Avoiding Responsibility (Avoiding #2)(23)

He handed her a glass of red wine as he took his own glass of scotch on the rocks. "They're just people. You can't forget that fact. As soon as you do, you get that look on your face," he said pointing at Lexi's star struck expression. He took a swig of his drink and smiled as she immediately closed her mouth.

"They're just people. Right," she muttered following his lead and indulging in the alcohol presented to her. She needed to loosen up a bit in order to get through this night.

Lexi still couldn't believe Adam had agreed to play Chyna's boyfriend. They had known each other less than a week and had only hung out twice, outside of the unusual circumstances that surrounded her drugging. After Chyna had found out what he had done for her, she had insisted on doing anything she could to thank him. Just like that night, he had refused any payment whatsoever for his help. He swore that he would have done it for anyone if they had been in that situation.

Chyna hadn't been able to let it go though. She had coaxed him into going out to dinner with her. Though Lexi guessed it hadn't taken much coaxing. From there they had seemed to hit it off really well, and she had invited him to come to her father's engagement party. Chyna had neglected to inform him that he was doing her a huge favor and Lexi had accidentally spilled the beans by asking him how he felt being a fake boyfriend for the night. After they had explained the situation, he had come around to their side, but now they owed him two huge favors.

"Where's your faux boyfriend anyway?" Adam asked scanning the room.

Lexi sighed wondering that same thing. After her call of desperation, Lexi had spoken to Ramsey pretty frequently. She had admitted to him that she was terrified of relationships after having such a rocky past in that area, and they had agreed on some boundaries before his arrival. She wanted to make sure that she knew what she was getting herself into before he showed up and, no doubt, swept her off her feet.

This arrangement had somehow ended up with him meeting her at the party. Now she was just anxious to see him in person. It had been so long since she had left him all alone on the tarmac with just enough hope to keep him interested. She hadn't been sure that she would ever call him. Even though she did have some measured interest in him, he wasn't Jack.

That fact alone had a tendency to make her completely lose interest in everyone else. Yet, Jack was exactly who she had walked away from. He was who she had left behind. She couldn't have Jack anymore, if Jack had even ever truly been hers.

The past month without him had been difficult. Before she had always wondered if he was going to show up in her life again, but now she knew that he wasn't going to be around. He wasn't going to find her. She felt like a huge hole was left in the center of her chest that he used to occupy. Sure she had been strong when dismissing him, but the reality of letting him go was a much different story.

Now she was faced with the reality that she needed to move on, and Ramsey was the perfect suspect. He knew some of her prior escapades with his future brother-in-law, but not enough to keep him from her as he had proven by agreeing to this rendezvous in New York. And just because he wasn't Jack didn't mean he wasn't exactly what she needed.

Lexi sighed and tried to stop her mind from wandering all over the place. She needed to stay in the moment or else the past would begin to take her over. And living in the present meant finding out where exactly her faux boyfriend was at that moment in time.

"I'm actually not certain," Lexi said pulling her phone out from the tiny black clutch she was carrying with her. "Have you seen your faux girlfriend yet?"

"Yeah she found me right when I got here, but said she needed to take care of some things," Adam said vaguely, "but that she'd find me later."

"Well this is going to be a fun night," she murmured flipping open her phone and seeing no new calls or texts. She knew his flight had been delayed in Atlanta due to weather conditions, but she hadn't heard from him since then and had assumed everything was alright. She figured she would have at least heard from him by now.

"Looks like it's just me and you," Lexi said downing the rest of her wine in one big gulp.

"Where's your date?" Adam asked concern in his eyes at her abrupt change in mood.

"His flight was delayed so I'm guessing he's stuck somewhere," she told him trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

"He'll turn up," Adam said placing his hand reassuringly on her shoulder. Lexi smiled up into his brown eyes and reminded herself that he was Chyna's date. That thought made her smile grow even more. She couldn't believe what a strange situation they were in. Here she thought that she was the only one capable of getting them into uncomfortable scenarios, but Chyna had managed to force them into another, just as awkward, state of affairs.

"Well isn't this sweet," Chyna cooed coming up from behind them and eyeing them up and down. Adam immediately dropped his hand to his side glancing away from Lexi's determined gaze.

"There you are," he said a genuine smile crossing his face. "Get everything taken care of?"

"As much as could be done about this situation," Chyna announced slurring her words slightly. She took a step forward to steady herself but managed to almost fall into Adam. He caught her easily and steadied her against him.

"Are you drunk?" Lexi asked glancing around to make sure no one was paying them any attention.