“Yeah,” she grumbled.
It was a mistake that had happened way more than she liked. Everyone mistook her for Ramsey’s wife. They had been to so many functions where that happened. It wasn’t like she wore a goddamn ring or anything! Just because they had been together for two years didn’t mean they had to get married immediately! She wished that people would just stop asking her! Rings made her nervous. Why ruin a good thing when it was working without a ring? Ugh!
“We’ll have someone escort you to your seat,” the man said, snapping his fingers at a hostess.
“Thank you,” Lexi said, following the snobby woman through the restaurant.
Watching the crowd of people made Lexi entirely uncomfortable—the couples picking at their food, the women barely munching on a piece of lettuce, the men distracted by someone else’s wife. Was this where her life was heading? She shuddered at the thought and tried to push it aside. She had never liked Ramsey for his money, and oft times, she would forget he was as wealthy as he was. She was bringing in a handsome salary herself, but something about the way these people were acting tonight ruffled her feathers. She had never been that person, but it was easy to see how money changed people. Holding back her unmitigated qualms, she forced a smile on her face and tried to hide her apprehension.
“Here you are,” the woman said, smiling politely at Ramsey.
“Hey,” Ramsey said. His gorgeous smile appeared on his face at Lexi’s approach.
“Hey,” she managed, walking past the hostess.
Ramsey stood, wrapped his strong arms around her, and kissed her forehead. She breathed him in, during even the briefest of embraces, and smiled at the minty smell he exuded. It never got old.
“It’s so good to see you,” he murmured.
Lexi couldn’t help but giggle at his cute PDA moment. Maybe those other couples could take note and pay more attention to each other. Taking her seat across from him, Lexi crossed her legs under the table and unfolded her napkin before laying it on her lap.
“So…you’re late,” he mused with a knowing glint in his eyes.
“Yeah, court ran over. I’m sorry,” she told him.
“You didn’t end up seeing Jack?” he asked, only half-joking.
“No, I ended up rescheduling with him,” she said, shrugging. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow, I guess.”
“Well, I took the liberty of ordering for us. I hope you don’t mind,” he said, gesturing to a vodka-cranberry placed before her.
“No, that’s fine. I needed this,” she said with a laugh.
“I figured as much. This case is taking a lot out of you.”
“The people are relentless,” she said before sipping on her drink. “I just can’t catch a break. One a**hole client to the next.”
“We should get away,” he told her.
“That’d be nice,” she said, sending him an amused smile. “What did you have in mind? And when can we make it happen?”
“When does the case end?” he asked.
The look on his face showed that he knew it wasn’t going to be over anytime soon. She didn’t even need to voice that. She had been up late, working on it, for far too long.
“We’ll go after,” he added.
“Sure,” she murmured softly. She took another sip of her drink. “Why did you choose this place anyway?”
“The restaurant?”
She nodded.
“Because you like it. You do like it, right? Should we have gone somewhere else? We can still leave,” he mumbled, trying to recover from a misstep he hadn’t made.
“No, no, it’s fine,” she said quickly, giggling to herself at his adorable reaction. “I do like this place. It’s so classy though. Sometimes, I feel dirty when I walk inside.”
“Isn’t it supposed to have the opposite reaction?” he asked curiously.
“Let me rephrase. I don’t feel clean enough to eat here. I feel like someone needs to polish me, like the silverware,” she said, holding up and examining a pristinely polished fork. “I could never get forks this clean.”
“What’s this about, Lexi?” Ramsey asked, reaching across the table and taking her hand. He didn’t let go, and he slowly swirled a figure-eight pattern against the top of her hand.
“I’m just tired,” she murmured, glancing away from him, “and I didn’t get to eat lunch. Just irritable, I guess.”
“Hey,” he said, tugging on her hand lightly until she looked back at him. “I love you. You’ll get through this case.”
She sighed and nodded. She wished she could tell him about all the other things on her mind, but this wasn’t the place. How could she ask him in the midst of these people whether or not she was going to end up like them?
Lexi knew that she was thinking too much into it, and her stress was starting to seep into her personal life, but she had a hard time preventing it from happening. Being surrounded by such opulence reminded her too much of the people she worked for—the people she wanted to forget.
Trying to clear her mind, she placed a smile on her face and asked Ramsey about his day. He already knew that hers had been stressful, but she needed to remember that he had a stressful job, too. Sometimes, it was easy to get wrapped up in what she was going through at work and the doubts she was having about her future. Putting in the effort to find out about Ramsey’s day eased her mind, and dinner arrived shortly after.
