Avoiding Temptation

by K. A. Linde

  And Lexi was ready to get out of Atlanta. The Bridges owned half the city, and she didn’t really want to stick around for any backlash.

  “It’s getting late,” Lexi said as she led Jack across the street from the law school to the edge of Washington Square Park.

  “It’s not even dark yet,” Jack told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to try to help warm her up.

  “But it’s cold.” She buried her fingers deeper into the pockets of her white peacoat.

  Jack laughed. “Can we look at the arch one more time?”

  “You want to walk through the park right before nightfall? Do you want to get mugged?” Lexi asked.

  “Live a little. We’ll be fine,” Jack said, shaking his head at her.

  Lexi shrugged and directed them to the entrance. They still had enough light to get them through the park before nightfall. Lexi knew the stories about Washington Square Park at night, and she didn’t care how secure Jack felt. They were not going to stay in there.

  Jack sensed her tensing up as they started through the park, and he drew her hand out of her pocket. Their hands swung loose between them as a breeze whipped her hair off her shoulders and around her face. As they made it to the giant circle leading up to the arch, Lexi laughed and tried to wrangle her hair back into place.

  They stopped in front of the colossal marble statue that was a model replica of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The lights had already flickered on, illuminating the great construction. Lexi and Jack passed through the arch, giggling about the similarities between it and the arch at their alma mater. Students weren’t allowed to pass under the arch on campus, or they would risk never graduating.

  Jack circled them back around to face the front where two sculptures of George Washington stood tall and proud. Lexi had passed through here so many times, but standing here with Jack felt like it was the first time she was appreciating it.

  “This might be my favorite place in the city,” Jack said.

  “Why?” Lexi asked, scrunching up her nose. She liked the arch, but there were so many amazing places in the city. She didn’t think she could pick one.

  “Because I’m standing here with you.”

  Lexi wrapped her arms around his neck. “Jack Howard, when did you become such a sweetheart?”

  She lightly brushed her cold nose against his as he grabbed her around the middle. It felt absolutely blissful to be out in public, standing around with Jack like this. They had hidden and fought their affection for so long, and now that she didn’t have to hold back any longer, she felt it bursting out of her at every corner.

  “Don’t tell anyone. I have a reputation to uphold,” he joked, dropping his mouth to hers.

  “Oh yes, wouldn’t want to hurt your jerk reputation.”

  “You’re killing me, love,” he said against her mouth.

  “You like it.”

  “I love everything about you.”

  Lexi ducked her head into his shoulder. “Sure know how to make a girl blush.”

  “You bet I do,” he said huskily into her ear.

  She smiled seductively while grabbing on to the collar of his gray coat and pulling him toward the street. “Tonight.”

  “That’s so long from now.”

  “So impatient.”

  “I’ve waited forever for you, Lex,” he said, stopping them in their tracks and taking her face lightly in his hands. “I’ll always be impatient. I want you all the time. I want you right now.”

  Lexi swooned at his words and felt her knees giving out as she stared up into baby-blue eyes. God, she loved this man.

  “A bit cold out to take me right here,” she said with a wink.

  “Don’t tempt me,” he growled.

  “I’ll always be your temptation.”

  Jack smiled that heart-stopping smile, and in that moment, Lexi knew she would follow him anywhere. Sex in the park wasn’t sounding like that bad of an option with that expression on his face telling her that it would be worth her time. It always was.

  “We…have to get to Chyna’s,” Lexi murmured, trying to keep them on track.

  “You’re really going to make me wait? What if I just pick you up and take you now?” he demanded, walking her backward into the ever-darkening park.

  “I wouldn’t stop you,” she said with her own smirk.

  “Fuck, how am I supposed to control myself when you look at me like that?”

  “You aren’t?”

  “How much time do we have?” Jack asked, already walking down a side path.

  Lexi had walked on it a few times, and she knew it was far enough off the beaten path that they likely wouldn’t be disturbed. Her heart raced ahead of her with the anticipation of what was to come.

  “Not enough,” she whispered.

  But she didn’t care. Chyna would forgive her, right?

  “Oh well.” Jack glanced around and shrugged.

  It was already pretty dark back here. It wasn’t likely anyone would stumble across them.

  “This will have to do,” he said.

  His hands tangled into her hair, pulling her mouth up to his, as he pressed her back against the base of a large tree. Their kisses were heated and intensified with only the few short minutes of buildup. It was always like this every time—more heated, more passionate, more feverish. They couldn’t get enough of each other. They couldn’t stop, and it was beautiful that they didn’t have to.

  Lexi dug her fingers into the fabric of his dark sweater before moving her cold hands underneath the material to run along his bare stomach. He jumped at the temperature difference, but he didn’t stop kissing her. He grabbed one of her legs covered by a thin layer of black tights and brought it up around his waist as he let his other hand find the hem of her skirt. She teasingly ran her hand softly along the waistline of his pants.

  “Fuck,” he groaned.

  His hand slid up the bottom of her skirt, and her back arched to feel him touch her. He chuckled at her need as he ran his hand slowly up her inner thigh. Her body was pulsing, and she was ready to just rip off her tights and let him take her. She needed to feel him, to feel the rush of their bodies connecting.

