Avoiding Responsibility (Avoiding 2)

"Oh nothing fancy," she said shoving a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Usually it's just the five of us. My mom cooks and we all snuggle up in front of the fireplace to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. But this year for some reason," Lexi rolled her eyes, "my mom decided to invite everyone to our house for Thanksgiving. So both sets of grandparents are flying in tomorrow. All of my aunt's and uncles and their kids are here. It's a mad house."

"Sounds nice," he said dreamily.

"Psh, nice," she muttered sarcastically. "What do you do? It has to be much better."

"When I wake up, I put on a suit to go have a formal breakfast with my father's most prestigious business associates. They talk business," he stated dryly. "I'm expected to contribute now that I am older. From there every minute of the day is mapped out with things we're supposed to be doing to help the business. The business this and the business that," he quoted sardonically. "My grandparents are shoved in their somewhere briefly, before we finish with a more formal dinner at the Club."

"Let me guess, they discuss business?" Lexi asked only half joking.

"Ding ding ding," he said raising his hand in the air.

A wave of compassion flowed through Lexi's body. She knew that Ramsey wasn't exactly fond of his father or Bridges Enterprise which he and his grandfather had built from the ground up, but she had never envisioned why. She had always assumed that he had everything, but she was starting to realize that like Chyna, there was much more to Ramsey than she had originally anticipated. "Ramsey I'm sor…"

But she was cut off. "Please, you're the last person I want sympathy from," he said gently. "I shouldn't have even mentioned it."

"No it's alright," Lexi said averting her eyes and staring into a large mural of the ocean.

"I'm really not trying to play the poor little rich kid routine," he muttered disgust in his voice. "I guess this time of year just grates my nerves."

"You have every right to be upset about it," she told him gingerly dancing around the subject.

"Well there's no point in discussing it," he said veering away from her and into the next exhibit room.

"I think talking helps," she murmured almost instantly regretting that statement. He could ask her a million and a half things that she had no desire to discuss. She knew he was curious about her, but she was hesitant to share too much information about herself. The more left unsaid the better. Her past wasn't exactly picture perfect and she knew better than anyone. What she could share…what she had shared so far was just scratching the surface.

He would find out eventually the kind of person she had once been. She knew it was inevitable. Bekah knew such a large percentage of what had happened with Jack, not that she knew everything, but it was enough to put a chink in her armor. If Ramsey had any knowledge of what had occurred between them, he didn't acknowledge it. And for now at least, she wanted to keep it that way.

"I think talking can be helpful," he agreed, "but not now at least." He shot her a quick smirk his green eyes glowing. "For now, I'm on a date with a beautiful woman and I should be enjoying that."

"Oh you think we're on a date do you?" Lexi asked playfully crossing her arms over her chest and giving him a devilish glance.

"Is this not what this is?" he questioned taking a step towards her.

"Well I don't know. Are you going to take me out to dinner?" she asked him following his lead and stepping into him. "Sweep me off my feet? Walk to my doorstep and give me a lingering kiss good night?" she arched one perfectly shaped eyebrow.

Ramsey leaned into her pulling her body close to him. He dipped his head down close enough to huskily whisper into her ear, "Can I give you a lingering kiss on my doorstep and convince you to make it more than linger?"

Lexi let a faint gasp pass through her lips at his words, and the gentle nip on her ear sent shivers down her entire body. She forced her body to stay in check biting down forcefully on her lip to keep her emotions under control.

They were taking things slow.

She could take things slow. She repeated the words to herself over and over in her mind as he slowly backed away from her.

She had been impulsive in her past and look where that had gotten her. Nowhere. She certainly didn't intend to keep repeating the same mistakes all over again. Ramsey was not Jack and though she liked him, she knew he didn't have the same pull over her. He was different, but in a good way. All she had to do was talk down her body, which was always ten paces ahead of her, and things typically went just fine.

Taking a deep breath, Lexi glanced up into Ramsey glistening green eyes. He was laughing at her with those beautiful eyes. He had been teasing her with her desire. But she could tell there was more. Despite the playful look apparent in his eyes, she knew he had really only been half-joking. He wanted her to come over, and he wanted to do more than kiss.

"Perhaps I'll grant you your wish then," she said just as playfully as he was acting, "but only if you can catch me." She tapped him on the shoulder and muttered, "You're it," then darted off through the museum.

She knew it was childish and not to mention dangerous. If she made one wrong move, she could land in a priceless piece of artwork. She hadn't been able to help herself though. It was completely irrational. He would be able to catch up to her in an instant in her tiny high-heeled boots, but she darted around the exhibits nonetheless. Ramsey followed in pursuit seemingly unaware of the older couples who were shooting them death stares.

Lexi dove behind a large statue stifling her giggles as she heard his approaching footsteps. Just as the steps came to a halt, she raced out from her hiding spot and through an open hallway filled with classic black and white photographs. She glanced over her shoulder to see him lightly jogging behind her more intent on her backside than actually catching up to her. Giggling Lexi turned around just in time to find her face to face with an imposing older gentleman.

"Excuse me, ma'am," he said briskly sidestepping her urgent run.

"Sorry," she cried teetering on her heels as she rounded the corner just barely avoiding colliding with the man.

She heard Ramsey mutter something which sounded apologetic to the man, but she didn't slow down long enough to find out. She wasn't certain what had come over her. A part of her felt so carefree like all the worries had been wiped from her mind. The sound of her feet clicking underneath her kept time for her movements. A bright smile played across her face as she darted past a young couple. They seemed annoyed at first by the disturbance, but when they saw Ramsey in pursuit, their soft chuckles rang in her ears.