Free Quarterback Sneak by Desiree Holt Page A

so often she finally unplugged it. She even turned off her cell. There
was no way she could manage to talk to anyone. It was bad enough she had to
figure out how to pull herself together to go to the party tonight.
    The damn party. If only she could
figure out a way to avoid it. Maybe she could call and say she’d come down with
a terminal illness of some kind. Showing up at work Monday would be bad enough.
But if she wanted a job come next week, she’d better pull herself together.
    Only how can I celebrate
Valentine’s Day when I’m nobody’s Valentine? Max, how could you do this to me?
    At last she dragged herself out of
her misery and took a shower, washed her hair, and reluctantly made up her face.
She glared at the sexy red dress hanging in the closet, tempted for a moment to
cut it up with scissors. Then she thought, what the hell? Maybe she should keep
the new Stacy front and center. If Max had dumped her, there were plenty of
other fish in the sea. And tonight, she might find one if she chose wisely
enough.
    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.