And it seemed that the change was needed.
Even when she had hung out with people when Ramsey had said he didn’t care, she had still felt like she was tiptoeing around him in some ways—but not anymore. It was like someone had flipped a light switch.
So, when John called her out of the blue, she actually answered the phone. If Ramsey was going to be cool about everyone else, then surely, she had nothing to hide regarding John.
“There’s a name I haven’t seen on my phone in a while,” Lexi said when she answered.
“Babe, I’ve missed your voice,” John said seductively.
“You don’t strike me as a man who wants a talkative woman,” she joked.
“Just you.”
“Oh, ha-ha!” Lexi rolled her eyes. The man never gave up. “What did you really call me about?”
“It’s cute how you think I’m joking.”
“It’s cute that you think I’m that oblivious.”
John chuckled through the phone. “I don’t, not at all. I’m actually just coming into Atlanta for the weekend. Bridges kept me on for the main contact for the medical wing, and they’re due for a sixty-day inspection checkup. I heard that you had the week off, and I wanted to see if you’d be interested in keeping me company.”
“How the hell do you know if I have the week off?” Lexi asked, sitting up straighter. Christ, how did he always know things about her?
“You do, don’t you?”
“Yes, but how do you know?”
“That hardly matters.”
“It’s just weird that you always know these things. Who do you talk to? Is it Adam or something?” Lexi probed.
“Do you just not want to spend time with me? Is that why you’re stalling?” he asked with a laugh. “I hardly believe that, or you wouldn’t have picked up my call.”
“Don’t try to change the subject.”
“Or is it your boyfriend who doesn’t want you hanging out with me? Is he trying to avoid another company scandal like his big fuck-up with that Elisa chick? Shouldn’t he have known better than to go outside with her that night?” John asked, tsking softly under his breath.
Lexi ground her teeth together. Elisa. Just the name brought bile to her throat in these circumstances. She was a step below Bekah on the hatred scale.
“You’re not making your case at the moment,” Lexi grumbled.
“So, it is the boyfriend then?”
“No,” she snapped. “Ramsey doesn’t care who I hang out with because he doesn’t have anything to worry about.”
“Of course he doesn’t, babe,” he said.
She could almost see his smirk.
“Then, you’ll have no reservations about spending some time with me while I’m in Atlanta, all alone, right before Christmas.”
And that was how Lexi ended up touring the Bridges medical wing with John the week before Christmas. It had been fully functional for just over two months now, and as far as Lexi could tell, it was running smoothly. Ramsey didn’t complain half as much as he used to before it had opened, so she assumed things had fallen easily into place.
John was in a crisp black suit and black tie when he met her outside of the glass front entrance to the Bridges medical wing. By the look of the suit, his work for Bridges was paying off handsomely. Years back, Chyna had taught her how to pick out an expensive suit, and Lexi would put her money on a Fifth Avenue boutique.
She had dressed more casually in an oversized cream sweater paired with a burgundy skirt, patterned tights, and knee-high caramel riding boots. She had a navy knit infinity scarf wrapped around her neck twice, and her long brown hair hung loose. Her hands were stuffed into the long sleeves of her sweater as she jogged up to John. Her cheeks and nose were pink from the wind, and she shivered.
“Inside,” she said in greeting and then walked toward the building.
He laughed and caught up to her easily. “This is not cold weather.”
“You told me that last year, and it didn’t matter then.”
“Wow…was that a year ago?” he mused aloud.
Lexi nodded. It was hard to believe that it had been a year and a half since she had walked out of Jack’s wedding, since she and Ramsey had worked things out, since she had told John that they couldn’t date. It was a bit surreal that they were all in her life still in some capacity.
As much as John knew about her life, she never asked him about his. She tried to keep it as professional as possible. He always tried to cross that line just a little bit at every interaction, but she never tried. She wondered if she should ask him about his life, but then she stopped herself. What good would that do? He would just think that she had taken a renewed interest. He took that from everything she did.
But she was curious. It wasn’t like he was actively pursuing her, but he still was trying to see her when he was in town. That made her think that he wasn’t dating anyone seriously. She hated when her curiosity got the better of her.
Lexi blew on her hands as she walked into the hospital. She wished she had brought her coat with her. She hadn’t wanted to have to carry it around with her though in case Cierra wasn’t there to let her stash it.
“Need me to warm you up?” John asked, coming up behind her.
“No, thank you.” She jumped away from him, and her eyes darted around the cavernous entrance room.
