The Winner Is Love
Page 3
Chapter 3
Stacy
Stacy thought about the contest all day. It had distracted her from work. She still couldn’t believe Randi had done this to her. Her intentions had been good, but a whole weekend and flying on top of that. Abigail poked her head in and told her she was leaving. She looked at her watch and decided to get out of the office earlier than usual. She wanted to get more information about the contest.
She waved to her secretary and turned to log out of her computer, her mind reeling from the day’s events. When she got a hold on Randi, she was going to strangle her. She grabbed her purse and headed out of the office.
Traffic was horrible as usual. She sat in stop and go traffic for about thirty minutes. She let her mind drift to Slade Collins. He was a good looking man. A little quiver of excitement ran through her at the thought of meeting him. She grinned for the first time about the whole scenario. She was going to not only meet him, but would spend three days with him alone in a romantic cabin in the snow.
When she finally pulled in her driveway, she was more excited about the contest. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. She walked into her house, dropping her purse and keys on the counter. She put a microwave dinner in and went up to change into lounging pants and a t shirt. When she came back down her microwave was beeping.
She sat down at the small kitchen table and ate dinner. Looking around she realized that she really didn’t have much of a life. She worked long hours and usually brought work home with her. Randi was right, she did need a vacation. Her heart plummeted to her toes thinking about flying. She would have to really do some talking to her brain about that.
When she had washed her dishes and straightened the kitchen she went up to look through her closet. She knew she had some snow clothes from the trip her and Randi took a couple of years ago. After about twenty minutes of sifting through the closets in both bedrooms she had accumulated a thick, fur lined coat, two wool sweaters and four pairs of wool socks. She also found her wool lined snow pants and vest. She picked up her cell and called Randi.
“Hello you lucky girl.” Randi always started talking first. It made Stacy grin.
“Well, we need to go shopping. I need a few more things for the trip.” She sat down on the bed and lay back on the pillows.
“Ok, I’m free tomorrow night. Don’t forget some lingerie.” She giggled when she heard Stacy’s sharp intake of breath.
“It is not going to be that kind of trip. I am going up there to rest and get in some reading.” She grinned, thinking about getting to finally read the romance novel that had been collecting dust on her bedside table.
“Ok, whatever you say. Just go prepared for anything. Have you finally gotten used to the fact that you are going on a trip with your favorite star?”
“I’m coming to grips with it. The flying part is still hard to digest, but you’re right, I need some relaxation.”
“Stop the presses; Stacy Cauthen said I was right.” She laughed. “Do you want to meet at the mall?”
Randi worked close to the mall that had the best stores around. “I will try to get out of the office by five. Why don’t we meet around 5:30? We can have Italian at the new little bistro inside the mall.”
“Sounds like a plan to me. I’ll see you tomorrow. Have sweet dreams. Oh, wait your dream has come true. Now you can dream about the trip.” She laughed at her own joke.
“We’ll see if it is a dream or a nightmare next weekend. I just hope he isn’t some brute who thinks it has to be his way or the highway.”
“Oh, don’t worry. He is probably as nervous as you. He probably figures you are some crazy groupie.”
“That’s true. See you tomorrow.” She closed her phone and sat up. She grabbed a notepad out of her night stand and made a list of what she needed.
When she had everything folded neatly and stacked on the dresser she headed downstairs to her desk. She needed to check on this contest. It wouldn’t hurt to see what she now was stuck in the middle of.
She read the contest rules and it was pretty simple. The trip was starting at the airport with a brief press conference, then on to the cabin. It was in an undisclosed location in the hills above Denver. It showed some pictures of the cabin. She couldn’t believe how beautiful it looked. She could imagine sitting in front of that fire snuggled in a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate and her book.
She shut down the computer and sat down to catch the evening news. She laid back and got comfortable. She slipped in and out of sleep. Finally she laid her head over on the pillow beside her and gave in. She dreamed about the little cabin and Slade standing in front of the fire dressed in black silk lounge pants and no shirt. She grinned in her sleep.