Avoiding Temptation (Avoiding #3)(9)

Sex had been a nice distraction from all the problems they had to face. She had unabashedly reveled in it, knowing they had too much to talk about when they were finished. She wondered if they would be having this conversation over lunch or if it would wait until later, like maybe when she was back in New York. Lexi had so many decisions to make, and she didn’t even know where to start.

Ramsey pulled into the Flip Burger parking lot and took the last remaining spot. As Lexi stepped out of the Mercedes, the August heat pressed down on her from all sides, and the humidity caused her dark curls to tighten from the added moisture. She couldn’t believe how just three years in New York City could change her ability to handle the humid Southern summers. A twinge in her chest reminded her how much she missed the city, and she couldn’t wait to get back even though returning would do nothing to help her relationship.

“Shall we?” Ramsey asked, coming around to her side of the car and extending his hand in front of them.

“I believe so.”

They made it up to the front of the building and pushed through the crowd waiting to be seated.

“Welcome to Flip. How can I help you?” the waitress asked when they approached.

“What’s the wait for two?” Lexi asked.

“About twenty to thirty minutes.”

“Okay, that’s fine. Lexi, for two.”

“For four,” Ramsey said over her head.

Lexi turned around and glared at him. “What?”

“Four,” he said, holding up four fingers and smiling at the hostess.

“What do you mean four, Ramsey?” she demanded.

“People are meeting us.”

“Ramsey, what did you do?” Lexi shook her head and took a deep breath. She turned back to the hostess. “Lexi, for four. Thank you.”

Lexi grabbed Ramsey’s shirtsleeve and yanked him out of the busy restaurant. She dragged him to the edge of the building before dropping his arm. “Are you out of your mind?”

“No.”

“Look, this can’t happen. It just can’t. I’m tired of going into things blind and running headfirst into a brick wall. Step one of our relationship rehab is I know everything! I want to know every single thing that you are planning, orchestrating, and organizing. I want to know everything about your past, and I want to know everything for the future. You can’t keep me in the dark anymore, or this isn’t going to work. That’s the deal, and it’s the only one I’m willing to offer.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“Whoa, Lexi! All of this over adding two people to lunch?” Ramsey asked, his brow furrowing.

“Yes! It might seem like I’m overreacting, but everything in my past tells me I’m not. We have a lot to figure out about how to make this work, Ramsey. I’ve been a forgive-and-forget kind of girl my whole life, but I can’t be that person anymore—not if I want a real relationship. And I’m willing to give it a shot, but I can’t be lied to. I just can’t.”

“I wasn’t lying to you—”

“Stop. Just stop and listen for a second while I try to explain. I’m just going to flat-out say that I’m emotionally messed-up. I’ve discovered that. And I think I’ve let myself get taken advantage of one too many times because of that. Second, third, fourth chances were in my repertoire. I swore I wasn’t going to give out any more, but then you happened,” Lexi told him.

She glanced out across the full parking lot, trying to collect her thoughts. She knew she was rambling, but he needed to hear it. He needed to know what he was up against.

“I’m giving you a second chance even though I told myself I was done with chances. You f**k up, and you’re done. That’s what I wanted to do when I went back to New York, but I couldn’t. So, prove me right. No more lying.”

“Okay, Lexi,” Ramsey said. He actually looked uncomfortable.

Had she ever seen Ramsey look uncomfortable? She sure as hell couldn’t remember a time when she had.

She hadn’t meant to explode like that, but she hadn’t been able to keep it in. Didn’t he know how much easier this all could be if he would just tell her things? It wasn’t hard to be like, Hey, I’ve invited two people to have lunch with us. She wouldn’t have cared—unless, of course, those people were Bekah, Jack, or Parker. Then, she would care. But she didn’t think he was that stupid.

“Okay then,” she said awkwardly.

Ramsey reached out for her hand and threaded their fingers together. “Hey,” he whispered, pulling her into him. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I know.”

“This is new for me, too. If we want this to work, I know we both have to put in the effort in the relationship. I’m willing to work on it, and I’ll listen when you call me out when I f**k up…like you just did.”

Lexi giggled. “Yeah, I guess I overreacted a bit.”

“You’re just being the adorable woman I fell in love with. I wouldn’t want you any other way.”

He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed her knuckles. Lexi smiled and glanced away from his entrancing green eyes.

How did he always wash the anger right out of her like that?

“I’m going to try your everything route,” Ramsey told her. He turned her chin, so she was staring up at him again. “I’m going to tell you everything until it’s so annoying that you’ll beg me to stop.”