Lexi rested her head against Ramsey chest letting her eyes close as they swayed back and forth as a slow song came on. "I really am sorry that I was late," he whispered stroking her lower back. "I wouldn't have missed this for anything."
"It's fine. It wasn't your fault," she reassured him breathing in his minty freshness.
Ramsey's hand came up and tilted her chin up to look into his eyes. "Thank you."
Lexi raised her eyebrows in confusion. "For what?"
"Letting me be here," he said capturing another gentle kiss from her.
Lexi had to do everything in her strength not to pull his face back down towards her and cover his mouth with her own. Her body was being very needy in that moment. All she wanted to do was ditch this place and go back to her apartment.
But she knew that she couldn't do that…even if she wanted to. She was still recovering from everything that had happened in her life over the past month. Jumping into bed with another man, no matter how attractive Ramsey was, would not be in her best interest. Right now she just wanted to forget everything and get lost in his gorgeous body, but she knew that she would regret it. She would regret wasting something that was already going well, with someone that she was beginning to care about.
The last thing she wanted was for Ramsey to become a one night stand. She had been through her fair share of those and it wasn't pretty. After that kind of intimate behavior with hardly any emotional attachment, they never reconnected. She just felt used and in return as if she had used them as well. She wanted to fulfill her physical needs, but not like that…not anymore…not after what had happened with Jack.
She knew Ramsey could be so much more than that if she let herself feel again. She just had to give herself enough time. The boundaries they set up were in place for a reason. So that at a time when she had been sane and not overcome with physical desire, he knew that she couldn't just sleep with him. Of course, she hadn't been able to tell him why, but he knew she had been hurt. Hopefully she could trust him enough not to take advantage of the situation.
"I have to go meet her," Chyna said breaking up their intense moment and sidling up next to Lexi. Adam was at her side and seemed to look between Ramsey and Lexi with idle curiosity.
"We'll go with you," Lexi said using this as an excuse to step out of the physical tension that had formed between her and Ramsey. Ramsey licked his lips before finally breaking his gaze from Lexi's face and following the rest of them towards Chyna's father.
"Chyna," Richard acknowledged his daughter. His eyes traveled from her to the rest of the group, resting on Ramsey for a second longer than the rest, and then returned to Chyna.
"Dad," she muttered. "You remember my friend Alexa?"
"Of course," he said smiling as if he hadn't ogled her the day before like a prized stallion and insulted her without another word.
"This is my boyfriend," Chyna almost choked on the word, "Adam Preston and Alexa's boyfriend Ramsey Bridges."
Richard sidestepped Adam completely and turned to face Ramsey. "Bridges you say?"
"Yes sir," Ramsey told him shaking his hand firmly.
"I thought I recognized you. Great man your father. You're the spitting image of him too. Great things come from your family," he told him. Chyna could see the look in her father's eye. He didn't even have to say anything to her, but she could tell he was wondering why she hadn't come with a man like Ramsey Bridges.
"Thank you sir," he said through gritted teeth. Lexi would have laughed in any other scenario knowing how Ramsey acted towards his father and how he felt about the business.
"Next time you see him, let him know Richard Van der Wal says hello."
"Of course sir. I'll make sure to do that," Ramsey said stepping back to open the conversation up to the rest of the group.
Richard smiled obviously pleased with at least some of the choices of the group. Lexi guessed that he had been expecting some nobodies to give him more leverage to be disappointed with Chyna. Adam didn't exactly carry the prestige that the Bridges name carried but he was a nice guy. Lexi didn't actually know what he did or if he had any money. It was a strange thing to be with people Chyna associated and not know whether or not they were wealthy. Not that Lexi cared one way or the other.
"Well I'm sure you're all very anxious to meet my darling," Richard said turning around to smile at his fiancé. "Victoria this is my daughter Chyna."
The two came face to face, dark meeting light for the first time. Chyna swallowed a lump in her throat. She needed to be friendly with this woman or her life would fall apart. She pushed her pride out the window and came forward and hugged the woman. They were almost exactly the same height. "So nice to meet you," Chyna whispered as she pulled back slightly.
Victoria smiled slyly. "You too. I'm sure. You look different than Richard described you though dear," she said eyeing Chyna up and down. "Wasn't your mother a model?" she asked arching an eyebrow up.
Chyna's mouth dropped open slightly at the insult. Her eyes widened ever so slightly. Her head moved from side to side to glance at the other people surrounding her just to make sure that she hadn't imagined the comment. She took a deep breath and thought about what Ramsey said earlier before answering. "She is a model, actually."
"Really? At her age?" Victoria asked astounded.
Chyna forced a fake smile. "She's actually in Milan right now prepping for a show."
"Well isn't that wonderful. Does she have the same problem with alcohol giving her dark circles under her eyes?"
"You don't have circles under your eyes," Chyna said in confusion.
"No, but you do," Victoria said smiling sweetly. She turned to face Richard who was talking to a French couple about their American tour. "Richard dear," Victoria called not giving Chyna enough time to respond.
"Yes my love?" he asked excusing himself from the couple and coming to snuggle up against Victoria's neck.
"Can we go dance? I've been standing here too long," she pouted.
"Of course," he said escorting her onto the floor as he brushed past his daughter without another word.
Chyna twirled around and stared at them in complete shock and awe. "What a vile creature!" she cried her mouth still hanging open from her encounter.
"Yeah she's a real bitch," Adam agreed.
"I thought you handled that well though," Ramsey acknowledged Chyna. "It might have gotten to you, but you didn't show it."
"I just can't believe she said those things, and right in front of your dad," Lexi said.
"He doesn't care. Let's just get the fuck out of here," Chyna said making a beeline for the exit. "You guys need a ride?" Chyna asked as her driver pulled up in front of the building.
Lexi glanced up at Ramsey. He smiled and answered, "No, we'll just take a cab."
"Let me know if you need me," Lexi said hugging Chyna good bye. "I'm sorry about everything that happened."
"Don't worry about it. Not your fault. My dad is stupid for thinking that twit wants him for anything more than his money," Chyna told her.
"I know, but still let me know," Lexi told her. Chyna nodded head and then dove into the car. Adam shook Ramsey's hand one more time, smiled at Lexi, and then followed Chyna.
"So," Lexi began staring up into Ramsey handsome face. "My place?" she asked even though she knew that he had a hotel room in the city.
They hailed a cab to Lexi's apartment, and soon were both comfortably relaxing in her bed. Lexi smiled up in Ramsey's handsome face feeling incredibly content with the way things were going. They had put on a movie for background noise as they talked about inconsequential aspects of each other's lives. Lexi informed him that she was a gymnast while he confessed he had played soccer and football in high school, but when he had gone off to college he'd really gotten into lacrosse. They discussed their love for the ocean and Ramsey promised to take her sailing. The stories were endless and just as Lexi was beginning to fall asleep wrapped in his arms, he brought up one more topic.