Avoiding Temptation

by K. A. Linde

  Lexi looked into his face and saw a glint of something she hadn’t recognized before. Had she not been looking? He appeared absolutely ecstatic. She hadn’t even realized how happy he was and that such a small walk with her could brighten his mood.

  Walking forward along the path, Lexi noticed it narrowed as they ventured toward the light. Her eyes widened as everything came into focus.

  No wonder he was grinning like an idiot.

  White candles of all different shapes and sizes flickered along the path. Hundreds of them illuminated their way, and she noticed, where she hadn’t before, the streetlights were all still in place but had been shut off to allow the red-and-orange flames to be the only source of light. He had turned off the world in Piedmont Park to give Lexi one of her own.

  She stared forward, perplexed and in awe at what was materializing, as she followed him down the pathway. The candles opened up to a small clearing where a giant blanket was laid out with a picnic basket and a dozen long-stemmed red roses in a clear vase.

  “What is this?” she whispered, facing Ramsey once more.

  He just smiled. “Dessert?”

  Lexi didn’t even have words right then. How was he always able to surprise her with such unbelievable acts of kindness? Would she ever be able to reciprocate his immense love and admiration for her?

  He slowly pulled his dress shoes off his feet and padded onto the plush blanket that she suddenly realized was the same one they had used at Stone Mountain on their very first date. Kicking her heels off her feet, she walked forward, toward him, her face still a mask of shock.

  She stood there, and without her heels on, she had to tilt her head back to look into his face. “How long have you been planning this?”

  “Long enough that I wasn’t going to let you miss dinner,” he murmured.

  “Sneaky.”

  “I’m so in love with you.” He reached up, took a hold of the ponytail holder, and freed her long, flowing hair. It fanned out around her face and past her shoulders in giant waves from the spiraled tight bun. “That’s better. That’s more like you.”

  Lexi beamed up at her boyfriend. He had planned all of this. She couldn’t believe it. Her mind wasn’t even functioning properly as she realized just how much he really loved her. He was full of surprises. He had been from day one.

  “What’s for dessert?” she murmured, licking her lips.

  “There will be plenty of time for that,” he said huskily. He lightly brushed his lips against hers.

  “Now?”

  “Later,” he said before kissing her once more.

  “Now?” she repeated, reaching up on her tiptoes to try to capture his lips again.

  “Alexa, my Alexa, I don’t know how to say this any other way.” He pushed a lock of her hair out of her face.

  “Say what?” She was still staring at his lips.

  “You are and always will be everything I want in my life. You get me through even the cloudiest of days by making the sun shine all around you. I could never in a million years find the right words to let you know how much you mean to me. So, I thought I’d start my explanation with this.” Ramsey slowly sank to one knee.

  Lexi gasped, her hand rising to her mouth. “Oh my God,” she murmured as she watched him pull a small black box out of his pocket.

  He slowly opened the lid and revealed what lay beneath. She stared in wonder as hundreds of flames reflected off the engagement ring. Perfect, simple, elegant—it was everything that represented their relationship and more. A perfectly cut pear-shaped diamond sat all alone on a thin silver band. It needed no adornment. It needed no decoration. It was flawless all on its own.

  “Alexa Mae Walsh,” Ramsey began, holding the ring out for her viewing, “will you do me the honor of spending the rest of our lives together as my wife?”

  Tears welled in her eyes, and she brushed them aside with her free hand. Her heartbeat was accelerating, and she couldn’t keep from staring at him with her mouth open. Her eyes shone with unadulterated shock at the turn of events.

  “Lexi?” he murmured her name again softly. He was still waiting for an answer.

  She could see the concern beginning to creep onto his face.

  “Yes! Yes, oh God, yes! Of course, Ramsey,” she told him, leaning down and kissing him full on the lips.

  His arms came up around her, and he picked her up off the ground and swung her in a circle. “You said yes.”

  “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,” she said over and over again.

  Placing her lightly on her feet, he took her left hand in his own and slowly slid the ring onto her finger. The diamond glittered in the candlelight, and they both stared at how perfectly it fit.

  “You said yes,” he repeated.

  “Did you think I’d say anything else?” she whispered, transfixed by the diamond resting on her finger.

  “No.” He brushed his finger against her ring. “It suits you.”

  “You suit me, Ramsey Bridges.”

  “Forever and always.”

  Lexi blinked into the afternoon sun. It was all but blinding and caused her to sneeze three times, back to back to back.

  “That’s really cute,” Ramsey told her.

  She glanced at him to retort, but then she let out another sneeze as she looked up into the sun over his shoulder. He chuckled softly to himself, clearly trying to hold it in.

  “Thanks,” she muttered. She sniffled at the onslaught. She walked over to his parked Mercedes and hopped inside.

  It had been twenty-four hours. Just twenty-four hours. A whole fucking twenty-four hours. The longest and shortest twenty-four hours of her life.

  They had walked out of Jack and Bekah’s wedding.

  They had actually walked out of their wedding!

  Her head still swam with the thought. She couldn’t believe they had done it. She couldn’t believe Ramsey had come with her. She couldn’t believe how much mind-blowing, earth-shattering sex they had had in the past twenty-four hours.

  From where they had been just one week earlier, she was hard-pressed to believe all that could happen in such a short period of time. She hadn’t even left his bedroom until a minute ago when they had both caved and decided eating was in their best interest.

  Not to mention, she had a plane to catch.

