Read Online Avoiding Temptation by K. A. Linde - Free Book Online Page B

the Bitch no longer had her claws in him?
    Jack looked down at the ground and rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. She could see the thoughts running through his head. She could see what he wanted to say, but she knew he wouldn’t. She knew he wouldn’t say it.
    “What do you want me to say, Lex?”
    There was that pet name again.
    She didn’t even know what she wanted him to say. And even if she did, even if she allowed herself the slip-up, what could be done?
    “Nothing,” she finally whispered, turning away from Jack.
    She tried to shut herself down, to think only about the memorable night she had had the day before. Yet, her mind kept wishing he would call out to her, but he didn’t. He didn’t stop her from walking away.

Five whole days of silence from Chyna.
    It wasn’t the longest Lexi had gone without hearing from her. She had been in Milan for nearly two months after all, but this was deliberate. Chyna had walked out of that wedding with Lexi, Ramsey, and Adam, but Lexi hadn’t heard from her since.
    Lexi couldn’t let this stand. She had tried reaching out to Chyna. She knew it would be best to talk things through before Chyna got to sit and stew. The woman could hold a grudge like no one else. But of course, Chyna seemed to be avoiding Lexi’s phone calls.
    Lexi needed to make this right. Throwing on a pair of tennis shoes, she decided she was going to go over there and talk to her. She knew that Chyna was pissed about John, but that was over now. She was going to have dinner with John today to end things just like she had told him in the parking lot. The end.
    She just needed to tell Chyna and hope that Chyna wouldn’t be a bitch about it. That would be great.
    Lexi hailed a cab to head uptown. On a different day, she might have jogged to Chyna’s apartment, but she wasn’t in the mood. She needed to make things right, and she had too many thoughts swirling around in her head. Running would only make her obsess more about the situation. That was never a good thing.
    The cab came to a stop in front of Chyna’s building. Lexi paid the fare and then stepped out onto the sidewalk. She walked up to the front entrance and saw Chyna’s doorman, Bernard, standing there.
    “Hey, Mr. B,” Lexi said as she approached him. She liked that he was a constant staple of the Fifth Avenue apartment.
    “Miss Lexi, it’s always good to see you,” Bernard said with a smile.
    “It’s good to see you. Is Chyna up there…alone?”
    “I feel like you ask me this every time you come over,” he said, his hand on the door. “Are you thinking she isn’t by herself in the middle of the afternoon?”
    “Well, I just didn’t know if Adam was up there. That might not be the best thing for me right now,” she told him. Though she wasn’t sure why. She always seemed to divulge a bit too much information to Bernard.
    “No,” Bernard said with a shake of his head as he pulled open the door. “She’s up there all by herself. Mr. Ward left earlier this morning.”
    “And she’s still there, and she hasn’t returned my calls?” she snapped. She hadn’t meant it to come out so harsh, but it was so irritating. If Chyna was home alone, why couldn’t she just answer her phone?
    Bernard certainly caught the irritation in her voice. “Have you done something, Miss Lexi?”
    “No,” Lexi said quickly, running up the stairs and through the front door. She didn’t want to have this conversation with Bernard. She was already dreading having it with Chyna. “I’ll see you around, Mr. B.”
    “Bye, Lexi.”
    Lexi took the elevator to the penthouse suite, listening to the mind-numbing classical music as she went up. It dinged open on the top floor, and she walked down to the end of the hallway. She had a received key to Chyna’s apartment nearly three years ago, and she had never given it back. Under the circumstances, Lexi figured it would be better if she knocked.
    Taking a deep breath, Lexi knocked on