Free Chance on Love by Vristen Pierce Page B

good.
    Amber poked her head in the door with a huge smile. “Stephie Ba—” She frowned as her friend marched over to her. “Ouch,” she said as Stephanie pulled her into her tiny office and closed the door.
    Stephanie jabbed a finger in her chest. “You,” she said through clenched teeth.
    “What did I do?”
    She whirled around to pace in front of her desk. “You have about the worst timing ever.”
    “Sheesh, I can come back.”
    She shot her a dirty look. Filthy, really. “I don’t mean now, genius—last night.”
    “What in the world are you talking—”
    “Your little phone call. Ring a bell?” She held her hand up to her ear and mimicked Amber’s cheerful voice. “‘Stephie Baby, like, oh my God, you never called. Did you decide to go through with screwing the sexy schmuck over? I totally want to know all about it. Toodles!’”
    Amber laughed. “First of all, I don’t sound even remotely like that. Secondly, when have I ever said ‘toodles’?” She frowned as she thought about it. “I mean, if I did, it had to be years ago and I’m talking high school or something.”
    “Amber, focus,” she cried.
    “Sorry,” she mumbled before sitting down in the lone chair in front of Stephanie’s tiny, cluttered desk. “So you did get my message. Why didn’t you call me back?”
    “I was too busy being hornier than I’ve ever been in my life,” she grumbled as she dropped into her chair.
    “Uh, too much information.” Amber eyed the flowers. “Gorgeous.”
    “They’re for you.” No way was she hanging on to a single reminder of Clay.
    Amber lifted an eyebrow. “For me? From whom? Why?”
    “For you from me. Because.” When her friend stared at her blankly, Stephanie rolled her eyes. “For being so...so...” Gritting her teeth, she waved her hand. “Wonderful.” Handing out compliments was so not a normal thing for her.
    Amber cocked her head. “Come again?”
    “I love you, you perky nut. Take the damn flowers.” She watched as Amber picked up the vase and inhaled deeply.
    She beamed. “Wow—thanks. Love you too and—”
    Back to business . “Chance was there.” At Amber’s look of confusion, she elaborated. “Last night, at my house. We were in the middle of something and your call came right when things were about to get extremely good for me.”
    Amber’s eyes widened and she made a silent ‘O’ with her red lips. She leaned forward. “How much did he hear?”
    “Not everything, thankfully. But enough to not trust me anymore. Good job, Snickerdoodle.”
    Amber cringed. She loathed the nickname originally given to her by her grandparents, which meant that others used it to torment her as Stephanie did now.
    “On the bright side,” Amber said, shrugging, “I’m sure he didn’t trust you before that.”
    She stared at her and shook her head. Amber and her fucking bright side.
    ****
    Stephanie squared her shoulders as she walked to Chance’s office. He’d sent for her as if she were the hired help or something. Really, she supposed she was. The thought pissed her off. He probably wanted her to fetch his lunch or wash his precious Jag, the cocky bastard. Maybe she’d get lucky and he’d have her wash his office windows.
    The anger swelled enough to take her mind off Amber’s promise to find some way to fix what she might have ruined. ‘Might have’...those were her words, the nut. Before she could make her swear not to do anything to help—Amber’s help always backfired, it seemed—she had been summoned to His Majesty’s quarters. And Amber had taken the opportunity to vanish.
    Stephanie saw Carly through the open door as she approached the office. Great. Dealing with this loon would surely make the day brighter. Nearing the door, she cursed under her breath. The woman was right in the middle of her ‘aren’t I so sexy and irresistible’ shtick. It was an entertaining act. Every man at the station caught it at least twice a week.
    She stood to the