The Bachelor and the Beauty Queen (7 page)

Philly nodded her head eagerly up and down. “Uncle Stephen got mad 'cause Uncle Nate burned dinner and so Uncle Nate left Uncle Stephen in charge. And then Uncle Stephen burned breakfast.”

The speed the girl spoke at was amazing. Lexi tried to take in as much as she could before Philly took a breath. She concentrated so hard she never heard Stephen's steps come up behind her.

“Blackened,” Stephen's deep voice announced from the arched doorway. In the time it had taken for her to put the food away and get the scoop on what happened, Stephen had cleaned off his face and thrown on a fitted black T-shirt to cover up. A little piece of her deflated. What a shame. “I told you the food was
blackened
.”

“We had
blackened
eggs,” Philly told Lexi.

Amused, Lexi patted Philly on the head. “Oh, you poor thing, are you hungry?”

“She's fine,” Stephen spoke up. “Did we miss a session with you today?”

“No, uh...” Lexi licked her lips. “Nate canceled.”

“We missed school today,” Philly informed her. “We didn't wake up in time.”

Lexi's eyes glanced back in Stephen's direction, catching him as he shook his head quickly and stood tight-lipped. “You guys weren't feeling well?”

“He said I sounded
congested
.” Philly annunciated every syllable of the word. As a pageant coach, Lexi had seen all kinds of maternal antics when they thought the judges weren't watching. Philly's hazel eyes looked over Lexi's shoulders and read whatever Stephen coached her to say.

Lexi glared.

“Philly, go get your sister so we can go out for lunch,” Stephen ordered his niece.

Philly scrambled out of the kitchen. Her little footsteps echoed through the hall. They were alone. The closest they'd been to alone before was dancing together the other night. The uncomfortable silence falling between her and Stephen made her all too aware she needed to leave.

“I guess I'll be leaving.” She stepped around the island to escape the small space, but Stephen met her at the corner. Even though he was barefoot, he towered over her.

“You're not so tall without your heels,” he said, his eyes looming over the top of her head.

“You're the first man to say such a thing.” Lexi gulped.

“Why do you wear such high heels?”

Lexi flashed a pageant smile. “The higher the heel, the closer to heaven.”

With that, Stephen chuckled. His pleasant laugh and smile softened the hard lines on his face. “Religious much?”

“I've been known to holler out the Lord's name before.” Heat scorched her face at her blatant flirting.

Stephen's eyebrows rose. He cleared his throat and stared at her mouth for a full minute, contemplating something. What? She didn't know. For a split moment she thought he might kiss her. Did she want him to?
Hell yeah.

“Why did you come today?” Stephen finally asked.

The rich deepness of his voice made her brain freeze. Air dried her throat. Lexi gulped, hoping to find her words. “My dessert is for you,” she fumbled, then shook her head as the words left her lips, “I brought you some dessert you...”
God, please make this stop
. “You guys. You and the girls.”
Geez shut up
, she told herself. Sweat began to bead at the nape of her neck. She'd straightened her hair for this?

“Dessert?” Stephen's left brow rose with curiosity. His lips curled into a lopsided grin.

“A little banana pudding.” Lexi squared her shoulders with confidence. “I wanted to be neighborly.”

“Neighborly to the man who stole your store?”

A sharp pang stabbed at her heart, but Lexi squinted her eyes and pressed a wide, second-place finisher smile across her face. “I am going to assume you offered the Foxxes something more favorable than what I came up with.”

“I did.”

“Then I don't consider what you did stealing, simply business.”

Stephen's dark eyes roamed over her hair and her face, settling on her lips. She inhaled deeply, in hopes of disguising the set of chills threatening to expose her leashed desire.

“Such poise you have,” Stephen hummed, still staring. “Did you learn that in your pageantry days?”

Lexi folded her arms across her chest to create some distance between them. “As a matter of fact, I did. I didn't always win.”

“Hard to believe.”

“It's true,” Lexi said, and took a side step away from him. A sliver of bright light from outside flashed down the hallway when the door opened and quickly closed. “You don't go far in life by being a sore loser. So why not be happy for the winner? Say, how long were you asleep?”

“Questioning my parenting skills?” Stephen leaned his hip against the island.

Lexi debated whether or not to share with him what she thought she'd witnessed but decided against it when Philly and Kimber bounced down a set of spiral stairs in the corner of the kitchen. Maybe she was crazy. Maybe she didn't see Kimber sneak inside.

