Ramsey lightly stroked his thumb across her hand. “You know I love you, right?”

Lexi jerked her head toward him.

He was smiling, and his eyes kept darting over to her.

“Of course I do,” she said.

“You know I’d do anything for you.”

“You’ve already done everything.”

“And I’ll keep doing that and more, Lexi.” He brought her hand to his lips and softly kissed it. “My Alexa.”

Lexi tried not to fret anymore about it. Ramsey was trying to ease her nerves the best way he knew how, and it would be better if she just let his soothing words sink in. His parents didn’t have a choice in the matter. She was marrying their son, and that was that.

They drove through the gated entrance to the country club and down the long drive to the clubhouse. He parked his Mercedes in between two BMWs, and Lexi tried not to feel insignificant amidst the excessive wealth. This was how Ramsey had been raised, but it wasn’t Ramsey. This wasn’t her life, even if it would technically be her money.

She shivered at the thought. It was strange to think that once they got married, half of everything would be hers. She didn’t want to know how many zeroes that would add to her net worth. Seriously, she needed to stop overanalyzing. This was stupid. Ramsey wasn’t his money, and he wasn’t zeroes in a bank account. He was just Ramsey, the man she had fallen in love with three years ago. She was acting like an idiot.

Lexi waited for Ramsey to walk around the side of the car, and then after she got out of the car, she latched onto his elbow. It was only October, and she was already cold. She wished she could have worn jeans or something. That would have been better, but at least, she had her cardigan. She stuffed her hands down into the pockets of her cardigan and briskly walked across the parking lot.

She traversed the familiar foyer plush with seasonal floral arrangements, down a long hallway, past the restrooms where she had she and Ramsey had first officially met, and across the main banquet space to the private Bridges’ dining room. Lexi’s eyes landed on the gold plate with the Bridges name on it. Would she change her name? Share a name with the Bitch?

The thought had never crossed her mind. Mrs. Lexi Bridges. She frowned. Maybe she would hyphenate. She knew people who had done that. Mrs. Lexi Walsh-Bridges. She crinkled her nose at the thought. Professionally, her attorney license was still under her last name, Walsh. She wasn’t sure if she would want to fight to get it all changed.

“You ready?” Ramsey asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“Uh…sure,” she whispered. Why was she having these stupid thoughts right now? She seriously needed to get herself under control.

Ramsey pushed open the door to the private dining room, and Lexi took a deep breath.

The room was mostly full when they arrived. Ramsey’s father sat at the head of the table, wearing a navy suit coat over khakis and a striped button-up. He was broad-shouldered and formidable. His mother sat to his left in a dark pink square-cut dress. She was petite with angular features and already holding a bloody mary in her hand.

Lexi recognized a slew of other people at the table, but she didn’t remember any of their names. She was sure she had met all of them before, but they were business associates and friends of the Bridges.

Sitting at the opposite end of the table in a navy dress that could have rivaled her mother for modesty sat Bekah. Her blonde hair had been curled softly, and her normally chunky bangs were swept back off her face. Her baby-blue eyes portrayed the innocence that Lexi knew she had not a single ounce of, and a haughty, superior smile played on her lips. Lexi wouldn’t give Bekah the satisfaction of seeing how much her presence still irritated her.

Her eyes drifted to the other side of the table, and her own smile rose. Jack wasn’t seated across from Bekah in his proper place. Lexi’s eyes met Bekah’s, and Lexi tilted her chin up as she moved to take her seat. Bekah’s eyes narrowed at the gesture, and it was deeply satisfying to see that smile wiped off of her face, if for only a very short second.

Lexi took her seat across from Ramsey, Jack’s absence leaving a gaping hole next to her. Surely, others would notice that he wasn’t there. By the look on Bekah’s face, Lexi highly doubted she had told her parents about the divorce yet. She wondered what they would think about it. Bekah clearly wouldn’t have done it if she had thought that it would damage the relationship with her money…erm, parents. Her reputation and the family name were the only things Lexi really thought Bekah ever cared about. Lexi would like to see how Bekah was going to get herself out of this one.

“Lexi, so good to see you,” Bekah said.

Her sugary-sweet voice made Lexi want to gag.

“Hi, Bekah,” Lexi said curtly. She wasn’t exactly being rude, but she couldn’t even pretend to be happy to see Bekah.

“Good to see you back in the club, Ramsey,” Bekah said, already turning her attention to her brother, which was fine by Lexi.

“And it’s like I never left,” he said with a tight smile.

Lexi would have laughed if she hadn’t been keeping such a tight rein on herself.

Bekah gritted her teeth at the underhanded statement, which made coming all worthwhile.

Just then, the wait staff appeared and began taking orders. Lexi requested a small breakfast, orange juice, and a coffee, and then she handed off her menu. Her stomach was already in knots from anticipation, and she didn’t want to fill it with anything else to throw her off-kilter. She didn’t know when Ramsey wanted to tell them about the engagement, and she was going to let him decide.

Lexi twisted the ring on her finger under the table and sat there awkwardly as silence settled on their end of the table. She didn’t have anything to say to Bekah, and none of the Bridges’ colleagues seemed to have any interest in engaging her.

Her coffee showed up, and Lexi sighed happily. At least she knew she would be able to make it through the afternoon now. She took her first sip when the door to the dining room opened.

Lexi’s eyes rose to the door. They didn’t normally start brunch if they were still expecting someone. That was part of the privilege of having their own room—besides the privacy that came with it, of course. They made all the rules.

Lexi swallowed hard when she saw who walked in—Parker. She had on a long black maxi dress and a light jean jacket. She smiled apologetically and closed the door behind her.

“Sorry, I’m late,” Parker said, taking the last open seat next to Ramsey.

“Get caught at the hospital?” Ramsey asked.

Lexi felt a familiar pang stretch through her chest as he addressed Parker. It was always there—no matter how much she pushed it aside, no matter how many times she tried to forget that night this summer.

Frankly, it didn’t matter, did it? She had a glittering diamond ring on her finger, and Parker didn’t. But it still made Lexi sick.

“Do I ever leave?” Parker asked.

Lexi heard the exhaustion in her voice.

“If you didn’t insist on spending as much time in surgery as doing administrative work, you might leave more,” he said.

It would have been a reprimand, but the way he had said it sounded more like an endearment. It was a habit Ramsey had never been able to kick.

“I’d leave more if someone hadn’t seen me sleeping on the floor and insisted that I get this couch that I swear is more comfortable than my bed at home. I have no incentive to leave,” Parker said with a shrug.

Lexi cleared her throat, and Parker’s face paled as if she had just realized what she had been talking about.

“I think that sounds wonderful,” Bekah butted in. “Always nice to have somewhere to…relax when you’re stuck at the office for a long time.”