by K. A. Linde
“I know, Jack,” she murmured softly.
“If you want me to be here for you, I am.”
She held her breath and closed her eyes, counting to ten before releasing the breath. This wasn’t why she had called him. She knew he would be there for her if she needed him to be.
“I just called because I can’t meet after work. I forgot that I already have plans,” she vaguely told him.
“You can’t meet?” he asked, the need filling his voice once more. “Lex, I really need to talk to you.”
“I know, I know. And I want to talk, but I can’t tonight. Can you wait until tomorrow?” she asked, struggling to turn him down. She had completely forgotten about her plans with Ramsey, and she didn’t get enough time with him as it was. She couldn’t cancel everything just because Jack needed her.
“Yeah,” he whispered. “Yeah, it can wait.”
She could almost see the defeated look on his face—those blue eyes begging and pleading, the forward tilt of his head. “I’ll…I’ll talk to you tomorrow then.”
“Yeah, all right,” he muttered into the phone.
“Are you going to be all right until then?” she couldn’t help asking, knowing he was going to shrug it off regardless.
“I’ll survive. Will you make it through court?”
It was Lexi’s turn to shrug. “Can I murder my clients?”
“Can you be your own defense attorney?”
“Yes?”
“Then, do it. You’re the best.”
Lexi chuckled, loving the easy banter between them. Today was one of those days when she wished she could get out of work to go have lunch with Jack. When he was around to lighten her mood, it was easier to forget the headache that had become all but a constant fixture from this job.
“You’re silly,” she told him through her laughter.
“There’s that smile. That’s better.”
She could tell his own smile had returned.
“Thanks, Jack.”
“Anytime. I’m here.”
“See you tomorrow.”
“Bye, Lex.”
She hung up the phone, her mission accomplished, and she went back to the insufferable job of working with these corporate hacks. Sometimes, on days like today, she wanted to turn them all in and make them handle their cases on their own. They weren’t worth the trouble she had to go through for them.
Knowing she had plans made the day drag on longer than usual. Her client even noticed how antsy she was to be dismissed from court for the day. Her feet were tapping under the table, her legs were bouncing up and down, and she couldn’t help continually checking her watch. She practically sprinted out of the courtroom as soon as the judge released them.
She found a place to change into something more appropriate and raced across town on autopilot. She floored the car, weaving through traffic, on her way to the restaurant.
Snatching her phone out of her purse, she pressed the button for Chyna.
She answered on the first ring. “Chica!” Chyna cried over the background noise.
Lexi rolled her eyes. She loved her party-animal best friend. “Hey, C. Are you drunk already?”
“Well on my way,” she said with a giggle. “What’s wrong?”
“Wrong?” Lexi asked. How did Chyna always know these things?
“You think I don’t know you, chica? Come on, spill it!”
Lexi thought that she knew her best friend pretty well, but sometimes it felt like Chyna could read her mind.
“Jack called me this morning.”
“And? Isn’t that normal?”
“Yeah. Yeah, it is,” Lexi said, trying to figure out how to explain. “But he sounded like…Jack.”
Chyna was silent for a second. All that Lexi could hear was the music in the background and a cacophony of people talking.
“You mean he sounded like…Jack?”
“Yeah…I mean, I don’t know. He just said he had to talk to me, and he sounded desperate. Am I reading into things?”
“I’d tell you to trust your instincts, but your instincts suck.”
“Chyna!”
“What? Jesus, do you think he’s going to try anything? I’ll come kick him in the balls again for you, if you think that.”
“No, I don’t think he’s going to try anything.”
“Then, go see him. Are you on the way now?” Chyna asked. “I bet you are.”
“I have dinner plans with Ramsey.”
“Is not knowing eating you up? Do you want to skip dinner?” Chyna giggled.
“Oh, shut up. I can’t skip dinner.”
“But you want to.”
“I have to go, Chyna. Tell Adam hey for me.”
“Will do, chica. Tell Ramsey and Jack hello for me.”
Lexi hung up the phone with a shake of her head. Chyna had a way of reassuring her while also throwing her off-balance.
Lexi would figure out what to do about Jack tomorrow. She was already running behind for dinner, and that should be her priority.
Slamming on the brakes in front of the valet booth, Lexi rushed out of her car and tossed the keys to the waiting valet. He looked at her in surprise as she tugged her skimpy dress down and hobbled past him toward the entrance. She reached down and adjusted her slingback heels. She was late. She was unbelievably late, and she felt like nothing short of a disaster. With curly tendrils falling haphazardly from the ponytail holder, her hair was still knotted into the messy bun she had worn to court that morning. Her makeup was still intact, but she hadn’t checked it anytime recently. At least her assistant had remembered to pick up the black halter dress from the dry cleaner, and her slingbacks had still been in her car. She slung her wildly inappropriate hobo bag over her shoulder and steeled herself to walk into the restaurant.
The maître d’ gave her a once-over as she paraded into the restaurant, and then he turned back to the buxom blonde before him. Lexi ground her teeth in irritation. She didn’t want to deal with these people any more than she had to. The blonde seemed to occupy all his attention, so Lexi just continued walking toward the dining room.