“Miss Lexi!” Kimber exclaimed, running to her side. “I was going to stop by and see you today.”

“You're still grounded,” Stephen interjected.

Kimber opened her mouth, then closed it. Lexi cocked her head to the side, noticing the faint mauve lipstick on her mouth. She wore a pair of strappy gold sandals, denim shorts frayed at the edges and a long-sleeved shirt—quite the opposite of the rest of her family members in the kitchen.

“Well, y'all,” Lexi broke the tension, “I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got to get going.”

“Do you have to?” Philly whined and came over and wrapped her arms once again around her waist.

Laughing, Lexi nodded her head and patted the top of Philly's head. “We'll hang out tomorrow.”

“We can hang out now,” suggested Kimber, “Uncle Stephen burned breakfast, so he promised to pick up lunch for us. You can stay, right?”

Unlike last time she'd been invited, Lexi did not have Stephen's glaring eye on her. Instead he nodded and smiled in amusement. “I'll take a rain check, guys,” she finally said.

“Whenever you like.” Stephen nodded again. “I'm not going anywhere. Here, I'll walk you out.”

Lexi said goodbye to the girls and waved over her shoulder. Stephen brushed quickly by to open the door for her.
Was he eager to get rid of her?
The back of her hand brushed against the back of his as they walked down the front steps. She shoved her hands into her pocket and swore she heard him chuckle.

“If you're looking to take the kids out to eat,” Lexi began, ignoring the way her shoulder brushed against his, “there's a place called Shenanigans. Kids eat free on Mondays.”

“Is there something about me that strikes you as needing to find a meal deal?”

“A man who can purchase a building out of revenge does not strike me as a coupon clipper,” she teased as she half grinned.

Stephen graciously accepted the playful banter with a quick nod of his head. “Cute.” They reached the driveway and her car. If she didn't know any better, she'd swear they both dragged their feet.

“That's a pretty big Cadillac.” Stephen cleared his throat.

“And gold, too.” Lexi grinned up at him and when he flashed a grin and a wink, she looked away. Next to the small child's bike, a purple ten-speed leaned against the garage door. She swore it wasn't there when she pulled up. Quickly she told herself this was none of her concern. Stephen said he had everything under control. “You forgot to mention the color.”

“I was getting to it.” He winked. They reached the driver's side door. He leaned against the handle, blocking her entrance. “So what's the deal?”

“With the pudding?”

“I meant the car, but thank you for the dessert.” Stephen reached out and took her keys from her hand. She knew the neighborhood and knew she did not have to lock the car, but she allowed this act of chivalry. Her mental score card went up on him.

“You're welcome,” she said, then remembered the flyer Andrew had printed out earlier. “I almost forgot to give you this.”

Stephen stepped forward and took the paper. His fingers caressed hers, sending a shock wave of excitement. “Thanks.”

“And as for the car, well you know, it's long, lean, fast and blond.” Lexi winked. Stephen opened the door for her, his mouth in a crooked smile. “What more could a girl want?”

* * *

She could want me
, Stephen thought as Lexi backed her gold car into the quiet street of the neighborhood. He stood, afraid to move until he recovered from the physical desire, and waited until the red taillights disappeared. He tried to play the mind-over-matter trick, which failed, especially when he was in his swim trunks. What was it about Lexi Pendergrass that got under his skin? She was beautiful, but so were lots of women.

Lots of other women did not take an interest in his nieces, though. Sure, she'd played an intricate part in the girls' life, but he admired the way Kimber and Philly adored her. He barely got Kimber to give him eye contact, and yet his oldest niece threw her arms around Lexi.

Stephen waited a few minutes before heading inside. On any given day and with any given woman, Stephen prided himself on the ability to always have control over his body. These random pop-up erections after being around Lexi were going to be the death of him. Yesterday he had had the cover of the apron to hide his adolescent behavior. Today he needed to regain his composure before going inside to see the girls. Stephen willed his body not to respond to Lexi. He tried to recall the article written about her, word for word. The only thing popping up in his mind was the video of her honey-hued body in the frayed black dress barely covering her particulars. The article was aptly entitled “How Not Enough Is...Not Enough?”

As Stephen suspected, his internet search on her last night came up with negative article after negative article from her days after leaving the beauty-queen scene.

