Avoiding Responsibility (Avoiding #2)(21)

Ramsey hung up the phone and threw it down on the bedside table. He closed his eyes and his breathing was deep and heavy. Lexi couldn't believe how utterly furious he looked. She had only seen him this way on a few occasions. If he had been a cartoon character, he would have smoke blowing out of his ears.

"Uh…what's up?" she asked cautiously.

"I have to…take care of some business," he muttered through clenched teeth.

"Right now?" she asked refastening the hook and eye in her and dress and closing the zipper.

"Unfortunately, yes," he said buttoning his shirt up and throwing his pants back on.

"You're serious?" she asked straightening her dress and standing up.

Ramsey stopped what he was going and moved forward towards her. His hand came up and cupped her cheek. "If there was any way I could get out of it, I would."

"Well, where are you going?"

Ramsey sighed heavily and looked back up at her from where he was redoing the button on his pants. "I just have to take care of something."

"Is this about work?" she whispered into the silence that had followed his comment.

"No," he said shaking his head. "I wish."

"Well, can I come with you then?"

He was shaking his head before he even answered. "You're not going to want to do that."

"Why do you always have to be so f**king secretive? We were just about to f**k and now you're running off to somewhere you won't even tell me. Stop doing that," she yelled at him.

"Fine, come with me then," he growled stuffing his phone back in his pocket. "But we have to go now."

Ramsey flagged down a cab as soon as he reached the street and gave the guy an address. Lexi leaned back against the scratchy cab cushion and wondered where in the world he was taking her. She had sort of freaked out on him so she figured wherever they were going she was going to just have to deal with it. The cab drove them clear across town and as the lights started fading into darkness one sign in particular caught her eye. A bright neon yellow sign above all others read Erotica: Live Girls XXX.

Lexi's stomach dropped. "What the f**k are we doing?" she cried looking over at Ramsey in surprise mingled with anger. "I thought you said…"

"I said I had to take care of something. You insisted on going with me. I'm sorry, but this is where we're going," he murmured obviously unhappy about the situation as well.

Lexi huffed noisily, crossing her arms over her chest. "I can't believe we stopped having sex for this." The look on Ramsey's face promised that it was only going to get worse before it got better.

The cab dropped them off in front of the entrance to the strip club. A burly man dressed in all black checked their identification before allowing them inside. A petite buxom blonde took Ramsey's card to pay for the cover, but after taking a look at the name handed it back to him and proclaiming it was on the house.

"Go figure," Lexi murmured walking past the blonde who had sidled up to Ramsey.

"Excuse me," he told the woman pushing her arms back at her sides and rushing after Lexi.

"So, what's the big emergency?" she asked her eyes sweeping the dimly club filled with girls clad solely in g-strings or getting close to that point of nudity.

"Uh…" Ramsey began but was cut off by Lexi's squeal.

Lexi was lifted off her feet from behind and spun around in a circle twice. When she was set back down, she swiveled around quickly ready to assault whoever had just picked her up. "What the…?" she cried her hand coming back. As her eyes began to adjust to the lighting, the face before her registered in her mind and her mouth popped open in surprise. "Seth?" she questioned wondering if perhaps she was seeing things.

"Lexi, baby," he crowed reaching forward and running his hands up down her the sides of her body. She would have normally slapped him away, but she was in such a state of shock that she didn't even know what to do. She could tell he was severely intoxicated, and from the rush of women surrounding his approach of her, he had obviously wasted a good deal of money.

"Are you the present?" he slurred keeping his hands pressed to her hips.

"Am I what?" she asked her brows furrowing together.

"That's enough Seth," Ramsey cut in knocking his hands off of Lexi.

As soon as she was free from Seth's grip, her eyes moved to the people standing behind him. "Hunter, Luke," she murmured barely loud enough for them to hear. She felt as if she were taking a trip back in time. When she had been in college, she had done everything with these guys and now they were here…in New York City…at a strip club.

She eyes doubled in size as everything started to come together. "No," she muttered her vision losing focus. She had said that she deserved whatever came her way by insisting that she come along with Ramsey. But she wanted to take it back.

She didn't deserve this.

This could not be happening to her.

Someone was speaking to her, but the words weren't processing correctly in her brain. Her stomach was turning and she thought she might be sick at any moment. Her hand reflexively came up to twine around a loose strand of hair and she pushed it behind her ear. Of all the things for her to insist on being in attendance, she never in a million years would have guessed that this would be the place she would end up.