Avoiding Temptation (Avoiding 3)

“But he did that to himself,” Ramsey reminded her.

“Probably true.” She would give him that.

“How would you feel if this were Parker?”

Lexi held her breath. She knew exactly how she would feel. “You want to bring Parker into this?” she asked.

“I’m just using her as an example.”

“If I can adjust to you spending every day with her, then you should certainly be okay with me being there for Jack when he’s going through something pretty traumatic,” Lexi said quickly.

“Okay, Lexi,” he said, stroking her hair back off her face. “I’m not trying to fight with you. I’m trying to understand. I wouldn’t tell you not to be friends with Jack. Only that the same rule applies from the beginning.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“If he touches you, I’ll kill him.”

Lexi laughed and buried her head in his chest. “I think you’re safe.”

A few hours later, Lexi found herself driving up in front of Jack’s apartment on the outskirts of Buckhead. The fact he considered this a step down was a bit ridiculous. The complex was by no means a dump. She had lived in much, much worse in New York. Then again, she had been a student, not an executive at a huge conglomerate.

Lexi had never been to the house that Jack had shared with Bekah. She hadn’t been able to do it. For all she knew, it had been a mansion. So, compared to that, this place was probably a dump. Either way, Jack was now paying rent on a one-bedroom apartment and half of the mortgage for the house they had purchased. The place couldn’t be that spectacular if he had to pay double…or his Bridges salary was that extravagant. She wasn’t sure which was the case.

She pulled into a spot a few doors down from the entrance to his building. Her hands were shaking.

“Shit!” she grumbled.

She swiped her hands on her jeans a few times, trying to see if that helped anything. She didn’t know why they were even shaking. It didn’t make sense.

After such a nice afternoon, locked away in the bedroom with Ramsey, she felt weird coming over to Jack’s place. Ramsey knew that they were meeting up. Since they had talked about how she felt about being there for Jack, Ramsey hadn’t pushed the subject when she said she was meeting him. Still…

Ugh! She needed to stop her brain from overanalyzing. It was just Jack. Nothing had happened between them in over two years, and nothing was going to happen with him today. It shouldn’t matter that she was at his place rather than meeting him at a restaurant. She was psyching herself out for nothing.

Lexi exited her car and then walked into the apartment complex. A blonde attendant was seated behind the desk, typing away on her cell phone. She didn’t even look up when Lexi walked in, which was fine by her. Walking up to the elevator, Lexi pressed the button, and as soon as it dinged on the bottom floor, the attendant looked up.

“Can I help you?” she asked, still typing on her phone.

“Nope. Thanks though.”

“We’re supposed to clear visitors.”

Lexi shrugged. “I’m here for Jack Howard, apartment number six fifty-two.”

“Oh, Jack!” she said with a big smile. “Tell him I said hi!”

Lexi fought rolling her eyes. Jack had only lived here a couple of days, and already, the attendant knew who he was. Typical.

“Will do,” Lexi said, stepping into the elevator and letting the doors close between her and the blonde bimbo.

Some things never ceased to amaze her.

Jack’s new place was near the elevators, so it was a quick walk to his front door. She remembered standing on the threshold of his apartment, debating whether or not coming to Atlanta to meet his girlfriend was a good idea. So much had changed since then.

Lexi rapped lightly on the door and waited for Jack to answer. She heard feet pattering as he jogged toward the door. It cracked open, and Jack appeared, smiling brightly at her. It was one of those gut-wrenching, take-your-breath-away smiles. His bright blue eyes lit up as he reached out and gripped the doorframe.

“You made it,” he said. He gestured for her to come in.

“Yeah.” She walked forward into the apartment. “It was easy to find.”

“That’s good. No trouble getting upstairs or anything? Some of the attendants aren’t accommodating.”

“No trouble, but the girl downstairs wanted me to tell you hi!” she said, mimicking the girl’s voice. “Nondescript blonde attached to her phone.”

“Ah,” he said, “I think that’s Heidi.”

“She seemed pretty happy when I mentioned you,” Lexi said, arching an accusatory eyebrow.

Jack slammed the door shut roughly. “I don’t think I can hear anyone else accuse me of cheating tonight, or I might snap and literally f**k the first person I see.” He stared at Lexi pointedly.

“I, uh…yeah,” she stammered, trying to find the right words without blushing furiously at that look. She had seen it a million times, and it was not helping. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Of course it’s not,” Jack replied sarcastically.

“Did the mediation go so poorly?”

Jack laughed disdainfully. “I’ll let you tell me.”

She followed him into the living room where an open bottle of Jack Daniels and a half-empty glass rested on a beat-up coffee table. “That good, huh?”

“It’s only drink number three. Think I can finish the bottle?”

“What happened?” she asked, taking the opportunity to look around his apartment.

It was sparsely decorated, to say the least. He had an old couch sitting behind the coffee table and a flat screen TV hooked up to the opposite wall. She wondered if all this stuff had been in storage or if someone had loaned it to him. There wasn’t anything on the walls—no pictures, no old record albums, nothing. Besides the Jack Daniels, there wasn’t anything really visible. It was more depressing than when a typical freshly moved in apartment because there weren’t even any boxes around. All of his stuff must have still been at the house.

“Everything you said would happen. Her lawyer spent half the time talking over the mediator, trying to get me to admit that I cheated on her while we were married. She kept baiting me, playing the victim. We accomplished nothing, and then after hours of trying to get something done, Bekah said she didn’t want to continue mediation, and it wasn’t helpful. So, we’re filing for a court date anyway,” Jack said.