The Bachelor and the Beauty Queen

“Sorry, I just reached for the first one.” Lexi extended her arm. “I’ll give you another.”

Stephen grasped the counter behind him for support. “I’m good.”

Her eyes traveled to the lower half of the apron and decided he was right. The little voice in the back of her mind spoke out again, this time reminding her of what a long summer this was going to be.

Chapter 5

“Why did you bother with the condo if you’re going to sleep here?”

At the sound of the cheerful, deep voice, Lexi glanced up from the dish in front of her and gave Andrew a wink before layering the last vanilla wafer on top of the instant banana-pudding mixture. She’d gotten up this morning, took the risk of flat-ironing her long tresses in this summer heat and dressed casually in a pair of denim jeans and a white Grits and Glam Gowns shirt. “I got caught up making a dress last night.”

“Perhaps a wedding dress inspired by my boo?”

Lexi responded with an eye roll. In truth, the inspiration had come from seeing Kimber standing against the balcony door with the vibrant colors of the afternoon sun behind her. After everyone left last night, Lexi grabbed the spools of red, orange and yellow, and began blindly putting together a dress. She hadn’t been so excited to start on a dress in years. Andrew propped himself up at the bar stool and watched. “Why are you baking?”

“Is it considered baking when you never turned on the oven?”

“What would Mary Pendergrass say?” Andrew clutched his throat.

“Considering she’s not speaking to me,” Lexi joked, “not a thing.”

With a heavy sigh, Andrew rested his chin in his hands and propped his elbows on the counter. “If my Southern Baptist preacher daddy can get over me giving up my chance to play in the NFL to design dresses, then your folks can get over this whatever thing.”

“This, whatever—” she sighed and held her fingers up in air quotes “—has been going on for years ever since I opted to attend a state college.”

“Aw,” Andrew cooed. “You poor baby. Tell me again how you were cut off from Mommy and Daddy’s money, thus forcing you to model to make your own money?”

Lexi dusted crumbs off her hands, then wiped her brow with the back of her right hand as if she’d worked so hard in the kitchen. “If you’re writing a book, it didn’t happen quite like that.”

“Boo hoo.” Andrew rolled his eyes. “Poor little scandalous Southwood socialite.”

“Are you here so early to bust my chops?” Lexi smirked, placing her hand on her hip.

“No, I actually came to print out more flyers on the pageant in Savannah this weekend.”

“What?” A pageant took weeks to prepare for.

Andrew reached into his back pocket and extracted a folded-up piece of paper. “The Glitzy Southern Pageant is out of our district, but I thought the new crop of girls would be excited to watch.”

Lexi shook her head, going over to her pantry for a red box of clear wrap for her dish. She closed the door with her hip, all the while trying to recall who would run the pageant area in the southeast region of Georgia. “Who is the emcee?”

“Waverly Leverve.”

The name brightened up Lexi’s smile. “No kidding. I used to train her.”

“I know,” said Andrew, “which is why I thought you might try to gather some troops up to bring down, you know, generate business, wear our logo and pass out business cards with our services. It is Memorial Day weekend.”

“We can try.”

“Try what?” asked a feminine voice at the opening of the staircase.

“Good morning, Chantal,” Lexi and Andrew chorused.

Strolling in with a brow raised, Chantal looked between them. “What’s the occasion?” she asked, peering over the counter.

“I owe a favor.”

“You never said who this is for,” Andrew pointed out. “My boo?”