Chapter 16

By the time she left her place, in the red dress and the sexy lingerie, gold hoops dangling from her ears, and her feet shod in high-heeled sandals, she almost had herself believing she could have a good time.

Almost.

She just needed to get rid of the heaviness where her heart was.

The party was always held in one of the high-end downtown hotels. Adam Devereaux, who owned the magazine, liked to make a splash. Besides the staff, the guest list would include advertisers, media, and major influential people. Adam always preached that image was all.

Parking her car in the hotel garage, she rode the elevator down and took a deep breath before she stepped into the lobby.

And walked right into Adam Devereaux.

"Ah, Stacy. There you are. I need you to come with me for a minute."

"I…you…what?"

"Over here." He took her by the arm and quietly guided her across the lobby to one of the smaller private rooms.

"What are we doing in here?" There were chairs stacked against the walls, a table at one end with a laptop on it, and a screen on a stand. "I don't understand. What's going on?"

"You will in a minute."

He pulled a chair off one of the stacks and urged her into it, then walked to the table and typed a command into the computer. She was startled to see a face appear on the screen. A woman. One she'd never met personally but the magazine had done a feature on influential women in sports, and Rina Warren had been one of the ten. She didn't think this had to do with that feature, so what was it all about, anyway?

She looked up at her boss. "Mr. Devereaux?"

He nodded at the screen. "Just listen."

"Hello, Stacy." The woman on the screen smiled at her. "We've never met. I'm Rina Warren, sort of Max Sullivan's boss. Tony and I had a rather desperate meeting with Max today about an incident that happened at our party last night. I'm sorry that one of my friends got a little over eager with Max. None of us knew his heart was already committed or, I can promise you, nothing would have happened."

Stacy's jaw dropped.

"I'm sorry you didn't come to the party with Max last night. If you can make the time, Tony and I would love it if you could drop by our house later this evening. Our major event was last night, and I understand yours is tonight. Max told me he has big plans afterwards, but we are having a few friends in for a low-key Valentine's celebration. I know it will be late, but that's okay. We'd love to meet you."

A man appeared next to her. Tony Warren's face was very familiar.

"I want to add my apology to Rina's and reinforce the invitation. Max is a valuable asset to the team, and we're devastated if in any way we disrupted what appears to be a very special relationship between you. Hope to see you later."

Stacy looked up at her boss again. "My God!"

"We're not done yet."

Another face appeared on the screen. Max, looking completely devastated.

"Please give me another chance, Stacy." He swallowed so hard she could see his Adam's apple move. "I haven't really told you what I'm about to say. I planned to do it in a big way tonight. Please, listen to me now. Me, with no frills." He paused a moment. "Stacy, I love you. I've never loved anyone before the way I love you. Please don't shut me out of your life."

Stacy was shocked into silence. Finally, she found her voice. "How did you do everything?" She gestured at the setup. "All this."

Mr. Devereaux laughed. "A cell phone video and a little influence with the hotel. Tony Warren's an old friend and glad to help. And an invitation to the owners' box at the stadium didn't hurt, either." He took her hand and urged her up from the chair. "Last night was an embarrassment for the Warrens. An old friend of Rina's took liberties she shouldn't then plastered it all over cyberspace. I can assure you that, old friend or not, she has abused both friendship and hospitality and won't be invited back."

Stacy frowned. "Really? She won't? Even though she and Mrs. Warren are friends?"

"I think the woman put the friendship to the wrong test last night. I spoke with Max after we made these plans. He loves you, Stacy. I've never heard a man more miserable in my life. On his behalf, I beg you to give him another chance." He studied her carefully. "Besides, it's Valentine's Day. The day of true love, so it says in my magazine. How about it?"

At that moment, the door to the room opened, and Max strode in, the expression on his face both hopeful and fearful.

"Stacy?" He walked over to her and reached tentatively for her hands.

"I'll leave you two alone." Adam Devereaux headed toward the door. "Stacy, don't forget you still have to put in an appearance at the party. Think what a scoop it would be if the two of you had a special announcement to make."

With that, he was gone.

She stared at Max. "I can't believe you did all this. For me."

"For us," he corrected. "I love you, Stacy. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Please tell me we're okay again. I couldn't stand it if we weren't."

For the first time since that morning, the anger inside her began to dissolve and the knot in her stomach unwind. There was no doubting the sincerity in his voice. Like clouds on a wind, her doubts blew away. Even she wasn't stupid enough to think a man would go to all this trouble if he didn't mean what he said. "How could I not believe you when you went to all so much trouble to convince me."

"I love you," he told her again.

The weight in her heart disappeared, and she felt light as a feather. Happiness coursed through her. "I love you, too, Max. I think I probably have since the day we met, but I was too blind to see it."

He pulled her into a kiss that took her breath away. His tongue probed her mouth and his arms pressed her hard against his body. She inhaled the familiar spicy scent of his aftershave as if she'd never breathe without it again.

"I see you wore the red dress." His mouth turned up in a crooked grin. "Thank you."

"Well," she told him in an offhand manner, "it seemed a shame to let it go to waste. And I thought I needed cheering up."

"And now?"

"Now I'm glad I did. You can have fun taking it off later."

"I never want anyone else except you, Stace. Please believe me." He let out a breath. "Will you marry me and be my Valentine for the rest of our lives?"

"Yes." She threw her head back and laughed. "Yes, yes, yes."

He untangled them and reached into his jacket pocket, bringing out a small box. "I've been carrying this around all week. I hope you like it." He opened the box, and she gasped at the diamond sparkling there, surrounded by heart made of rubies, all of it set in a platinum band.

"My God, Max." She was stunned.

He took it from the box and slipped it onto her finger. "I give you my heart, Stacy. I want you to have it always."

"And you have mine."

It was a long time before they got to the party.

END OF PART ONE