  Jack’s thumb found her clit through the material, and he circled around it until she thought she might combust. A moan escaped her lips, and she latched on to his belt buckle, willing him closer. The moan must have been too loud because Jack covered her mouth again with his lips, and he pressed his rapidly growing erection against her. She whimpered through the kisses as their bodies moved together, desperate to take him. Her hand fumbled to undo his belt buckle. She finally yanked it apart, unbuttoned his pants, and slid the zipper to the bottom. Her hand found his thickness through his jeans, and she ran down the length.

  “Jack, take me,” she growled into his ear.

  He didn’t need anymore urging as he grasped the waistline of her tights and shoved them down her legs forcefully. She hoped she didn’t have runs in them, but at this point, she could care less. Jack released himself from the confines of his boxers, and shoved her back harder against the tree. He body was pulsing with the heat radiating between and the forcefulness.

  This was her Jack.

  He lifted her up off the ground easily, until his dick pressed against her opening, and then he slid her down onto him. Her pussy took all of him in and tightened around the welcome intrusion.

  “This is just how I like you,” he said, taking one of her hands, forcing it over her head, and then doing the same with the other.

  She smirked at him from her position with him inside of her, and her completely exposed to him. “I’ll try to hold in my screams,” she said defiantly.

  “Don’t. The world could use a lesson.”

  She laughed until he moved out of her slowly. It was the only movement he took slow after that. He thrust up inside of her forcefully over and over again. The risk of getting caught only intensified the excitement and desperation in their movements. And he took her unrestrainedly
; in a way that left no doubt in her mind that there would never be anything like this, no one else like Jack.

  He could take her slow or fast or rough or fucking brutally, and she liked it. She wanted more. And she couldn’t imagine a time that she wouldn’t ever want more.

  As Jack pumped inside of her, Lexi’s back scratched against the tree, and she felt her world tilting—the way it always did with Jack. Her breathing quickened, and she felt the first wave of orgasm take over her body. She clenched all around him, and he hit climax with her. As they both rode out the pleasure coursing through their bodies, Jack rested his forehead down on her.

  “Mine,” he whispered.

  “Forever.”

  They separated and were in the middle of pulling themselves together when they heard someone clear his throat behind them.

  Lexi dropped her hands immediately, and Jack jumped away. They both turned, faced the source of the interruption, and saw a young male cop standing nearby.

  “Sorry, officer,” Jack said with a nod.

  “I’d move along,” the guy said. He looked more like he was trying to hide his amusement than admonishing them.

  Jack placed his hand on the small of Lexi’s back and walked with her off of the trail. “Sorry about that,” Jack said.

  “About what?” Lexi asked. “The orgasm?”

  Jack laughed. “No. I’m never sorry for those. Sorry about the cop.”

  “Pervert.”

  Jack cracked up again. “How much time do we have?”

  Lexi checked her watch. “Shit! We’re cutting it really close. We have to meet Chyna at her place, and then we have dinner reservations almost right after.”

  They walked out to the street, and Jack hailed a cab. He opened the back door and let her slide in first. “Hey, Lex,” he murmured.

  “Yeah?”

  “I have something I have to get before dinner. Can I meet you there?”

  Lexi narrowed her eyes. After that encounter in the park and all this talk about eating her for dessert first, Lexi had no idea why he wouldn’t want to go with her. It made her suspicious, and it was a feeling she really didn’t like. Years of suspicions made her stomach jolt at the thought.

  Jack could pretty much see it on her face, and he bent forward and kissed her. “You’ll like it.”

  “Where are you going?” she asked anyway. Her stomach fluttered anxiously.

  “It’s a surprise—for you. I don’t want to ruin it.”

  “The last time you left in New York—”

  Jack shushed her with another kiss. “I’m not leaving you.”

  “I didn’t think you were.”

  “It’s a good surprise, but it is a surprise. Please let me do this,” he whispered.

  Lexi nodded slowly. She trusted him. He looked so earnest in his request, not an ounce of deception on his face. She wondered if he had planned this the whole time or if it was all just spur of the moment.

  “Okay. I’ll see you at Chyna’s or the restaurant?”

  “I’m not sure yet. Probably the restaurant.”

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  “I love you, too, Lex,” he said right before closing the taxi door.

  Lexi gave the address to Chyna’s apartment to the cab driver as her mind drifted away to Jack. They’d had a great weekend in the city, and it just further solidified her desire to move back. She’d had offers from New York law firms before choosing Atlanta to be closer to Ramsey, and she was sure she could acquire a job here again with all the experience that she had gained. And Jack surely could get a job in the city now. He had been applying broadly, but she wanted to talk to him about focusing here more. She thought it would be good for them to get out of Atlanta.

  She just hoped that whatever this surprise was would be good. She knew Jack had changed, but sometimes, it still scared her, knowing that they were together. She loved him with all her heart, and the only thing she wanted to do was give it away to him. Now, she just needed to trust herself not to try to hold on to it too tight. Jack knew what he was doing with it.

