Avoiding Responsibility (Avoiding #2)(45)

"Another chance," Chyna mumbled.

"Yes another chance and if this week doesn't work out, then I'm done," Lexi told her more confident than she actually felt.

"For real done?"

"Yes for real done."

"Then you can move onto your Mystery Man?" Chyna asked conspiratorially.

Lexi blushed trying not to smile too wide. "We're not discussing him. It's not like I'm going to be dating him or anything. I haven't seen him again and honestly, I don't intend to."

"What?" Chyna burst. "Come on you were all bubbly after you rendezvous with your stranger and now you don't even want to see him again? Insufferable!"

"He's unimportant. I have too much to deal with," she said evading the question.

"Fine. I'm going to find out who he is eventually, you know?" Chyna forewarned her.

"I'm sure, C. Until then, wish me luck."

"You're going to need it."

Lexi laughed at her friend, but didn't disagree with her. She was going to need a lot more than luck to get through this week sane.

Ramsey picked her up when she landed safely in the Atlanta airport. It was refreshing to walk out of the doors and see his slick black Mercedes idling in traffic. She hadn't wanted to admit it, but she had missed him.

It had only been two days since her run in with the bachelor party, which hadn't really given her much time to digest what she was doing. She wondered if Ramsey had planned it this way. He had waited until the wedding was just a week away before bringing the subject up which they had avoided for an entire year. That way she wasn't allowed time to brood about her decision. Ultimately, he had probably feared that she wouldn't have gone with him. And she wasn't sure exactly what she would have done under different circumstances.

Yes she was drawn to Jack, and the wedding that had ended that relationship. But at the same time she wasn't sure if given the chance to think about it, that she would have been able to talk herself into going or out of going. The back and forth that she had endured for just the past two days had been excruciating enough. She couldn't imagine what it would have been like if she had had an entire year to make a decision.

Regardless, she had made her decision and needed to stick with it…come what may.

"Hey Lexi," Ramsey said as he opened the car door. Lexi's breath caught at the sight of him. He had obviously come straight from brunch at the Country Club which she had thankfully missed this time around. His black suit was crisp and tailored to his build. The light blue button-up with a black and silver striped tie wrapped around his neck completed the outfit. She couldn't tear her eyes away from him.

It was like the first time she had officially met him when she had been caught checking out his ass after walking out of the bathroom. There really was just something about Ramsey. He was so extremely tall and with that beautiful golden blonde hair and green eyes, he just made her melt. Then he smiled, and she could remember a dozen other times when that smile had been the cause of some momentous event of the past year…the cause of her own smile. His smile lit up the world. They were perfectly straight and white, but beyond that, when he looked at her, his smile always reached his eyes.

She sighed at the handsome man before her and made her way in his direction. Before she had a chance to lift a finger to put her luggage in the trunk, he was there. She dropped her bags as his arms came around her waist. She was hoisted off of her feet as he held her against him. "I missed you," he breathed into her ear.

A smile returned to her face. She closed her eyes and breathed in his familiar scent of peppermint basking in his affection for the moment. When she didn't say anything in return, he gently placed her back on her feet. She could tell he was hesitant about how to react to her after everything that had happened between them. She wanted to tell him that she missed him, but Ramsey wasn't the only one that was hesitant.

She was here for him. He needed her and refused to take anyone else. Perhaps she was a masochist, but that didn't mean they could just pick up as if nothing had ever happened. A lot had changed in the month that they were apart, and she was the first that knew that they needed to work on their issues before anything could be settled.

Ramsey lifted her luggage and stowed it into the trunk before settling back into the driver's seat and merging into traffic. "I uh…" he began uncertain of how to begin, "I well, I wasn't sure…we hadn't discussed…"

Lexi could tell how nervous he was, and in the back of her mind she was kind of glad. "We haven't discussed what?" she asked tentatively.

"Where you're staying," he said glancing in her direction.

"Oh," she murmured realizing that they had both overlooked this small fact. She had assumed she would be staying at his place, but at the mention of where she was staying, she realized that maybe that wasn't the best idea. She could control herself around Ramsey. She had discovered early on that she was could stay in control if need be. The only problem was if she wanted that. At times she liked to lose control. And she was afraid with everything that was going to go on this next week that her body and mind weren't going to exactly be in accord.

"I can get you a hotel if you want," he offered though she could tell that was the last thing on his mind. "Is that what you want?"