Avoiding Temptation (Avoiding 3)

“It seems that Bekah’s father knows the judge and got the date scheduled as soon as possible.”

“Of course he knows the f**king judge,” she grumbled. “Is Richard prepared?”

“Yeah, we’ve been working on it for months now.”

Lexi sighed. At least there was that. She hadn’t heard from Bekah since the mediation session back in February. It had been blissfully quiet, which just made her a bit anxious. Being the masterful manipulator that she was, Bekah being quiet meant that she had more time to plot.

“Okay. Well, I hope that this is as painless as possible, and you can just…move on.”

“Yeah. Thanks for still talking to me after what happened last month. I probably shouldn’t have gotten that drunk and—”

“It’s fine,” Lexi said quickly.

They had never brought up what had happened at his apartment a couple of weeks ago. They had just moved forward.

“All right,” he said softly. “I didn’t mean to jeopardize anything for you.”

“You didn’t,” she said. “Please, Jack, let’s just…not do this. I need to go.”

“Okay, Lex. I’ll let you know if I hear anything more from Richard. If you need anything, I’m only a phone call away. Now that tax season is over, I’m not as swamped at work as you.”

“Thank you,” she whispered before jumping off the line.

She didn’t want to have Jack stuck in her head when she was about to go have a serious conversation with Ramsey, one that she probably needed to have a while ago.

Lexi pulled into her spot in the garage and killed the engine. She was nervous about what was to come, but knowing that she was finally going to speak with Ramsey about how she had been feeling gave her more of a clear resolve than normal. She hadn’t wanted things to just implode at Chyna’s wedding, and Lexi was glad that she had taken the time to think about what she wanted to do.

She took the stairs up to the front door. She was so happy to be home. It felt like such a long time since she had seen Ramsey for more than the few minutes before she crawled into bed. Things had been rocky lately, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want to see him. Her throat constricted as emotions rushed over her. She just wanted to make this all right.

Ramsey wasn’t downstairs, but she knew he was home. She’d seen his Mercedes in the garage next to the Maserati he always kept covered. Lexi dropped her bag on the couch, kicked her heels off, and then raced up to the second floor.

“Ramsey,” she called softly, announcing herself to the quiet upstairs.

When she didn’t get a response, she wondered if he was napping or if he was wrapped up in his work and hadn’t heard her. She shrugged and wandered down the hall.

She toed the bedroom door open and found it also empty. He must be in the office. She pulled off her blazer and tossed it onto the dresser before continuing down to the office. She turned the knob and walked in.

“Ramsey, I’m home early,” she said and then stopped in her tracks. “What are you doing here?” she asked before she could stop herself.

Ramsey sat in his office chair, holding some papers, and Parker stood in front of him. She actually wasn’t in scrubs and just had on a plain pair of light-colored jeans and a polo. Her arms were crossed, and she didn’t look happy.

“Oh!” Parker said, her head snapping to the door. “Lexi!”

Ramsey sat there, staring down at the papers. His face was a mask of shock, and it took him a minute to register what was going on. “Lexi, you’re home early.”

“I said that,” she said hesitantly.

Ramsey placed the papers carefully on the desk, like he didn’t want to mess them up, and then stood. He walked to her and pulled her into a hug. She returned it halfheartedly. She didn’t know what this was all about.

“What’s going on?” Lexi asked, knowing that something was going on.

“I was just leaving,” Parker said. She glanced between them uncomfortably and then walked toward the door.

“But what are you doing here?” Lexi blocked her escape route. “Why is she here?” She hated repeating herself, but answers weren’t following.

“I came to bring him some paperwork, and now, I’m planning to leave,” Parker said softly. “That’s it.”

“Is that right?” she asked, facing Ramsey once more.

“Yes. Just some paperwork.”

Lexi crossed her arms and glanced between them. Something didn’t feel right, but she didn’t know what it was. Why did she have to bring him paperwork to his house? Why couldn’t it have waited until tomorrow? Why couldn’t she have called him into the hospital? Nothing looked out of place. Ramsey’s suit was immaculate. Parker didn’t look guilty or anything. She just looked run-down as per usual—maybe even a little more worse for wear.

“What kind of paperwork?” Lexi asked.

Parker stiffened at the question, and Ramsey wouldn’t meet her eyes. Aha! So, she had touched on it—what neither of them wanted to talk about.

“Ramsey?” she implored.

“You should let Parker go. She doesn’t need to be here for this. Then, we should talk.”

Lexi’s heart thudded in her chest. We should talk. It sounded like a death trap. Of course, she had come home early because she wanted to talk to him about the wedding, but…but this sounded different. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as she tried to get herself under control. This couldn’t be good.

She moved out of the way, and Parker left the room as quickly as possible. With her gone, she thought that the tension would fall off of him…but it didn’t.

“What’s going on, Ramsey? You’re as white as a ghost.”

“She had a miscarriage.”

“I’m sorry. What?” she snapped, her mind going to the worst possible place.

His green eyes locked onto her, and he shook his head. “When we were dating in college…she had a miscarriage.”

Lexi’s mouth dropped open slightly. A miscarriage. “How do you know? I thought there wasn’t any proof.”

He walked back to the desk and grabbed the paperwork. “See for yourself,” he said, shoving it into her hands.

Lexi snatched the papers from him and scoured the paperwork to try to decipher what she was looking at—discharge paperwork for an abortion clinic.