Avoiding Temptation (Avoiding #3)(31)

He had called her a few times, which she had shamefully ignored. She knew that she had to be around him for the medical wing, but that didn’t make it any easier. She would have to figure out how to handle that situation.

Lexi pulled into the underground garage below the main Bridges Enterprise building and parked her car. She took the main elevator that exited into the entrance of the building.

Nerves hit her unexpectedly.

Too many bad memories resided in this building. She tried not to think about them, but when she was surrounded by the Bridges logo and the glass building and the clientele, it all rushed back. She let the nerves harden into barely repressed anger at the thought of the wedding.

She walked over to the elevator and pulled out her phone to text Brandon to let him know that she was on her way up. She sent the text and tossed it back into her purse, and then her phone beeped immediately. Surprised that he would respond so fast, she fished it back out of her bag and saw that it was ringing.

Jack was calling her. She glanced around the small alcove where the elevators were, wondering if he could see her or if he had just somehow known that she was in the building. There were two men standing by her, but neither were Jack. Surely, she would have noticed.

She hadn’t spoken to him since the wedding…since he had married Bitch Bekah—not that he had tried to get a hold of her, which was fine by her. She didn’t want to talk to him. She should just silence her phone, go get Brandon, and vacate the premises immediately.

Taking a deep breath, she clicked the Ignore button. She couldn’t remember ever having done that before. Her heart constricted, she inhaled deeply, and then she followed the two men onto the elevator.

“Twenty-four, please,” she said softly.

One of the men pressed the button for Brandon’s floor.

Her phone beeped again, and she stared down at the text from Brandon.

Sounds good, honey.

She laughed. Some things hadn’t changed at least.

Another beep came through her phone. Jack had left a voice mail. Really strange.

She got off on her desired floor as she continued to debate whether or not to listen to it.

Why did he always have to pop back up? She had just moved to Atlanta, she was moving on with her life, and he was married. Yet, he was still here.

She sighed and decided it wouldn’t hurt to just listen to a voice mail. Surely, there was no harm in that. She wouldn’t even call him back.

Once she had successfully talked herself into it, she clicked on the message and pressed her phone to her ear.

“Uh…hey, Lex,” he said hesitantly. “I know you probably aren’t very happy with me or even really want to hear from me right now…and well, I’m sorry that it’s like that.”

She took a deep breath and placed her hand on the wall, bracing herself. All she wanted to know was why he had called her.

“I didn’t think it would all happen like this, but yeah…I guess…on with the point of this call. I have a question for you. Even though you don’t want to talk to me right now, will you still call me anyway? I promise, you’ll actually like the nature of this call. That, I can promise you. So, please call me.”

He sounded so sincere that her heart felt like it was lodged in her throat. Stupid Jack Howard. How did he always make her feel like a ball of mush? Couldn’t he have just left her alone and moved on with his…wife?

God! That was a terrible word.

She pushed her hair behind her ear fiercely and then took a few steps in the direction of Brandon’s office. She made it halfway down the hallway before stopping and staring at her phone again. What could he possible want that he would call her and promise that she would like the nature of the phone call? She couldn’t think of anything off the top of her head.

Her fingers itched to press the button. And with a sigh, she finally just gave in. It was better to know right away, so she could put it out of her mind instead of obsessing about it during her entire lunch with Brandon.

“Lex,” Jack said with a hint of surprise in his voice. “I wasn’t sure you would actually call me back.”

“What do you want, Jack?” Lexi asked. She didn’t want him to hear any of the emotions that had gone through her when she had seen he had called and left a voice mail. That was over and done with.

He sighed. “You’re pissed.”

“Jack…”

“It’s all right. You have every right.”

“Yes, I do,” she said stiffly.

“I, uh…what are you doing next Friday night?”

Lexi’s anger boiled over. “Jack Howard, are you asking me out? Is this a serious conversation we’re having? Did you really have the nerve to call me and ask me about next Friday, like we’re back in college and stupid? You even said that I would like the nature of this call. Well, you’re going to have to try again if you think I could possibly be happy about seeing you!”

“Lexi—”

“No. You know what? I’m clearly the idiot for calling you back. Not sure what I was thinking. Old habits die hard and all that. Please, just leave me alone,” she snapped and then hung up.

Her breathing was ragged when the phone went dead, and she hadn’t even realized how riled up she had gotten. Goddamn it! Why did Jack Fucking Howard always do this to her? It wasn’t enough that he had gotten married? Couldn’t he just let her at least try to move past it all?