Ramsey knew that she was coming into the hospital today, but she hadn’t been sure when they were actually going to arrive, so she hadn’t let him know the specific time. He really could be anywhere inside, but she hoped that they ran into him. Maybe she should just text him.
She fingered her phone in the pocket of her skirt, but then she decided against it. If he knew she was already here, then he would come seek her out. She preferred to avoid awkwardness at all costs. John, after all, was the man who she had slept with after she had broken up with Ramsey. He might say he was okay with it and even act like it, but she sure didn’t like standing between them.
“This way,” John said, motioning her toward the elevators.
“What’s the plan?”
“Haven’t you wanted to walk every floor in the building?”
“No. Not really,” she said honestly.
“No, me either. So, we’ll skip some. Pop in here and there, and scare people half to death.”
“You should have brought a clipboard,” Lexi said.
“We’ll nab someone else’s.”
They hopped onto the elevator, and John chose a floor seemingly at random. She was sure that he had detailed instructions about what he was supposed to be doing, but he hadn’t shared that with her. That was fine by her. She didn’t want to know any more about the inner workings of the medical wing than she already did from living with the person who had started the company over a year ago.
They wandered up and down the hallways, talking about trivial things. He would stop to talk to people in various rooms, and she would wait outside for the few minutes that he would be inside. She did a lot of people-watching and felt a bit like she was watching a television hospital drama with all the people chatting and wandering between disasters—not to mention, the obvious love interests.
John announced that they were halfway through, and they stopped for a minute, so she could pick up some coffee. She wasn’t sure why she was tired…or maybe she was just craving her coffee. Either way, the bitter taste was the pick-me-up she needed. Also, the liquid gave her courage to actually ask John the questions she’d had at the back of her mind.
“So, are you seeing anyone?” Lexi asked, blowing on her coffee.
“Why? Are you still interested?”
“Nope. I have Ramsey. I was simply curious.”
John looked at her sideways, assessing her, before answering, “Nothing serious.”
“So, you are seeing someone! What’s she like? Is she putting up a fight?” Lexi asked with a giggle.
She didn’t know why she found this amusing. It could just be because he always made fun of her about Ramsey. She just couldn’t hold it in.
“I’m not seeing anyone,” he told her stiffly.
“But you are or else you wouldn’t be acting like this.”
“I also wouldn’t be here with you, would I?”
Lexi snorted. “Yes!”
“Well, I know you’re worried, but you can stop. It’s not serious. Just something fun,” he said, raising his eyebrows.
“Uh-huh. So, what is she like? What does a girl have to do to hold your interest?”
“I’m looking at it,” he said, staring her down.
Lexi’s cheeks heated at the comment, but she pushed forward. “Are you saying that she’s like me?”
“No, she’s nothing like you. That’s why it’s not serious.”
Lexi didn’t know what to say to that. It had been a year and a half since they’d had any kind of sexual relationship. Sure, it had been a great month together, but she had stood her ground and put it behind her. If she could manage to be friends with Jack, then she could do anything.
Surely, all of John’s antics were more funny than serious. He was a man in a place of immense power. He’d graduated with a Harvard MBA, worked at Global, and had his own loft in the city. She just couldn’t see him pining after anyone—not when there were a million women in the city who he could chase after.
“Well, I hope she changes your mind, erm…proves you wrong,” Lexi said.
“It’s doubtful.”
“I’m sure you can find someone else to keep you occupied fairly easily.”
“Oh, I’m sure,” John said confidently. “There’s always another fish in the sea and all that. Is that what you’re trying to say?”
“I mean, not…exactly.”
“I’m the last person who needs your pity.”
“I wasn’t trying—”
John turned and grabbed her hand. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”
Lexi was so surprised by the abrupt change in the conversation that she just followed him down the hall. She hadn’t meant to come across as pitying him. She certainly didn’t look down on him for not having a girlfriend or for not settling down. To each his own for whatever lifestyle he wanted. Of all people, she definitely wasn’t the model for how to go about relationships. It wasn’t her place to judge, and she hoped he didn’t think that.
“Where are we going?” Lexi finally asked after they had taken the elevator to another floor and had rounded a corner to another hallway.
“I’ll show you.”
Lexi bit her lip, a sinking feeling settling into her stomach. She didn’t know where it had come from or what had made her apprehensive, but it just stuck in her gut. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear reflexively and continued to follow him down the hallway.
They stopped at a closed door. John knocked twice, and when no one answered, he opened the door and ushered her inside.
“What—” she began but then stopped when she saw where they were.