She was in the car before Olivia could utter another comment about staying home. She drove much too fast to Jack’s house, swerving to get around rather slow drivers. She skidded to a halt in his parking lot, and dashed out of the front seat. Bursting through the still unlocked door, Lexi darted into Jack’s room. She could tell just by looking at him that he had showered. Her heart melted at the sight. She was furious about what he had done, but her heart still longed for him. She wanted things to go back to the way they were only this morning. She wished with all her being that she didn’t have to be angry at him.

"Lexi, what are you doing back already?" Jack asked surprise written on his face. "Are you okay? Have you been crying?" He rushed forward to meet her. She backed away not wanting to feel his hands on her.

“How could you tell him?” she asked breaking down into tears for the second time that morning.

CHAPTER 13

PRESENT

“Where are you taking me?” Lexi asked Ramsey for what felt like the hundredth time since they had been driving. She hadn’t thought much of it at first, but then as her mind registered the direction the car was taking them she began to get more suspicious.

For some reason, she had expected them to stay in Buckhead and have dinner at a fancy five star restaurant over candlelight, perhaps serenade her with live classical music, red wine, and caviar. Show off his wealth to reel her in. She wasn’t sure what had triggered that idea beyond just the fact that she had assumed all people in Country Clubs went on ridiculously impressive dates.

Jennifer, her college dorm mate, had told her many times about extravagant opulence displayed before her by men her parents had set her up on dates with. Lexi had always been wary of those types of stories and wondered if women actually succumbed to such antics. One too many towels on Lexi’s dorm door confirmed that they did actually work. As Jennifer proved this time and time again, Lexi slowly became adjusted to the fact that lavishness was more like a prerequisite.

She was relieved that she didn’t have to go through another awkward situation such as what occurred at the Country Club. She hadn’t exactly wanted to go on this…outing with Ramsey, but after how he had treated her she had given in. He had called it a date and she certainly couldn’t forget his words. He had smiled so brilliantly at her acceptance that she had almost been duped into believing she had made the right decision. But how could she really feel like that? He had so many strikes against him already. Setting aside the kindness he had showed at his party, he was a member of a Country Club, he was related to Bekah, and clearly had no concern for others’ personal boundaries.

All in all, she figured this was a huge mistake.

Her brain was working in overdrive attempting to discern where he was taking her. His forced silence on the subject only made her more curious. She had really only known this guy for one day, and the only good quality she had recognized besides his charming good looks was that he hadn’t slept with her.

Maybe that was pretty big for guys, but she had blacked out and was entrusted into his care by his sister. Obviously that meant something to him.

“Really, Ramsey, where are we going? We’re getting pretty close to my parents’ house, which I should remind you, is very far away from your place,” she told him.

“We’re close to your parents’ place?” he asked glancing over at her.

Lexi twisted her fingers back and forth in her lap, uncomfortable with revealing more information. Not that she was ashamed of her family by any means. In fact, she really got along with her parents and two younger sisters. But after being reminded of the Country Club, expensive Buckhead condominiums, and insane parties that resulted from such wealth, Lexi didn’t really feel comfortable explaining middle class to someone who had never had a bank account with less than seven digits. She had never even taken Chyna home, and she loved the girl to death.

“Uh, I guess. I mean I don’t really know where we are,” she explained trying to maneuver the conversation back to their destination and farther away from her.

“We’re close,” he said adding a wink at the end.

“We’re close?” she asked arching an eyebrow.

“Are you not close? I mean, you are sitting right next to me,” he commented trying to keep the devilish smirk off of his face.

She smiled brightly, happy that she was still capable of flirtatious banter with someone other than Jack. “Oh yes…in the sense,” she said looking at him from under her eyelashes.

He burst out laughing in a loud, boisterous, uninhibited manner that she had witnessed at the Country Club before brunch. It had annoyed her the day before even confused her a little, but maybe that was just part of his personality. Perhaps, there was more to him than what met the eye, but she wasn’t going to keep her hopes up. She would be polite and let him take her out to dinner this one night.

“So how close are we?”

He jerked his head to the side at her husky tone. He had liked her when they had first met, because she had been completely forthright with him. She cared very little for his status, and showed it. He liked her the night before when she had been drunk, unrestrained, and outgoing. Her endearing personality only intensified with the alcohol. But this woman he was with tonight, he seemed to think he liked the best of all. He saw her possess the same strong-willed determination and unblemished character she revealed in the morning and the natural engaging playfulness that resulted from a combination of liquors. He could certainly get used to her surprising personality.

His eyes roamed her face resting where her bottom lip was caught between her teeth in a thoughtful expression. God, she had tasted so good the night before. He wasn’t sure how he had been able to restrain himself. He hadn’t told her that she had propositioned him in her drunken stupor. He was almost certain that a woman of her caliber would be mortified that she had been so willing to give herself away. Possibly even more mortified that he had turned her down flat. That he had had to peel her arms off of him and practically wrestle her under the covers, he had also left out of the story. Still, when she had managed to weasel her arms back around him pressing her tiny form against him, he had still found the strength to extract her eager body from him. He remembered how readily his body had reacted to her. He gulped and attempted to force those thoughts out of his head.

“Probably only about ten, maybe fifteen, minutes,” he answered her.

She rested back into his comfortable champagne colored seat and felt her phone buzz in her purse. She extracted the old thing and checked the text message.

“You busy?”

Lexi sighed as she stared at the words on her screen. She hadn’t exactly been expecting a text message from Jack, and she didn’t want to dampen her mood with thoughts of him. She closed the phone and placed it back in its position.

“What’s up?” Ramsey asked curiosity getting the better of him.

“Um…oh…nothing,” she answered not wanting to address the situation with him. So far it seemed that he knew little of what had happened with her and Jack, and why she was in Atlanta in the first place. If at all possible, she would really like to keep it that way. Jack had a funny way of ruining every relationship she had ever been in. Even though she had no thoughts of that for Ramsey, she wasn’t going to risk anything just yet.