach the top floor of the building. The classical music was more grating than normal. Lexi could feel her heart beating in her ears as the elevator stopped and deposited her on the floor. She pushed hard against the opening door forcing it to move a fraction of an inch faster.

Hopping onto the cream carpet, Lexi bolted down the hallway. She fumbled with her key too anxious to get the thing out of her bag properly. The keychain slipped out of her hand and onto the floor. She cursed under her breath as she reached down to pick up the thing. Inserting the gold key into the lock, she twisted the handle and burst through the open door.

“Chyna?” she called, racing into the immaculately decorated living room.

Lexi skidded to a halt at the end of foyer, her blood turning to ice at the scene before her. Chyna was seated on her leather sofa, legs crossed, in a demure, black, pant suit. Lexi wasn’t certain Chyna even owned clothes in this fashion. Her beautiful Italian skin was sheet white with the lightest twinge of green coloring her face. Her green eyes were glassy and near to tears, but her head was held strong. She was stubborn and refused to let the hardness leave her features for fear of breaking down. Lexi had never seen her friend look quite so distraught over anything, but she could understand why.

Standing directly in front of Chyna in a very expensive, black suit was a man who was everything Lexi imagined him to be. She had only seen him in photographs, never in person. She gulped hard feeling a knot form in her stomach and making it hard for her to swallow.

He turned at Lexi’s approach and made her body quiver even more at the incredibly threatening and overpowering aura that radiated from his very being. He was well over six feet tall with sharp, all-knowing brown eyes and cropped brown hair. With just one look, it was obvious he commanded attention, not unlike the woman sitting before him.

“Hello, Mr. Van Der Wal,” Lexi stammered.

His eyes traveled the length of her body taking in every detail while at the same time remaining strictly professional. He was observing her as if she were cattle ready for slaughter. No emotion marred his face as he continued his inspection.

Lexi was distinctly aware, in that moment, of her tight, black Yoga pants that hugged every inch of her lower half and the flimsy white tank damp with sweat from her class. Her hair was in a messy bun stuffed haphazardly onto the top of her head. Wisps were loose from her brisk jog to the apartment and the back of her neck was still slick. She shifted awkwardly onto one hip and waited for him to finish staring at her and actually say something.

“She’ll do,” he commented indifferently as he glanced back at Chyna.

Lexi had no idea what that meant, but she was sure that she didn’t want to find out.

“Are you sure?” Chyna asked. Sarcasm dripped from her voice as she cocked one perfectly waxed eyebrow to the ceiling.

“Don’t get smart with me, young lady,” he snapped.

Lexi was proud of Chyna for not flinching under such scrutiny. Instead she swept her long black hair over to one shoulder and smiled as sweetly as she could. A little bit of color crept back into her cheeks when his attention had been briefly diverted and given her the courage to speak up.

“Never, Daddy,” she purred.

He growled something incoherent and tore his eyes from Chyna. “Just do what you’re told.” Then he brushed past Lexi and exited the apartment.

The wave of relief that followed his exit crashed into the room. Chyna slumped back against the sofa and heaved her chest up and down. She placed her hands over her eyes to keep the tears back. Lexi instantly went to her side and wrapped a comforting arm around Chyna’s petite shoulders. It didn’t matter what had just happened. All that mattered was that she was here now to comfort her.

“Are you okay?” Lexi asked, pulling Chyna close.

“I’ll be fine,” she mumbled.

“I know you will eventually, but what the hell was all that about?” Lexi couldn’t help asking. “When I walked in, you looked like a ghost. What is your dad even doing here? I thought you two had nothing to do with each other.”

“We don’t,” Chyna said, standing from her spot and pacing the living room. “That’s the way we like to keep it. Didn’t you hear what he said?”

“About what?” Lexi asked confused.

“He told me not to act like my fucking whore of a mother.”

Lexi’s mouth dropped open. She knew the history between Chyna and her parents. They had divorced when Chyna was in high school because they were both sleeping around. Then after giving her the apartment Chyna was now living in, they had equally decided they wanted nothing to do with her. Chyna was too much like her father in personality and her mother in appearance for either of them to be able to handle their daughter.

“I can’t believe that,” Lexi said.

“He can’t even look at me without thinking of her. I can’t believe he had the gall to come here and speak to me like that in my own home. I don’t give a fuck if he paid for the place tenfold. He has no right to barge in on me and boss me around. Then he springs a fucking bomb on me.”

“What happened?” Lexi asked.

Chyna turned around and faced her best friend. The color was draining out of her cheeks again at the realization that she was going to have to talk about what occurred. “My dad is getting remarried.”

