“Right.” She opened her purse. With a slightly shaky hand, she pulled the letter out of the envelope and unfolded it. She read it no less than three times before she comprehended what it said.
“Well?” Amber asked.
Stephanie slowly raised her head. The fog was much denser, but it was no longer rolling gently—it was barreling its way through her mind like a freight train.
“Steph...”
“He....” Stephanie’s eyes began to sting. “But he hates me. Why would he—” She stood, and Amber snatched her back down by her arm.
“Oh no, uh-uh. There’s only one dramatic exit allowed per meeting; Carly already cashed in.” As Stephanie continued to stare straight ahead, Amber snatched the letter from her hand.
After she finished reading, she squealed with delight. “This is way better than I’d expected.” She sprang off her chair, pulling Stephanie up with her. “Come on.”
Amber all but dragged her toward the still empty seat at the head of the conference table. She cleared her throat loudly and everyone grew quiet, turning their attention to the two women at the front of the room.
Stephanie bumped her friend with her shoulder. “Amber...” Just then, Work Enemy #1 made her discreet reappearance by quietly entering the room.
Carly crossed her arms and leaned against the back wall.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Amber continued with excitement, “it’s my pleasure to make this announcement. This,” she shoved Stephanie behind the empty chair, “is KMLP’s new General Manager!”
A few gasps were followed by stunned silence from everyone seated around the table. After a few seconds, Stephanie heard the surprised murmurs.
“I’m not the new GM.” No one was paying her the least bit of attention. She tried again, slightly louder this time. “I’m only the, uh...latest interim—” Still, no one listened. “Screw it.”
“This is a fresh start for KMLP, everybody! Are you all as excited as I am?” Amber looked at her friend, smiled, and began to clap.
Stephanie dropped her head and groaned. “For the love of God, don’t start a slow clap.” Surely enough, others joined in. “Thank you, thank you, but please.” Once the impromptu applause ended, she had a seat. “Chance...” She lost her train of thought for a moment as an image of his face popped into her mind; those eyes, that ever present smirk upon those lips. Her eyes burned once more when the thought of never seeing that face, those lips, again caused a searing pain in her chest. She sucked in a sharp breath and blinked back tears before starting again.
“Mr. Valentine graciously left me in place as the interim GM. After all unfinished business is handled and all decisions are finalized, I’ll step down.” A new hum of disbelieving murmurs came from everyone in the room, including Amber.
She leaned close to Stephanie’s ear. “Um, what?”
“He didn’t make me GM. He made me interim GM.”
“Steph, he put you in a position to make yourself GM. You have the power, girl. Once you wow corporate, it’s a done deal. Hello!”
“Why would he do that?” Stephanie asked herself. “He hates me.”
“Maybe he realizes you have amazing business savvy even if you do have a less than pleasant personality. Maybe he knows you’ll do right by this station.”
Stephanie couldn’t ignore the heaviness in her heart at what he had done. Even though he’d been angry with her, even though her last words to him had been cruel, he’d essentially given her everything she’d ever wanted by handing her this opportunity.
“Or...” Amber said.
Stephanie glanced up at her.
She shrugged. “Maybe he just loves you. Could be all three I guess. It probably is.”
With a crushing weight, Amber’s words came to rest on Stephanie’s heart. She’d give anything for that schmuck to love her. But no. His parting gift had been one of necessity, not love. He’d left the station in an upheaval and she was simply the quickest way to remedy the problem. So it wasn’t a gift at all, really—the bastard had just stuck her with his mess to clean up.
Straightening in her chair, she squared her shoulders. “Listen up, people.” Everyone shut up and looked at her. Her eyes no longer stinging, Stephanie Love was in her element, at least for a little while. “As the interim GM, I have some important decisions to make.”
Suddenly enjoying the taste of power, she sat back in the chair, swiveling slowly. Regardless of his motive, Chance Valentine had given her a weapon. And she planned to wield the hell out of it. “There are changes that absolutely have to be made around here.”
