Page 31 of A Little More

Lexi started her car and drove out into Atlanta’s notorious rush-hour traffic. Confusion still stomped through her mind. Combined with the stop-and-go five lanes of traffic, she’d developed a whopper of a headache. Seeing Julien tonight had reinforced that he would never give an inch on his no-dating rule. She’d hoped distance from Nash would make the decision easy.

But John’s parting words when they both made it back to the office had stuck with her. His simple, “I like him, Lexi. Don’t think too hard,” had done nothing more than cause her to think about him all afternoon.

If she talked about it with someone he knew, it might make things a little clearer. She pressed the button on her steering wheel. “Call Juliana.”

“Calling Mom.”

“Ah!” Lexi smashed end a few times to make sure that call didn’t go through. That was the last person in the world she needed to discuss her job or Nash with.

“Call Ju-li-a-na,” she repeated.

“Calling Juliana.” Her wireless system dialed her new friend’s number.

“Hey there.” Juliana’s cheerful greeting pulled a smile from Lexi. “What are you up to?”

“Just got home from Statem.”

“How is my hometown? Still standing, I assume.” Juliana laughed. “Has Nash introduced you to anyone down there yet? Becky? Dewey?”

“I met Becky at the diner. And Dewey. He offered to run away with me to the Bahamas or Canada. He was a gentleman and gave me my pick of destination.”

“Really?” She laughed again. “I’m surprised. He doesn’t usually commit to a woman like that. Hey, I’m not doing anything if you want me to meet you somewhere for drinks or something. I’m completely over being the oldest kid on campus right now.”

Lexi smiled with relief. “Yes. You can come over to my apartment if you’d like.”

“I’ll bring the wine and be there in a few.”

Lexi told her the directions and ended the call. The company would make her feel marginally better. The loneliness might hold off for a few more hours. She pulled into her condo parking lot twenty minutes later. Another ten and she had managed to get her briefcase and suitcase through her front door in time for Juliana to walk in behind her.

“I got the wine.” She held up a bottle of sweet, white wine. “I didn’t know what kind you liked.”

“Wine is wine at this point.” Lexi left her bags by the door and met Juliana in the kitchen as she opened cabinets.

“Wine glasses are over there. I’ll get the opener.”

“No, bother.” Juliana grabbed two wine glasses, twisted off the top of the wine, and poured a glass. “They made these bottles easy to open in emergency situations like this.”

“How do you know it’s an emergency?”

Juliana picked up her glass. “You look frazzled.”

Lexi refrained from touching her hair to see what she meant. Instead, she drank deeply of the sweet, cold wine.

“Now,” Juliana began, leaning on the counter. “I have two questions. First, how can you possibly stand to live in this apartment without any color?”

Lexi glanced around. “Until recently, I hadn’t noticed.”

“Now, for my second question. Is Nash the man that’s got you out of sorts? I might have to raise the ante to tequila if you tell me it’s Charlie.”

“I can assure you that Charlie hasn’t caused much of any emotion.”

“So, you’re done with him?”

Lexi shrugged. “It’s hard to be done with the one guy that will be here in Atlanta even after I finish the job in Statem.”

Juliana clapped her hands together. “Oh, so it is Nash?”

Lexi wrinkled her nose. “Do you plan on telling him?”

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