Avoiding Temptation (Avoiding #3)(138)

The cab drove her uptown through traffic to Chyna’s penthouse overlooking Central Park. Luckily, Lexi managed to arrive a few minutes early. She paid the cab and then stepped outside to see Bernard holding the door open for her.

“Miss Lexi,” he said with a nod. “Good to see you.”

“Mr. B,” she said with a wave. “You know, I never asked—what’s it like for Chyna not to show up with a random man every night? You actually don’t have to babysit her anymore.”

Bernard laughed and shook his head. “Mr. Adam does all the babysitting now. It’s pretty nice.”

Lexi bit her lip and smiled. So much had changed since she had first arrived in New York. “Good seeing you.”

She stepped inside, took the elevator upstairs and walked down the hall to Chyna’s place. The door was unlocked for her, and she entered an almost completely empty apartment. She had been expecting Chyna to be slightly drunk, pacing the apartment with Adam watching on incredulously, like he normally did when his wife acted like…herself. Instead, all Lexi saw was John.

He looked good. She was pretty sure every woman in the world found that man attractive. He just had the look. He was in a dark three-piece suit with a black shirt underneath and no tie. His short brown hair was spiked. His hazel eyes looked her up and down, and that smile crept up across his face.

Lexi hoped it wasn’t obvious what she had been doing with Jack. She hadn’t even checked to see if she had stuff in her hair or if her clothes were properly aligned. Oh well. Nothing she could do about it now. She ran her hands down the front of her skirt reflexively anyway.

“Hey. I didn’t know you were going to be here.” She hadn’t seen or heard from him since the wedding fiasco.

“I didn’t realize you would be here either,” he said, standing from where he had been seated on the couch and walking across the room toward her. “How have you been?”

“Great,” she answered honestly.

A smile grew on her face as she thought about Jack—his face, his body, his sweet kisses, the way his hair curled at the edges, the perfect color of his eyes, the way his hand traced her palm, the way his lips looked when he told her that he loved her.

“Really great.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that even if I think your fiancé is a total dick,” John said.

Lexi’s mouth popped open. She was so used to John knowing everything about her life that it hadn’t even occurred to her that he wouldn’t know what had happened. But why would he? It hadn’t been that long ago. As far as she knew, he wasn’t still talking to Parker. She supposed that Adam could have told him, but it didn’t seem like that had happened.

“I broke up with him,” Lexi told him softly.

It was John’s turn to look surprised. There was no way that he had been anticipating that.

“I can’t say that I’m disappointed,” John said, taking another step closer to her. “Though, I am disappointed about all the time wasted. You could have been up here all along, avoiding all the bullshit that happened in your life then.”

“I don’t think I wasted any time,” Lexi said defiantly.

John balked at the statement but kept going. “Are you moving back?”

“I think so, but I still have some loose ends to tie up.”

“When can I see you again?” he asked without missing a beat.

Lexi shook her head. Her heart broke a little bit for him. “Why have you waited for me all this time with no certainty that anything would ever happen?”

“You’ve always been at the forefront of my mind. I’ve never met another woman quite like you.”

“One who told you no?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

He chuckled and shrugged. “There’s that, but you’re different, Lexi. You know that. You don’t bullshit. You’re not afraid to speak your mind. You’re smart and beautiful. A deadly combination.”

“I’m sorry,” she said.

She hated having this conversation again, but at this point, she knew it was necessary. She wasn’t sure how many times she had told John that they couldn’t be together, and it hurt each and every time to have to deliver the news. He could have anyone he wanted, and she couldn’t understand, even with his kind words, why that person would be her.

“What is holding you back?” John asked, reaching for her, wanting to sway her.

“Jack,” she answered, pulling out of his grasp. “It was always Jack.”

John narrowed his eyes. “The one I could never compare to?” he asked the question as if it was still the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.

She hated to admit it, but she still meant every word that she had said to him that night over dinner.

“Isn’t he still married?”

Lexi shook her head. “No. He got divorced.”

“And now, you’re together.”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Perfect,” he said sarcastically. “Where is he now?”

Lexi bit her lip. Great. Just what she wanted him to ask. “He’s in the city with me, but I don’t know where right now. He’s on his way.”

“From everything I’ve heard about him, he’s a serial cheater. You’re not concerned that he’s just off and away?” John asked, spouting all the fears that had clouded her mind for years.