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In total, he was looking at a ten-hour day. He groaned inwardly. At least he’d be near Lexi.
A woman’s shrill voice echoed through their row.
“Lexington Pendergrass?”
Beside him, Lexi stiffened. Her fingers gripped the armrest. Her knuckles turned stark white. Sure she had paled at the sight of the woman, Stephen took her hand in his.
People began to stare while the woman pointed toward herself. “It’s me! Rose Laing!”
Kimber’s and Philly’s heads bobbed back and forth between the woman and Lexi. Stephen thought he heard a groan coming from Lexi as she came to her feet, still holding on to his hand. Kimber turned her legs to the left for Lexi to exit.
In a matter of seconds, Lexi transformed into the kind of woman Stephen came across at the golf club. A high-pitched phony laugh coming from Lexi sounded more like a “Kill me now.”
“Well, Rose Laing!” Lexi drawled, leaning over to air-kiss both of the woman’s cheeks. They held their hands in midair as if they were about to play patty-cake, but never quite hugged or touched. “I don’t believe this! What brings you to Savannah? Is Vera with you? She must be sixteen now.”
Amused, Stephen sat mesmerized by Lexi’s ponytail bouncing over her shoulders as she craned her neck through the crowds for this person named Vera. Recalling Lexi had worked with Waverly when she was a toddler, it only seemed natural this was another former client. He deduced this must be the family she’d worked for ten years ago.
“She’s competing today,” Rose said. A row of diamonds hung from her neck, her rings also sparkling, but nothing beat the icy stare she gave Lexi.
“I didn’t see her name on the roster.”
“We did not want to intimidate the other girls,” said the woman.
Though Rose appeared friendly, Stephen did not miss the catty tone—he didn’t need to have sisters to understand these women did not like each other. They chattered idly. The Reyes clan all had their heads turned in their direction, as well, not missing a beat.
“Chatter in the dressing room is you’ve abandoned your idea of a pageant dress shop.” The woman babbled on, oblivious to Lexi’s success. “Did that idea fail, as well? Are you daring to make a return to pageant coaching? I figured you would have been married by now with five kids.” Then she peered at the aisle and made an assumption. “Well, almost. No ring on your finger?” Caught off guard, Lexi stood, hands tucked into the back pockets of her jeans. “Oh, Lexi,” she gushed, “get it together, girl! The only men you’re going to find here are probably gay.”
At that point, the woman nodded her head in Stephen’s direction. He glanced around, assuming she must be insinuating about someone else.
“I’m doing fine, Rose. Hopefully we’ll bump into each other again.”
Why in the hell didn’t Lexi hand this smug woman one of her business cards? It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her when she took her seat, but instead of sitting, Lexi made a beeline for the door. The woman’s jaw dropped open and she seriously shook her head, thoroughly confused as to why Lexi took off. Stephen aimed to find out exactly why, as well.
It took a few turns around the corridors, but Stephen eventually found Lexi outside on a lounge chair, soaking in the afternoon sun Her tresses seemed even paler against her caramel skin. He wanted nothing more than to scoop her up in his arms and take her back to the hotel room.
“Hey,” he said, softly approaching. “Everything okay?”
The bright sun did not contribute to the red tint of her high cheekbones. The woman had embarrassed her. “Yes, everything is fine,” she visibly lied. “I needed to catch a breath of fresh air.”
“Who was the lady?”
“Rose Laing, wife of my former boss.” Lexi gave an exaggerated sigh as she came to her feet to face him, but held her head down.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Lexi’s head sharply shook b
ack and forth. Her eyes widened. “No.”
Disappointed, Stephen took her hand. Why should she trust him with her secrets? He pulled her in and held her in his arms, wondering what it would take. “You can trust me.”
“Maybe some other time, I promise.” Lexi gave him a weak smile. “This is not the place.”
“All right, I’m holding you to your word. Let’s go back inside and act like she hasn’t pushed your buttons.”
“If my mother was speaking to me, she would say the exact same thing.” The smile she gave did not reach her eyes. They stood close together, holding hands. Anyone passing by would easily assume they were lovers.
“Your mother sounds like a wise woman.”
