The Avoiding Series Boxset

by K. A. Linde

  “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,” she 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?”

  “I’m not making a mistake. I’ve made my choice. It’s the right one because it makes me happy.”

  “Okay.”

  He didn’t sound convinced, but she was pretty sure her words were beginning to sink in.

  They heard rustling from the other room and then the turn of a doorknob. John pressed his lips together and then sighed.

  “Tell Adam I had to head out. I hope you’re right about him,” John said. “I bet Ramsey would smash his face in, too, if it turns out you’re wrong.”

  “Yeah, I bet he would,” Lexi said with a giggle even though she was sure John didn’t find that funny at all. “Sorry, not funny. Just feels like a lifetime ago.”

  “I’m glad I got to see you. If you change your mind—”

  “I won’t,” Lexi answered automatically.

  “All right,” John said with a shrug.

  And then, he walked out of Chyna’s apartment without another word—no big fanfare, no emotional heart-tugging moment, no farewell kiss. Just the likely realization that he was wasting his time by continuing to fight for her. She had no doubts that if things didn’t work out with Jack, then John would still be interested, but she didn’t think that was going to happen.

  In fact, at this point, she couldn’t even imagine a possibility of a life without Jack.

  And she counted on never having to.

  PRESENT

  Just as John closed the door behind him, Chyna and Adam started down the hallway.

  “Alexa!” Chyna crowed, walking confidently down the hall in her six-inch high heels and tiny, tight black mini dress.

  Lexi could tell that she had clearly been hitting the bottle already.

  “Hey, C,” Lexi said with a shake of her head.

  She felt a bit strange after what had happened with John coupled with Jack disappearing out of nowhere. She could use a drink of her own.

  “Where’s your man?”

  “Had to stop to get something. He said it was a surprise, and he would meet us at the restaurant. Are you ready?” Lexi asked quickly.

  Chyna raised one perfectly manicured eyebrow. “He just went to get something? That’s…odd.”

  Lexi shrugged, trying to let it roll off her shoulders. “It’ll be fine.”

  “Totally. I mean, he would be stupid to screw up now,” Chyna said with a tipsy giggle.

  Adam shook his head and strode past Chyna. “I have the most insensitive wife in the world.”

  “And you love every minute of it,” Chyna snapped back.

  “I’m sure Jack is doing exactly what he said he was doing,” Adam said, ignoring Chyna’s outburst. “Have you seen John by any chance?”

  “Yeah. He just told me to let you know that he had to head out. He found out about Ramsey and Jack and then took off.”

  “Ah,” Adam said.

  Their eyes met, and she knew that Adam understood what had passed between her and John. She had always had an uncanny connection with Adam, and Lexi knew that he was very close with John. She wondered but had never asked if John and Adam had talked about her after Adam had found out that they had slept together. She figured it didn’t matter now.

  “Well, we’re already going to be late because Adam wanted to give me two orgasms instead of one. Isn’t he a stand-up guy?” Chyna said with a wink as she snaked her hand up his back.

  Adam rolled his eyes, but Lexi saw his ears burn red. Lexi assumed it was always like this between them. He was probably used to it even if it still made him blush.

  “Get your ass to the car,” he said, smacking her playfully on the butt.

  “Y’all are ridiculous,” Lexi said.

  Lexi followed their ridiculous asses back out of Chyna’s apartment and into the backseat of her town car. A few minutes later, they pulled up in front of the new restaurant that had just been opened by a prominent reality-TV chef. It was classic Americana food in a gourmet setting with the decadence of the Upper East Side.

  As soon as Chyna flounced into the place, they were ushered upstairs and deposited at a table in a private room off of the main dining floor. With candlelight illuminating the small room, the table was set for four with single-sheet hardback menus at each place. Lexi checked her cell phone to see the time. Jack still wasn’t here. They had shown up ten minutes late for their dinner reservations, so she couldn’t say anything about him being late. But she missed him and was so damn curious about what the hell he was doing.

