Avoiding Temptation (Avoiding #3)(66)
Author: K.A. Linde

“I didn’t have to. My brother was an idiot,” she said.

Her father tried to quiet her, but she just brushed past him.

“I just knew the right person to ask to get the paperwork Parker had been looking for. And now, you don’t have him!”

Lexi nodded. She didn’t have Ramsey anymore. And maybe part of that was because of Bekah and what she had done. But the pieces had already been in place. The cracks had already been there. Their relationship hadn’t fractured because of Bekah. They had just fallen apart. She hoped that whatever Ramsey did after this…he got the hell away from his crazy sister.

“You know, Bekah?” Lexi asked, ignoring the reporters and stepping up to meet her. “I truly pity you.”

“Don’t pity me. I have the world.”

“You have nothing—at least nothing that really matters. The only things you care about are money, status, and your precious reputation. They motivated you and deluded you into thinking that you were happy. But all of these things can leave you in the blink of an eye. Once they’re all gone, what do you have? Nothing. Your brother despises you. Your husband left you. Your best friend can’t even trust you. And you turn to complete strangers for the attention you desperately crave, and you mistake that for love,” Lexi told her. “So, I’ll repeat myself. I pity you, and still, I think it’s more than you’re worth.”

She felt Jack place his hand on her shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

Lexi shook her head at Bekah, knowing another sharp retort was coming. But Lexi was over it. She wasn’t marrying into the Bridges family. Jack was free of Bekah. Lexi had said her peace. Lexi would be happy to never see the Bitch again for the rest of her life.

“Yeah,” she said, looking Bekah up and down with disgust. “Let’s go.”

“Jack!” Bekah all but shrieked. “Here take this filthy thing.” She hurled the glittery diamond ring into his chest, and he caught it easily in his hand.

He stared down at it for a second. “No, you keep it. It was made for you,” he said, tossing it uselessly back in her direction. “I still have the one that means something to me.”

Bekah gasped. “You mean she was right? You gave me a fake?”

“Oh, it’s real, but you were never getting my grandmother’s ring.”

Lexi covered her mouth to keep from laughing hysterically at Bekah, whose mouth was just hanging open. Jack draped an arm around Lexi’s waist and guided her away. Bekah started calling out to them even as they walked back to Jack’s car.

“What are you all smiley about?” she asked, her heart still racing from the confrontation.

He chuckled. “You’re so hot when you’re angry.”

Lexi couldn’t hold back her laugh. “At least that hasn’t changed.”

“Never,” he said, meeting her gaze, his eyes turning crystal-clear blue. “And I’m ready to take my girl home and show her just what that does to me.”

Chapter 25

Lexi wrapped her caramel-colored knit scarf around her once more, trying to fight against the rapidly dropping temperatures. Early May in New York City had notoriously temperamental weather, and summer hadn’t quite broken through the clouds. It felt nice to be back on the NYU campus. She hadn’t realized how much she had missed the city and her old law school stomping grounds until she returned.

After speaking with Chyna, Lexi had decided on a date to fly back to the city with Jack to visit. He had been there with her during that first winter in New York City, but she’d had so much more to show him this time around, and they had spent a majority of their time wandering the city and eating at all her favorite restaurants. It had been a totally different experience with Jack. After the past couple of weeks, she had been glad that she was able to share it with him.

They had both moved out of their previous residences, and for the time being, they were living in his tiny one-bedroom apartment in Atlanta. The majority of their stuff was in a storage unit just outside of the city until they decided what they were going to do.

Lexi had thought that Jack would keep his stuff in the house that he now owned outright, but as soon as the house had been moved into his name, he had met with a real estate agent to get rid of the property. He hadn’t wanted to keep it as a reminder any more than Lexi had. He was still waiting on the divorce money from Bekah to come through. While he was uncomfortable with that, the truth of the matter was that with the amount of money he would receive, they would be able to start over anywhere.

And Lexi was ready to get out of Atlanta. The Bridges owned half the city, and she didn’t really want to stick around for any backlash.

“It’s getting late,” Lexi said as she led Jack across the street from the law school to the edge of Washington Square Park.

“It’s not even dark yet,” Jack told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to try to help warm her up.

“But it’s cold.” She buried her fingers deeper into the pockets of her white peacoat.

Jack laughed. “Can we look at the arch one more time?”

“You want to walk through the park right before nightfall? Do you want to get mugged?” Lexi asked.

“Live a little. We’ll be fine,” Jack said, shaking his head at her.

Lexi shrugged and directed them to the entrance. They still had enough light to get them through the park before nightfall. Lexi knew the stories about Washington Square Park at night, and she didn’t care how secure Jack felt. They were not going to stay in there.

