Free GAMBLING ON LOVE (Travis Series) by Kimberley Reeves Page A

o’clock , Vic stuck his head in the door to let her know he was leaving . She continued to plow through the expenses until she had them completed and then put them in Vic’s basket to enter into the computer .
    Beth glanced at her watch, her heart sinking even lower . Six o’clock and still no call . She was starting to feel the sharp pangs of anxiety in the pit of her stomach and did her best to ignore them . With a heavy sigh, Beth pulled her purse from the drawer, locked the office and headed for home.
                                                                    * **
    Sam had been putting out fires left and right all day . He’d reached for the phone around noon to see whether Anne could break away for lunch but got a call from John Peterson before he could even pull her number from his wallet . John had already hired a new lawyer and wanted Sam to come over right away to meet with them .
    He’d left his office almost immediately and had been locked away in P & J Industries’ boardroom the entire afternoon negotiating the contract . He’d checked his watch around five o’clock and considered excusing himself to call her, but the new lawyer started asking more questions and time got away from him again . At seven fifteen, they finally called it a day, agreeing to meet later in the week to finish it up.
    As he made his way through the parking lot, Sam pulled his wallet out to get Anne’s phone number so he could call her on the way and was annoyed to discover it wasn’t there . He climbed into his truck , trying to remember what he’d done with it and realized he must have left it in the pocket of the jeans he’d worn the day before . Frustrated that he’d have to go all the way home, he swore under his breath at how stupid he’d been .
    Anne was probably worried sick that he hadn’t called yet . He tried directory assistance but her home phone was unlisted and so was her cell phone . He got the number for her office, hoping she might still be there but only got the answering service . His desire to see her made him push his luck , speeding most of the way to his house in Beverly Hills.
    He raced into the house , up the stairs to his room , his annoyance magnified to discover the room was spotless.  
    “Damn!”  
    Virginia must have come in and taken his laundry already . Hoping she hadn’t thrown them in the wash, he dashed back down the stairs and hurried to the laundry room . Sitting on top of the counter were all his clothes, freshly laundered and neatly folded . Sam pulled his jeans from the stack, checked the pockets and was even more frustrated when he came up empty.
    If the card had been washed with his jeans, he would have at least found the shredded paper in the pocket , so Virginia must have pulled it out . He searched the laundry room and didn’t find it . He proceeded to his study, hoping she’d stuck it on his desk as she usually did when she found papers still in his pockets . To his disappointment, the desk was as neat and clean as he’d left it.
    He searched everywhere that he could think of and finally decided the only thing to do was call and see whether she remembered taking it out of his pocket . He pulled Virginia’s number up on his cell phone and dialed, grunting in frustration when there was no answer . He waited five minutes and tried again . After several attempts with no results, Sam decided to take a shower and change so he would be ready to go when he finally did reach her.  
    As he stepped under the hot spray of water , he remembered what Anne had said to him . You will call me, won’t you Sam ? Because I don’t want to be waiting by the phone for a call that won’t ever come.
                                                                     * **
    At eight thirty Beth pulled the leathery steaks from the grill and tossed them in the trash can . She