Avoiding Temptation (Avoiding #3)(42)

They walked out of the building and down the steps to the sidewalk. She stuffed her hands into her pockets and ducked her head against the wind. John looked at her questioningly with humor in his eyes.

“What?” she demanded.

“How are you cold? This weather is beautiful.”

“You live in New York. You’re used to the freezing weather.”

“Didn’t you live in New York for the past three years?” he asked.

“I never adjusted to the temperature change,” she said with a shrug.

“Well, I think you’re crazy. Sixty degrees is not freezing.”

“In the South, it is.”

“Right. It’s not where I grew up in Michigan. It’s laughable,” he told her.

“Laugh all you want,” she grumbled. “I’m still cold.”

“Good thing we’re here then, huh?”

John opened the door to Starbucks, and Lexi walked inside, shaking off the cold that had sunk into her cardigan.

They walked up to the counter. John ordered a chai tea latte and then allowed Lexi to order.

“Just a venti coffee for me.”

“Cream and sugar?” the associate asked.

“No, thank you. Black is fine.”

John smirked at that, too, and she didn’t even bother asking him about it. Most guys didn’t expect girls to drink their coffee straight. With as much as she drank, she would gain a million pounds if she added anything to it. Not to mention, she had gotten used to the taste in college and had never gone back.

John paid for the drinks, and then they set back out for the conference room. Lexi blew on her coffee. She didn’t want to scald her mouth, but she really wanted to drink it. Giving up, she dove in and started drinking the steaming brew.

“So…you moved in with Ramsey, I hear,” John said.

Lexi sputtered on her coffee. It was pretty freaking hot.

“Yeah, I did,” Lexi finally got out.

“Kind of quick, isn’t it?”

“Not really. We were living together before I moved back to New York.”

“And that worked out so well for you,” he said dryly.

“How do you even know we moved in together?” Lexi asked.

She hadn’t talked to John since that night when she had walked out on him. She figured he had moved on. After all, he was attractive and charming. He could get any other girl he wanted. She just needed him not to focus on her.

“A little birdie told me.”

Lexi turned to face him, narrowing her eyes. “A little birdie?”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss.”

“You have someone feeding you my personal information, and you won’t tell me who said it?” she asked. That sounded like some pretty messed-up bullshit to her.

“That is what not being at liberty to discuss means,” he said with a glimmer in his hazel eyes.

“Well, you tell your little birdie to f**k off for me!” she spat.

John burst out laughing and shook his head. “My little spitfire. You never do what I expect. It’s really hot.”

Lexi rolled her eyes and took another sip of her coffee. “I’m serious.”

“That’s what makes it all the better.”

They made it back to the office, and Lexi turned to face him. She didn’t want this little birdie to keep broadcasting her information. John didn’t need to know what she was up to. She had closed that door, and she wanted it to remain firmly closed. She couldn’t do that when he kept flirting with her, buying her coffee, and instigating the banter while he knew so much about her new life. If it were the chase he was after, she would have to show him that she had meant what she said. Ramsey was the one she had agreed to commit to. Someone who thought sex was the end game wouldn’t cut it—even if John would deny that to his last breath.

“So, are you really not going to tell me who told you?”

“If you think about it, I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” he said, clearly enjoying having the upper hand. “Aren’t you going to a concert with your ex tonight…the married ex?”

“That’s really none of your business,” Lexi shot back defensively.

“I sure hope this isn’t the one who I can’t compare to because if you thought going to dinner with me bordered on bad ideas…” He trailed off.

“This conversation is over. You’re just poking at something you don’t understand,” she said.

He was getting her flustered, and she needed to extricate herself from the situation. He didn’t know her history. He didn’t know about Jack or even about Ramsey. John most certainly didn’t what she had gone through to get to the point where Jack was married. And it was quite clear that John had no idea that she would have preferred to go with anyone else other than Jack to this show. So, while him prodding her for a reaction was working, it was surfacing the wrong emotions.

“Don’t be mad,” he said, reaching for her elbow.

“Then, tell me who you’ve been talking to.”

He smiled devilishly, and her knees wobbled. God, he was handsome. It was so unfair in this situation.

“You’ll figure it out, babe. Thanks for going to get coffee with me.”

Lexi took a deep breath as he walked past her and inside. The coffee warmed her fingers, so she didn’t follow him inside right away. She was sure she looked ready to pounce on someone.