  The waitress appeared a few seconds later, and Chyna ordered an expensive bottle of wine for the table while they waited for Jack to appear. The wine was uncorked, and four glasses were poured when Jack showed up. His cheeks were flushed with the chill from outside, and his blue eyes locked in on Lexi. He smiled, and she felt her heart stop.

  “Sorry I’m late,” he said before kissing Lexi’s cheek and then taking a seat beside her.

  “Glad you could join us,” Chyna said dryly.

  Jack chuckled at her. “Drink some more wine, Chyna.”

  “Don’t mind if I do,” she said before tipping back her glass. She pulled it back and pointed between them. “You know, I knew that you would pick him.”

  “You told me,” Lexi said.

  Once Lexi had finally called Chyna to let her know what happened, Chyna had gone on and on about how she knew that Lexi would end up with Jack. Lexi was pretty sure Chyna had thought that Lexi would just leave Jack and Ramsey altogether, but Chyna had insisted it was Jack all along.

  And Lexi agreed with her on that. It was always Jack—her Jack.

  Dinner came and went without Lexi getting a chance to ask Jack about what he had been up to. She eyed him, trying to get him to spill, but he just smiled and squeezed her hand under the table. If he was bound and determined to hold it back, she might as well let him keep his surprise to himself. She would find out in good time.

  “Did you get my message?” Jack whispered when Adam and Chyna were seriously invested in another intimate debate. “You never responded.”

  “Message? No. I checked my phone right before you got here. When did you send it?”

  “Right before I walked into the room.”

  Lexi held up her finger and dug her phone back out. Yep. There was a missed message from Jack.

  3 o’clock.

  Lexi giggled. “You were checking me out.”

  The last time she had gotten a text message like that was when she had been in college, and he had seen her from across the bar. That night had been the spark that they needed to end up back together. And they had kept ending up together for years after that.

  “How could I not?”

  “You’re silly. I could never forget that night.”

  “I could never forget you.”

  Her phone buzzed in her hand
just as she was putting it away, and she clicked on the email that had come in.

  Huh. It was from Cierra.

  Cierra had been sad to hear about Lexi breaking up with Ramsey, but she had understood Lexi’s side on the whole thing. Lexi was lucky to still have her as a friend even though she worked for Bridges. Cierra was going to be a bridesmaid for Lexi after all.

  The email appeared before her eyes, and as Lexi skimmed the intro, she immediately started laughing.

  “What?” Chyna asked, coming out of her argument with Adam.

  “Oh, you’ll never believe this,” Lexi said, covering her mouth to keep from laughing hysterically as she read through the article attached to the email.

  “Atlanta Lifestyle magazine has a full-page spread about none other than the Bitch herself,” Lexi announced.

  “Bekah?” Jack asked softly.

  “What is Atlanta Lifestyle magazine?” Chyna asked.

  “It’s the richie-rich Atlanta magazine,” Jack explained with a shrug. “All the country clubbers read it religiously. Bekah has had a subscription her whole life. Basically your page six.”

  “Oh,” Chyna said, turning her nose up. “So, what does it say?”

  Lexi turned her phone around and showed off the picture. It was a clearly unstable Bekah lunging at Lexi with her arms outstretched in front of her and her father holding her back. She looked ready to murder Lexi. Luckily, only the back of Lexi’s head was visible or else it wouldn’t have been as hilarious.

  “It briefly mentions the divorce proceedings going wrong for her. The majority of it deals with her cheating with Clark and the destruction of her golden-girl reputation. And get this part,” Lexi said, turning the phone back to herself and reading a part of it. “Due to the humiliation endured against the famous Bridges name and her inability to handle her own finances, an anonymous source has leaked to us that Bekah’s trust fund has been frozen, and her active role as Bridges Enterprise vice president has been revoked until further notice.”

  “Wow,” Jack whispered. “She’s got to be mortified.”

  “Yeah,” Lexi said, seeing the concern on Jack’s face. “I’m sorry. I mean…I still hate her, but I’m sorry it all happened like this.”