  Ramsey kept trying to talk her out of it. He wanted her to stay in Atlanta for a while longer. She didn’t have a job lined up yet, but she wasn’t ready to just move in with him. Call her crazy, but jumping into things right after the madness of the past week didn’t sound like the best idea. She wanted to try to work everything out with Ramsey. She wouldn’t mind considering moving in with him again, but maybe she would do it eventually—like after they got all of their trust issues out of the way.

  “Come on, just stay one more week,” Ramsey said, sliding his hand into hers across the car.

  “Nope. Can’t do it. I need to get home and work out some things there—find out about the jobs I applied for, settle things with Chyna, make sure Rachelle hasn’t kicked me out of the apartment.” Talk to John. Yeah, she still needed to talk to him before she could settle all of this with Ramsey.

  “All things that can be done a week from now.” Ramsey backed out of the driveway and started to zip through the city.

  “Psh. If I let things sit with Chyna, she’ll eat me alive when I see her next.”

  “She’ll get over it. If we’re okay, then she should be, too.”

  “You clearly don’t know my best friend and her ability to hold a grudge,” Lexi told him.

  “I’m just glad that you don’t have the same affinity for it.”

  Really? She was pretty sure she could benefit from holding on to a grudge a bit tighter. Lexi could think of one too many times when she had been too forgiving, too understanding, too accepting. Jack Howard.

  No, she wouldn’t think about him today. She wouldn’t think about their past and everything that had led to her walking out of his wedding. Today was t
he day that she wanted to move forward and be okay with the fact that she had left with Ramsey. She would just think about Ramsey today.

  Maybe tomorrow, she would let the weight of what she had done sink in—when she was all alone and could start to process what had happened. Maybe after she found out whether Jack had gone through with it…

  “Where are we getting food anyway?” Lexi asked, changing the subject. She might have also forgiven Ramsey too easily. She wouldn’t think about that right now either.

  “I was thinking Flip Burger,” he suggested.

  Her stomach growled at the mention of food, and feeling embarrassed, she placed her hand on it.

  “I guess we waited too long to eat.” Ramsey smirked at the suggestion.

  She was sure that he was thinking about their sexcapade last night.

  Her cheeks heated as she replayed her body sliding against his, his hands running through her hair, their hot breaths mingling in the dark room.

  “Uh…Flip sounds fine,” Lexi said, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear and staring out the passenger window.

  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 fuck 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 fuck 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.”

  “I don’t think I’d ever beg you to stop,” she said huskily.

  Ramsey chuckled and shook his head. “Right now, I want to take you back to my apartment and fuck you into tomorrow. I think I’ll start with you on top and then from behind and then maybe the stairs…”

  Lexi flushed all over, her body heating at his words.

  “And then, I think I’m going to clean you up in the shower and not keep my hands to myself,” he murmured into her ear.

  “Okay, okay!” Lexi took a few stutter steps backward and cleared her throat. “Maybe…maybe not everything.”

  Ramsey laughed boisterously. “You’re already asking me to stop!”

  “You know what I mean. I can’t be turned-on all the time when we’re together.”

  Ramsey arched an eyebrow, and with that one look, he asked, Why not?

  “I just want you to tell me everything that you might think about keeping from me. After yesterday, I’m pretty sure that has nothing to do with our sex life.”

  “All right, Lexi,” he said, closing the distance between them again. “I’ll do whatever I can to make this right.”

  “We can start with, who is meeting us for lunch?” She stared up into his handsome face and sighed.

  She sure hoped he meant what he had said. She couldn’t go through this all over again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

  “I meant for it to be a surprise, but I see that surprises are going to be…difficult.”

  That was one word for it.

  “I’ve invited my new deve
lopment team for the medical wing of Bridges.” He scratched the back of his head in that cute way she had grown accustomed to. “I, uh…thought you’d want to meet who I’ll be working with for the next year as we build and staff the new wing.”

  Fuck. Of course, he was trying to do something sweet for her. Well, as long as that team doesn’t include Parker.

  “That…sounds nice,” Lexi said.

  “I should have told you. No more surprises from now on.”

  “You’re so funny.” Lexi rolled her eyes.

  “Okay, okay. I’ll be more attentive to your feelings,” he amended with a kiss to her lips. “Can we go back inside now?”

  “Yes.” She felt sheepish for blowing up on him like that, but she was glad that she had stood her ground. She refused to let her cycle continue.

  They walked back up to the front of the restaurant just as her name was being called. They were ushered inside to a big red booth. Ramsey took a seat after Lexi, and she held his hand as they ordered drinks and waited for his new business associates. She wasn’t sure what to expect or why he was springing all of this on her so quickly. They had just gotten back together, and they weren’t even official yet or anything. While she was glad that he wanted her to know everything happening in his life, she wasn’t sure how ready she was for the next big step.

  “They should be here any minute,” Ramsey said with a megawatt smile for her.

  “So, what does the development team do exactly?”

  “They mostly make sure we get the project off the ground in the time that we desire. Since my father really wants this medical wing up and running and fully functional within the year, he hired a private company to do a lot of the logistical work.”

  Lexi’s mouth popped open. “Within the year? I thought that you didn’t even think this was ever going to get off the ground.”

  Ramsey sighed. “My father called me this morning, and after he finished lecturing me about walking out of Bekah’s wedding, he let me know about hiring this new team.”

  “When did you have time for a phone call?” Lexi asked.

  She was seriously going to have to break him of the habit of hiding things. They had been sleeping together all day and all morning. There had barely been enough time for her to sleep, let alone think of checking her email.