Avoiding Temptation (Avoiding 3)

Lexi ground her teeth. Just what she wanted to deal with. “What are you going to do about it?”

“We’ve already asked for a paternity test, which we’re scheduling as soon as possible,” he told her.

“Are you lawyering up?”

“Of course. We’ll have an attorney working on the logistics. We really just want this to go away with as little damage as possible.”

“But you’re going to prove her wrong, right?” Lexi asked. She knew that she had an inherently jaded view on the legal system, but still, she wanted the person crashing a train into her life to see justice. “If you are innocent, you’ll be able to prove it.”

“We’re minimizing the damage,” he said softly. “The company doesn’t care if it’s true or not…just as long as it’s swept under the rug and doesn’t impact the medical wing.”

“But I care if it’s true or not.”

“And you have my word, Lexi, that it’s not true,” he said earnestly.

And all she could think about with the realization that she would likely never know what had really happened was that…Ramsey’s word had never really meant that much.

Chapter 13

Christmas had been about as awkward as Lexi had ever experienced with the Bridges family.

She and Ramsey had decided that they were going to do their own thing on Christmas Eve morning, hang out with his parents that night, and then go to her parents’ house in the morning to celebrate with them. They had spent less time with her family since they lived farther away and thought it would be nice to spend a little more time with them for the holiday. Her mother wanted to help with the engagement preparations, and it would be a good excuse to talk to her about it.

That should have worked. It should have been okay—except his parents had decided that they were going to throw the country club holiday party on Christmas Eve after church, and Ramsey’s mother was hosting this year. So, Ramsey and Lexi wouldn’t be able to do any kind of celebrations with his family that night. Lexi had compromised and said they could go to her parents’ house on Christmas Eve even though she wouldn’t have as much time with them, and then they would spend time with his family on the big day.

But, of course, Ramsey had been expected to be at the party on Christmas Eve as well. A big part of her had wanted Ramsey to be the rebellious man she had fallen for. She had wanted him to tell his parents no, and she had just wanted she and Ramsey to do their own thing. Christ, she would have been happy to just skip all of it, sit around in their living room, and open presents without anyone else around. They could have eaten cinnamon rolls and watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Ramsey just wasn’t that person anymore. He had signed his soul over to the devil when he had agreed to work for his father. Expectations came with that, and even if Ramsey hated the club, he wouldn’t do anything to risk the business he had created and now loved.

They had spent Christmas Eve at the Bridges country club party. It hadn’t been too bad. Parker hadn’t shown up, and Bekah had actually left Lexi alone. She had been too busy receiving all of the sympathies for the terrible circumstances behind her divorce. Lexi had tried to avoid rolling her eyes.

They had stayed the night at his parents’ house and opened presents with them in the morning. It had been completely different than what she was used to. An interior designer had decorated everything, and all of the packages had been perfectly put together under the tree. Her parents usually used whatever wrapping paper was around that year and hand-wrapped the packages. They liked to overdo it, too, and they would get a ton of small presents to fill the tree past capacity.

Lexi and Ramsey hadn’t been able to escape the country club until well into the afternoon, and by the time they had arrived at her parents’ house, they had already eaten, thinking she wasn’t going to show up. Overall, it had been more stressful than it needed to be.

Next year, she was determined to do better. Though, her mother had told her about how difficult it had been to accommodate everyone’s schedules when they first got married, and sometimes it was just better to do her own thing and see people when she can.

Lexi had smiled and agreed. Next year.

New Year’s had been uneventful.

Lexi had gotten the flu and couldn’t leave the house. She had been pretty bummed because they had been planning to spend the weekend in Florida at his beach house, away from the rest of the world. Needless to say, Lexi hadn’t been able to make the trip, so they had just cozied up in front of the fireplace and watched the ball drop in the comfort of their own living room.

Once she had gotten over her sickness, they had taken engagement pictures at a local plantation. Lexi thought they were kind of cheesy, but the wedding planner had insisted because they needed something for the save-the-date cards.

It all seemed to be happening so fast. One day, Ramsey had proposed, and five months later, they had picked a date at the end of October. Now, they were sending out save-the-dates to their guests.

It all felt a bit surreal.

Lexi wandered into the small Mexican restaurant in Buckhead and took a seat in the back corner. Her new client actually wasn’t the worst thing she had ever suffered through, so she was back on a normal schedule where she actually…ate. What a luxury!

“Hey, Lex,” Jack said as he approached the table. “Sorry I’m late.”

“I just got here.”

A waiter came over and brought them drinks before disappearing just as quickly.

“How is work?” Jack asked.

“Fine. Nothing to complain about.”

Lexi always felt the weight of her engagement ring during these encounters. He didn’t even have to say anything. He could just look at her with those big blue eyes and know…

“How is the apartment shopping going?” she asked, just so he would stop looking at her like that.

“I found a place a couple days ago. It’s not as nice as what I had before…but I don’t really need much. I’ve always been more of a minimalist.”

“Says the man who drives a BMW,” she joked.

“You have to at Bridges.” He just shrugged, defeated.

He didn’t even like saying the name right now. She didn’t ask him about work anymore. It was clear that it was not an ideal situation. He was pretty miserable there, dealing with Bekah.