In It to Win It (12 page)

“
Jane, please come in.” Dale waved a hand at the chairs in front of his desk, taking a sip of his Coke before leaning back in his chair and popping his feet up.

Jane didn’t say a word. Not that she could. Her heart was in her throat. Her stomach was full of butterflies and she had to breathe deeply through her nose to keep from vomiting all over Dale’s floor. And she didn’t even know what that pain-in-her-ass had said to her boss. She could guess though.

“
I got an interesting call just now.”

“
I can imagine.”

Dale’s blond brows pinched together, but he just pressed on. “It seems Grayson Pierce wants to give KHB an exclusive interview.”

“
Really?” She put in a little too much sarcasm to come off as truly surprised, and Dale noticed.

“
You’re not surprised?”

“
Grayson might have mentioned something about the possibility of an interview.”

His blond brows met his hairline, which was quite a feat since it was receding. “And you didn’t jump on it?”

“
I … well … I guess…” She’d be damned if she was going to lay out her painful past with Grayson on her boss’s desk for further humiliation. “I told him I’d do it.”

Dale sighed and leaned forward just enough to grab the Coke can and take another swig. The can met the desk and sounded like a gunshot in the quiet room.

“
This could be really big, Jane.”

“
I know. I’m going to do it.” Her lack of enthusiasm was bothersome to Dale, it was written all over his face.

He nodded; his mouth was so tight that little lines appeared at the corners. “He has stipulations for this exclusive.”

Oh goody!
He’d only named one in their conversation—that she come alone.

“
He wants one week,” Dale said.

No surprise there.

“
A week in the life of Grayson Pierce, if you will. He has asked that you meet him in the parking lot of North Sevier High School day after tomorrow.”

“
No.”

“
No?” Dale’s brow rose again and he stared at her like she was crazy.

“
No, I mean … I …” She sighed, knowing she was beat.
This just keeps getting better.
“A week, just me and Grayson.” Did her voice really just squeak?

“
Yeah, just you. His second stipulation is that during that time there is to be no contact. No phones. No computers. No PDA’s. No communication to the outside world … for the entire week.”

“
Are you frickin’ kidding me?” she shouted. “And you agreed to those terms?”
‘Cause she sure as hell hadn’t.
“What if he’s a lunatic just wanting to get me alone … for an entire week?”

Dale smiled. And now, she hated her boss.

What? Was she just some little puppet who had
manipulate me
written on her forehead?

“
Grayson explained that you went to high school together.”

“
Yeah, so?” She sounded like she was twelve and would have been embarrassed had her adrenaline not been in control.

“
So—” He slid a little metallic device across the desk. “—this is an alarm. If you need anything, you just press this red button and it will send a message to Nate’s cell phone. He will be going with you.”

She felt a tad better. She still didn’t like the idea of being stuck with Grayson for a week. “Have you
been
to Salina, Dale? It’s a blip on the map with one stoplight in the whole town. Don’t you think someone will notice Nate?”

“
He and his family will be in Richfield. Close enough if you need them but still far enough away to avoid suspicion.”

Obviously Dale didn’t know how small towns worked, especially this tiny cluster in Central Utah, but she wasn’t going to argue him out of sending Nate.

“
Besides, if someone does see him, he can say that he’s just there early—with his family. Grayson said that at the end of the week, you could do the interview on camera. He’s met Nate, right?”

She nodded.

“
So it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to think he’s there for the taping of the interview,” Dale finished.

Wow! It’d been only minutes from the time he’d hung up with Grayson until she was sitting in Dale’s office. She had to admire Dale and his quick thinking and even faster planning. It would have taken her more time to get this all figured out. She just hoped that Nate was up for it.

But why wouldn’t he be?

Nate was always up for an adventure. And Roxie was up for getting an inside scoop on what might appear next on the front pages of the tabloids.

Jane wrapped her fingers around what would be her only link to the outside world during her time with Grayson.

Dale leaned forward, resting his forearms on the desk. His light blue eyes scrutinized her. “Make me proud, Jane.”

“
I always do,” she said, standing to leave his office.

As she made her way through the newsroom toward her desk, her mind replayed through the conversation she’d had with Grayson. He was up to something, she was sure of it. She couldn’t figure out what just yet.

This had prom written all over it.

Jane had been beyond excited when Grayson had asked her to the Junior Prom, their senior year. With her mother in tow, they’d gone to the local dress shop and picked out the perfect dress. It was peach with an empire waist that flared out until the hem fell to just above her knees. The sleeves—what there were of them—wrapped around her upper arms, leaving her shoulders bare. Her mother had insisted on getting the matching wrap to keep her warm—and because her arms were ‘a bit flabby’.

Jane had had other plans for staying warm. Plans that included nothing more than cozying up to Grayson.

Three days before the dance, Jane was walking down the hall at school and overheard a couple of Grayson’s teammates razzing him.

“…
You can tell us, man. Why Plain Jane?”

“
You had to have lost a bet, Pierce.”

“
Yep,” Grayson grunted.

And with that one word, Jane’s entire world shattered.

“
You look like the four men of the apocalypse just rode into your yard?” Molly asked.

Jane glanced up into the very blue eyes of her friend. “You have no idea how right you are.”

A lot of years had passed since the sad truth was revealed, but her emotions were still raw when it came to Grayson. It didn’t matter how good-looking he was, nor did it matter that her insides turned to Jell-O when he looked her in the eye and smiled.

There was no way in hell she was going to let Grayson Pierce destroy her this time around!