  The cab drove her uptown through traffic to Chyna’s penthouse overlooking Central Park. Luckily, Lexi managed to arrive a few minutes early. She paid the cab and then stepped outside to see Bernard holding the door open for her.

  “Miss Lexi,” he said with a nod. “Good to see you.”

  “Mr. B,” she said with a wave. “You know, I never asked—what’s it like for Chyna not to show up with a random man every night? You actually don’t have to babysit her anymore.”

  Bernard laughed and shook his head. “Mr. Adam does all the babysitting now. It’s pretty nice.”

  Lexi bit her lip and smiled. So much had changed since she had first arrived in New York. “Good seeing you.”

  She stepped inside, took the elevator upstairs and walked down the hall to Chyna’s place. The door was unlocked for her, and she entered an almost completely empty apartment. She had been expecting Chyna to be slightly drunk, pacing the apartment with Adam watching on incredulously, like he normally did when his wife acted like…herself. Instead, all Lexi saw was John.

  He looked good. She was pretty sure every woman in the world found that man attractive. He just had the look. He was in a dark three-piece suit with a black shirt underneath and no tie. His short brown hair was spiked. His hazel eyes looked her up and down, and that smile crept up across his face.

  Lexi hoped it wasn’t obvious what she had been doing with Jack. She hadn’t even checked to see if she had stuff in her hair or if her clothes were properly aligned. Oh well. Nothing she could do about it now. She ran her hands down the front of her skirt reflexively anyway.

  “Hey. I didn’t know you were going to be here.” She hadn’t seen or heard from him since the wedding fiasco.

  “I didn’t realize you would be here either,” he said, standing from where he had been seated on the couch and walking across the room toward her. “How have you been?”

  “Great,” she answered honestly.

  A smile grew on her face as she thought about Jack—his face, his body, his sweet kisses, the way his hair curled at the edges, the perfect color of his eyes, the way his hand traced her palm, the way his lips looked when he told her that he loved her.

  “Really great.”

  “Well, I’m glad to hear that even if I think your fiancé is a total dick,” John said.

  Lexi’s mouth popped open. She was so used to John knowing everything about her life that it hadn’t even occurred to her that he wouldn’t know what had happened. But why would he? It hadn’t been that long ago. As far as she knew, he wasn’t still talking to Parker. She supposed that Adam could have told him, but it didn’t seem like that had happened.

  “I broke up with him,” Lexi told him softly.

  It was John’s turn to look surprised. There was no way that he had been anticipating that.

  “I can’t say that I’m disappointed,” John said, taking another step closer to her. “Though, I am disappointed about all the time wasted. You could have been up here all along, avoiding all the bullshit that happened in your life then.”

  “I don’t think I wasted any time,” Lexi said defiantly.

  John balked at the statement but kept going. “Are you moving back?”

  “I think so, but I still have some loose ends to tie up.”

  “When can I see you again?” he asked without missing a beat.

  Lexi shook her head. Her heart broke a little bit for him. “Why have you waited for me all this time with no certainty that anything would ever happen?”

  “You’ve always been at the forefront of my mind. I’ve never met another woman quite like you.”

  “One who told you no?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

  He chuckled and shrugged. “There’s that, but you’re different, Lexi. You know that. You don’t bullshit. You’re not afraid to speak your mind. You’re smart and beautiful. A deadly combination.”

  “I’m sorry,” s
he said.

  She hated having this conversation again, but at this point, she knew it was necessary. She wasn’t sure how many times she had told John that they couldn’t be together, and it hurt each and every time to have to deliver the news. He could have anyone he wanted, and she couldn’t understand, even with his kind words, why that person would be her.

  “What is holding you back?” John asked, reaching for her, wanting to sway her.

  “Jack,” she answered, pulling out of his grasp. “It was always Jack.”

  John narrowed his eyes. “The one I could never compare to?” he asked the question as if it was still the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.

  She hated to admit it, but she still meant every word that she had said to him that night over dinner.

  “Isn’t he still married?”

  Lexi shook her head. “No. He got divorced.”

  “And now, you’re together.”

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  “Perfect,” he said sarcastically. “Where is he now?”

  Lexi bit her lip. Great. Just what she wanted him to ask. “He’s in the city with me, but I don’t know where right now. He’s on his way.”

  “From everything I’ve heard about him, he’s a serial cheater. You’re not concerned that he’s just off and away?” John asked, spouting all the fears that had clouded her mind for years.

  But she couldn’t stand there and let him say those things. Jack hadn’t cheated in a very long time. And if she could change, then why couldn’t he? Why couldn’t she give him the benefit of the doubt? Neither of them had been faultless, but they couldn’t continue to judge each other on what had happened so long ago. As Jack had said the day he found out about the divorce paperwork, he was no longer that nineteen-year-old boy anymore.

  “I was a serial cheater, too. People tend to forget that when they start to blame Jack for everything. We were both at fault, and now, we’ve both come to terms with who we were and moved on to the people we want to be. So, if you’re going to judge him, then you should judge me, too.”

  “So, that’s it then?” John asked. “I can’t change your mind? Tell you how much of a mistake you’re making?”