The Bachelor and the Beauty Queen

“I understand.”

“If you did, you wouldn’t be taking the kids out to eat every day.” She toyed with him.

“Just because my family comes from money doesn’t mean I didn’t make my own,” Stephen clarified. “The girls haven’t seen me or my brother work in several months. We’re comfortable with our bank accounts, but we don’t want Kimber or Philly to think everything in life will come easy. Why else do you think I need an office space?”

The question had Lexi stuttering for an answer. “Um.”

“Sorry,” he quickly said. “I didn’t mean—”

“It’s okay.” Lexi cut him off before she felt more humiliated. Here she was giving him lectures about coupon clipping, and of course he could afford to eat out all the time. “Let’s not talk about it.”

By the end of the movie, Stephen and Lexi had done more talking and laughing than paying attention to the film. It was after midnight when it ended, and neither was tired. They spent another two hours talking their way through another classic.

“I took up your evening,” Stephen stated. She waited for an apology. It never came. After getting to understand Stephen better, she realized he did not apologize. He had yet to say sorry for accusing her of selling the dress, but he did offer to drop the matter—which Lexi greatly appreciated, seeing how she felt horrible for keeping Kimber’s secret from him. Was she lying? After getting to know Stephen better, she highly doubted he’d do anything too extreme, besides placing iron bars over her bedroom windows. Who knew? Perhaps after Philly finished with pageantry this summer, she and Stephen might actually become friends.

Chapter 8

Early Saturday morning, a black stretch Hummer pulled through the garage of Lexi’s condo building, just as a wave of second guessing began to wash in. Was attending a pageant the right thing to do now, or should they stay in town and practice? After Philly’s private lesson Thursday night, Nate had offered to take all the other girls down in style. He had arranged everything and the eager mothers all seemed pleased with his idea.

Though Philly was Lexi’s private coach, she also worked with a lot of other little girls whose mothers had all seen the fliers at the counter and wanted to enter their children. Lexi had no say over who should or shouldn’t enter pageants. She provided the girls with awesome dresses and the skills of working the stage. The girls, Lexi had no problem with. Some of the parents needed to remember how to conduct themselves. Emotions ran high when people’s kids were judged based on their beauty and style of dress.

Lexi wasn’t too pleased this morning when Stephen called her on the phone to tell her he was on his way. She hadn’t seen Stephen since the night he kissed her. They hadn’t spoken since their movie marathon over the phone. With trying to go over all the rules on behavior for the young parents with daughters entering the Glitzy Southern Pageant, Lexi hadn’t had time to stop over at Stephen’s office space. The boards were still up in the windows and she never spotted Nate’s SUV. If Stephen came into town with his driver, he did not stop by Grits and Glam to say hello. Lexi chalked up the distance over the past few days as being due to the business of their schedule. But a part of her wondered whether or not the overshare on the phone was too much for him. Something about getting to know Stephen unnerved her. His kiss lingered. If ever there was a category for kissing, he won, hands down.

After the mortifying way her last relationship ended, Lexi never thought she’d find another man as attractive as she did Stephen. But she needed to stamp any desire down. At least this weekend she’d be busy explaining the process of the pageantry world to the newbies. God, she needed help this weekend, she thought as the doors to the Hummer opened.

A man dressed in a black jogging outfit and white T-shirt stepped out of the driver’s side and she wondered if he was the infamous Mr. Keenan that Philly spoke of. He came around to the passenger’s side and opened the back door to the Hummer. She’d partied in cars like this a long time ago but her drivers were always dressed in suits.

“You live here?” Stephen asked, stepping out of the Hummer with his signature neatly trimmed beard. A flash of desire raced through her veins.

“Yes, what did you think?”

The sky roof opened and Kimber poked her head out. “He thought you lived at your store.”

“Seems like I do some days.” Lexi half laughed.

Stephen and the driver came around to help her with her overnight bag. She caught a whiff of Stephen’s cologne and she prayed her knees didn’t buckle. His neatly trimmed beard brushed against her cheek when he surprised her with a hello kiss, stilling her heart for a beat or two. Today he wore a pair of chinos and a white oxford shirt opened at the throat—completely delicious.

“Uncle Stephen lives at his office sometimes, too,” Kimber provided. “That’s why we can’t live with him at his house in Atlanta.”

Lexi cocked her head to the side to look up at Stephen. A spark ignited when his long fingers guided her by the elbow toward the waiting open door. “You still have a house there?”

“The market’s tight.” Stephen’s jaws tightened.

“Well, perhaps you’ll be able to check on your house at the end of the summer for the Southern Style Glitz Pageant.”

Stephen’s brows rose. “What are we going to today?”

“The Glitzy Southern Pageant.”

“What’s the difference?”

Philly stepped out and threw her arms around Lexi’s waist, nearly knocking her off her four-inch hot-pink heels. Thankfully, Stephen gripped her shoulders and held her upright. The air crackled between them. How was she going to make this three-hour trip?

“I’m going to win the pageant!” Philly exclaimed.

“That?

??s right.” Lexi pulled away from Stephen’s embrace to hug Philly. “Now let’s get going so we can see how it’s done.”