Something was off about her dream though. At this point in the dream, Lexi was sure Jack would have practically read her thoughts, and would now be bending down to kiss her. That’s how it normally happened. She blushed deeper hoping that her Dream Jack would kiss her already, then colored even further as the time progressed and he didn’t.

No, she had been right the first time.

He was not a dream.

“Jaaaaaack,” Lexi heard someone yell impatiently from the direction of the house.

Broken out of the spell, he quickly dropped his hand to his side and took a fraction of a step away from Lexi. Her heart thudded in her chest at the absence of his touch…his warmth. She suddenly felt very alone.

“Jack! What are you doing? Who is that?” another whiny cry broke through the serene expanse.

Jack glanced up to the house and did a slight almost dismissive wave, not even bothering to respond in turn. Lexi did not want to turn around. She knew that Jack had a new girlfriend, her stomach twisted uncomfortably at the prospect, but she had avoided her at all costs.

“I guess I better get up there. Everyone’s starting to stare,” Jack said returning to her confused brown eyes.

That broke her out of her dream-like state, and she twisted to find a beautiful blonde leaning over an enormous wooden deck. Slowly, taking in the entire sight, she picked out Clark openly glaring at the spectacle before him. She didn’t think her cheeks could redden any deeper than at that moment. After everything Clark knew about her and Jack, this had to appear to be a very compromising situation.

She turned back to Jack, anger flaring up inside. “Why are you here?” she demanded. He sighed contentedly. He had always found her sexy when she got riled up. “Aren’t you supposed to be at your cousin’s graduation ceremony? Why aren’t you in Savannah?”

“It was a cousin on my dad’s side. They are too crazy redneck for me. And anyway, I really did not want to deal with the boo-hoo-your-parents-are-divorced speeches for an entire week like they’ve been doing for the past couple years,” he stated calmly, fixing her with a pointed look. “And anyway, Seth and I grew up together. His parents moved here when his sister went to college last year, and they’re practically family. Actually,” he considered for a second, “they are more like family now.”

Lexi knew the details of his parents’ divorce and cringed at the harsh words. He had spoken about his parents’ divorce before, but generally steered clear of the subject. He hated the fact that they were separated, and just got pissed off when it was brought it up.

“So, why are you here?” he asked angrily.

“What do you mean why am I here?”

“You’re fucking Clark. Right. I forgot,” he said his voice ice cold.

“Fuck you,” she spat angrily.

He nodded his head. “Right. Sorry, I like threesomes with two chicks, but if you’re interested?” he asked raising his eyebrows evocatively.

“Jaaaaaack,” the girl yelled again, “are you coming back up?”

“Well, that’s me. You should consider my offer,” he added playfully. “Gotta go. It’s good to see you, Lex.” He purposefully brushed her hand as he passed by.

She was seething with anger. Clark had said he wouldn’t be here. She couldn’t even think straight. Why did he have to go shatter the image she had of him in her head? Why did he have to bring is girlfriend? She just wanted to scream with the pain of unanswered questions.

“Oh, hey, Lex,” Jack called when he was about ten feet away from her. She counted to five letting her breathing calm, and turned around to meet him. She huffed out her breath trying not to let her eyes veer from his face to his beautiful body. “Nice shirt.” He let his eyes travel to her chest, and then winked at her.

She blushed again. What had she gotten herself into?

As Jack plodded through the thick sand ahead of her, she felt eyes boring into her. She didn’t want to look up and see the disappointment certain to be evident in Clark’s face. No wonder she had demanded that Jack not be present if she planned on attending. She saw him for all of ten seconds, and completely lost control of herself. He sent a rollercoaster of emotions rocketing through her veins. One second she had been elated, ready to jump into his awaiting arms. The next they had been bickering like an old married couple.

God, she hated so much that he got to her. She really would have just given herself over to him right there on the beach as if she was dreaming about him. She groaned feeling stupid for her thoughtless actions.

She ran her hands through her brown curls, and let them fall haphazardly around her face. Nothing near perfection, but it would do in her frenzied state.

When she finally worked up the courage, she tilted her chin up to the hardwood deck, and found Clark all alone still staring at her intently. He motioned for her to come inside, and then without a word, turned and walked inside.

Time seemed to drag as she waited for an opportunity to speak to Clark about what had happened. Seth hadn’t been joking about the room arrangements. As soon as she had returned from the beach, she had been stuffed in a room with one of Seth’s bimbos. Lexi had completely tuned her out, and instead, let her mind flood with concerns as she dutifully unpacked.

When Lexi was finally alone with Clark, she hissed, “What is he doing here?”

“I don’t know,” Clark said staring icily back at her. “What does it even matter?”

Lexi had no idea how to answer that question. How could she tell him that she couldn’t control herself around him? That she purposefully avoided him, because of the things he unconsciously did to her body. Those weren’t things you could tell your boyfriend. “It just…does. You said he wouldn’t be here.”

“I said that Seth didn’t think he’d be here. I guess he just changed his mind. That’s typical Jack.” His green eyes seemed to see straight through her words. Clark had always been intuitive when it came to her. “Are you going to explain your actions on the beach?”

Why did he have to ask such a difficult question? She had never been able to explain her actions to herself. How did he expect her to explain her compulsion to him?

“I don’t know what you mean,” she finally mumbled.

His eyes narrowed. He didn’t believe her. She could tell. “You’re not going to tell me why it looked like you two were about to kiss?”

Lexi’s mouth popped open. “We were not! I can’t believe you would even think that,” she huffed, hating that he had hit so close to home. Why did he understand her so well? Nine months wasn’t that long.

“I thought you said things were over between you two.”

“They are,” she grumbled miserably.

“Then why can’t you be around each other? Why did it look so much like you were…in love?” he asked struggling on the last words.

She gulped heavily. “We just have history. You know that,” she said avoiding his last question completely.

She could tell he was thinking over how to address his concerns. He could see she was lying. After all, he had been watching them together out there. Finally, he blew out his breath and pulled her into his arms. “Okay, baby, if you say so. Can we still have a good time, and just forget that he’s here?” She didn’t even need to say that that was easier said than done. “I trust you.”

Talk about feeling guilty.

“If you say you two are done, then you’re done. I’ve just known Jack for longer than you, and in a much different way than you’ve ever known him. We were pretty close at one point in time. I know how he treats women, and I know that it doesn’t matter to him whether he has a girlfriend or not. So, if there’s anything between ya’ll still, I’d just like the truth,” he said pulling back to look into her guilty face.

“There…there’s nothing between us,” she said hesitantly.