Jack sensed her tensing up as they started through the park, and he drew her hand out of her pocket. Their hands swung loose between them as a breeze whipped her hair off her shoulders and around her face. As they made it to the giant circle leading up to the arch, Lexi laughed and tried to wrangle her hair back into place.

They stopped in front of the colossal marble statue that was a model replica of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The lights had already flickered on, illuminating the great construction. Lexi and Jack passed through the arch, giggling about the similarities between it and the arch at their alma mater. Students weren’t allowed to pass under the arch on campus, or they would risk never graduating.

Jack circled them back around to face the front where two sculptures of George Washington stood tall and proud. Lexi had passed through here so many times, but standing here with Jack felt like it was the first time she was appreciating it.

“This might be my favorite place in the city,” Jack said.

“Why?” Lexi asked, scrunching up her nose. She liked the arch, but there were so many amazing places in the city. She didn’t think she could pick one.

“Because I’m standing here with you.”

Lexi wrapped her arms around his neck. “Jack Howard, when did you become such a sweetheart?”

She lightly brushed her cold nose against his as he grabbed her around the middle. It felt absolutely blissful to be out in public, standing around with Jack like this. They had hidden and fought their affection for so long, and now that she didn’t have to hold back any longer, she felt it bursting out of her at every corner.

“Don’t tell anyone. I have a reputation to uphold,” he joked, dropping his mouth to hers.

“Oh yes, wouldn’t want to hurt your jerk reputation.”

“You’re killing me, love,” he said against her mouth.

“You like it.”

“I love everything about you.”

Lexi ducked her head into his shoulder. “Sure know how to make a girl blush.”

“You bet I do,” he said huskily into her ear.

She smiled seductively while grabbing on to the collar of his gray coat and pulling him toward the street. “Tonight.”

“That’s so long from now.”

“So impatient.”

“I’ve waited forever for you, Lex,” he said, stopping them in their tracks and taking her face lightly in his hands. “I’ll always be impatient. I want you all the time. I want you right now.”

Lexi swooned at his words and felt her knees giving out as she stared up into baby-blue eyes. God, she loved this man.

“A bit cold out to take me right here,” she said with a wink.

“Don’t tempt me,” he growled.

“I’ll always be your temptation.”

Jack smiled that heart-stopping smile, and in that moment, Lexi knew she would follow him anywhere. Sex in the park wasn’t sounding like that bad of an option with that expression on his face telling her that it would be worth her time. It always was.

“We…have to get to Chyna’s,” Lexi murmured, trying to keep them on track.

“You’re really going to make me wait? What if I just pick you up and take you now?” he demanded, walking her backward into the ever-darkening park.

“I wouldn’t stop you,” she said with her own smirk.

“Fuck, how am I supposed to control myself when you look at me like that?”

“You aren’t?”

“How much time do we have?” Jack asked, already walking down a side path.

Lexi had walked on it a few times, and she knew it was far enough off the beaten path that they likely wouldn’t be disturbed. Her heart raced ahead of her with the anticipation of what was to come.

“Not enough,” she whispered.

But she didn’t care. Chyna would forgive her, right?

“Oh well.” Jack glanced around and shrugged.

It was already pretty dark back here. It wasn’t likely anyone would stumble across them.

“This will have to do,” he said.

His hands tangled into her hair, pulling her mouth up to his, as he pressed her back against the base of a large tree. Their kisses were heated and intensified with only the few short minutes of buildup. It was always like this every time—more heated, more passionate, more feverish. They couldn’t get enough of each other. They couldn’t stop, and it was beautiful that they didn’t have to.

Lexi dug her fingers into the fabric of his dark sweater before moving her cold hands underneath the material to run along his bare stomach. He jumped at the temperature difference, but he didn’t stop kissing her. He grabbed one of her legs covered by a thin layer of black tights and brought it up around his waist as he let his other hand find the hem of her skirt. She teasingly ran her hand softly along the waistline of his pants.

“Fuck,” he groaned.

His hand slid up the bottom of her skirt, and her back arched to feel him touch her. He chuckled at her need as he ran his hand slowly up her inner thigh. Her body was pulsing, and she was ready to just rip off her tights and let him take her. She needed to feel him, to feel the rush of their bodies connecting.

Jack’s thumb found her cl*t through the material, and he circled around it until she thought she might combust. A moan escaped her lips, and she latched on to his belt buckle, willing him closer. The moan must have been too loud because Jack covered her mouth again with his lips, and he pressed his rapidly growing erection against her. She whimpered through the kisses as their bodies moved together, desperate to take him. Her hand fumbled to undo his belt buckle. She finally yanked it apart, unbuttoned his pants, and slid the zipper to the bottom. Her hand found his thickness through his jeans, and she ran down the length.