Avoiding Responsibility (Avoiding #2)(55)

"Yes ma'am. I like a forceful woman," he said smacking her on the ass with his binder as he passed.

"I'm going to file a sexual harassment suit against you Brandon Calloway," Kace threatened.

"Then I'll have to file one against you with what you did to me in that janitor's closet the other day," he muttered.

"Brandon!" she gasped shaking her head as he darted around the corner disappearing before she could thoroughly reprimand him. "My apologies." Lexi just laughed at them as she followed her to Ramsey's office. It was the very last one on the right and the only one absent a secretary. "He's not here all that often," she volunteered as to why the place looked deserted. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Lexi told Kace, not certain why she would need luck as she knocked on the door. She jiggled the knob, but it remained locked so she just waited…and waited. When no one answered, she knocked again more forcefully.

"What do you want? Christ, I'm in the office for one day and you have to bother me?" Ramsey called from inside his office. He yanked the door open and stared straight ahead in surprise. His jaw went slack and he immediately looked apologetic about his attitude. "Lexi."

"Surprise," she managed smiling brightly into his gorgeous face.

"What are you doing here?" he asked pulling the door further closed.

"I came to see my boyfriend."

"Brad dropped you off here?"

"How else would I get here?"

"Right I dunno. Can you just uh…give me a minute?" he asked nervously scratching the back of his head.

Lexi narrowed her eyes at him. "Why? What are you doing in there? Is someone in there with you?" She took a hard look at his clothing, but didn't really see anything out of place. He was wearing charcoal dress slacks with a navy blue button-up tucked into the expensive material. The top button was undone and he was without a tie, but that was hardly surprising.

"What? No, well yes, but…"

Lexi pushed the door hard letting it swing open and peered around Ramsey's large form. There sitting in one of the plush leather chairs was a tall blonde leaning languidly over a large computer monitor. Despite her casual posture, her clothes were professional in black pants, a crisp white blouse, and black dress heels. Her eyes were intense and focused and she didn't even look up as the door swung open.

"Who is this?" she asked glancing between Ramsey and the woman.

Ramsey cleared his throat. "Lola, I'd like you to meet someone. This is Lexi"

The woman glanced up and smiled sweetly. "Hello darling," she drawled. She stood tall nearly six feet and made her way over to them. "What a pleasure to finally meet you."

Lexi glanced between Ramsey and this Lola woman her mouth opened slightly in confusion. She had never heard of her before. How was it that Lola had heard about her? Lexi's mind was swimming with possibilities. Everything she had just heard from Brandon and Kace just then filtered through her mind along with bits and pieces from her conversation with Bekah. Was it impossible for her to be his girlfriend, because in fact he was with someone else? She didn't want to even fathom that.

Her heart was pounding in her chest and she tried to swallow but was unsuccessful. Her mind went to the worst possible place causing her to cough and sputter in horror. How could he do this to her? She had thought he was a nice guy and all along he had been playing her the fool. She felt like an idiot.

"Lexi, please calm down," Ramsey said sliding a hand through his hair.

"How can I calm down? Look at her," she muttered unable to control herself.

Ramsey sighed heavily. "Lola I need to handle this. Can I meet you later to finish discussing the details?"

"Of course darling. Anything for you love," Lola purred before stepping over the threshold and exiting the office.

"This isn't what it looks like," Ramsey said immediately.

"No?" she asked taking a deep breath to steady herself. She owed him at least the chance to explain himself. Her past had jaded her against this very scenario. "How come I've never heard about her before? Yet, she seems to have heard about me."

"Uh…it's hard to explain," he told her scratching his head thoughtfully.

"Well try," she commanded plopping down into one of the chairs.

"To put it plainly, Lola is my business partner."

"Oh yes, and what type of business do you run exactly Ramsey? You still haven't told me. We've known each other for six months and yet I still have yet to find out what it is exactly that you do. Where do you spend all your time? How do you have all this free time to just do nothing? Are you just living off of your trust fund?" she muttered the last question in frustration and immediately regretted it. She hadn't meant to ask that, but deep down she had always wondered if it was true.

"Wow," he breathed. "I'm just going to assume you're a bit distraught." Lexi lowered her eyes to the ground feeling kind of terrible that she had blurted out all those questions at once. "I do not live off of my trust fund. In fact, I've barely touched that money. Sure for special occasions I tap into it, but I try to live on my own."

"Is your Maserati a special occasion?" she asked bitterly.

He smiled despite himself. "The Maserati was a birthday present which is precisely why you have never seen me drive it."