Avoiding Commitment (62 page)

“Fine. Lexi,” he said taking a more hesitant
step closer.

“What do you want? Because all I want is you
finally out of my life,” she spat at him.

“I know, and I’ll get out of your life. I’ll
let you live yours. Can I make one last request?” he pleaded.

“Take, take, take. That’s all you do. What
more could you want?” she beseeched him.

“Just a final farewell,” he said taking
another step towards her.

“No,” she said her voice hitching as his
hands reached out and lovingly cupped the sides of her face. “Jack,
no. You are engaged,” she whispered.

“Just a good-bye. That’s all,” he
implored.

His head dipped down slowly. Lexi felt as if
she were watching him in slow motion as he descended towards her.
She could almost feel the taste of his lips as energy radiated out
of every pore. Her skin was on fire and she could feel her body
impulsively reacting to his touch. Her eyes stared deeply into the
cerulean orbs entrancing her.

Her heart remembered every moment she had
given into him like this. She remembered her head feeling dizzy and
light headed. Her heart racing along at a sprinter’s speed. Her
eyes glazing over with desire and fluttering closed in
anticipation. Her lips quivering as she wet them waiting for them
to be covered with his own. Her cheeks flushing with warmth and
desire. A wonderful ringing sound filling her ears.

She could remember every sensation she had
ever felt with Jack in that instant as he demanded one last thing
from her.

One last kiss good-bye.

As he was about to touch her lips to his own,
she took a step backwards and smiled serenely. “Good-bye, Jack,”
she said turning on her heel, walking through the sliding glass
doors, and leaving him behind.

She felt as if she were walking on clouds as
she ventured out towards the hanger where the private jet was
located. All she had was her purse. No Jack. No weight on her
shoulders. She felt as if she was breathing in new air. Her mind
was buzzing with possibilities. Her feet carried her out to the
hanger and across the cement tarmac to the waiting plane. As she
approached, she noticed someone waiting at the bottom of the
stairs.

The closer she got the more she realized that
the person wasn’t dressed in a uniform of any sort. She knew the
person standing there waiting for her. Her heart sped up in
anticipation of what was to come. The lightweight feeling she had
experienced left her with the prospect that she had one more
conversation ahead of her before she left for home, one more
conversation that she didn’t want to have.

“I’m glad I didn’t miss you,” Ramsey said
walking confidently to her side and enveloping her in a hug. She
sighed into his chest and wrapped her arms loosely around his
waist. “Chyna told me this is where you’d be.”

Bekah and Jack’s words rang clear in her
mind. At least one thing was certain, she had known Ramsey
previously. The more she thought on that the more she realized that
he had to be Armani Guy. She knew it was ridiculous to even
consider since it was such a strange coincidence. But it would be
even stranger if he happened to know things about her like he had
since she got here. The thought that he was Bekah’s pawn in a game
she was playing to hold onto Jack was harder to believe, but it
certainly would explain a large majority of his actions.

Ramsey pulled back leaving only a rather
small space between them, as usual ignoring any means of personal
space. “You look different,” he mused out loud.

“Do I?” she questioned.

“I don’t know what it is,” he admitted.

“Bad?”

“You could never look bad.”

“Cut the act,” she said turning her head to
the side, away from his endearing green eyes.

“I’m not acting. After the way you left my
apartment last night, you look like a new woman. It’s very
becoming,” he said eyeing her up and down.

“Well, thank you, but there is no need for
your charade any longer,” she said taking a step back.

In typical Ramsey fashion, he followed her in
a synchronized dance. “Why do you keep saying that?” he asked his
eyebrows scrunching together.

“I know what’s been going on. They told me
everything,” she said running her fingers through her hair and
sweeping a strand behind her ear.

“They? Bekah and Jack?” he asked and watched
her confirmation. “Those bastards.”

