Avoiding Temptation (Avoiding #3)(77)

“Of course it’s not,” Jack replied sarcastically.

“Did the mediation go so poorly?”

Jack laughed disdainfully. “I’ll let you tell me.”

She followed him into the living room where an open bottle of Jack Daniels and a half-empty glass rested on a beat-up coffee table. “That good, huh?”

“It’s only drink number three. Think I can finish the bottle?”

“What happened?” she asked, taking the opportunity to look around his apartment.

It was sparsely decorated, to say the least. He had an old couch sitting behind the coffee table and a flat screen TV hooked up to the opposite wall. She wondered if all this stuff had been in storage or if someone had loaned it to him. There wasn’t anything on the walls—no pictures, no old record albums, nothing. Besides the Jack Daniels, there wasn’t anything really visible. It was more depressing than when a typical freshly moved in apartment because there weren’t even any boxes around. All of his stuff must have still been at the house.

“Everything you said would happen. Her lawyer spent half the time talking over the mediator, trying to get me to admit that I cheated on her while we were married. She kept baiting me, playing the victim. We accomplished nothing, and then after hours of trying to get something done, Bekah said she didn’t want to continue mediation, and it wasn’t helpful. So, we’re filing for a court date anyway,” Jack said.

Lexi hated to tell him that she told him so. Probably not the best thing in this situation.

“Well, at least, the alcohol is cheering you up,” she said softly.

“No. You’re the first good thing I’ve seen since I left.”

He stared back at her from across the room, and she could feel the tension crackle between them. Not good. She needed to redirect and quickly.

“Are you sure you’ve only had three drinks?” she asked. She picked up the bottle and looked at how much was left.

“You want to pour me another?” He sank into the couch and ruffled his dark brown hair, which had grown out past where he normally got a haircut for Bridges.

She liked it better a little longer.

“I don’t think you need one right now.”

“I guess I still have some of this one,” he said, picking up the glass and tipping the rest of the whiskey down the back of his throat. He slammed the glass back on the table and smiled up at Lexi. He patted the cushion next to him. “Come take a seat, Lex.”

“Where did you get all this stuff?” she asked, trying to be casual as she sank down into the cushion.

“Seth,” Jack said with a shrug. “Sandy insisted that I take the stuff from their basement since they weren’t really using it. It’s not the best, but who the hell am I kidding? Everything else has gone to shit. Why would I need nice things? Next thing I know, someone is going to ram into my BMW tomorrow on the way to work.”

“Jack,” she whispered before swallowing hard. It was so difficult to sit here and listen to his pain. She wanted to help him and make it better. She wished there were a way for that to be possible.

“It’s all right. I’ll bounce back. I always do,” he said nonchalantly.

“You do,” she agreed. She bit her lip and kept her eyes trained forward.

“At least I still have you,” he murmured, resting his arms across the back of the couch.

She turned to look at him, surprised by the statement. “Uh…we’re friends.”

“That’s right,” he said with that killer smirk. “We’re friends.”

“Jack, don’t even try this with me right now,” Lexi said, shaking her head. “You can’t act like you want to be with me all of a sudden.”

She couldn’t believe she had gotten the words out when he was looking at her like that, but she knew that she had to say something. She had to stop it.

“I’m not acting like that.”

Lexi shook her head. She didn’t believe him.

“Trying to be your friend is the not the same as trying to be with you, Lex.”

“I know,” she said softly.

“It’s trying to be with you however I can.”

Lexi’s mouth literally dropped open at that statement. Well, damn, wasn’t the alcohol talking tonight?

She quickly stood in disbelief. What the hell was Jack thinking? He was still married. She was engaged. After all of this time, he was just going to try to lay this on her now…when he was desperate and in the middle of divorce proceedings with the Bitch he should have never married.

“I think I should go.”

“Wait…” Jack stood uneasily on his feet. “Fuck! I didn’t mean to piss you off, Lex.”

“I’m not pissed-off.”

“You look pissed-off. And really, it’s f**king sexy on you, but I honestly didn’t mean to,” he said, running his hand back through his hair again.

“It’s okay, Jack. I just think with you, um,” she said, eyeing him up and down, “a little drunk that it might not be the best idea for me to be here. Ramsey is waiting for me at home. He knows where I am. He trusts me.”

“That’s good. He should.”

“But I don’t trust myself around you, like this,” she admitted. “So, I think it’s best if I just…leave.”