Now with his senses coming back to him, Stephen was ready to head back indoors and get the girls set to go out this evening. Sooner or later, either he or Nate needed to learn how to cook. The phone in his pocket began to ring. As if sensing Stephen was thinking of him, Nate's face began to appear on the screen. He swiped the green button to accept the call.

“What's up?”

“How'd the girls get off to school today?” Nate's chipper voice came through the line.

Stephen rolled his eyes toward the bright blue sky. The worst thing about being down here was the lack of breeze. Perhaps another dip in the pool would help pull double duty in cooling him down. “Why are you calling me?”

“I was on the road when I got a text the alarm went off. I'm just now able to pull over.”

“Are you going to call me every time the alarm goes off?”

“Hey, you're the one who installed the damn thing,” said Nate. “Feel free to have it uninstalled.”

“I may,” said Stephen, turning around to head back inside. “With me here, I can keep a close eye on the shenanigans.”

“Speaking of Shenanigans, that's a restaurant I've been taking the girls.”

“I know all about it.” Stephen cut his brother off. “I got things under control.”

“Then you know you don't have to make a reservation at this place.”

“Funny.” Stephen frowned into the phone before pressing the button to hang up on his brother. Was today Gang Up on Stephen Day?

Chapter 6

W
hy wasn't he surprised to spot Lexi's gold vehicle front and center in the parking lot of Shenanigans? Keenan dropped Stephen and the girls off at the front and said he'd be back in a couple of hours. With his hand on the brass handle of the door, Stephen exhaled with a mixture of dread and excitement. He and the girls had spent the past few months at the house, outside of social gatherings. Now it was time to get everyone acclimated to the town, and judging by the way Philly and Kimber took off down to the entrance and the man ready to stamp their hands, they were ready.

But it would have to wait. His cell phone began ringing from the front pocket of his blue jeans. The familiar number came from Orlando, Florida. Stephen held back by the door and answered the call from his old friend Christopher Kelly, the CEO of MET Networks.

“Chris, what's up?”

“Hey, man, I was checking in on you. Wanted to see how you and the girls were doing.” Christopher came from a big family of politicians and television executives, yet he managed to be down to earth.

“We're managing,” said Stephen. “I'm actually out with the girls this evening.”

“Good to know. Are you working again?”

Stephen thought of his new office area. A lot of work needed to be done before moving in, but he still planned on working from his bedroom until then. “Yeah, things are progressing. What's up?”

Christopher briefed Stephen on an ideal shooting location. A TV script called for a small-town feel. Southwood came to mind, but Stephen didn't want to set up these scenes in his new town. They hung up with Stephen promising to find a place. As he swiped the red off button, the pit of his stomach flopped with anticipation of seeing Lexi again.

When was the last time he'd looked forward to seeing someone like this? High school? Having rushed into starting a career, Stephen never made time to form relationships with women. Over the years there'd been a few who kept him cozy at night, but all understood he was in no position to give in to a relationship.

They entered the noisy establishment and Stephen's senses were assaulted immediately. Pepperoni and popcorn scents wafted through the air. Bells and whistles pinged off the walls, slightly drowned out by a singing dog on a stage in the back of the room and children's laughter. Flashing lights streaming pretty much all the colors of the rainbow blinded Stephen for a moment.

He blinked several times and when his vision became clearer, it landed directly on Lexi Pendergrass's hourglass backside squeezed into a pair of tight jeans. She wore a red T-shirt tied in the back and a pair of red high heels. He'd yet to see her with her hair down. Usually she kept it up and off her neck, but tonight, even with her long tresses flowing down past her shoulders, he recognized her frame.

Even though the girls had walked into Shenanigans without him, they weren't permitted to join the crowds until he walked in and got his hand stamped, as well. With the time it took Stephen to get in and with the girls still waiting, they still hadn't recognized Lexi right off, which gave Stephen more time to watch her wiggle in front of a flashing game. A light spun around and as it neared where Lexi stood, she pressed a button. After the third time, she began jumping up and down like Sylvester Stallone after running up the museum steps in
Rocky
.

“Jackpot!” she yelled.

“There's Miss Lexi,” Philly cried.

Kimber pulled from Stephen's side and began trotting toward Lexi but stopped when someone called her name. Stephen grumbled when he spotted Marvin off by a hunting game with a bunch of other guys.

“Can we go see Miss Lexi before we get our table?” asked Philly. “Maybe we can sit with her.”

