“You think I don’t know you, chica? Come on, spill it!”
Lexi thought that she knew her best friend pretty well, but sometimes it felt like Chyna could read her mind.
“Jack called me this morning.”
“And? Isn’t that normal?”
“Yeah. Yeah, it is,” Lexi said, trying to figure out how to explain. “But he sounded like…Jack.”
Chyna was silent for a second. All that Lexi could hear was the music in the background and a cacophony of people talking.
“You mean he sounded like…Jack?”
“Yeah…I mean, I don’t know. He just said he had to talk to me, and he sounded desperate. Am I reading into things?”
“I’d tell you to trust your instincts, but your instincts suck.”
“Chyna!”
“What? Jesus, do you think he’s going to try anything? I’ll come kick him in the balls again for you, if you think that.”
“No, I don’t think he’s going to try anything.”
“Then, go see him. Are you on the way now?” Chyna asked. “I bet you are.”
“I have dinner plans with Ramsey.”
“Is not knowing eating you up? Do you want to skip dinner?” Chyna giggled.
“Oh, shut up. I can’t skip dinner.”
“But you want to.”
“I have to go, Chyna. Tell Adam hey for me.”
“Will do, chica. Tell Ramsey and Jack hello for me.”
Lexi hung up the phone with a shake of her head. Chyna had a way of reassuring her while also throwing her off-balance.
Lexi would figure out what to do about Jack tomorrow. She was already running behind for dinner, and that should be her priority.
Slamming on the brakes in front of the valet booth, Lexi rushed out of her car and tossed the keys to the waiting valet. He looked at her in surprise as she tugged her skimpy dress down and hobbled past him toward the entrance. She reached down and adjusted her slingback heels. She was late. She was unbelievably late, and she felt like nothing short of a disaster. With curly tendrils falling haphazardly from the ponytail holder, her hair was still knotted into the messy bun she had worn to court that morning. Her makeup was still intact, but she hadn’t checked it anytime recently. At least her assistant had remembered to pick up the black halter dress from the dry cleaner, and her slingbacks had still been in her car. She slung her wildly inappropriate hobo bag over her shoulder and steeled herself to walk into the restaurant.
The maître d’ gave her a once-over as she paraded into the restaurant, and then he turned back to the buxom blonde before him. Lexi ground her teeth in irritation. She didn’t want to deal with these people any more than she had to. The blonde seemed to occupy all his attention, so Lexi just continued walking toward the dining room.
“Reservation?” he asked, blocking her path.
“Bridges,” she explained confidently with the arrogance and authority she had sometimes seen Ramsey use.
“Ah…Mrs. Bridges,” he said with a fake smile.
“Oh!” she said awkwardly. “We’re not married.”
“My apologies,” he said, the contempt returning. “Easy mistake.”
“Yeah,” she grumbled.
It was a mistake that had happened way more than she liked. Everyone mistook her for Ramsey’s wife. They had been to so many functions where that happened. It wasn’t like she wore a goddamn ring or anything! Just because they had been together for two years didn’t mean they had to get married immediately! She wished that people would just stop asking her! Rings made her nervous. Why ruin a good thing when it was working without a ring? Ugh!
“We’ll have someone escort you to your seat,” the man said, snapping his fingers at a hostess.
“Thank you,” Lexi said, following the snobby woman through the restaurant.
Watching the crowd of people made Lexi entirely uncomfortable—the couples picking at their food, the women barely munching on a piece of lettuce, the men distracted by someone else’s wife. Was this where her life was heading? She shuddered at the thought and tried to push it aside. She had never liked Ramsey for his money, and oft times, she would forget he was as wealthy as he was. She was bringing in a handsome salary herself, but something about the way these people were acting tonight ruffled her feathers. She had never been that person, but it was easy to see how money changed people. Holding back her unmitigated qualms, she forced a smile on her face and tried to hide her apprehension.
“Here you are,” the woman said, smiling politely at Ramsey.
“Hey,” Ramsey said. His gorgeous smile appeared on his face at Lexi’s approach.
“Hey,” she managed, walking past the hostess.
Ramsey stood, wrapped his strong arms around her, and kissed her forehead. She breathed him in, during even the briefest of embraces, and smiled at the minty smell he exuded. It never got old.
“It’s so good to see you,” he murmured.
Lexi couldn’t help but giggle at his cute PDA moment. Maybe those other couples could take note and pay more attention to each other. Taking her seat across from him, Lexi crossed her legs under the table and unfolded her napkin before laying it on her lap.
“So…you’re late,” he mused with a knowing glint in his eyes.
“Yeah, court ran over. I’m sorry,” she told him.
“You didn’t end up seeing Jack?” he asked, only half-joking.
“No, I ended up rescheduling with him,” she said, shrugging. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow, I guess.”
“Well, I took the liberty of ordering for us. I hope you don’t mind,” he said, gesturing to a vodka-cranberry placed before her.
“No, that’s fine. I needed this,” she said with a laugh.
“I figured as much. This case is taking a lot out of you.”
“The people are relentless,” she said before sipping on her drink. “I just can’t catch a break. One ass**le client to the next.”
“We should get away,” he told her.
“That’d be nice,” she said, sending him an amused smile. “What did you have in mind? And when can we make it happen?”
“When does the case end?” he asked.
The look on his face showed that he knew it wasn’t going to be over anytime soon. She didn’t even need to voice that. She had been up late, working on it, for far too long.