Avoiding Temptation (Avoiding #3)(128)

“Allow me to leave you to your adulterous ways,” she said, throwing her hands up and backing out.

Bekah turned to say something to Lexi, but Jack cut in front of her line of vision.

“Don’t you dare say one more word to her. She’s too good for your bullshit, Bekah,” Jack growled. “Now, get out.”

Bekah opened her mouth to say something else, something likely villainous, but Jack snapped his fingers in front of her face.

He repeated himself, “Out! Get the f**k out!”

And Bekah did the unthinkable. She actually turned and walked out of Jack’s apartment without saying another word. Lexi wasn’t too sure if that was for the better with the way her devilish mind worked, but she was just glad to have Bekah gone. Jack had told her to leave…and she had.

Lexi was still reeling from the outburst when Jack scooped her up in his arms and started to carry her back into the bedroom.

“Wha—”

“I don’t want you to think about what she said for one second,” he whispered, walking into the bedroom and tossing her back onto the bed.

“I’m not worried about her, Jack.”

“I know you’re not, Lex,” he said, crawling across the bed to her and brushing aside the hair that had fallen out of her messy ponytail.

“How can you even imagine that I could be thinking about anything else but you telling her that I’m what you want?”

Jack’s smirk returned with full force, and he kissed her lips until she had to pull back breathlessly.

“You’re all I want,” he whispered, his mouth touching her lips. “You’re all I want,” he repeated. His lips dropped onto the corner of her mouth.

He repeated the phrase each time he kissed her cheek, her nose, her eyelashes, each temple, her earlobe until she was smiling from ear to ear, lost in the words echoing through her mind.

You’re all I want.

She was all he wanted.

Chapter 24

Lexi knew that it wasn’t a good idea to walk into the courtroom with Jack.

As a lawyer, she knew that she wasn’t in the wrong in her relationship with him. She knew that they could be together right now while he and Bekah were separated. But the lawyer in her also knew that walking into a courtroom for his divorce proceedings when his wife was trying to prove that he had cheated on her was idiotic. She would kill her client if the person even thought about it.

Jack’s attorney, Richard, had basically said the same thing when Jack addressed it at the follow-up meeting that Lexi had attended with him. Even Lexi had looked at Jack like he was a crazy person when he had suggested it, but Jack hadn’t backed down.

How long had they been in hiding? How long had they pushed their relationship aside to deal with the rest of their lives? Well, they didn’t want that to define them going forward. Jack wanted to show solidarity. He wasn’t afraid of Bekah, and based on the evidence, he was certain she didn’t have a case that could prove he had cheated on her—because he hadn’t.

Lexi had gone through the paperwork sent over by the Bridges’ attorney, and she just felt like something was missing. She didn’t know what it was, but with how thorough Bekah had been with all of her other evil plotting, Lexi just didn’t find it airtight. But they could only work with what they had sent over, so Lexi tried to let the feeling pass.

And even though she knew it was a bad idea…she couldn’t possibly stay away. She not only wanted to be there for Jack, she needed to be there for him.

That was how she ended up with the day off work, the first official day since Chyna’s wedding, standing outside the courthouse with Jack at her side. This was her job, her specialty and it felt strange being in court, not dressed to take down her next unsuspecting victim. Without the case, the power suit, the certainty that she was in this to win, she felt vulnerable.

She had picked out a sensible square-top black dress tapered to a fitted waist with a flare A-line skirt. She had paired it with a gold belt, long gold necklace, and her trusty pair of black Manolos. She had braided the front of her hair back with half hanging loose in spiral to the middle of her back. She completed the ensemble with neutral makeup and the softest pink lip gloss—Jack’s favorite.

“Please stop fidgeting,” Jack whispered, taking her hand and wrapping his other arm around her waist. “You’re going to make me nervous.”

“I’m not nervous,” Lexi said, showing the air of confidence her stomach didn’t have.

Jack looked gorgeous in a gray suit with a tie to match his eyes. He had even gotten his hair cut even though she had begged him not to. What was she supposed to hold on to?

“Lex,” he said, his hand running up her arm, across her shoulder, and to her ear where he looped her hair behind her ear, “you were never a good liar.”

“I just…have this weird feeling. It’ll pass. Don’t worry about it,” she said softly.

“You want to tell me about it?”

He played with the loose strands at the base of her neck, and it took a lot of effort not to sigh and close her eyes to his touch.

“It’s just a big day. A lot rides on the outcome.”

“You and I don’t ride on the outcome,” Jack said softly. “No matter what actually happens inside…I’ll be free to be yours and only yours.”