The Bachelor and the Beauty Queen (15 page)

Stephen struggled with the idea of how to make love to her body properly, fast and hard or slow and easy. Eager, he did not want to wait another minute; he wanted to take her right here. Another part of him wanted to savor every inch of her delectable body. They only had a limited time together and he wanted to showcase all of his skills.

Lexi's hands ran all over the place. They traced circles at the back of his freshly shaven head, cupping his jaw by his beard, and on his neck and biceps; before he rose to his haunches they were all over his back. Stephen had been skilled in the way of pleasing a woman. He'd practiced self-control over the years and always found the right time to release himself but at a mere touch of her hands he was going to explode. This couldn't be normal, but then again Lexi was a world-class seductress. Even the way she breathed turned him on—short, shallow breaths as if she were impatient. He looked down at her in the flickering light of the setting sun on the background he'd set for them.

Out of habit, Stephen reached down between her legs to test her readiness. He slipped a long finger under the silky fabric and into the warm depth of her body. He prayed she didn't catch his eyes fluttering or the way he inhaled deeply. Her insides took him into her velvety embrace—decadent, moist and rich. Touching her so deeply almost ended him.

He tried to play it as cool as possible again as he stood up and reached down for a condom from his wallet. Lexi rolled to one side, faced him and wrapped her warm hands around his thighs and brought him to her face. The bend of his knees almost made him buckle when she took him in her mouth again. He braced himself just to keep from falling. Her talented tongue licked, sucked and even nibbled. He couldn't breathe. Like a child on Christmas morning, he couldn't wait.

In one swift move, he went from one end of the couch to the other. He yanked those panties off, rolled the condom on and dived into her wet crevice. For half a second, a flash of panic quickened in Lexi's eyes, and at the same moment a slight barrier held him back for a moment as he entered her tight body. Her walls hugged his erection; he moved his hips deeper and met the same resistance. She was wet but not ready. He dipped his head down and took a nipple into his mouth. Stephen tried to stand up but Lexi locked her legs around his waist.

“Make love to me, Stephen, please,” she mewed, “please.”

Stephen had not planned for this. Desire clouded his common sense. She seduced him and made him lose every hold on reality. Hips moving again, he pushed onward, deeper and slower. Lexi's hips rose to meet his with each thrust. Like a jockey urging its mount on, she pressed her hands against his rear end and urged him faster. Soft moans echoed in his ear. The light flickered across her face, exposing her pleasure. Lexi arched her back, bringing her body closer. Her Cupid's-bow mouth parted in a gasp when he hooked her knees around his arms and drove into her, trying hard as hell to not lose control.

Their bodies moved in perfect rhythm. He couldn't control himself any further. She moaned with each pump, hands still on him, knuckles clenched until they spun out and her entire body jolted and fell back into the couch. Her lower half trembled in orgasm. He was so taken that he suddenly lost control, spilling himself.

Sweat poured down his body. He quickly got to his knees and knelt before her naked body. Her dewy skin glistened. Lexi turned her head to his; in the light he could see her blush.

“My God, woman,” Stephen breathed.

“What?” Lexi blinked innocently.

The floor chilled his knees. Emotions trudged through his body. Hating the way she casually threw his question back, Stephen stared at the spot on her shoulder he'd kissed. “I didn't plan for our first time to be on my office couch.”

She reached over and pulled him by the neck. He liked the way she knew how to take charge. Her soft lips pressed against his. “Well, now every time you have a meeting in here, you can be reminded of me. What other room can we christen?”

Stephen tickled the soft inside curve of her waist. “You're not going to let me catch my breath?”

“Not a chance, old man,” Lexi teased. “We have a lot of making up for lost time to do.”

A shrill ring came from her phone in her purse by the door. Lexi struggled to get up while trying to maintain modesty. She grabbed his white pullover and slipped her arms through the sleeves and tugged the hem over her ample behind as she crossed the new hardwood flooring. Stephen enjoyed the sight of her in his clothes, her long legs tiptoeing out of his office. Stephen followed her to the doorway, watching as she bent over and he got a peek at her sunshine below. Unabashed by his own nakedness, Stephen got his second wind.

Like Lexi's place next door, Stephen's too had an apartment upstairs. That entrance was sealed off with a closed door between his office and Nate's. The wooden staircase was littered with rose petals. He'd planned on surprising Lexi with a tour of the studio and an early dinner. The kitchen upstairs still had their dinner warming in the oven. A round table held a vase of her favorite orchids and a string quartet played through the air from one of the many music devices left over by the sound-machine guys who had helped set up this afternoon for him.

