Avoiding Responsibility (Avoiding #2)(47)

"I can't spoil the fun. I want your mouth to drop when you see me."

"It already does," she murmured.

"Good to know," he said smirking.

"Don't get cocky," she told him smacking his arm. The smile that broke out on his face told her that he was about to make a response about just how cocky he was, but she stopped him, "And don't think about responding to that."

He laughed his eyes shining. "I have no idea what you're referring to."

"Sure. Sure."

Lexi was pleased that at least for now they were acting normal. She knew it wouldn't always be this way, but things were looking up. She had discussed the wedding without physically gagging, and Ramsey was being himself again. It was a relief that he didn't feel that he had to walk on eggs shells around her. She wasn't sure what she would have done if that had been the case. They weren't exactly on solid footing, but she could handle this.

Ramsey maneuvered the car onto his street slowing down as they approached the apartment. Lexi's eyes darted to the driveway where a very pretty, very new, black BMW sat. She admired the car from afar picking out the blue and white logo easily on the back of the vehicle. She couldn't tell what the model was but it was slick and slightly sporty. "Who got a new car?" she asked eyeing the missing license plate.

Ramsey sighed heavily as he looked upon the car sitting in his driveway. "No one."

Lexi looked at him questioningly. "Well then…"

"It's Jack."

Lexi's mouth went dry at the statement. Her stomach did a flip-flop at the thought of seeing him. She could feel her brain kick into overdrive. One part of her desperately wanted to see him. She wanted to run into his arms and feel his body against her own. She wanted to forget everything that had happened. She wanted her world to be tipped off its axis and bask in the goodness of his love. This was the part that she so readily repressed. The other part wanted to spit on him in disgust at his very being. She wanted to find the highest building in the city and push him off of it. She wanted to destroy his life and everything in it. She realized that she repressed that side in his presence as well. The worst thing she could do is be completely indifferent.

Yet her heart skipped a beat as Ramsey's Mercedes slid into the spot next to Jack. "What's he doing here?" she managed to get out.

"We're about to find out, aren't we?" he asking opening his door and exiting the car.

Lexi followed popping the passenger door open. As she stood tall, she came face to face with Jack. Her heart wrenched as she took in the sight of him. He was as beautiful as ever. She knew it was strange to describe a man as beautiful, but with Jack it was just fitting. His hair was too long and unseemly disheveled. He must have a hair appointment in the near future to look presentable for the big day. His clothes weren't the country clubbing, business executive look he had been accustomed to sporting ever since signing on at Bridges Enterprise. He looked more like her Jack in loose fitting denim, a grey t-shirt, and navy blue Converse.

He swished his head to the side, brushing the hair out of his eyes, and when Lexi glanced up, they were set intently on her. She locked eyes with the cerulean orbs in front of her falling into the endless depths of ocean blue. And for a split second, she was lost. Those eyes had suckered her in countless times previously. She took a deep breath and reminded herself why she was here.

"Jack," she murmured, the name coming out throaty as she controlled all the emotions currently running through her.

"Lex," he said nodding his head at her. She shuddered at the sound of him saying her pet name. "I didn't know you here going to be here." He tore his eyes from her and looked at Ramsey expectantly.

Ramsey just shrugged. "Can I help you?"

Lexi edged around the car careful not to make contact with Jack as she passed. "Why didn't you tell me Lexi was going to be here?" he asked his voice turning possessive.

Ramsey looked at him pointedly. "Probably because you already knew."

"No, I didn't know."

"Well you invited her here Friday, and look, voila, she's here," he muttered dejectedly. He was obviously still pissed about the fact that she had agreed to come to Atlanta only after Jack had cornered her in the hotel hallway. Lexi wished she could take it all back. She was such an idiot when she was drunk.

"I…wait…what?" he asked glancing between Ramsey and Lexi.

"Regardless," Ramsey said cutting off any further questioning, "what are you doing here?"

Jack glanced at Lexi nervously. And for a brief moment, before he returned his attention to Ramsey, Lexi noticed something else in his look. She could have picked it out anywhere. He had looked at her with hunger, with desire in his eyes. His pupils had dilated at the sight of her barely-there tank top and short khaki shorts. Some things never change.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked Ramsey focusing his eyes anywhere but on Lexi.

Ramsey opened the trunk, pulled out Lexi's luggage, and began hauling it up to the apartment. "Talk," he grunted moving up the stairs. Jack clambered after him with Lexi following distantly behind. Ramsey fished out his keys and let them all into his apartment. Dropping Lexi's suitcase to the floor, he set his eyes on Jack expectantly. "What is it Howard?"

Jack's eyes shifted anxiously between Ramsey and Lexi. "Could I speak to you alone, actually?"