The Bachelor and the Beauty Queen

“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.