Avoiding Temptation (Avoiding #3)(41)

Ramsey didn’t look happy about it.

“Lexi, why are you getting involved in that?” he asked, shaking his head. “I’m assuming that’s for Jack.”

“It is.”

“I just…don’t see any possible gain from you getting involved. If Bekah really has information on him cheating on her, then the best possible thing for you, your career, your future…f*ck, our future…is to just stay far, far away.”

“I’m not involved,” she said stubbornly.

“He called you when he found out. He wanted to talk to you about it. He wanted your advice. And now, you’re getting him an attorney,” Ramsey said, ticking these things off on his fingers. “You’re already involved.”

“Well, that’s the end of it anyway. He is doing everything after this point.”

“Are you sure?” he pleaded.

“Look, what do you want me to do? Your sister…” She shook her head and glanced away. “She’s going to try to bury him six feet under. She knew Jack’s past. I f**king told her about his past. After accepting that and marrying him anyway, she is going to try to divorce him over it? That’s just twisted.”

“It’s their problem. Please don’t make it our problem, too.”

“It’s not my problem. It’s not your problem. But at the same time, we are invested in it, Ramsey. It would be stupid to think we aren’t. Bekah is your sister. Jack is one of my closest friends.”

“No,” Ramsey said, putting his foot down. “We can’t get involved in this. Promise me that you’ll stay out of it, Lexi.” His voice softened at the end, and he pulled her back in for a kiss.

She let him kiss her with the unanswered promise hanging between them.

Chapter 8

Lexi stood outside of the conference room in the rented office space where the Bridges medical wing team was working. She had thought it was strange that they would rent space when they had all of Bridges Enterprise to use for the conferences with Global as well as the contractors, architects, and various other businesses they were working with to get this building up and running. But Ramsey had told her that when they had first gotten the place, they had wanted something semipermanent near where they would break ground.

Apparently, the location of the new Bridges tower was far enough away from the rest of Bridges Enterprise to warrant this. Lexi thought it was ridiculous. The plot was already being cleared, but it wasn’t like they would be looking up at a skyscraper next week or anything. Why waste the money? Besides the fact that they could

This was why she had never gone into business. She found it incredibly boring—not that law didn’t have its moments, but this whole thing just looked like a headache.

Some days, she was happy that Ramsey was keeping her in the know about every little detail, and other days, she felt herself zoning out. Really, he could settle with what was important and stick the rest through some kind of filter.

She yawned and sank back into a chair. Ramsey had said the meeting wouldn’t be that long, and she could come with him if she wanted. This was her last Friday before she started her new job, and she had thought she would get to spend some time with Ramsey, finish unpacking a few of the stray boxes from New York, and get prepped for the big day on Monday before heading out to the D-Bags show with Jack later that night. But one meeting had turned into three, and she still couldn’t believe that three hours later, she was wasting the day in meetings.

Lexi had sat through the first one, but when it had become clear that it was a bunch of gibberish that she couldn’t comprehend, she had lost interest in trying and dipped out. The battery of her smartphone was dying a slow death, and if it didn’t last to the end of this meeting, she was definitely going to leave.

Shuffling in the other room brought her out of her thoughts, and she stood, praying to anyone who would listen that they could leave. She was never agreeing to this again.

Several contractors walked out of the room without so much as a glance in her direction, and then the door closed. Lexi sighed and fell back into the chair. Seriously? She could not handle waiting. It was the worst thing ever.

A second later, the door opened again, and John walked out. Lexi raised her eyebrow when he looked over at her still seated.

He smiled brightly when he saw her. “You want to get out of here?”

“Desperately,” she said, lifting her eyes to the ceiling and leaning back in the chair.

“We could go get something to eat,” he suggested.

She didn’t even have to glance at him to know he was smirking.

“You want me to walk out on you again?” Lexi asked

He chuckled, and she did look at him then. He had on dark dress slacks and a gray button-up, rolled up to his elbows. His dark hair was neat, but he was sporting a five o’clock shadow that really worked on his cut features.

“They’re sticking around to talk for a few more minutes. I needed something to drink. Could you at least manage a walk to Starbucks?”

Coffee. Heaven. Life force. “Yes, I think I can manage anything for coffee.”

Lexi stood and stretched with a yawn. She wasn’t even tired, but she had been sitting there so long that she almost felt exhausted. Plus, the mention of coffee had made her brain seem to slow down as if it couldn’t function properly on her caffeine addiction without the stuff running through her veins.