8

“
D
AMN, IT’S COLD, JANE MUMBLED AS SHE stepped out of her Mazda 3. The shock of leaving her car and immersing herself in the chilly night was more like leaving a warm bath only to jump into a frozen pond. A shiver wriggled up her spine and she stuffed her hands deep into the pockets of her coat, using them to pull the warmth closer around her. It was the only barrier she had and by darn she was going to use it.

Another icy breeze blew, lifting the edge of her coat and licking up her body. The cold stung even through the denim that covered her legs. She stomped her feet to keep the blood flowing to her toes and clamped her teeth together to keep them from chattering.

It was the second week in December and, despite everything she kept telling herself about the boost this would give her career, she really did have better things to do. Christmas was right around the corner and she had yet to purchase a single gift. Not that she was overly concerned with that fact. She didn’t really do Christmas and there were a total of three names on her list.

In her opinion that was three names too many. She wasn’t a big fan of the holidays.

Sniffing and stomping, Jane continued to wait. She hated waiting. And it was totally rude that he would make her wait in the first place. Not that she should be surprised. She rubbed at her running nose with a gloved hand, thankful it wasn’t any colder or she might have to resort to sticking tissues up her nose to stop the flow.

The weather was fairly mild for this time of year. No snow on the ground, only remnants remained in the form of snow banks on the perimeter of the parking lot and around the light poles.

She kicked at some chunks of ice that had fallen from the mound of snow she’d parked next to. A snowball the size of a golf ball rolled down and Jane crushed it under her boot. The soft crunch was surprisingly satisfying. A small smile tipped her lips and she began to look around at all that had changed … and so much more that hadn’t.

The campus where she’d gone to school fifteen years ago was the same. The same buildings, the same black asphalt with faded yellow lines. Jane suspected it had been repaved in the time she’d been gone, not that it looked like it now. She guessed the trees were a little bigger.

The baseball field where Grayson had made a name for himself had gotten lights—that was new.

She stomped her feet again trying to shake some of the icicles out of her blood. Damn, she was pretty sure that she was going to turn into a Popsicle.

How long had she been standing here anyway?

She considered looking at her watch. But that meant exposing her wrist to the elements, and she wasn’t willing to do that. She’d been smarter if she had stayed in her car with the engine running. But she didn’t expect to have to wait for heaven-knew-how-long for Grayson to show up.

Maybe that was the joke. Maybe he wasn’t going to show up. He’d leave her freezing to death. Then at her funeral—after she’d been unthawed—Grayson and his friends would sit around and laugh about how pitiful Plain Jane was.

She was looking out over the football field when the crunch of tires on salt and roar of an engine signaled that someone had shown up. She tried to pretend that her heart hadn’t just skipped a beat or that the air hadn’t frozen in her lungs. So the latter could be the weather.

Yes, she couldn’t breathe because it was just too damn cold.

Intentionally keeping her back to him and acting as though she hadn’t heard the click as his door opened or the thud and crunch of his feet meeting the pavement.

“
Janie?”

The deep rumble of his voice made her knees go weak. Not wanting to fall flat on her face, she locked her knees and straightened her spine. Which wasn’t too hard, since she was pretty stiff already.

“
Who else would be standing here freezing her ass off, waiting for you to grace her with your presence?” She turned around to glare at him as he circled around the Jeep—one of the new four-door kind. Black, of course—to match his heart. “Never mind, don’t answer that.”

The grin that spread across his face made her even more grateful he didn’t begin listing the harem of women who might have eagerly been freezing their asses off.

He was heartbreakingly handsome, even in his fluffy black parka and black knit hat. His muscular legs were covered by jeans that disappeared into a pair of thick-soled winter boots. He had dark scruff that covered his entire jaw.

Jane would consider growing a beard too, if it meant keeping her face warm. She snuggled her chin down into the scarf she had wrapped around her neck.

“
Hop in.” He opened up the passenger door and heat rolled out.

Jane could almost see the billows of warmth rushing out to embrace her. Her first instinct was to crawl inside and blast the heater until she melted all over his floorboards—and not in sexual need. Just literally unthawed, leaving nothing but a puddle behind. But then she glanced at her car and asked, “What about—”

“
Trent’ll take care of it. You remember Trent?”

“
Yeah.” She nodded, of course she remembered Trent. He’d been Grayson’s best friend. Apparently still was. Jane felt her eyes narrow in the suspicion she felt everywhere else. Trent hadn’t taken part in the antics that devastated Jane’s seventeen-year-old self, but Grayson had. And it wasn’t too far out of the realm of possibility that neither of them had grown up.

“
He bought the mechanic’s shop. He’s got a tow truck,” Grayson explained.

“
He’s gonna tow my car … where, exactly?”

“
He’ll bring it up to my place later tonight.” He studied her face and apparently her apprehension was written all over it because Grayson used a long finger to draw a cross over his heart. “I promise, Jane. No games. No tricks.”

She still wasn’t convinced there wasn’t some hurtful ulterior motive behind this whole trip, but had gotten to the point where cold was seeping into her bloodstream. And she didn’t want to be cold anymore.

Reluctantly Jane climbed into the cab of the Jeep while Grayson popped the trunk of her car and pulled out her suitcase. She noticed that her laptop conspicuously didn’t make the leap.

As he settled into the driver’s seat and put on his seatbelt, she shifted toward him. “I’m … uh, I’m gonna need my computer … to take notes.”

He took hold of her hand and pressed a quick kiss to her knuckles. “I’ll give you a notebook and a pen … to take notes.”