Free GAMBLING ON LOVE (Travis Series) by Kimberley Reeves

course, doll face .” He gr inned . “I want you to feel needed.”
    “I should write you up for insubordination,” she threatened.
    “You could,” he said indifferently, “but you won’t.”
    “What makes you think I won’t?”
    “Two reasons . One, you hate paperwork and writing me up would definitely cause you paperwork and two, you’ve got a secret and I know what it is.”
    “But I haven’t told you hardly anything!”
    “You told me enough ; I can make up the rest.”
    “Okay, okay, you win,” Beth caved . She checked her watch and was surprised to see it was already two o’clock . “I guess I’ll go grab some lunch.”
    “Too late .” He tapped her appointment book . “Staff meeting in fifteen minutes.”
    Beth groaned . “Do I have to go?”
    Vic sighed in exasperation . “Beth, you’re the president ; of course you have to go . You have to announce Mel’s promotion to senior investigator and discuss the profit - sharing plan we’re putting in place.”
    “I don’t know why you can’t do it,” she pouted . “ You know more about it than I do anyway.”
    He held up his nameplate and pointed with his pen . “See this ? It says Vic Colter, senior account executive . It does not say president .”
    “If I promote you to president , will you take the meeting?”
    “Doll, I wouldn’t have your job for the world . Now quit stalling . It has to be done today because you’re back on assignment in two days . At least this one is local so we still get to see your bright shiny face off and on.”
    “Sadist,” she mumbled as she headed for the boardroom.
    The meeting lasted over an hour and in spite of her grumbling, she enjoyed the genuine camaraderie of her employees . Beth was extremely meticulous about picking who she hired . She wanted everyone to be happy with their jobs, one an other, and with her . Too many hours were spent in each other’s company to have people who were difficult to work with .
    Very rarely was she wrong about who m she’d chosen and it was usually when she went against Vic’s advice not to take them on . After the second time it happened, she started listening and they’d had tremendous luck since then . Several times she’d offered to promote him to vice president so he could handle the things he was so good at advising her about, but he staunchly refused.  
    “What would you do without me to watch over you ?” he’d ask, and Beth knew he was right.  
    She’d be devastated if he left her . So she compensated him in other ways , like giving him an unlimited gas card, paying for his annual vacation to the Florida Keys, and buying him a new car as a bonus.  
    “You can’t buy my loyalty,” Vic would say haughtily when she presented him with a gift .  
    When she’d volunteer to take them back , he accuse d her of not appreciating his hard work . Beth sincerely loved Vic and hoped he stayed with her until they were both too old to work.
    “Any messages ?” she asked hopefully when she got out of the meeting.
    “Not the one you’re looking for. ” He handed her the messages he’d taken during the meeting . “Don’t look so down, sweetie . I’m sure he’ll call . If he works like you, he probably hasn’t realized how late in the day it is.”
    “I know . I just feel like a silly teenager waiting for Sam to call, getting butterflies in my stomach every time the phone rings.”
    “Why, Elizabeth Anne Sweeney, you’ve got it real bad for this one, don’t you?”
    “Painfully obvious, is it?”
    “Well, I just hope this Sam of yours is smart enough to know what he’s got.”
    “You know, Vic, for someone who’s such a pain in the ass, sometimes you can say the sweetest things.”
    “ It’s part of my charm,” he quipped.
    Beth returned to her office and decided to go over the expenses submitted for approval by her investigators . Very rarely did she deny one but it was a necessary evil so she forced herself to review them . At five