By the end of the meal, her apprehension about the evening had dissipated, and they had slipped effortlessly into a debate about who was going to pay for the meal. Ramsey won, of course. He always won, but Lexi found it amusing to prod him on the subject. Maybe one day she would be able to convince him otherwise.
Latching on to his arm, Ramsey led Lexi out of the dining hall. She wished that they could do this more often…that they had more time. Snuggling against his arm, they exited through the main entrance and into the late October air. The valet smiled at their approach and motioned to his assistant to grab the keys.
“Take a walk with me,” Ramsey said, pulling Lexi away from the parking lot and waving dismissively at the valet.
“But our cars.”
“They’ll take care of it. Don’t worry about it,” he said, continuing to lead her away from the restaurant.
“Are you sure?” Lexi asked. She was concerned about leaving the only real possession she cherished alone in a parking lot so late at night.
“Of course. Where do you think we are?”
“I guess you’re right,” she agreed reluctantly, glancing back over her shoulder at the valets standing around. “Where are we going?”
“I just wanted to walk with you and forget the rest of the world. I miss our time together. We’re both so busy.”
“I know this case is really something else.”
She felt like she was always making excuses. She never had enough free time anymore, and when she did, she would have so much else to do that she wouldn’t get to spend it with Ramsey.
He laced his fingers with hers as they veered toward the nearest intersection. The city lights gleamed all around them, and she shuddered a little bit as the crisp evening air reminded her that winter was just around the corner.
“Are you cold?” he asked, putting his arm around her and rubbing her arm.
“Just a little.”
“I’m glad we were able to get dinner tonight. It’s nice to see your pretty face.”
Lexi giggled slightly at all his compliments. She was now glad he had asked her to walk with him. She had forgotten how nice it was to just get away. He hadn’t been lying at dinner when he said they needed a vacation. They both worked too much to do it though.
Ramsey gestured for her to cross the street, and she traipsed across the grimy crosswalk in her slingback heels, being careful not to trip over a pothole.
“Let’s go in,” he said with an easy smile as he motioned toward one of the entrances to Piedmont Park.
“This late at night?” she questioned him, slightly uncomfortable at the prospect.
“Yeah, let’s go together.”
“Isn’t it dangerous?” she asked, biting her lip.
She hugged her arms around herself as he stood, silhouetted by the lights at the entrance. He did look smashing tonight in a black button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to three-quarter length and charcoal slacks. His green eyes stood out in contrast to his dark outfit, and she just wanted to kiss him.
“You feel like you’re in some kind of danger with me?” he asked, his lips quirking up at the sides at the humor in his statement.
Lexi reached up on her tiptoes and lightly kissed his lips. “I’m not the only one with a pretty face tonight.”
“You’re trying to change the subject,” he murmured against her lips.
“Is it working?” she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Are you in any way unsafe with me?” he asked, circling his arms around her waist.
“Depends on what you plan to do with me tonight,” she whispered huskily.
“After this morning? You’ll be lucky if I let you out of bed.”
“You think being out of bed would be lucky?”
Ramsey shook his head. “Into the park,” he demanded, pointing at the entrance.
“Nope. We should go home now.”
Ramsey smiled, clearly contemplating her suggestion. Then, as she began to drag him back to their cars, he hoisted her up into his arms and carried her into the park himself.
“Oh my God! Ramsey, what are you doing?” she squealed as he walked forward.
He held her gingerly in his arms as if she weighed nothing.
“I can walk! I can walk!”
“Are you going to behave?” he asked, smirking down at her face.
“Not if you keep carrying me!”
“Then, why would I put you down?”
She threw her head back, exasperated, and he just laughed at her.
“All right, all right. I’ll put you down.” He placed her lightly on her feet.
“Thank you,” she said, steadying herself against him in her high heels. “Can we try to act like civilized adults now?”
“What’s the fun in that?”
“You have a point.”
As they walked farther into the park, the trees began to cluster together, and the city lights gradually disappeared. The characteristic speeding of cars on the interstate and honking of horns in traffic through the commuter city faded away to a dull hum, and they were left with each other. The winding path they had selected was even farther off the beaten track, and Lexi actually noticed that some stars were overhead. The stars had come out for she and Ramsey tonight, like the stars had known they were going to take this moonlit stroll through the city.
The weight of his hand was peaceful against hers, and the sound of each other’s breathing kept a slow, easy rhythm about their movements—so much so, that she hardly realized just how dark it was where they were. They had walked so deep into the woods that even the lights in the park were missing or had been extinguished. It reminded her of the night when they had ridden four-wheelers in the woods back when they were first exploring each other, first accepting what was happening, first falling in love.