“We don't invite ourselves...” His words fell on deaf ears as Philly ran toward her pageant coach, who was bent over collecting a long stream of tickets. Lexi stretched her arms out to embrace Philly with a big hug. Her eyes scanned the red booths of the dining area before finding him still at the entrance. The smile she gave him caused his breath to catch in his throat.

“Hi,” she mouthed, and waved him over. Philly dragged Lexi by the hand to meet him halfway.

“Hi.” Stephen returned a smile and hoped it did not come off as goofy as he thought. “What brings you here?”

“The Cyclone.” Lexi held up a stream of gray tickets. Philly held on to the end, twirling and wrapping herself in them.

Stephen flattened his lips to inspect the machine. “The Cyclone, you say?”

“I'm addicted.” Lexi tugged at her end of the tickets. “Hey, Philly, before you leave tonight, add these to your pot.”

“Really?” His niece's face brightened, making her lopsided ponytails even more adorable.

“Of course. Where are you guys sitting?”

“We just got here,” said Philly, “Uncle Stephen did my hair.”

Lexi's smile faltered, looking up at him. “Did he, now?”

“Kimber wanted to do it, but he said he can. It took him five times just to get the part in my hair straight. Then it took us forever because Uncle Stephen told Mr. Keenan to take the long way here. Uncle Stephen, can we sit with Miss Lexi now?”

It took Stephen a full ten seconds to digest everything Philly had blurted out before he shook his head. “What did I say about inviting yourself?”

“Feel free to sit at my booth,” said Lexi. “I just put in an order for eight personal pizzas. Some of your classmates are over there.” She inclined her head for them to follow.

They arrived at Lexi's table and she handed Philly a cup of brass coins. “Have fun, and don't forget about our deal.”

“I won't, Miss Lexi!”

“Wait,” Stephen called out, wanting to take the opportunity to lecture Philly about being aware, but she'd already disappeared with a group of girls wearing Grits and Glam Pageant shirts. Clearly, from the way they all giggled together, they were friends.

“She's fine,” Lexi assured him. “Have a seat. Her other friends from the pageant workshop are here. When the waiter comes back with my drink, I'll let him know Philly's here.”

After the death of her parents, Philly had become withdrawn and content with coming straight home after school. Seeing her happy now struck a chord with Stephen.

A lock of blond hair fell over Lexi's shoulder. She swept it away, revealing the deep V of her red T-shirt, and more importantly, the swell of her breasts. “He'll get her an individual pizza.”

“And you ordered eight?”

The waiter came over with a pitcher of beer and a clear carbonated drink, along with a dozen red Solo cups. Lexi put in an order for both girls. “Beer?”

Stephen settled into the cushion and nodded. “They serve alcohol in a children's establishment?”

“If they didn't, I'd doubt they'd have this many people.” Lexi turned over a red cup and poured from the pitcher. A few teenagers walked by and waved.

“Did you work here or something?” he asked. “I feel like I'm sitting at the popular kids' table.”

“I sponsor a Skee-Ball Little League team for some of the girls from the after-school program at the public school.”

Every time she spoke he became more impressed with her.

Lexi extended his cup toward him. “Here you go, barely any foam.”

A static pop ignited between their fingertips with the cup handoff. Since Lexi didn't react, Stephen guessed it was just him. He thanked her and took a long sip. “You don't strike me as a beer kind of girl.”

“Trust me, Stephen. I look forward to surprising you.”

Stephen took another drink to keep from saying something inappropriate. They were in a public establishment filled with children. She was also Philly's coach. Kimber had gotten the scandalous dress from her. He needed to concentrate on these barriers, not imagine what a hellcat she'd be in bed, calling out the Lord's name.

“You like pushing my buttons.” He decided to keep the friction between them.

The red cup rolled between her hands. For the second time Stephen noticed her fingers were void of any jewelry. The women he dated dripped in gold, platinum, diamonds or silver, and they would never drink domestic beer out of a plastic cup. Not as if he dated Lexi, though.

“Like I said, I like shocking you.” She hid her smile behind a sip from her cup. “Let me guess, you're used to high-maintenance women? You like to wine and dine them, and then when they want more, you leave them.”

Her last statement did not come off as a question but more of a statement. “Like you,” he said, “I am going to enjoy shocking you.”

“Let me guess about your last real girlfriend. I bet tall, thin and beautiful.”

“Does liking beautiful women make me a bad man?”

The smile she'd started stopped and she rolled her dark eyes. “Not at all. But liking a woman who takes whatever crap you have to say is.”

