Avoiding Commitment (Avoiding #1)(75)
Author: K.A. Linde

"Oh is it not locked?" Lexi asked smiling devilishly as she turned the handle and the door popped open.

"Stop, you’re going to get me in trouble," Gwen cried rushing after her.

"Jack," Lexi murmured seeing him sitting behind his desk.

"Gwen I thought I told you no visitors this afternoon," Jack muttered not even glancing up from his desk.

Lexi’s determination wavered at the sight of him. He was wearing a tailored navy blue suit over a crisp white button up. The top button was undone and his navy and silver neck tie was pulled loose. His dark hair fell over his eyes as he scanned through a report bound in a plastic cover with the Bridges Enterprise emblem displayed upon the front. She couldn’t even look past him to check out his amazing office she was so utterly bound by his appearance and commanding presence.

"Sir, I certainly did not let her in. This young lady just barged in demanding that she see you." Gwen gave Lexi a death glare.

"Well see her out," Jack said still not looking up. Gwen moved forward and latched onto Lexi’s arm. She attempted to veer her out of the room, but Lexi wouldn’t budge. When she started yanking on her arm, her long fingernails digging into her skin, Lexi couldn’t take it any longer. Jack still hadn’t looked up at her.

"Jack honestly," Lexi cried standing her ground.

"Lex?" he asked apparently extremely surprised to see her standing in his office.

"You know this woman, sir?" Gwen asked dropping her hands and placing them behind her back promptly. She looked between them with poisonous daggers shooting sparks at Lexi’s back. She was not too pleased that he knew Lexi. Somehow this didn’t surprise Lexi. She wondered if Jack had been sleeping with this woman. The anger at the possibility of him diddling his secretary reminded Lexi why she was there in the first place. She and Jack had a score to settle, and it had to happen today, right now.

"Yes Gwen. It’s fine. You can go," he said dismissing her without breaking his gaze which was still set on Lexi.

"Yes sir," Gwen said bitterly, turning on her designer heels and stalking out the door.

"The door," Jack called out to Gwen.

She stepped back into the room and yanked the handle slamming the door shut. "Well she’s…something, isn’t she?" Lexi asked smirking.

Jack rolled his eyes and set his papers down on his desk. Lexi took that opportunity to really take in her surroundings. Just like the outside, the entire perimeter of the office was cased in glass overlooking the city. The view was spectacular and at night time, Lexi could only assume, it would be even better. A large bookshelf was covered with material pertinent to his work as well as the only picture frames Lexi had seen in Jack’s presence since her arrival. One picture in a metal frame of him and Bekah vacationing somewhere on the coast stood out to Lexi. Another picture of Jack with the guys in Las Vegas was framed. His diploma was mounted onto the wall in a stunning frame with a red, black, and white tassel displayed alongside it.

Lexi’s eyes moved to the other side of the room which opened up to a bathroom. But what caught her eyes wasn’t the fact that he, in fact, had his own bathroom in his office. Rather was the picture frame that took up the majority of the opposite wall. Her heart clenched as she stared at the picture she had described to Jack less than a week earlier. A picture he had claimed to have gotten rid of because he couldn’t look at it any longer. The frame was different than the original and as she approached wide-eyed she noticed that indeed there were a few minor tears in the print, but nothing that took away from the beauty of the shot. The black and white photograph highlighted the beauty of a small creek with an old wooden bridge across the natural barrier. Hundreds of pine trees as tall as the eye could see surrounded the scene just as the sun was rising across the horizon.

Just as she remembered it. This was her favorite picture. Jack’s favorite picture. He hadn’t been able to get rid of it despite everything.

"It’s still here," she whispered glancing back at Jack. He was shuffling some papers around on his large mahogany desk, but glanced up at the sound of her voice.

"I had it reframed and brought up here from Savannah earlier this week," he told her attempting to keep the emotion out of his voice.

Lexi shook her head unable to process the many nuances of Jack Howard. Here she was in his office wanting to be so angry at him for everything he had ever put her through, and then he did this. One simple gesture that reminded her why she loved him so much.

"Why?" she barely got out choking on her own words.

"What do you mean why?"

"Jack come on. You made it pretty clear last night."

"Last night I said what we did didn’t change things. And, well, it doesn’t Lexi. Sex never changed things with us before."

"Do you really believe that sex doesn’t change things?" she asked taken aback by the concept. She wasn’t a typical female who believed that sex necessarily meant an emotional commitment on either side. She had had her fair share of one night stands to prove that to herself, but Jack was not one of those men. And she knew that sex did mean something to him whether he was ready to admit it or not.

"I just mean that it doesn’t change what I have to do or the decision that I have to make. It doesn’t make any of this easier."

"A little birdie tells me it does," she said turning her back on his gesture of devotion.

"Oh yeah who’s that?"

"Who is not the appropriate question," she told him looking into his beautiful blue eyes from across the space of his office.