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.”

For comfort, Andrew draped his arm around her shoulders. He smelled like candy apples and hospital. The antiseptic scent reminded her this was a place for the sick. “Well, I'm really sorry to cut off your evening like this. I had no idea we were training a candy-apple junkie. This is all my fault.”

Lexi patted Andrew's arm and laid her head on his shoulder. “Nate told me to make sure you did not blame yourself. Philly has a major sweet tooth.” Hell, she'd witnessed it herself in Savannah.

“What are we going to do? Her smile alone brought her twenty-five points.”

“We will buy her one.”

* * *

“What the hell, Stephen?”

Living in Ken's home had its perks. Stephen was able to monitor the girls better and make sure things stayed on track. He enjoyed bonding with them, as well. Living with Nate had a list of drawbacks. Lack of privacy topped the list of things Stephen disliked about moving in.

Stephen stood in Ken's office, staring at the wedding photograph of his brother and Betty. Driving down Country Road Seventeen brought back memories he'd suppressed for over six months. In trying to gain custody of the girls and making the transition with his business and living situation, he'd never grieved for Ken. He understood and accepted he had died. Or so he thought. Traveling down Seventeen, passing the spot where the wreckage was found hit him hard. The yellow do-not-cross tape was gone. Blood splatters had been washed away by rain and residue, but Stephen still knew. He knew his brother was dead. And he'd had to confront that fact with Lexi driving his car to go see his niece, whom he should have been with.

“What?” Stephen played dumb.

Without asking permission to stay, Nate took a seat in the maroon rolling chair at the computer. “Lexi.”

The mere mention of her name made him want to drink. From a half bar next to the brown pullout couch, he helped himself to a scotch, no ice, and welcomed the burning liquid. The purpose of moving down to Southwood was to take care of his nieces, not fall in love. Stephen wasn't sure he could forgive himself for losing focus because of Lexi. “What about her?”

“We care a lot about her. She's been good for us.”

“And I haven't?”

Nate's eyes widened. “Seriously, Stephen you need to chill out with that.”

“I'm putting in my dues.” Stephen tossed back another drink. He softened his tone, knowing Nate did not deserve his wrath. “Sorry, I did not mean to sound selfish. I need to clear my head.”

“So this means you won't be on the house phone at all hours of the night?”

Stephen tried to lighten the mood with a fake laugh. He shook his head and sighed. “I don't understand the problem. Everyone has a cell phone in this house but Philly. Why is it important if Lexi and I talked on the phone? Never mind. I doubt you'll have to worry about it much.”

“You're pitiful. You need to snap out of this funk. No one asked you to fall in love with her.”

The blood in his veins ran cold with irritation. “What? You don't know what you're talking about.”

“I'm not stupid or blind, Stephen. You're so predictable, and you're angry because you've fallen for her.”

“Why do you think I am in love with Lexi?”

“Clearly, you've never been in love, but one of the main signs is she's the only person you want to be with. Everyone else comes in second place.”

Instead of his brother's words helping, they made Stephen feel guiltier. He'd moved his life down here to be with the girls, not meet a woman to fall in love with. Crossing the room to the window, Stephen clasped his hands behind his back and focused on the neighbors across the street putting out their trash. He'd already taken care of theirs. In Atlanta he paid someone else to take out his trash. He'd become domesticated. “You came off like a cold ass to Lexi.”

Cold did not begin to describe how he'd treated Lexi at the hospital. For a split second, he admittedly had compared her to his ex Natalia. But deep down inside he was flat-out scared. Did she really care for him or what he could offer? To top everything off, Lexi had forced him to face his fear of driving down the road where his brother had died. No man wanted his woman to think he was weak. Nate might have been the one person to talk to about this, but he jumped to the wrong conclusion. “Stay out of my business, Nate.”

“You brought Lexi into the fold of the family.”

“Who signed Philly up for this pageant?” Stephen retorted.

“The fold of the family,
hermano
,” Nate repeated.

* * *

People could say whatever they wanted about Lexi Pendergrass as long as they remembered one thing—she was a professional, a professional model, professional pageant coach and professional businesswoman. She plastered a smile like no one's business. She hadn't seen Stephen since he gave her the cold shoulder at the hospital. She'd be lying if she said she didn't care, but as the cliché went, the show must go on.