She tilted her head as she regarded the woman at the back of the room. A tiny smile touched Stephanie’s lips. “Wouldn’t you agree, Carlene?”
Chapter 38
The following Monday, Stephanie was back at work with a vengeance. A vengeance that lost steam as soon as she stepped inside Chance’s—no, her office. She closed the door and leaned against it, suddenly hesitant to walk farther into the room. His presence was nearly palpable. Her gaze landed on the CD player, still sitting in the corner.
She turned her attention to the spot where they’d danced. Without thinking, she rubbed her fist over the center of her chest, as if that would lessen the pain. Mentally cursing herself, she shook off the nostalgia. It was pointless—she had a job to do. Speaking of which, her first appointment of the day would be arriving shortly, and because she had no one in the glamorous role of assistant, she needed to greet him herself.
She tossed her coat and purse on one of the chairs in front of the desk before making an about face. Giving her clothes a final once over, she headed for the door.
Amber almost cracked Stephanie’s face with it as she burst in. “Hi, boss,” she said, grinning.
Stephanie stepped back. “Uh... Hello.”
Amber nodded knowingly. “So?”
Stephanie cocked her head.
“Oh, come on,” Amber said, punching her lightly on the arm. “At the meeting on Friday, you said some changes would be made, but you didn’t say what.”
Stephanie pretended to think about it. “I didn’t? Huh.” She wanted to put Amber out of her misery, but there was one huge piece of the puzzle that needed to be in place first. That way, she could get the announcements done in one fell swoop. She wanted as few meetings as possible. Now that everyone besides Amber was looking at her with a combination of fear and pity, those things blew. Correction. Carly definitely wasn’t looking at her with pity. But fear? A tiny smile touched Stephanie’s lips at the thought.
“This isn’t funny. If I hadn’t been out of town this weekend, I would’ve gotten it out of you already. Tell me.”
“You’ll know soon.” She headed out the door. Naturally, Amber was fast on her heels.
“You’re kind of loving this, aren’t you? What happened to quitting? This still your last week here?” She gave Stephanie’s back a hug. “I knew you couldn’t leave.”
She rolled her eyes. “Get off me, freak. Minions don’t go around hugging the head honcho, got it?”
“And you’re bitchy as ever!” Amber wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they now walked side by side. She smiled and nodded sagely. “I think you’re gonna make it.”
Laughing, she looked around. “Anybody need Keegan for, like, anything? Anything at all?”
“Fine—I can take a hint.” Smiling, she walked away.
Stephanie was just about to say something smart-ass when he caught her eye. The man she needed to see, her appointment. No way was she not hugging him. Besides, he wasn’t one of her minions...and she planned to keep it that way. “Kenny!”
Grinning, he bent down to give her a big hug. “Hey, kid. Last week, huh?” He pulled back to look in her eyes and his face became somber. “Rough?”
She offered him a shaky smile. “I’m hanging in there. I, uh, may be sticking around a bit longer, though...”
Kenny narrowed his eyes. “How much longer?”
“It depends.”
<
br /> “On...?”
Stephanie ignored him and grabbed his hand. “Come with me.” She led the way to her office.
“I have to say, I’m relieved Mr. Valentine decided to come back and finish up his stay here. Not sure why he wants to see me though.”
Stephanie smiled, but changed the subject. “So everything went well with your tests?”
“Yes, Mother,” he said teasingly. “We already discussed this when you called to ask me to be here today. Not to mention the calls I got when I was in California—”
Fine. Maybe she was a little overprotective. “Okay, okay,” she grumbled.
Following her into the office, he looked around. “Where’s Mr. Valentine?” he asked, taking a seat.
“Hell if I know.” She sat on the edge of the desk and looked at the ceiling. “I guess he should be in Louisiana by now—hopefully in a swamp.”
“But you said the GM wanted to see me.”
“She does.”