“So, it’s true?” she asked taking a step back
in pure shock. She hadn’t really believed it until she looked into
his face. For some demented purpose, he had played her. But it
didn’t explain what he was doing here. “If it is true, then what
are you even doing here?”

“If you don’t want to see me any longer, I
would understand, but know that I still want to see you, Lexi. I
didn’t know when I saw you again at the Country Club that you were
my
Alexa, but I figured it out pretty quick,” he told her
using her first name rather possessively.

“I wanted to tell you, but there was never a
right time, and I thought you might think less of me. I wasn’t
really in a good place at that time of my life. I thought you would
just see me as that guy who had gotten you drunk and tried to take
you back to his place. And I knew you were better than that. I
wanted to be that other guy for you,” he said rambling on like the
first time when she had spoken to him outside of the bathroom at
the Country Club.

“I don’t care about the fact that we knew
each other that night. I was just using you to forget,” she steered
clear of Jack’s name, “forget everything anyway.” Ramsey’s face
changed in that moment. It was as if his worries about slipping up
had fallen off of his shoulders. He even appeared taller which was
really awkward for Lexi who already had to strain her neck to look
up at him since he never left more than six inches between
them.

“But they did tell you about that? I mean
that would be it, right?”

“Sure, Jack told me that. I had the pieces in
my mind already but I hadn’t knit them together. And I guess your
explanation makes sense, but I would have rather you told me the
truth.”

“You’re big on truth, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” she stated simply thinking about how
lying and deceit had ruined her life.

“Now that that is out of the way. When can I
see you again?” he asked his full-watt smile reaching all the way
up to his eyes.

She shook her head in disbelief. “Never.
You’re a player, and you played me.” She tried to move around him
to the stairs of the plane, but he reached out and grabbed her arm.
He spun her around until she was facing him again.

“I…what?” he asked his lips parted and eyes
stormy. “I’ve never played you.”

“You say that as if you are a player.”

He gulped. “Well, I haven’t played you.”

“Everyone was right when they said I didn’t
know you and that you weren’t everything you seemed.”

“Is anyone ever what they seem?” he asked.
“You have secrets. Everyone has them.”

“But I don’t try and ruin someone’s life for
sport,” she spat at him.

“And you think I do?”

“As far as I can tell.”

“Who’s life am I ruining this time?” he asked
staring intently into her eyes. “Please tell me what I’ve done, and
why you are so offended.”

“You seduced me. You tried to fuck me. You
would have fucked me,” she cried disgusted.

“What’s the problem with that? It’s not like
you didn’t want me to,” he said stepping even closer to her. “You
like me, Lexi. I know it. You know it.” He reached out to her,
pushing his fingers up into her tangled mess of curly hair. “Why is
that so wrong?”

“Because you fooled me into liking you,” she
cried, futilely pushing him away from her.

He shook his head not budging an inch. “I
never had to fool you. You just had to open up your eyes.”

She clenched her jaw angry that he wouldn’t
let her back away. “You did it for your sister.”

This seemed to take him aback. “Why would I
fall for you for my sister?”

“You did her bidding to get rid of me.”

“But I want you around,” he said smoothly,
running his hands gently through her hair. “That doesn’t make
sense.”

“She put you in my path so she could have
Jack all to herself,” she tried to explain.

That did push him back a step. He released
her hair and stared into her wild brown eyes. “This is always about
Jack, isn’t it?”

“No, nothing is about Jack anymore. And if
you come with that territory, then good riddance,” she muttered
angrily.

“What if I told you that was all a lie?” he
asked curious about her answer.

“Could I believe you?”

“Have I given you reason not to?”

“Besides not telling me that you knew me
previously?”

“I did tell you,” he reminded her.

“Yes, but not about meeting in the club.”

“Is that really all that relevant?”

“Absolutely,” she told him staring him down.
“Half-truths and hiding are still lying.”

“Then I apologize, but I had nothing to do
with Jack. And I hope to God that I never will,” he said inching
forward again. His hands came up and secured themselves against her
narrow hips. He grabbed her with a tad bit of force and pulled her
into him.

