The Bachelor and the Beauty Queen

Okay, so maybe he went into a little overkill on the romance. Hell, what good were his Hollywood connections if he did not call in a favor or two? To top off the evening, he’d had the folks from Owen’s drive over family-style spaghetti and meatballs. He broke off a piece of the crispy garlic bread and popped it into his mouth, hoping the crunch would drown out her conversation as he made his way back downstairs, two steps at a time. Is this what people did when they were in love?

Stephen stopped in his tracks. Love? When the hell did that happen? Earlier this summer he’d stormed into her office and blamed her for almost ruining their lives. Now his mind floated the word love around? This was not supposed to happen. In like, yes. Lust, definitely. But love?

“Yes,” Lexi went on to whomever was on the other line. Stephen tried not to eavesdrop. “No, I’m not worried about the space...Girl, I am working a new angle...Please, my name is Lexington Pendergrass. I always get what I want, no matter the price...Grits and Glam Gowns is going to double when you return.”

Double? Working an angle? Lexi twirled a strand of hair around her index finger and turned around. Their eyes met. Stephen’s narrowed on hers. Had he wasted a summer with Lexi? Was history repeating itself? She wouldn’t be the first woman alive to seduce him for one reason or another, whether it be the use of his wealth, his family name, or now to get a piece of property. His cell phone rang. Stephen trotted over to the couch to retrieve his pants.

Andrew’s shriek on the phone snapped Stephen’s attention. “Oh, my God, Stephen, I’m so sorry to interrupt! I had no idea it was going to happen. There’s blood everywhere! Philly’s in the ER.”

Chapter 13

A candy apple! Who knew a candy apple could cause so much damage?

Lexi adjusted her purse higher up on her shoulder and shook her head at the smiling darling with alligator tears in her hazel eyes. She would never have guessed from the horror on Stephen’s face when he hung up his cell phone that this would be the result of an innocent bite out of a delicious treat. Her two front teeth got stuck in the sticky sweet and when she had tried to pry her mouth off, the apple ripped them out.

The silence between them on the way over unnerved her, especially with the way his jaw twitched. Moments before he received Andrew’s call, Stephen had glared at her angrily. She probably should not have taken the phone call after they made love, but the cell phone ring excited her. She hadn’t talked to her best friend in ages.

Nate was already waiting for them at the hospital and he explained what had happened while walking back to Philly’s room.

“I’m sorry! She asked if she could have one of the apples in the fridge,” Andrew wailed again from his corner of the doctor’s office. Blood covered his lime-green button-down shirt. “I didn’t know those candy apples from the fair were still in there!”

“It’s okay,” Nate said, holding Philly in his arms. “Philly has been told about taking things that don’t belong to her, especially sneaking sweets.”

“I asked if I could have an apple.” Philly smiled a toothless grin and beamed at everyone in the room. Everyone had dropped what they were doing to be here for her. “Can I still do the pageant?”

All eyes turned on Lexi. This time she did not mistake the chilling glare coming from Stephen. Maybe his nerves were rattled. “We have our ways around this.”

“So I can still do the show this weekend if I promise not to eat any more sweets?”

In order for Philly to perform in a high-glitz pageant, she’d need a flipper, false teeth for a pageant, and they needed to work quickly in order to get it to arrive in time. If Lexi recalled correctly, one of the judges at the fair was a dentist. Maybe she could get him to work some magic. “I think so.”

“Of course,” Stephen said, tight-lipped. “You’re Lexi Pendergrass. You always get what you want, right?”

The condescending tone confused her. Nate raised his brow, too.

“So,” Nate drawled, looking at the doctor dressed in light blue scrubs, “are we allowed to bring our patient home?”

As the doctor gave the directions on how to care for Philly over the next few days, Lexi tried making eye contact with Kimber. The real Marvin stood dutifully by Kimber’s side. Now things became clearer; Marvin tried to put his hand over her shoulder, but she kept knocking him off.

One by one the Reyeses exited the small waiting room. Lexi reached out to catch Stephen’s elbow before the automatic doors closed. The reopening of the doors made enough noise to interrupt everyone in the waiting room and draw their attention from their books, magazines and iPods. She gave an apologetic smile all around before turning back to Stephen.

“Hey.” She smiled when he turned around. “Is everything okay?”

His cold eyes bored through her. “Yes.”

“The evening is still early. Do you want to finish our date?”

With her needing to lean her body to make eye contact with him, she already realized things were wrong—way wrong.

“I think, given what’s happened tonight, it’s best I stay home with the family. You understand, right?”

No, she wanted to say, but she plastered a smile on her face, she squared her shoulders and inhaled deeply. Shaking her hair off her shoulders, she nodded. “Sure.”

Awkwardly Stephen leaned down and kissed her cheek. When he pulled away, he gave her a tight smile and turned back around to leave.

“Are you and my boo having difficulties?”

Lexi gave Andrew a sideways glance as she watched Stephen leave. He didn’t even so much as look back at her or ask her how she was going to get home. “I’m not sure.”