The Bachelor and the Beauty Queen

Amused, Stephen chuckled and rubbed his beard. “Why?”

“Did you hear me when I said I don’t date—”

Whatever she wanted to say was lost when Stephen descended upon her. His large hands snaked around her waist and drew her close and hard against his body. Her mouth opened in a feeble attempt to stop him, and she pressed the palms of her hands against his sculpted chest. Deep down inside, she knew she wanted this. She needed to feel his lips on hers, his tongue against hers. Stephen dragged his hands from her waist up the sides of her face, cupping her cheeks before delivering an earth-shattering kiss. Lexi’s knees went weak. A bolt of desire from the taste of his mouth pulsated through her veins. He pulled away briefly, long enough for Lexi to savor the minty sweetness of his mouth. One hand dropped from her cheek and caressed the outside of her arm, curving to the inner delicate skin of the other side. His fingers splayed against her and trailed upward. Her mind beckoned his hands to touch her all over. Lexi leaned closer into his body. Partly obliging, Stephen cupped one breast. Beneath his thumb, her nipple hardened. An unintentional gasp escaped her lips. Stephen came in for another kiss, capturing her mouth. Deepening the kiss, his hands dragged from her body to her hair, tugging at the roots. When he pulled away for real, Lexi wrapped her arms around his neck to keep from falling.

“You need to remember one thing. I’m not any parent.”

* * *

The last thing Lexi remembered was Stephen’s strong arms pulling her frame against his, seducing her mind, body and soul with his kiss. She didn’t recall the drive home. Maybe a vague memory of the Reyeses walking around the corner and Stephen stepping aside.

The sound of her keys hitting the glass dish on the credenza by the door brought Lexi out of her daze. An echo hollered down the hallway. Just a few months after moving in, she still lived out of boxes. She’d yet to hang any photographs on the walls. Since her refrigerator at the boutique was filled with food, she ate there. She couldn’t go back to the shop to pick up something to eat now. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to pull into her parking space and not reminisce over Stephen’s kiss. What on Earth possessed him?

I’m not any parent.

Stephen’s parting words sent a shiver down her spine. True enough, he wasn’t a parent, but Stephen was still Philly’s guardian. What would be the point of a relationship? Weren’t the girls’ lives complicated enough as it was? In her heart, she already knew Kimber and Philly had developed a fast and close bond with her—Philly because of the extra coaching and Kimber due to the secrecy of the dress. Stephen had promised he’d drop the dress matter their first night at DuVernay’s. So far, he’d stayed true to his promise. But a part of her cringed with fear he’d bring it up. She vowed to hold on to Kimber’s secret as long as possible.

What would happen if they dated? What if they decided to end things? Stephen Reyes did not strike Lexi as the type of man to stay in a small town. Sure, he talked the talk by moving down here, even going through the motions of setting up shop with his new office space. But what about a year from now? What happened when he got bored with a small town like Southwood?

No matter how she tried to rationalize any form of relationship, it ended badly. Sticking to her guns, Lexi called in a take-out order from the local Asian restaurant and slipped into a comfy pair of cotton pajama shorts and a tank top. She’d just piled all her hair on her head and taken off her makeup when her house line rang. The shrill startled her at first. The delivery boy always called on her cell phone if there was a problem.

Lexi took the cordless phone off the hook in the kitchen and glanced at the caller ID. Her brows furrowed. “Hello?”

“May I speak to Lexi?”

“Speaking.” Lexi held the phone out for a better view of the number. The line was registered to Ken Reyes. “Stephen?”

“Did I catch you at a bad time?”

Lexi glanced down at the cartoon tiaras on her shorts and sighed. “No, not at all, just contemplating whether or not to go out tonight.”

“Oh,” Stephen responded in a hard-to-read voice. Was that disappointment? But he continued, “I just made sure the girls were in their rooms and came downstairs.”

“Okay,” she replied slowly.

“Turn your television to channel seven.”

Aimlessly, Lexi padded across the hardwood floors with her bare feet over to her L-shaped cream leather couch. The cushions sighed as she sat and curled her feet underneath her legs as the television came to life. “What’s up?”

“We were talking about old movies today and I noticed there’s a Cary Grant marathon tonight. I Was a Male War Bride is about to come on. Have you seen it?”

Yes, the other morning when you opened your front door, Lexi thought to herself. “I have, but it’s still a classic. Thanks for letting me know.”

“You’re welcome. So where were you going to go tonight?” Stephen sounded as if he were stretching, relaxing into the phone call. Lexi wondered if he was holding a cordless phone or tethered to the wall.

“Out?” she answered with more of a question. “I’m sorry, but how did you even get this number?”

“Oh, can you believe I found a book containing everyone’s phone number in town?”

“A phone book?” Lexi asked with a cracked smile.

“Is that what that was? Neat, right?”

Lexi wished they were on Skype for a moment for Stephen to watch her roll her eyes. On second thought, she told herself, he might freak out at the sight of her with no makeup on her face. She never thought she wore too much, but she did not leave her house without mascara. “Stop talking about my small town.”

“I’m not making fun of it.” Stephen laughed. “I’m enjoying the small-town life. Aren’t you? Isn’t that why you returned?”

“Well, yes.” Lexi gulped. His deep baritone cast some sort of spell over her, causing her to want to confess everything. “Like I said, I saw a market for a special line of dresses in the Four Points area.”