“What?” Lexi balked. “Since when?”

“Since four months ago when he proposed to her,” Chyna muttered dejectedly.

“Four months? Oh C, I’m so sorry,” Lexi said, hopping up out of her seat and standing in front of her friend.

“I’ve never even met her,” she blubbered.

“The bastard!”

“I know,” Chyna said, pulling back and swiping at her eyes. “I’m sorry that I’m all…”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. How many times have you seen me in a fit?”

“I know, but this is dumb.”

“What?” Lexi asked astonished. “You think it’s smarter for me to cry over Jack, then for you to cry about your parents?”

Chyna chuckled once and let a small smile tease the corners of her mouth. “Well, when you put it that way.”

“See, I’m much more dysfunctional than you. You have every right to be upset.”

“There’s more.”

Lexi didn’t like the way she said that. What more could her father want from her? After barely speaking to Chyna for two years and dumping that tidbit of information on her, it was an asinine move to then continue the conversation.

“What else could he possibly have to say to you after that?”

Chyna took a deep breath and crossed her arms over her chest. “He needs me to be at the engagement party this weekend.”

“He cannot expect you to show up to that.”

“He didn’t ask me to. He told me to,” she said, tilting her chin up.

“You don’t have to go.”

“No, I do. You don’t know what he’s like. If I’m not there, it will be the end of the world. Even though I’m twenty-one, he still has direct access to my trust, and he’s the owner of this apartment. He could kick me out on the streets,” she murmured helplessly. “If he wanted to.”

Lexi gasped. “He wouldn’t dare!”

“Wouldn’t he?” she screeched. “Did you see the look on his face when you got here? He was murderous. If I’d disobeyed him, I wouldn’t have put it past him to ruin my life.”

“But you’re his daughter,” Lexi cried, unable to believe what she was hearing. How could anyone be so cruel?

“The daughter who is a constant reminder of his past life, of the life he was trying to get rid of. The daughter he was so eager to get rid of.”

“Chyna, I…I don’t know what to say.”

“Just say you’ll come with me.”

“Oh,” Lexi stammered. “Yeah, I guess I could. Wouldn’t that be awkward?”

“My dad is a big dick, but he insisted that I be there and come with, as he put it,” Chyna gulped, “a boyfriend.”

“He wants you to come with a boyfriend? But you don’t have a boyfriend.”

“I know,” she stated barely above a whisper. “You should have heard the way he was talking to me before you got here. He said I better not bring one of the guys I’m normally with. What is he trying to say that I run an escort service? That all the guys I date are man whores? That they can’t conduct themselves in proper society?”

Lexi didn’t know how to respond to that. Honestly, a good number of the guys Chyna hooked up with were those kind of men. They were relatively well-off, but still they were hardly up to her standard. It hadn’t mattered up until now, because she never wanted a boyfriend. She was never interested enough in any one man to want to be around him for multiple occasions. Now her father, the judgmental asshole, wanted her to pretend to have a steady boyfriend, because the cheating bastard didn’t approve of his daughter’s way of life.

It was one of the most hypocritical statements Lexi had ever heard. If anything, the circumstances surrounding her parents’ divorce had only further pushed Chyna the direction she was already heading with regards to relationships.

“So what are you going to do?”

“Find a boyfriend I guess,” she sighed unhappily. “I have no idea.”

“Is that why your dad gave me that creepy once over? Because he wants me to go with you too?” Lexi asked, putting the pieces together.

Chyna groaned. “Oh God, I am so sorry for his ridiculous behavior. But yeah that’s why and he needs you to bring a boyfriend too.”

“That’s going to be an issue,” Lexi said, falling backward on to the plush leather sofa.

“I know,” Chyna grumbled. She took the seat next to her “I’m so sorry that I dragged you into this.” The tears were beginning to well in her eyes, and Lexi could see her breaking point was drawing near. Her bottom lip quavered in an adorable fashion if she didn’t look so utterly miserable. “I can’t believe he’s doing this.”

“Don’t cry. It’ll be okay. We’ll figure it out. Let’s go out tonight and look for guys. We’ll figure it out.”

“The last thing that I want to do is party,” Chyna huffed.

“Now that’s something I never thought I’d hear come out of your mouth.”

Soon enough, Chyna had joined in as well and both girls were laughing out their issues rather than crying. It felt good to release the tension that was so strained from her father’s entrance back into Chyna’s life. The girls knew that they had a tough night ahead of them. Neither of them could think of anyone they would want to pretend to be their boyfriend’s for the afternoon, and the last thing they wanted to do was search for that man.