Somehow, the venue of the Southern Style Glitz Pageant in Atlanta bustled to life. Families arrived in limousines, carriages, on the shoulders of a coordinated entourage—anything to attract attention. Lexi checked in to her hotel room right next door to Philly and Kimber. Everyone's rooms adjoined at some point, except for Stephen's. Nate mentioned he'd already headed over to his home in Berkeley Lake. Did he plan on attending today? She refused to believe he'd gotten what he wanted and left. She'd never been so humiliated.

A soft knock at her hotel door brought her out of her pity party. Lexi turned from her somber stare out onto Peachtree Boulevard. “C'mon in.”

Kimber spilled into the room, shutting the door secretively behind her. Her hazel eyes were wide. “Can you talk?”

“Of course, sweetie.” Lexi had been meaning to talk to the girl since seeing her on the street. With everything going on in the past seventy-two hours, she hadn't made the time.

“I'm in some trouble.”

Lexi's knees buckled. She pressed her backside against the window to steady herself.
Dear sweet Jesus, no
. Kimber's beauty belonged on television, but not
16 and Pregnant
. Nervously she smiled, pulled her hair into a side ponytail and waved Kimber to take a seat.

Instead of sitting at the table, Kimber sat with her back to Lexi on the royal-blue comforter of the queen-size bed. Kimber rocked back and forth a few times without saying a word.

Heart racing, Lexi chewed her bottom lip. “Kimber, you're making me nervous,” she finally said. “Whatever is going on, you can tell me.”

“All summer long, I have been lying to everyone!” Kimber blurted out with a cry.

“Oh?” Lexi's voice rose in pitch and she asked, “What do you mean?”

“Marvin isn't my boyfriend. He's my cover.”

Lexi waited for the other shoe to drop.

“Philip is a varsity football player at Southwood Central and he's the reason I stole the dress. He's the most popular boy ever and he is totally into me.”

A slight pressure built up in the back of Lexi's head. “Kimber—” she tried to keep any sign of panic out of her voice “—what exactly did you do to get his attention?”

Kimber turned around, her hazel eyes wide. “Not
that
!” She covered the opening of her pink polo shirt. “The dress I took sealed the deal and elevated me from sophomore to sophomore
hottie
, and Philip noticed, too.”

Relaxing, Lexi stretched out across the bed and patted Kimber's arm. “Why the cover boyfriend?”

“Marvin is Philip's cousin. Marvin goes to school with me and I don't want my uncles to freak out because Philip is from the wrong side of the tracks.”

Lexi did not imagine Nate judging anyone. He dated women from all walks of life in Southwood. Stephen, on the other hand, she thought, might take issue with
any
boy who wanted to date Kimber. “Oh, Kimber.” Lexi scooted around the bed so she was seated next to the upset girl and wrapped her arm around her shoulders. “You need to tell your uncles.”

“How? They barely like Marvin.”

“What if you invite Philip here to the pageant?” Somehow Lexi doubted Stephen would cause a scene in front of a room full of people, if he even came at all.

“You think?”

“Yeah, sure. I'll stand by your side to support you.”

Kimber picked up her cell phone and began texting. Lexi tried to concentrate on being with Stephen again. He hadn't called. She missed their late-night chats. Nate told her an emergency had taken him away, which she still struggled to believe. A vibrating buzz came from Kimber's phone. She made a little squeal and looked up at Lexi, “He'll be here tonight for dinner! I can't wait! Thank you, Lexi!”

So, dinner it was, Lexi thought, steeling her nerves.

“What are you going to wear?” Kimber asked, taking Lexi out of her thoughts.

“Me?”

In a matter of seconds, Kimber made the conversation about Lexi. Quickly, she flipped onto her stomach and lay down on the bed, face resting in her hands with her elbows propped up. “I'm pretty good at keeping quiet about secret relationships. You and Uncle Stephen aren't.”

Lexi tried not to grin. “We're friends.”

“You guys haven't been friends since you danced the night Philly won at the Peach Blossom. My
abuela
said he's never brought anyone home to Villa San Juan, and yet you came.”

“Philly and I work together, regardless of the location.” Lexi rolled her eyes and shook her head at the same time. “You're a child,” she said with a grin. “I'm not going to discuss this with you.” She slid off the bed and slunk over to her closet.

“So do you deny having feelings for Uncle Stephen?” Kimber rose to her knees, folded her arms across her chest.

“I...I...I think he is a very nice man.”