She needed to figure out what was going on between them before she left for New York this weekend. She only had a couple days left, and every time they had been together had held sexual tension or outright anger. If she was ever going to let him go, then she needed to get everything out of the way…out in the air.
That is how she found herself hailing a taxi to take her back to his place. It had only been three days since she had last stepped foot into his apartment, but it felt like a lifetime.
The late night attendant, she had passed while entering the building only a couple days earlier, seemed to remember her and buzzed her through to Jack’s floor. She knocked once before twisting the knob, finding it open. The lights were dim as she entered and a flickering of light was coming from down the hall. No sounds could be heard from the apartment, and as she walked past the kitchen, candlelight seemed to take over. A hundred or more candles of varying shapes and sizes filled the living room and more lit the dining room where two plates were set and a bottle of wine sat chilled.
Lexi’s mind was whirling. This couldn’t be for her. Why would he do something like this for her? Did he just want to confuse her? Granted, it was beautiful. She could feel tears welling to her eyes as they drifted from one romantic scene to the next. Is this what it felt like to have Jack be only yours?
Except he wasn’t.
He belonged to Bekah. So, what was he doing making her feel like this now? After she had confessed nearly everything to his girlfriend. After he had flown her down here to convince the new girl that she was what he wanted. Was this a thank you? Did he actually think he had to thank her for what she had done? Because this wasn’t helping her ability to get closure.
“Do you like it?” Jack asked from behind her. Lexi turned slowly and took in the beautiful man in front of her. Thankfully, he wasn’t over dressed. He wore a pair of dark loose fit jeans and a white linen button up rolled up to his elbows. His blue eyes were momentarily hidden under his midnight hair. His complexion was dark from the summer sun which only added to the exotic effect he was exuding.
“I…well…yes, but why?” she asked her eyes leaving his sexy body and falling on things that she was more capable of discerning accurately with her heart racing like it was.
“Because I needed to apologize,” he said stepping towards her.
“Is this how you apologize to everyone?” she asked attempting to keep her eyes averted. He was standing so close she could almost feel the heat rising off of him.
She knew he was smirking without glancing at him. “This is how I wanted to apologize to you.”
“You shouldn’t have,” she said weakly.
“I was out of line when I said all those terrible things to you.”
“Jack, you shouldn’t apologize. You should let it be,” she said turning away from him completely.
“I can’t apologize enough for what I’ve done to you over the years, for what I did to you this week, for having you come here and endure what I put you through. I can’t apologize enough for overreacting when I saw you with Ramsey. I can’t apologize enough for everything, but I thought I could start with dinner,” he whispered sweetly into the ear she had left exposed to him. His arms came up to encircle her miniscule waist and draw her in to him. She tried not to breathe in his delicious smell as old feelings threatened to overpower her senses. He placed a tiny kiss on her shoulder before reaching down, tugging on her hand, and pulling her into the dining room.
“Jack, you really shouldn’t have done all of this,” she said as he tucked her into the dining room chair.
“I think that I should have, and who are you to turn down a man begging for forgiveness?” he asked with another smirk directed her way.
Lexi sighed and waited for him to be seated before continuing, “We really need to talk.”
“I agree,” he said, “how is the chicken?”
Lexi glanced down at her food realizing for the first time that there was, in fact, chicken on her plate. She dug her fork into the meat and tasted the morsel. “Good. Did you cook this?” she asked in surprise.
“For you.”
She nodded wondering when he had ever learned how to cook. Last she had checked, macaroni and cheese had been too difficult for him. Now he was creating delicious entrees? “Okay, well, thank you, but we really do need to talk.”
“You’re right. I need to apologize. Would you like me to begin?”
“Uh…”
“I should have never called you.” Lexi glanced up from her plate to stare at him in surprise.
“I’m not sure what Bekah told you or what ya’ll have spoken about, but I shouldn’t have dragged you into this. What we…were shouldn’t have been put on display like I’ve been making you do with Bekah. Does that make sense? What I’m trying to say is that I know why I didn’t tell Bekah about you in the first place.”
“You do?” Lexi asked finishing off her first glass of wine as quickly as possible. The alcohol was working its way through her system and leaving her with a buzz, which helped.
“I couldn’t bear her knowing what I’d done to you, how I’d broken you. And I see it now. I see that I broke you into a million pieces and then left you there. I didn’t want her to know I was capable of that. Did you tell her I was capable of that?” he asked directing his question towards her for the first time, expecting an answer.
“I…I didn’t tell her that,” she whispered watching his face morph from despair to intrigue.
“But why didn’t you? You could have told her. You could have told her everything.”
“I know, Jack,” Lexi admitted placing her fork back down on the plate. The tiny appetite she had entered with had now gone.
“Then why didn’t you tell her. She calls me telling me she loves me, telling me that I’m everything to her. She says that you’ve opened her eyes to who I really am, but does she know who I really am, Lexi? Does anyone other than you know who I am?” he asked standing and approaching her chair. Yanking the chair from the table he rested his hands on either side of the arm rest and bore down upon her.
She tilted her face up to his. “I don’t know, Jack. Have you showed anyone else?” she asked staring up into his giant baby blues.
He shook his head letting his eyes close and his head drop forward. She couldn’t help but be amazed at his beauty even in that moment. “I’ve never known how to talk to anyone like I can with you, Lex. I’m not even sure if the woman I’ve been with the past year and a half has a clue who I am,” he announced licking his lips before continuing. “And when I’m with you, I just know. You know?”
She did, but could she tell him that? Should she tell him that? After everything she had told Bekah today and what she had gone through for him every day since they had met, of course she knew what he was talking about. She had been his constant all along. What Bekah had been saying suddenly clicked in Lexi’s mind.
She was the reason for all of this.
And that realization in itself pushed Lexi to nod her head in agreement. “I know exactly what you mean.”
His head came up. Somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind something had clicked inside of him as well. He scooped her up out of the chair and crushed his lips to hers. He kicked the chair out of his way and pushed her body back against the wall. Tilting his head sideways, he kissed her deeper, feeling around with his tongue for every vantage point. She moaned as his hands grabbed at her waist and hips. His mouth moved away from her lips to kiss her earlobe, neck, and collarbone, taking in as much of her as he could. He returned to her mouth when she clawed at his back begging to taste him again. It had been nearly two years since they had last kissed, but the way they moved together made it seem that like only yesterday. He could still remember every delicate curve of her body from memory, and she continued to revel in the feel of his skin against hers once again.