“She...” His face brightened. “Oh, that’s good. A woman at the helm could bring a fresh approach. I like that.” His tone turned suspicious. “Well, where is she?”
Stephanie smiled.
Laughing, he sprang off the chair and pulled her into a big hug. “Now that’s what I’m talking about! You’re going to do amazing things as GM, kid.”
“I plan to,” she said softly.
Waving her comment off, he sat down again. “Oh, you will, without a doubt.”
Stephanie felt a rush of love for the man sitting in front of her. Her non-biological dad had faith in her even when she had none in herself. If only her mom would have had a Kenny in her life instead of a Frank...
She sighed. So much would be different right now. But there was no time to dwell on the past. She cast her eyes down at the floor. “I’m only interim GM. Chance left me with the position.”
“To do with as you see fit. You don’t have to be interim GM. You impress corporate, which you will, and the job is yours. Permanently. This was your pinnacle—you’ve reached it.”
Stephanie shook her head. “GM isn’t meant for me...at least, not right now.”
He rolled his eyes. “Then who the hell is it meant for?”
She looked at him as a slow smile spread across her lips.
He laughed. After several seconds, he leaned forward. “You’re serious?”
“As a heart att—” She cringed. “Ooh, no. Tasteless.” After their laughter faded, she spoke again, with complete conviction. “I’m serious. And I’m absolutely sure.”
“But how—”
She held up a hand to stop him. “I’ll stay on as interim until you’ve recovered from surgery.”
“You’ll be my Exec—”
She laughed. “Oh, but no. I never want to be anyone’s assistant again, Dad.”
He looked away briefly before meeting her eyes again. “Then you’ll be my News Director at least?” he asked quietly.
She didn’t respond.
He ran a hand down his face. “Ah, hell. I don’t want to take your dream job and leave you with nothing. It wouldn’t be right.” He shook his head. “No. Thank you, but I’ll have to pass on your offer.”
Stephanie was quiet a moment. “You wouldn’t be taking anything I want.”
Kenny looked unconvinced.
“Look, I don’t even know if my heart is in being a News Director right now. Maybe sometime in the future, but...”
“Now stop right there. You’re the most career-driven person I know, and all of a sudden you don’t care about what you’ve worked your ass off for all these years?”
“I care. I do. I just—I need some time away is all. I’ve done pretty much nothing but live and breathe journalism since high school.”
He seemed to consider that before nodding. “A vacation? Yeah, that would be good. You haven’t taken one since...” He chuckled. “Hell, you haven’t taken one.” His mood sobered. “This would be a vacation, right? You’ll be back. You have to come back.”
His brown eyes were full of sadness, but also hope. It hurt her to hurt him. This was why that whole love thing sucked major balls. She might have loved Kenny in an entirely different way than she loved Chance, but the result was the same—pain. She cleared her throat. “There’s a definite poss—probability of that.” No way would he agree if she only gave him a mere possibility. “I mean, you know me,” she said lightly. “What else am I going to do, right?”
She didn’t know the answer to that, at least not the long-term one. Her immediate plans once she was free of the station included traipsing off to parts unknown where there were no reminders of Chance Valentine. Maybe then, she’d have a real shot at moving on and getting her armor back to its pre-schmuck status. “Oh, but...” She gave Kenny a mischievous grin. “I did make a few changes I think the permanent GM really should leave in place.”
“Uh-oh. What the hell have you done, kid?”
Hopping off the desk, she jerked her head in the direction of the door. “Want to go find out?”
Chapter 39
Chance was determined to have a good day at the new station. No, screw that. He would have a great fucking day. Good riddance, Oklahoma City; he was going to take it easy in The Big Easy. No infuriating, rude, vulgar, all around unpleasant woman would be assaulting him with steaming cups of coffee or playing him for a fool by making him fall in love with her. He was free, and it felt fantastic.
