Page 123 of A Shot at Love
Stacy fell back onto her pillows and closed her eyes. Pulling in air through her nose and gently blowing it out through her lips, her pulse slowed, and when her body relaxed again, she opened her eyes.
Grandma Sophie always said if you made a deal with the Devil, there’d be a heavy toll to pay. That statement had just proven true. If she wanted her own show she had to dance with the Devil—or in this case, Dominick Stamp in Lucifer’s guise.
With another heavy sigh, Stacy reopened the binder and read it from beginning to end.
*
Eighteen hours and two planes later, Stacy exited the jet-way at Billings Logan International Airport tired and cranky. And if the email she’d received from Teddy’s assistant was to be believed, she still had a two hour car ride to get to the ranch. Add in the time zone difference and Stacy could feel her internal clock boxing to be turned off.
A quick escalator ride down to baggage claim found her waiting for the carousel to spit out her luggage.
Stacy positioned herself as close to the metal carousel as she could and was just about to close her dry and tired eyes for a moment when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning, she found herself looking into an opened collared, sun-drenched neck covered by a deep copper colored, long sleeved shirt. She took a step back and lifted her chin.
“Miss Peters, ma’am?”
Stacy nodded as she stared up into the face of a man a few birthdays younger than her own twenty-nine. A broad and open smile lit the tanned face shaded under a white Stetson. Eyes so pale, Stacy blinked twice before she realized they were blue.
He stuck out his hand and said, “I’m Beau Dixon, Amos’ son. I was sent to bring you back to the ranch.”
Stacy took the proffered hand, and despite her sudden exhaustion, found enough energy to respond to his open and friendly smile with one of her own. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Dixon.”
“Just call me Beau, ma’am. ‘Bout everyone does.”
Nodding, she said, “And I’m Stacy. ‘Ma’am’ makes me feel like my grandmother.”
His smile widened and he shook his head. “Well, we can’t have a pretty little thing like you feeling like that, now, can we?”
The carousel alarm beeped and the metal rotors started their accordion movements, various luggage pieces suddenly rotating around them.
“I’ve got three bags,” she told him.
With a nod he said, “You just point ‘em out and I’ll grab ‘em.”
“I was told it’s a two hour drive from here to your ranch,” Stacy said, while he lifted the first piece she indicated.
“Probably more like two and half, three, with this midday traffic. Once we get out of the city proper, though, it’ll go fast. Don’t you worry.”
As soon as all three pieces of her luggage had been obtained, Beau carrying two of them as if they weighed no more than a piece of paper, he led her out of the building. Dry, hot air slapped her in the face as soon as they came through the revolving doors.
Get used to it, she told herself. This is what you’re stuck with for the next two months.
A luxury town car waited at the curb, its hazard lights flashing.
“I didn’t expect to see a car like this out here,” she said while he stowed the baggage. Realizing a moment later how elitist that sounded, she added, “I mean, I just figured a truck would be the standard vehicle.”
“I left the pickup at the ranch,” Beau said, opening her door so she could slip in. He’d left the car running and the cool, refreshing air conditioning blasting through the dashboard vents was welcome. “Daddy thought this would be a more comfortable ride for you than in the cab of my truck.”
He pulled them out into traffic and turned to grin at her. “Besides, he never lets me drive this beauty and I leaped at the chance when he offered.”
Stacy grinned back. For several minutes he wove them through the busy traffic until they were onto the highway. “If you’re tired you can just lay your head back and take a little snooze,” he told her. “I expect with the time difference and the travelin’ you’re about bushed.”
“In all honesty I am, but if I take a nap now,” she said, “I’ll never sleep through the night and tomorrow I’ll be even worse. Why don’t you tell me about your ranch? I’ve only been given the basics about it.”