“Reservation?” he asked, blocking her path.
“Bridges,” she explained confidently with the arrogance and authority she had sometimes seen Ramsey use.
“Ah…Mrs. Bridges,” he said with a fake smile.
“Oh!” she said awkwardly. “We’re not married.”
“My apologies,” he said, the contempt returning. “Easy mistake.”
“Yeah,” she grumbled.
It was a mistake that had happened way more than she liked. Everyone mistook her for Ramsey’s wife. They had been to so many functions where that happened. It wasn’t like she wore a goddamn ring or anything! Just because they had been together for two years didn’t mean they had to get married immediately! She wished that people would just stop asking her! Rings made her nervous. Why ruin a good thing when it was working without a ring? Ugh!
“We’ll have someone escort you to your seat,” the man said, snapping his fingers at a hostess.
“Thank you,” Lexi said, following the snobby woman through the restaurant.
Watching the crowd of people made Lexi entirely uncomfortable—the couples picking at their food, the women barely munching on a piece of lettuce, the men distracted by someone else’s wife. Was this where her life was heading? She shuddered at the thought and tried to push it aside. She had never liked Ramsey for his money, and oft times, she would forget he was as wealthy as he was. She was bringing in a handsome salary herself, but something about the way these people were acting tonight ruffled her feathers. She had never been that person, but it was easy to see how money changed people. Holding back her unmitigated qualms, she forced a smile on her face and tried to hide her apprehension.
“Here you are,” the woman said, smiling politely at Ramsey.
“Hey,” Ramsey said. His gorgeous smile appeared on his face at Lexi’s approach.
“Hey,” she managed
, walking past the hostess.
Ramsey stood, wrapped his strong arms around her, and kissed her forehead. She breathed him in, during even the briefest of embraces, and smiled at the minty smell he exuded. It never got old.
“It’s so good to see you,” he murmured.
Lexi couldn’t help but giggle at his cute PDA moment. Maybe those other couples could take note and pay more attention to each other. Taking her seat across from him, Lexi crossed her legs under the table and unfolded her napkin before laying it on her lap.
“So…you’re late,” he mused with a knowing glint in his eyes.
“Yeah, court ran over. I’m sorry,” she told him.
“You didn’t end up seeing Jack?” he asked, only half-joking.
“No, I ended up rescheduling with him,” she said, shrugging. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow, I guess.”
“Well, I took the liberty of ordering for us. I hope you don’t mind,” he said, gesturing to a vodka-cranberry placed before her.
“No, that’s fine. I needed this,” she said with a laugh.
“I figured as much. This case is taking a lot out of you.”
“The people are relentless,” she said before sipping on her drink. “I just can’t catch a break. One asshole client to the next.”
“We should get away,” he told her.
“That’d be nice,” she said, sending him an amused smile. “What did you have in mind? And when can we make it happen?”
“When does the case end?” he asked.
The look on his face showed that he knew it wasn’t going to be over anytime soon. She didn’t even need to voice that. She had been up late, working on it, for far too long.
“We’ll go after,” he added.
“Sure,” she murmured softly. She took another sip of her drink. “Why did you choose this place anyway?”
“The restaurant?”
She nodded.
“Because you like it. You do like it, right? Should we have gone somewhere else? We can still leave,” he mumbled, trying to recover from a misstep he hadn’t made.
“No, no, it’s fine,” she said quickly, giggling to herself at his adorable reaction. “I do like this place. It’s so classy though. Sometimes, I feel dirty when I walk inside.”
“Isn’t it supposed to have the opposite reaction?” he asked curiously.
“Let me rephrase. I don’t feel clean enough to eat here. I feel like someone needs to polish me, like the silverware,” she said, holding up and examining a pristinely polished fork. “I could never get forks this clean.”
“What’s this about, Lexi?” Ramsey asked, reaching across the table and taking her hand. He didn’t let go, and he slowly swirled a figure-eight pattern against the top of her hand.
“I’m just tired,” she murmured, glancing away from him, “and I didn’t get to eat lunch. Just irritable, I guess.”
“Hey,” he said, tugging on her hand lightly until she looked back at him. “I love you. You’ll get through this case.”
She sighed and nodded. She wished she could tell him about all the other things on her mind, but this wasn’t the place. How could she ask him in the midst of these people whether or not she was going to end up like them?
Lexi knew that she was thinking too much into it, and her stress was starting to seep into her personal life, but she had a hard time preventing it from happening. Being surrounded by such opulence reminded her too much of the people she worked for—the people she wanted to forget.
Trying to clear her mind, she placed a smile on her face and asked Ramsey about his day. He already knew that hers had been stressful, but she needed to remember that he had a stressful job, too. Sometimes, it was easy to get wrapped up in what she was going through at work and the doubts she was having about her future. Putting in the effort to find out about Ramsey’s day eased her mind, and dinner arrived shortly after.
