Chance on Love (37 page)

He shrugged. “Maybe so, but what I said still stands.” He dropped her hand as he stared at her necklace. He slowly traced a finger over it. “I’m glad you still have this. It saves me from having to track it down to buy it back for you.”

This was her shot. She had to own up to her feelings now that he was standing right there in front of her and had owned up to his. She had to tell him. The words were so simple. Why was saying them so hard for her?

She opened her mouth and promptly closed it. After clearing her throat, she averted her eyes from his. “Kenny’s coming back to the station after his surgery.”

“Mm,” Chance murmured. “I figured. And you made Carly a reporter.” He chuckled. “That was mean, Love. I’m proud of you.”

Stephanie gave him a shaky smile and covered his hand, still on the necklace, with her own. “Thank you. It comes naturally.” She moved her gaze over each part of his face as she continued to work up her courage. Usually, she had too much damn nerve and now, when she really needed it, she had none. That was her luck. It was crap. “After Kenny returns, I’m leaving.”

Frowning, Chance dropped his hand. “To go where and for how long?”

Her impulse was to say it was none of his business, but her heart melted at the concern in his eyes. “I don’t know yet. I’d been thinking about how I’ve never taken a real vacation—something past a weekend out of town, you know?”

“Where do you want to go?” he asked softly as he gave her an intense stare.

He was close enough now that she could smell the faint scent of his cologne. She licked her lips before biting the lower one and he fixed his gaze to them. She swore she heard him groan under his breath, and the sound started a pulsing need between her thighs. “Not sure. Maybe Spain.”

“Fine. We’ll go to Spain.”

Stephanie smiled. “
We
will?”

Chance lowered his head. “Do you hate me, Love?” he asked quietly.

“Sometimes.” Stephanie placed her hand on his face. “But there’s not a second that goes by that I’m not in love with you.”

Chance raised his head then and looked at her with glistening eyes. “We’ll visit Spain just as a vacation. We’ll probably honeymoon in France.” He sucked in a ragged breath. “You like France, right? How does Paris sound?”

Time seemed to stop just as her head began to spin. “H-honeymoon?” she asked breathlessly
.

“Yes,” Chance said slowly. “Hello. Were you not listening to me earlier when I said we were going to be together? I meant that. And since I don’t have to work on getting you to
not
hate me...” He ran a hand over his face.

“I don’t even— Oh my God, are you proposing?” she cried.

Chance scowled. “What the hell do you think?”

She leveled an unwavering glare at him. “There’s no ring.”

He stared at her blankly for a moment. “Oh, shit.” He patted his pockets before pulling a small box from one. He held it up to her face. “There is, in fact, a ring, smart ass.”

She stared at the box and tried not to hyperventilate. Until now, she was sure he’d been joking.

Stay calm. Stay...Stephanie.
She scoffed. “You didn’t even get down on your knee.”

Chuckling, he shook his head. “I’m not getting down on the floor, Love. Get over yourself. Now, take the damn ring.”

She gave him a bored look.

“Ah, hell.” He dropped to one knee. “There,” he said, glaring up at her. “Happy now, you little—”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Princess?”

Stephanie rolled her lips in to keep from smiling. It was clear that hadn’t been the word he’d originally intended. She nodded as tears clouded her vision.

“What do you want me to do down here?”

The dream she’d had of him before, on his knees, came to mind. At the time, she was sure it had been about sex, but maybe, just maybe, it had been leading her here all along. She did smile then. “Whatever you want.”

“In that case...” Chance opened the small box.

Gasping, she stared at the ring. A huge, emerald cut red diamond, set in platinum, shone back at her. It was beyond beautiful. “It’s...”

“Red, yeah. I knew you weren’t a traditional diamond engagement ring kind of woman. And red is the color of passion, which we have in spades.”

Blinking back tears, she offered him a trembling smile.

“And it’s the color of anger, which you usually have in spades.”

“Shut up.”

Chance gave her a sexy grin. “And it’s the color of love. Since your last name’s Love and mine’s Valentine...” His eyes glistened as he stared up at her. “It just seemed perfect.”

“It is,” she whispered.

He took the ring out of the box and slid it on her finger. It fit perfectly. “Stephanie Love, will you marry me?”

“Chance...” She shook her head sadly. “You didn’t even have to ask.” She laughed at the scowl on his face.

He cursed under his breath as he got up. Without a word, he pulled her to him. “I’m really not liking you right now,” he said, his breath warm against her lips.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “But you love me.”

“Mm,” he said, “I do.” He rubbed his lips over hers before sliding his tongue into her mouth. He moaned, running his hands down her back to cup her ass. She gasped when he pressed her to his growing erection. “Fuck,” he said, roughly, against her ear. “I have to have you now, Love.”

Stephanie reached down between them to rub his cock. “Yes,” she said breathlessly. He slid his hands over her breasts as strains of music from the ballroom filtered into the empty lobby. She sucked in another breath. “That’s it, Valentine.”

“Ooh,” he said seductively, “you like that, baby?”

Stephanie pushed him away. “Not
that,
” she laughed, pointing toward the ballroom. “That.”

