Avoiding Commitment (Avoiding #1)(29)

"Lex?" he asked. She hadn't even realized he had been speaking. "Were you going to say something or just stare at me?" he asked slightly amused.

"Oh. Oh yea," Lexi mumbled recovering. "I was just going to say that I'll go with you...you know...before you said all that shit."

"Oh."

"Yeah," she said shifting her weight uncomfortably.

"Well then you better change."

Lexi glared at him. "Are we back here?"

"Well now that you've agreed, you've got to change," he snapped, but his anger was gone. He actually looked bemused that she had caved so easily. She tried to not let that shake her.

Lexi changed tactics. "And what would you like to see me in?" she asked cocking her head to the side and looking at him from beneath her side-swept bangs. The flirtatiousness in her voice was evident, but this was how she and Jack worked. They argued. They made up. They f**ked...oh wait...she meant flirted. Damn it!

"We don't have time for that." She glanced up at him innocently. "Or that. Now go put on a sundress. You brought heels right?"

Lexi shrugged. "Fine whatever, but you know you owe me right."

"I always repay my debts. Now go," he said pushing her into the room. She could imagine this conversation if they were together. He would kiss her softly on the mouth and smack her ass as she went to change. He'd follow her and ravish her body before they departed for their afternoon together. She sighed. Then again if they were together, he wouldn't dare drag her to a stupid Country Club. Oh yeah, and that whole girlfriend problem.

Lexi poured over her dress options. The brown sundress was too short for a Country Club especially if she was going as a guest. That left her to decide between a strapless ivory eyelet dress with a salmon colored satin belt and a bright green spaghetti strap number that billowed out around her knees. Frustration started to take over as her indecision intensified. She didn't really want to go to this brunch, and the fact that she had to put so much effort into her outfit made it even worse. Finally, she threw on the ivory dress with a pair of brown peep-toe mules leaving the green dress for a less judgmental audience.

"Ready?" Jack asked as she entered the living room. He looked as gorgeous as ever. A rather expensive, as she could judge by the quality, baby blue button up fit him perfectly even cutting in a bit at the waist to make him look leaner. A tri-colored blue, black, and silver tie hung from his neck to his light grey dress pants. The shirt brought out the blue of his eyes, and when they rested on her, they seemed to be a million times more intense than normal. She wasn't sure if that was because of her or not.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

They set off for the twenty minute drive out of town. A vast array of music filtered through the speakers. Anything from Dave Matthews Band to Dashboard Confessional to Oasis could be heard. Lexi hummed along to Wonderwall as they pulled up to the gate of the Club. After being cleared by the overweight security guard, they drove past the million dollar homes and around the immaculate eighteen-hole golf course to the mansion of a club house. Jack parked his Mazda 3 into an available slot between a BMV SUV and a tiny Mercedes convertible. Sauntering past the other meticulously detailed luxury vehicles, they made their way towards the daunting Club house. Lexi took in the massive arching entranceway and polished marble floors as her heels clicked noisily across the surface. The room was over-air conditioned, and smelled strongly of flowers. When she glanced around, she realized why. Hundreds of flowers of various types and colors were scattered in prearranged vases all around the entranceway. Lexi didn't remember that from the last time she had been there, and didn't much like it either. The whole thing made her want to sneeze. She followed Jack through the foyer and up to the receptionist seated behind a desk large enough to swallow her whole and covered with similar vases brimming with carnations, lilies, and tulips.

As they approached, the aroma grew stronger and she did sneeze this time. Jack touched her arm briefly smiling brightly in her direction. After Jack announced their presence, he ushered her down the hall towards the colossal dining hall. Lexi glanced around her at the couples sitting in overstuffed arm chairs sipping on tea and reading the newspaper. She scoffed and several heads swiveled to get a look at the interruption. She quickly followed Jack down the hall. Her hand instinctively went to her hair and began threading it behind her ear repeatedly.

Jack looked over at her and stopped moving. She took a few more steps before recognizing that he wasn't alongside her. "What?" she asked turning to face him.

"Don't be nervous," he said taking her hands away from her hair.

"Oh yea, well, I'll work on that."

"There's no need to be nervous."

Lexi shrugged not wanting to have this conversation. "I'm going to go to the restroom," she said seeing the blue sign behind his head.

"Alright do you want me to wait?" Lexi shook her head anxious to be alone and calm. "You'll be able to find us?"

"No problem," she said making a beeline towards sanctuary.

After about five minutes staring apprehensively at herself in the mirror, Lexi figured it was about time to get out of there. When she walked out, she was caught off guard by the man standing just outside of the bathroom talking to a woman who couldn't be a day under eighty. Lexi assessed the gorgeous specimen standing in front of her. She was quite certain he had one of the tightest asses she had ever seen. The suit he wore was obviously tailored for his build. An extremely muscular build, if she did say so herself. She figured he had to work out with a personal trainer…daily. His hair was a sandy blonde. Not that ugly highlighted look that so many guys were sporting, but a color that seemed infused with sunlight as if he lived at the beach. A look of disdain quickly crossed her face as realization hit her. It was pretty obvious that he was just another ass**le country clubber like every other person here. Of course he was handsome. They bred them that way. His incredibly amazing physique was likely mandatory. His blonde hair doubtless was from the beach. No. Now that she thought about it, he probably owned the beach! She crossed her arms uncomfortably. Whoever this guy was she already didn't like him. There was no way he had a personality. Last time, she had been here Jennifer had been the closest thing to a human being in the establishment, and God that was saying something. Just as she began to move away from the attractive man in front of her, he finished his conversation and turned around nearly knocking Lexi over.