“Ramsey,” she whispered his name as he locked
lips with her. She held still as long as she could before giving
into his kiss. His sweet taste of peppermint overpowered her senses
and she closed her eyes to breathe him in. His lips moved softly
against her own, coaxing out her emotions not demanding them. She
couldn’t help but give into his adoring affections.

“Yes?” he asked finally breaking away from
her, but planting one more feather light kiss upon her plump
lips.

“I…I can’t do this,” she murmured against his
lips, the air around them super heated.

“Why? Is it Jack?”

“No,” she said quickly. Then sighed and broke
away from him. “Yes. It is Jack.” He nodded accepting that without
questions. “You shouldn’t want me. I’m not in a good enough place
to be wanted.”

“But I do want you. At least, something with
you, even if we start slow,” he pushed.

“You know how people say you crawl before you
walk and walk before you run? Yeah, well, I need to learn to hold
my head up before I can even think about crawling,” she muttered
brushing her hair off her forehead.

“Yeah. I get it, but Lexi…”

“No,” she said pressing a finger to his lips.
“This is the end of the road.”

She turned from him and began to climb the
stairs to the jet. Chyna was waiting for her at the top. It was
pretty obvious that she had been eavesdropping, but she didn’t look
displeased. Lexi wasn’t sure if that was because Lexi was finally
standing up on her own or because they were on their way home. It
didn’t matter either way.

“Will I hear from you?” Ramsey called as she
hit the top step.

She turned around and smiled at him. “When I
can hold my head up high.”

“You ready to get out of here, chica?” Chyna
asked pulling her friend into a hug. When Lexi pulled back, she
already had a flute of Champagne stuffed into her hand.

“Very ready,” Lexi confirmed.

“A toast,” Chyna cheered raising her glass to
Lexi, “to being free.”

Lexi shook her head. “No. To closure,” she
announced clinking their glasses together and downing her first
glass of freedom.

The End.

*****

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

K.A. Linde is an independent author and
publisher enjoys writing novels that keep you guessing to the very
end. She wrote Avoiding Commitment in 2009. She studied political
science and philosophy at the University of Georgia and received
her Masters in 2012. She currently resides in North Carolina. She
enjoys dancing in her spare time. She has written a sequel to this
novel and plans to have it released as an ebook in the near future
along with her future endeavors.

Avoiding Series:

Avoiding Commitment

Avoiding Responsibility

The Affiliate

You can contact K.A. Linde at:

[email protected]

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you so much everyone who helped me get
to where I am right now. I never thought that I would publish this
book, and I am grateful every day to the people who encouraged me
to keep writing and to take the next step in the process. Here is
just a short list of amazing people who have helped me get where I
am today:

S. C. Stephens is one of the most incredible
and brilliant people I know. I’m very glad to call you a friend,
and I look forward to that Seattle trip we have planned. Who knows,
maybe we can get a black Chevelle to drive us around? My editing
goddesses: Jenny Aspinall, Rebecca Kimmerling, Lori Francis! You
three are a freaking ridiculous bunch, and I can’t wait for that
drink in Bali. I’ll bring the vodka gummies! I am glad to have
become friends with a number of book bloggers including Maryse at
Maryse.net, Jenny and Gitte at TotallyBooked, Alyssa and Taryn at
My Secret Romance, Autumn at Autumn Reviews, Chrystle at The Indie
Bookshelf, and Laura at Novel Magic. Thank you for publicizing my
work before I’d even thought about putting it out for
publication.

Sarah Hansen at Okay Creations did a
fantastic job on the cover design for this book. Thanks for putting
up with my ever changing thoughts about the cover. I appreciate Mat
Kinsey so much for the portrait on the back cover. You have such a
talent! Additionally, Colleen Hoover might be one of the coolest
people on the planet. Thank you for giving me the push to do
this!