“Restroom,” she said, motioning in that direction.
He nodded and followed her in that direction. There was a pretty long line for the women’s restroom, but it was moving quickly. She did her business, washed her hands, and then ran them back through her unruly hair. She pulled the long tresses into a high ponytail to keep the strands off her neck, and then she turned to exit.
She passed the person washing her hands next to her, and she wondered why the girl looked familiar. Before she made it to the exit where a line of women waited to use the restroom, she realized who it was. Her heart beat furiously in her chest, and she felt her fingers tingling with anticipation. Should she say something? What point would there be?
But still…
“Stella?” Lexi asked in disbelief.
She couldn’t be sure that was who was standing before her. She hadn’t seen or heard from Stella since the night that Jack had slept with her in New York…the day he had left Lexi.
The girl turned around, her big green eyes wide with confusion. Then, they landed on Lexi’s face, and they widened even further with alarm.
“Lexi?” she asked like she didn’t believe it herself.
Stella was four or five inches taller than Lexi with platinum-blonde hair cut short, framing her angular face. Lexi noticed with self-satisfaction that it looked like Stella had gained some weight.
“What are you doing here?” Stella asked. “I mean, not the concert…Atlanta.”
“I’m from Atlanta.”
“Oh, right,” she said awkwardly. “I forgot.”
“What are you doing here?”
“My husband got relocated to Atlanta for his company,” she said softly.
Then, Lexi noticed the glittering ring on Stella’s finger. Lexi felt sick.
It wasn’t fair. It was stupid. This girl had ruined everything…and she still had married someone before Lexi. How could the universe allow this to happen? It just didn’t make sense!
“Congrats,” Lexi said through gritted teeth.
“Lexi,” she said, biting her lip, “I’m really sorry.”
“Really?”
“I never got to tell you, but I am really sorry about what I did. Jack was drunk, and I was so jealous of you two. You were perfect, and I…I was a thief. I wanted what you had, so I took it. I shouldn’t have seduced him that night. He said no like five thousand times—”
“Wait…what?” Lexi asked, scrunching her eyebrows together. Her body shivered at those words. “He said no?”
“Of course he did. Didn’t he tell you?”
“No,” she breathed. “No, he didn’t.”
“Now that I’m with the man I love, I can’t help but think back to that night and how stupid I was. If someone had done that to my husband, I would hunt her down and kill her. You have every right to hate me,” she murmured.
Lexi shook her head in a daze. Jack hadn’t wanted to sleep with Stella. It hadn’t just been some fluke. Stella had gone after him that night.
Lexi couldn’t process this. She couldn’t erase more than three years of assumptions in the blink of an eye.
Chapter 9
Lexi spent the next month trying to keep a promise that she had never made to Ramsey. She gave Jack the information about the attorney, and then she took a giant step back. If he called to ask her something about it, she would always reroute him back to the attorney. She wanted to help and be there for him. But at what cost? Ramsey didn’t like the idea, and she was marrying him after all.
So, she spent her weekend hanging out with Chyna and Adam, celebrating her engagement and getting rip-roaring drunk. Chyna was basically the best friend Lexi could have in this situation. She was supremely supportive and anxious to already get started planning a bachelorette party.
Lexi hadn’t even thought of the details. She had been so wrapped up in work, Jack’s divorce, and telling everyone she was engaged that she hadn’t even considered—like she assumed most girls did—all of those minute details about planning the wedding. Where were they going to have the wedding? What kind of dress did she want? How many bridesmaids?
Her head spun with all the questions she had never even though about. Ramsey jokingly said they would just hire a wedding planner, and Lexi laughed it off.
She didn’t need a wedding planner. She could do this on her own. She had plenty of time.
When Ramsey came home from work a week later and told her he had booked a meeting with a wedding planner, Lexi blew up on him.
“Are you kidding me right now?” Lexi asked, jumping up from her seat and planting her hands on her hips. “You didn’t even consult with me about this. Do you think I can’t do this on my own?”
“Whoa!” he said, striding across the room. “I didn’t say anything like that.”
“But you didn’t even ask me about a wedding planner. What if I don’t want one?”
“Lexi, I’m not sure you know how much work has to go into this.”
“I don’t want it to be a big thing.”
Ramsey shook his head and closed the distance between them. He placed his hands on both of her shoulders. “Lexi, where is all of this coming from? I mentioned getting a planner when Chyna was in town. You didn’t seem to care then.”
“I didn’t think you were serious!”
“You have the Bryant case to finish up. I’m running the medical wing. Neither of us has the time to plan a wedding. I’m trying to make this easy for both of us. If you hate the planner and decide you want to do it all by yourself, we don’t have to hire her. Okay?” he asked, staring down into her big brown eyes.
Lexi took a deep breath as his words sank in. All of this wedding stuff put her on edge. It wouldn’t hurt to talk to someone else about it. “How much do wedding planners cost?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “You let me worry about the money, all right?”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
“That’s because you don’t like spending money, and to have a wedding, you have to spend it. So, just ignore the dollar signs in your eyes. I’ll cover it. It’s your day. That’s all that matters,” he said with a smile.
Another week passed, and now, it was the big day, and she was a mess. She had been buried nose deep in the Bryant case, and she hadn’t even given the meeting with the wedding planner any thought. The damn meeting had just snuck up on her. What was she even supposed to wear to it? She blankly stared at her closet. She had nothing to wear.