“What makes you think I would give a beautiful woman crap?” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table.

“You give me crap.”

“Are you saying the flowers I gave you yesterday were crap?” He enjoyed the red tint to her high cheekbones. She wrinkled her perky little nose.

“The flowers were slick. Nice choice, and I believe I said thank-you.”

“By way of banana pudding?”

“I was being neighborly.” She cocked a brow across the table at him and leaned forward, as well. Her lashes fanned against her high cheekbones as she took a sip of her drink. “I half expected you to be in your new establishment already.”

“Nate changed his plans on me this afternoon over the phone.” Stephen explained about how he and Nate had almost tussled over something as trivial as burning dinner. If Nate had listened to him, the attempt to bake a whole chicken wouldn't have gone awry. They hadn't gotten in each other's face like that since they were teenagers. Ken, being the oldest, always stopped them before their mother got involved. This being Nate's weekend away for “work,” Stephen felt guilty for not fixing the problem before Nate left.

“So you stayed home with the girls,” Lexi said, tilting her head to the side, studying him for the truth, “because they were sick?”

“Hey, with the spread of measles, I didn't want to risk the other kids in their school.” Stephen glanced around and spotted Kimber hugging the mascot.

“So honorable, aren't you?”

Stephen turned his attention back to Lexi. Amusement swirled in her eyes. “Fine, don't tell Nate I overslept.”

“You realize the administrative office accepts late excuses.”

“And admit I overslept?”

Lexi gave a slow nod. “Well, at least you were able to spend some quality time with the girls. I caught a glimpse of the pool. It's gorgeous.”

He agreed with her. Hanging out by the pool, napping, a little internet digging on Lexi had really helped him relax—until she showed up. “Thanks, I can't take the credit for it, but it is nice. Feel free to come over and swim sometime.”

“Thank you for the offer. Did you give the next pageant any thought, or do you need to run it by Nate first?”

Stephen felt the corners of his mouth frown. “I don't have to clear things with Nate.”

“I'm sorry.” Lexi's perfect lips formed into an O. “Given he is the guardian listed on Philly's paperwork, I assumed he took care of the day-to-day activities.” Lexi spoke a mile a minute, reminding him of Philly.

Half smiling, Stephen shook his head. “We're not an old-fashioned couple.”

“I never said a word.” Lexi sat back and hummed.

“Sure you didn't,” he said with sarcasm. “Tell me about this pageant.”

Eyes sparkling, Lexi sat up straight. “The Glitzy Southern Pageant? This one has a mix of all ages, but specifically Philly's age group will be the largest. A lot of pageant girls get their first start there.”

“I'm not sure if I like the idea of all the money these pageants shell out to buy a trophy.”

“Did you play sports growing up?”

“Of course,” he said. “MVP in baseball every year.”

“And did your parents have to pay for a uniform and a team fee? Did they have trophies at the end of your season for everyone?”

Stephen held his beer in his hand. “Of course, but we didn't have to wear makeup and look like grown men.”

Lexi rolled her eyes. “Not all pageants are full glitz. Philly can win with natural beauty.”

“And you still see potential in her?”

“As I told you the other night, I absolutely believe in her, as did the judging panel.”

Leaning forward, Stephen rested his forearms on the table between them. “She didn't win just because you wanted to get revenge?”

“I'm a lot of things, Mr. Reyes, but petty is not one of them.”

The standoffish tone in her voice didn't sit well with him. He didn't want the distance between them anymore. “Back to ‘Mr. Reyes'?”

Lexi crossed her arms over her chest. “You assuming I'd pick Philly out of revenge reminds me we don't know each other at all. I had no say, but it didn't matter, she won hands down.”

“All right.” Stephen waved his hand in the air in surrender. “I don't want to fight with you, not when we're being so neighborly with each other. How about you show me about the game you were playing?”

“The Cyclone?” Lexi dropped her arms and craned her neck around to check out the machine. “It's not at a hundred yet. Once that number reaches a hundred, you increase your chance to get more tickets when you win.”

The flashing lights over the dome read eighty. Stephen stood up and held his hand for her to take. “Show me, for practice.”

Reluctantly, Lexi slipped her hand in his. Her fingers curled around the palm of his hand and set off a wave of electricity. Their eyes locked for a moment before Lexi pulled her hand away to grab a plastic cup of coins. Stephen followed her over, enjoying the view of her swaying hips as she sashayed to the game.