"Well you don’t have to tell me who would tell you that things are changed between us, because I already know," Jack said triumphantly taking her off guard.

"Well I suppose you could guess," she said hesitantly not liking the change of subject.

"No guessing needed. I know what you’ve been trying to do," he told her staring her down.

She gave him a completely flabbergasted look hoping maybe he could explain further what he was talking about. Wasn’t she the one who was supposed to storm in here and demand answers? Then why was he the one completely confounding her over and over again? Her mouth opened and she tilted her head slightly trying to really assess the situation. The only thing she had been trying to do all week was figure out what the hell Jack was doing with his life. She wanted him…bad, but was only fueled onwards by his obvious desire for her. If he had been aloof and untoward, then she certainly would have done his bidding, hung out with her parents, and then hopped on the first plane out of here.

But that hadn’t happened. He had flat out told her that they were meant to be together. That after everything they had been through he knew what he wanted and all he had to do was tie up some loose ends. Now he was saying that sex didn’t change anything along with other unthinkable things, and honestly, she was just lost.

"What am I trying to do besides get answers from you?" she asked unable to keep the confusion out of her voice.

"Oh don’t play all innocent with me. We both know you’re not that," Jack said standing and tossing some paperwork into a basket.

"I never said I was innocent," she said a bit confused by the abrupt shift in the conversation.

"Yeah, but you sure try to act like you are."

"Jack you lost me," Lexi told him her brow scrunching together.

"I know what you’ve been up to this week."

"Um…what have I been up to this week? The only thing I’ve been doing is exactly what you asked me to do. I spoke to Bekah about our relationship. I played the perfect part in your stupid charade. I went to the Country Club, Ramsey’s stupid party, your birthday…what more did you want from me? I gave you everything you could want from me. I tried to give you everything, and it seemed like it was going to work out, but now," she drifted off, "I guess it just doesn’t seem like enough."

He laughed. He actually laughed at the last statement. Lexi’s mouth popped open in surprise unable to fathom why he was acting so impertinent. "You actually want me to believe that you gave me everything?"

"Compared to you giving me nothing, yes, I’d say I gave you everything," she spat at him.

"You’re ridiculous Lexi," he said shaking his head. "You think I don’t know what you’ve been up to?"

"Well I don’t know what I’ve been up to so why don’t you tell me," she said completely baffled by this point. She had no idea what he was talking about. She had come here from New York at his request to convince his dumb girlfriend that he could commit. She didn’t exactly believe it herself, but she had tried. As far as she could tell she had succeeded as well. Bekah seemed to believe that they were going to be together. And up until last night, when Jack had left her all alone feeling used and violated, she had been certain that Jack was actually going to leave Bekah for her.

"Go ahead play coy with me. I know what you and Ramsey have been up to."

That really threw her off guard. "What does Ramsey have to do with any of this?" she asked trying to follow his line of reasoning but coming up with a blank.

He nodded his head a few times. "You don’t have to try and play me like this Lex. I know you, and I know what’s been going on."

"Then please fill me in, because I have no idea what you’re talking about," she said walking to the front of his desk and taking a seat in one of the client chairs. She crossed her arms and legs simultaneously and waited for another outrageous response from him.

"You think I don’t know that you guys met before this?"

"Of course we met before this. I told you that as soon as I saw him at the Country Club that we met there when I came up here with Jennifer," she told him still confused as to where this was going.

"Right that was a pretty good act. When did you become such a good liar Lexi?"

"If you tell me what I’m lying about I might know, because as far as I could tell you are the only good liar in the room."

"Come on Lexi," he cried. "Now I didn’t think you would ever play me like this, but I can tell that you are now. How long have you guys been together? Has it been since New York?" he asked placing his hands on the desk and leaning forward towards her.

"We’re not together," she stuttered in disbelief.

"Oh right you don’t do the commitment thing. Have you just been f**king?"

"Excuse me, I’m just going to pass right over the very ridiculous accusation that Ramsey and I have been f**king," Lexi said her face clouding over only slightly at the thought that she had almost done just that last night. But she couldn’t feel too bad about it she had been in a terrible state of mind thanks to Jack, and she hadn’t gone through with it anyway. "And step right up to the plate and take the hypocritical route, jackass."

Jack stumbled a step as he walked around the corner of her desk. He glanced up at her cheeky comment in surprise. "Whatever Lexi. I know that you know Ramsey from New York. And whether you’re f**king or not I know you guys have been together. I saw you kiss at this party. I saw it again last night. I’m not stupid alright. I can tell that there is something going on between you too."

Lexi stared at him in awe. So that was why he had been so angry and rough with her the night before. He had somehow deluded himself into believing that she and Ramsey were together. It didn’t make sense to her, but she figured if he looked at it from only one side it might look like that. However, that didn’t explain why he thought she had met Ramsey in New York. "What do you mean I know him from New York?"