He frowned as she dragged him toward it. The music was loud and clear now. Looking at her, he smirked. “That’s Sam Cooke.”

“Singing your favorite Sam Cooke song.” And hers too, ever since that night at Mister’s.

“May I dance with my fiancée?” he asked, exposing those dimples that never failed to set her body ablaze.

“You’d better.” She tilted her face up for a kiss before wrapping her arms around him. They swayed to the music and she sighed contentedly, placing her head on his chest. Kenny and Gwen danced by, all smiles. Stephanie wiggled the fingers of her left hand at them. Kenny gave her a wink and an approving nod right as Gwen’s mouth dropped open. She gave Stephanie a thumbs-up.

Clay glowered from across the room. Donna stood next to him, smiling vapidly and running her fingers through her hair. Carly stood at his other side. After giving Stephanie a disgusted look, she stormed off.

Stephanie smiled.

“Lookin’ good,” her father said as he and Amber danced over to them.

Chance grinned at him. “We’re getting married.”

Frank’s eyes widened. “You got this one to agree to
that?
” He chuckled. “Impressive.”

Amber gasped. “I wanna see the—” Hiccup. “Ring.”

Stephanie shot out her hand, and Amber swayed forward as she gawked at it. Frank steadied her. “That’s gorgeous.” With bleary, slightly unfocused eyes, she beamed at Stephanie. “Congratulations,” she slurred. “You’re gonna be a handsome gride and a lovely broom...” Blinking slowly, she grinned again.

Stephanie laughed just as Chance pulled her closer.

“I can’t wait until you’re Mrs. Valentine,” he said, gazing down at her.

“Oh, I’m keeping my last name, buddy.”

He drew his eyebrows together. “Why?”

“Why
not?
”

He looked disappointed, but said nothing.

Stephanie sighed. “Fine. I’ll give you hyphenated, but that’s it.”

“I can deal with that,” he said, smirking.

Amber snorted. “You’re gonna be Stephanie Love-Valentine for the rest of your life.” She cracked up as Frank danced her away.

Shit
. She hadn’t thought that one through. Grimacing, she glanced up at him.

He shrugged. “It’s cute, I guess.”

“Chance...”

“Yes, Love?”

She narrowed her eyes. “I’m taking your name.”

“Thought so.” He gave her a lopsided grin.

She stared off into space as they continued to dance.

He was silent for a few seconds. “What’s wrong, baby? I don’t want you to take my name at all if you don’t want to. It’s okay, I swear.”

“It’s not that. It’s just... Love was my mother’s maiden name. My brothers and my sister and I—we changed our last name as soon as we could. It’s kind of a tribute to our mom. I’ll miss it. I’ll miss hearing it.”

Placing a finger beneath her chin, he lifted her face. “You’ll hear it for the rest of your life, whether it’s your last name or not.”

Her mood brightened once more. “That’s right. I’ll always be Love, to you.”

He bent down, putting his lips against hers. “Damn straight.” He kissed her before moving down. “And what will I always be to you?” he murmured against her neck.

She closed her eyes and ran her fingers through his hair. “The schmuck...” she said absentmindedly.

Chance chuckled. “Wait.” He lifted his head and narrowed his eyes at her. “What?”

Oops.
She ignored his question and frowned. “Oh my God,” she said, staring past him. “I think Clay’s making lewd gestures to me.”

Chance whirled around. “Where is he?”

Stephanie threaded her way through the crowd of people on the dance floor and headed for the ballroom’s exit. She was in for it once he caught up to her, but that would be fun, too.

“Damn it, Love,” he yelled.

She laughed as she made it back to the lobby. Leaning against the wall, she lifted her hand to stare at the gorgeous ring on her finger. This was going to be one hell of an interesting marriage—and she couldn’t wait to get started.

“There you are,” Chance said right next to her ear, making her jump. “Come here.” He grabbed her hand and dragged her toward a dark, secluded alcove in the empty lobby. “Schmuck?” He nodded. “So that’s where Amber got that.”

“Huh?”

He ignored her. “
Schmuck?
” He pushed her against the wall. “You’re gonna get it, Love.”

Stephanie pulled his face down to hers. “What are you gonna do, Valentine?”

He smirked. “I’m about to make some very filthy gestures of my own,” he said, unzipping the back of her dress.

They stared into each other’s eyes, and she knew she was right where she belonged. And all because she’d taken a risk with her heart, she’d taken a— “Chance.”

He raised his eyebrows in question. Those eyes, more gray than blue... She would get to look into those eyes for the rest of her life. He gave her that irresistible smile just then, and it melted both her panties
and
her heart. For the first time she could remember, she didn’t feel an ounce of sadness or emptiness. She was finally, truly happy, and all she felt was—

“Love.”

She pulled him in for a kiss.

Exactly.

The End

Thanks so much for reading
Chance on Love!
I hope you enjoyed the bumpy road to true love that we traveled with Chance and Stephanie. I look forward to them spending their lives together and sharing a Happily Bickering Ever After!

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I think...that’s it. (It’s enough, right?)

Thank you for taking a Chance on Love.

—Vristen