He’d just ignore the fact that he owed his renewed zest for life to the horrible attempt at dating he’d made over the weekend. He had met a gorgeous brunette with a killer body at the dog park. When she’d flirted, he’d reciprocated. After she had suggested they meet up for a drink later that night, he’d known he had to take her up on it. Hell, he needed to stop pining away for the devil woman of OKC somehow. Unfortunately, it had been horrible.
She was great; she had good taste in music and movies, for one thing. Well, he thought she did anyway. Whatever he said, she pretty much agreed with—and that was annoying as hell. Funny, he used to like that sort of thing or be neutral about it at the very least. Oh well. One bad date he could handle; a horrible work experience was a whole ‘nother ball of wax. Too much time would be spent at this station. It wasn’t allowed to be awful, which was why he was filled with determination.
After his grandfather’s introduction, Chance plastered a smile on his face. The conference room was similar to KMLP’s. The faces weren’t...dissimilar. After traveling around constantly, never stopping to settle for longer than six months at a time, they all started to blend together.
So, yeah, the faces looking back at him from this conference room in New Orleans could easily have been the faces he had seen in Oklahoma City. Really, besides one in particular, how long would he remember any of them? He began his spiel about how happy he was to be there and so on.
He looked around as he talked, almost hoping for some hint of excitement, someone to have the balls to interrupt. But no one did. They all sat there quietly with vacant smiles on their faces. Relieved when the little ‘getting to know you’ meeting was finished, he kept his own demeanor in check until he’d reached the safe confines of his new office. Once inside, he began to pace. This was going to be one boring ass job. Things became even sadder when there was a knock at the door, and he realized the surprise of it was likely to be the highlight of his day.
“Come in.” He stopped pacing, making a point of sauntering to his desk. He had a cool, carefree persona to project.
“Hi,” a sweet sounding voice said.
He turned to look at the woman and offered her a warm, genuine smile. Not bad. Not bad at all. He was not engaging in any office trysts, but still... Seeing this looker every day couldn’t hurt his odds of forgetting the brat. “Hello.” He drew his eyebrows together slightly. “I’m sorry—have we met?”
The voluptuous, petite woman with long, strawberry blonde hair shook her head. Smiling, she walked to him with her hand outstretched. “I’m your new as
sistant. There hadn’t been one in place, but Mr. Lucas thought you could use some help getting through all the paperwork.”
Chance took her hand in his. So he’d be seeing plenty of this one. Nice. Love who?
“Stephanie.”
He stared at her with his mouth agape.
“My name is Stephanie.”
He finally closed his mouth. “Oh, of course.”
And why the hell would it be anything else? She was Stephanie, huh? He’d see about that. “Would you mind getting some coffee for me, Stephanie?”
She didn’t even bat an eye. “Not at all, Mr. Valentine. How do you take it?”
That was it? No attitude, no sass? This woman was no Stephanie—this woman was downright polite and respectful. “Uh...” His last shred of hope for some kind of excitement slipped away. “Black.”
“Right away, sir.” She left the office without as much as a dirty look thrown over her shoulder. She was so serene about the whole thing, he’d almost swear she’d been taking butler lessons from Rupe.
Groaning, he dropped down into his chair. This was going to be a brutal three months.
****
After KMLP’s staff greeted Kenny warmly—even Carly—Stephanie managed to corral the department heads and anchors into the conference room.
All smiles, Amber rushed over. “You’re back, finally. I knew Steph would put that GM title to good use.” They shared a quick hug.
“Well, I’m not back just yet—”
“Dad...” Stephanie warned.
“Right, right.” He nodded. “She’ll get to all that in a minute.”
Amber lifted an eyebrow. “‘Dad’?”
Stephanie simply smiled and walked to the front of the room. “All right, everyone, I have a few announcements I’d like to get out of the way.” After everyone was seated and had quieted down, she continued. “First of all, it looks as though I’ll be the interim GM for a while longer than I’d previously thought.”
Amber cupped her hands around her mouth. “And how long will that be?”
Chance on Love Page 26