Regardless, they didn’t feel as if they had much choice in the matter. Keeping Chyna’s dad happy was of the essence since he all but owned Chyna. With that in mind, the two girls dressed extra careful for the evening out hoping to find a man that they found suitable for a second date.

That’s how they ended up having martinis at a Manhattan bar scoping out the men in attendance. The atmosphere was a bit more conducive to casual conversation than the normal, pulsing, hip-hop beats that broke through the speakers at the destinations they typically frequented.

The girls had dressed the part for sure. Chyna’s black mini dress skirted her ass and gripped her body tightly in a silky, flimsy material. Her black heels shimmered in the mood lighting that emanated from every hidden light bulb in the place. Her long black hair was swept up onto the top of her head into a sexy concoction. Her long lean features were accented while keeping the focus on her well-sculpted body.

Lexi wore super low-rise, black, skinny jeans with hot red pumps. She paired that with a sheer red tank that buttoned up the front. She let her dark brown locks flow down her back with thick, chunky bangs covering her forehead. Her eyes were smoky and seductive while her bright red lips were both pouty and inviting. Together they were a dynamic duo, the Sirens of the New York City nightlife. It was unlikely that anyone who fell into their trap was going to escape their clutches.

Chyna smiled at a sleazy looking man who had been eye-fucking the shit out of her for the past ten minutes across the bar. He took that as an invitation and sidled up to her side. She downed the remnants of her drink and took his hand as he escorted her out on the dance floor. Lexi’s eyes followed them into the dark center of the room, and an uneasy feeling hit the pit of her stomach.

He wasn’t the type of person Chyna normally surrounded herself with, and something about him seemed off. His features were too angular, too sneaky. His height and bulk were threatening rather than enticing. Lexi wasn’t sure why, but the way he had grabbed her hand even seemed forceful. From her view, albeit a shadowed view of the couple, Lexi could even tell he was handsy. That was really saying something for a person dancing with Chyna.

Lexi sighed heavily and tried to clear her mind. There was no need to overreact. They were just out for a good time.

She took another deep breath and let her own eyes roam the crowded room once more. A number of drunken girls were singing and dancing in a corner to cluster of admiring onlookers. Lexi had a strange reminiscence of doing that with her own friends in bars during college. The alcohol was beginning to set in and the different groups of people were beginning to blend together. She wasn’t sure why her buzz was so strong already, but she kind of liked it. She would start coming here more frequently if they poured drinks this well.

After another martini, a complete haze took over her mind. A part of her wished that she had stopped at one because she didn’t want her judgment impaired without Chyna at her side. But she couldn’t take back the decision now.

Pressing the palm of her hand to her forehead, she attempted to keep the spinning from gripping her conscious. After counting to ten, Lexi seemed to feel a bit better and slowly angled her body back toward the bar. She didn’t need a drink, but she did need someone to sweat out this alcohol with. The dance floor was calling her name.

One of the guys she had been eyeing earlier seemed to notice that she was without a drink and approached her.

“Hey,” he slurred, smiling drunkenly at her. His eyes darted to her chest and then back up to her face. “I’ve never seen you here before.”

Lexi wanted to retort some snide remark about how completely original he was, but he was kind of cute so she refrained. Instead she smiled at him in an all-knowing way that would make his addled mind kick into over drive.

“You’re right. I’ve never been here,” she told him.

“What?” he cried, trying to hear her over the music.

Lexi leaned forward. “I’ve never been here. Perhaps you could show me around.”

The guy’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at her comment. He turned back to his friends and made some kind of fist pump. They all cheered him on as if she wasn’t standing there. Lexi felt a little sick to her stomach at how dumb he was already turning out to be, but she couldn’t exactly turn back now. She at least owed him one dance after her forwardness.

His hands gripped her hips forcefully as he corralled her out onto the dance floor. Even as drunk as she was, she knew that he had no rhythm. And when she said no rhythm, she really meant no rhythm. If the guy had two left feet, he would be able to dance better than he was at that moment. She knew that alcohol made you more willing to dance, but this was embarrassing. She almost felt like someone was playing a practical joke on her.

But she couldn’t figure a way out of this situation. His hands were like a vice lock on her hips as he sway backed and forth uncoordinatedly. Every time she attempted to slip away, he would grab her even harder and she was starting to wonder if she was going to be bruised in the morning.

Finally, she reached in for her last ditch effort and leaned back to speak into his ear again, “Can we get out of here?”

He managed one last horrible dance move before grabbing a hold of her wrist, and veering her toward the front door. She stood in place for a second as he attempted to yank her around.

“Hey, don’t move. I have to use the ladies room and I’ll be right back,” she said.