By the end of the meal, her apprehension about the evening had dissipated, and they had slipped effortlessly into a debate about who was going to pay for the meal. Ramsey won, of course. He always won, but Lexi found it amusing to prod him on the subject. Maybe one day she would be able to convince him otherwise.
Latching on to his arm, Ramsey led Lexi out of the dining hall. She wished that they could do this more often…that they had more time. Snuggling against his arm, they exited through the main entrance and into the late October air. The valet smiled at their approach and motioned to his assistant to grab the keys.
“Take a walk with me,” Ramsey said, pulling Lexi away from the parking lot and waving dismissively at the valet.
“But our cars.”
“They’ll take care of it. Don’t worry about it,” he said, continuing to lead her away from the restaurant.
“Are you sure?” Lexi asked. She was concerned about leaving the only real possession she cherished alone in a parking lot so late at night.
“Of course. Where do you think we are?”
“I guess you’re right,” she agreed reluctantly, glancing back over her shoulder at the valets standing around. “Where are we going?”
“I just wanted to walk with you and forget the rest of the world. I miss our time together. We’re both so busy.”
“I know this case is really something else.”
She felt like she was always making excuses. She never had enough free time anymore, and when she did, she would have so much else to do that she wouldn’t get to spend it with Ramsey.
He laced his fingers with hers as they veered toward the nearest intersection. The city lights gleamed all around them, and she shuddered a little bit as the crisp evening air reminded her that winter was just around the corner.
“Are you cold?” he asked, putting his arm around her and rubbing her arm.
“Just a little.”
“I’m glad we were able to get dinner tonight. It’s nice to see your pretty face.”
Lexi giggled slightly at all his compliments. She was now glad he had asked her to walk with him. She had forgotten how nice it was to just get away. He hadn’t been lying at dinner when he said they needed a vacation. They both worked too much to do it though.
Ramsey gestured for her to cross the street, and she traipsed across the grimy crosswalk in her slingback heels, being careful not to trip over a pothole.
“Let’s go in,” he said with an easy smile as he motioned toward one of the entrances to Piedmont Park.
“This late at night?” she questioned him, slightly uncomfortable at the prospect.
“Yeah, let’s go together.”
“Isn’t it dangerous?” she asked, biting her lip.
She hugged her arms around herself as he stood, silhouetted by the lights at the entrance. He did look smashing tonight in a black button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to three-quarter length and charcoal slacks. His green eyes stood out in contrast to his dark outfit, and she just wanted to kiss him.
“You feel like you’re in some kind of danger with me?” he asked, his lips quirking up at the sides at the humor in his statement.
Lexi reached up on her tiptoes and lightly kissed his lips. “I’m not the only one with a pretty face tonight.”
“You’re trying to change the subject,” he murmured against her lips.
“Is it working?” she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Are you in any way unsafe with me?” he asked, circling his arms around her waist.
“Depends on what you plan to do with me tonight,” she whispered huskily.
“After this morning? You’ll be lucky if I let you out of bed.”
“You think being out of bed would be lucky?”
Ramsey shook his head. “Into the park,” he demanded, pointing at the entrance.
“Nope. We should go home now.”
Ramsey smiled, clearly contemplating her suggestion. Then, as she began to drag him back to their cars, he hoisted her up into his arms and carried her into the park himself.
“Oh
my God! Ramsey, what are you doing?” she squealed as he walked forward.
He held her gingerly in his arms as if she weighed nothing.
“I can walk! I can walk!”
“Are you going to behave?” he asked, smirking down at her face.
“Not if you keep carrying me!”
“Then, why would I put you down?”
She threw her head back, exasperated, and he just laughed at her.
“All right, all right. I’ll put you down.” He placed her lightly on her feet.
“Thank you,” she said, steadying herself against him in her high heels. “Can we try to act like civilized adults now?”
“What’s the fun in that?”
“You have a point.”
As they walked farther into the park, the trees began to cluster together, and the city lights gradually disappeared. The characteristic speeding of cars on the interstate and honking of horns in traffic through the commuter city faded away to a dull hum, and they were left with each other. The winding path they had selected was even farther off the beaten track, and Lexi actually noticed that some stars were overhead. The stars had come out for she and Ramsey tonight, like the stars had known they were going to take this moonlit stroll through the city.
The weight of his hand was peaceful against hers, and the sound of each other’s breathing kept a slow, easy rhythm about their movements—so much so, that she hardly realized just how dark it was where they were. They had walked so deep into the woods that even the lights in the park were missing or had been extinguished. It reminded her of the night when they had ridden four-wheelers in the woods back when they were first exploring each other, first accepting what was happening, first falling in love.
“Ramsey,” she whispered, not even sure why she was being so quiet. “It’s really dark out here. Don’t you think we should go back?”
“Yeah, probably,” he agreed, stopping and staring down at her. “Let’s just go a little farther, and if we don’t find the other side, we’ll circle back.”
Lexi nodded.
After another minute of walking on the darkened path, they followed a bend in the trail, and suddenly, light illuminated the path before them.
“Oh, good,” she murmured, breathing a sigh of relief. “We made it.”
Ramsey smiled back at her. “We did.”