Avoiding Responsibility (Avoiding #2)(135)

"Yes a woman in the restroom fits that description," the woman said in a high-pitched voice as she teetered past Ramsey.

Lexi took a deep breath before following the woman out of the room. "I'm right here." She was surprised to find that her voice was calm and strong. "We need to talk," she said arching one eyebrow at Ramsey as he stood in front of the bathroom door. She nearly smiled at the irony of seeing him in front of a bathroom since their first "real" meeting had been in the same location.

He ran his hand back through his hair and looked down at her sheepishly. "Yeah we do. Can we go somewhere?" he breathed out.

"Where?" she asked staring up into his face. She could tell that he was worried about how this conversation was going to affect their relationship. She wondered if he had noticed her slip out the back immediately or if it had taken a minute to notice her departure. She hadn't been able to take her eyes off of him and Parker standing so comfortably next to each other, but she had no way of knowing his reaction or his thoughts. She had no idea what he was thinking about at all.

"My place," he said immediately. "I want to get out of here."

"Should we bring Parker along to verify your story?" she asked maliciously. She just couldn't help herself. She couldn't hold it back. Who knew if when they got back to his place he was even going to tell her the truth? Could she trust that he wasn't going to just lie to make himself look good or to hide what actually happened? He had done that before. Clearly he had done it at least sometime recently to keep her from knowing about this job.

"No, we don't need Parker to have a legitimate conversation. I've been wanting to talk to you all week, but you kept postponing this moment. And I had no idea Bekah…" he paused midsentence and released a sigh. "You know what? Let's just talk about this at my place. I'll pull the car around," he said with a note of finality and walked towards the door without looking to see if she was following.

She was a little surprised that he was so determined to talk to her about this. She had been avoiding the much needed conversation, but it wasn't like he was exactly eager to tell her all of this either. After the way their last talk had gone, she couldn't really blame him. Lexi glanced back at the rehearsal dinner. Someone had left one of the doors propped open and she could see people milling around inside, talking, and carrying on. Parker's body appeared at the entrance and somehow even though the room was dim and Parker had no way of knowing Lexi was even standing there, she turned and looked her full on in the face. There was that damn sympathetic look again. Lexi just couldn't place why she kept getting that look from Parker. She was part of the reason that Lexi was in this mess to begin with. There should be no sympathy from her of all people. Yet there she was her head lightly cocked to the side, eyes open wide, brows slightly furrowed, mouth popped open just enough to make her look surprised, and wearing that expression like she felt every ounce of Lexi's pain.

Shaking off the similarities between them, Lexi turned from Parker and sauntered across the busy restaurant, out the door, and to Ramsey waiting patiently in his Mercedes. The drive back to his place was surprisingly short even with the dead quiet in the car. Lexi took a seat on his comfortable leather sofa when they arrived back at his place, waited for him to take a seat in an opposing chair, and then stared intently into his face.

"Are you going to tell me about this new business venture?" she questioned him clasping her hands together to keep from tucking her hair behind her ear habitually.

"I..yeah," he said leaning forward in the chair and resting his elbows on his knees. "I don't know where to start."

"How about from the beginning? Or with the truth," she muttered her gaze piercing through him.

"The truth right," he said nodding to himself. "Well, the medical wing of Bridges Enterprise has been something that I've been hearing about since I was in diapers."

Lexi's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Since you were a kid?"

"Yes," he told her. "It's my father's dream. It's the one thing he's always wanted to do with the company, but had never been able to." He paused before continuing.

"Well he seems to be getting his wish now doesn't he?"

"Let me tell the whole story," he cut in quickly. Lexi sat back further against the couch and waited. "My grandfather had four daughters and one son, and all he wanted was boys. It was really hushed up, but he more or less left his daughters with nothing when he died. He gave them enough to live on by all means, but my grandfather was old school," Ramsey grumbled. "He thought that a woman's worth came from her husband, and once she had a husband, she was no longer her father's problem," he said the word like it was the most disgustingly archaic thing he had ever discussed. Lexi listened absorbedly unsure of how this all fit together.

"Anyway, my father inherited practically everything plus the business and it's been his obsession ever since. In his eyes, he is still the son struggling to please his father by building up the business. And I swore I would never be like that."

"But you are now," Lexi mumbled under her breath.

"I…God I hope not," he said his green-gold eyes staring deeply into her own. She fidgeted and looked away from his penetrating gaze.

"What do you mean? You're the new vice president right?" she reminded him