Avoiding Commitment (31 page)

“Clark…” she cried as he pulled the door
open. “What does this mean for…for us?”

“I really don’t know, Lexi. I just can’t look
at you right now. I’ll just…call you tomorrow after I’ve had time
to think about all of this,” he said turning away from her and
shutting the door.

Lexi crumpled to the floor shuddering from
the tears raking her body. She could not believe that had just
happened. How had she been so stupid to let this happen? She had
just let the best guy she had ever had in her life slip through her
fingers.

After a minute, Olivia came out of her room
and sat on the floor next to Lexi. She scooped her up in her arms
and held her as she bawled.

“Did…did you...h…hear all…of that?” Lexi
asked her through her tears.

“Yeah, honey, I heard it. Why didn’t you just
tell me? You know I would have been there for you. You know I would
have kept everything a secret. I can’t believe you went through all
of this alone,” Olivia said brushing aside her bangs. The movement
reminded her so much of Jack that it only intensified her
tears.

“I…I don’t either. I just…thought…that I
could…handle this,” she muttered.

“Alright, darling. You have to get up. Take a
shower, and then things will look a little brighter.”

Lexi nodded as Olivia ushered her out of the
living room. “No!” she cried suddenly.

“What?”

“I have to go talk to Jack,” Lexi
decided.

“I don’t think that’s the best thing for you
right now.”

“Jack told him everything. How could he do
that?”

“I’m almost certain Clark threatened him into
it, but that doesn’t matter. Seeing that boy while you’re in this
state is a really, really bad idea.”

“No, Livy, let me go. I need to go find out
why the hell he would tell him everything and not warn me,” she
said pulling away from Olivia and running for her keys.

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.

Lexi heard her phone buzz again. Annoyed, she
stared down at the message.
“Lex?”

She really did not want to deal with him
right now. She quickly shoved the phone deeper in her purse.
Hopefully, she wouldn’t be able to know if he messaged her
again.

As they neared their destination, they
listened to whatever was playing on the radio. Neither of them
minding what was coming through the top 40 station at that moment.
Realization began to dawn on her as stared out at the horizon, but
she shook her head in disbelief.

No, he couldn’t be taking her there. She
hadn’t been there since she was a kid. Beyond that fact, it wasn’t
exactly a place to take your date. She had always gone there with
family or church groups. More a place for group entertainment than
dating. Not that she was looking for a normal sort of date from
Ramsey. She had only been thinking a while ago that she was
relieved he hadn’t taken her to some special five star dinner, but
this was really about as far from that as a person could get.

Ramsey reached the gate and handed over a wad
of cash to the eighty-something year old attendant and breezed his
Mercedes into the establishment. They took the winding road past
rows and rows of pine trees until they reached a valet parking lot
at the front entrance.

Lexi glanced around in awe and wonder at
Stone Mountain. Her eyes focused in on the giant mural that had
been hand-carved into the rock during the Civil War as a testament
to their faith in the Confederacy. She felt like a speck next to
the giant mountain that tourists from all over came to climb and
enjoy the surrounding park which consisted of camping grounds, a
water park, train station, and over the summer an amazing laser
show. This was the last place she had expected Ramsey to take her.
For some reason, that made it all the better. Surprisingly enough,
he didn’t think that he needed all of his wealth to impress her,
and he was right. At this moment, she was impressed.

She flattened out her green spaghetti strap
dress she had worn for the occasion and silently thanked God that
she had decided on brown thong sandals instead of her heels. Ramsey
jogged around the car and directed her towards the stone pathway
leading to the lawn reserved for the laser show. She let her eyes
leave her surroundings long enough to glance at her date for the
evening. He wore a nicely cut polo that matched the green shade of
his eyes and fitted khaki pants paired with brown flipflops. She
liked his casual attire, and wished she had paid more attention
before. She might have realized that they wouldn’t be going to some
extravagant place had she recognized his flip-flops before this
moment.

“I hope you’re hungry,” he said as they
walked around the corner and down another path that opened up to
the main lawn.

“Starving, actually,” she admitted cringing
at how that sounded.

He smiled at her bluntness. Yet another
feature that he was starting to like about her. “Good. We have a
banquet.”

When they reached the grass, they trekked
forward through a line of people. Apparently, everyone was setting
up for the laser show. It was the last week before school
officially started for the public schools in the area, which
generally brought out more spectators than any week except Memorial
Day Weekend and Fourth of July. Lexi had no idea how they were
going to find a quiet place to sit and eat after arriving so late
for the show.

She should have suspected something was up
when a large opening in the crowd appeared before her. Her mouth
dropped open at the display before her. Ramsey had called ahead and
had the area cleared specifically for them. A large quilted
blanket, much like the ones she slept with back in Manhattan,
covered a ten by ten space on the lawn. A giant wicker picnic
basket sat at the center of the roped off expanse and a cooler
directly next to it. It was the most ideal location for watching
the show. He must have done all this hours earlier. A grin broke
out across her face.

“Is this the kind of treatment you reserve
for all your dates?” she asked sitting down on the massive
blanket.

Ramsey smiled brightly at her, still
standing. “Not exactly,” he admitted.