Free Betting on You by Sydney Landon

Margie might see more than she bargained for this afternoon.”
    Mia grimaced, saying, “Something tells me it wouldn’t offend her.”
    “That’s an even more disturbing thought,” Seth groaned. “How about we try to keep it together until Friday night and then all bets are off?”
    She ran her hand over his thigh for a brief moment before whispering, “Oh, you are so totally on.”

Chapter Ten
    “You know that’s gonna cost you another lunch, right?”
    Mia smiled at Kyle, as he walked toward her from his UPS delivery truck. They had long ago formed a relationship based on bribery and threats. She bribed him with food and he threatened to leave her shipment until last if she didn’t. She loved him and his wife, Sandy, to death. Since he made daily deliveries to Danvers, she saw him more than she saw her own family. Despite their kidding around, she knew that when she was under a time crunch, he would make her his first stop of the day. Truly, he was the one man who had never let her down. “Wow, I was going to spring for dinner, but if you are going to let me off with just lunch, hey, I’m not arguing.”
    Kyle raised his brow saying, “Dinner? Boy, this must be an important delivery. It’s not that I’m complaining about the usual Taco Bell, but I wouldn’t say no to a steak every once in a while.”
    She staggered back dramatically like the thought was killing her, but she made a mental note to get him and Sandy a gift certificate to somewhere fancy, maybe even the Oceanix Resort. “I’ll see what I can do since once again, you are saving my ass.” In truth, she wanted to break out her victory dance. Getting the delivery of cameras first thing that morning ensured that they were going to be able to wrap things up a day earlier as she had hoped. Everyone on the team would be thrilled. Several had put off their vacations when the install ran later than planned. She waved as Kyle backed away from the loading dock. The shipping department was used to her running down to check shipments when she was expecting a delivery. They had even made her Employee of the Month for their department once because she usually stayed to help them sort the boxes before she went back to her office.
    She ran into Hank coming out of the break room. He had a donut in one hand and a Diet Coke in the other. He saw her smirking at the combination and said, “There is no reason to add insult to injury, kid. When I go to the gym after work, I’ll only have to work the donut off. So, how are we looking at the Oceanix? We on schedule to finally get the hell out of there tomorrow?”
    Mia wiggled her eyebrows and said, “I’ll give you one better, boss; we should be done today.”
    He finished chewing his bite of the powdered-sugar treat before saying, “No shit, that’s good. Who did you have to bribe to accomplish it this time?”
    She chuckled and said, “You know I never reveal my sources. As soon as I have Danny load the boxes in the van, I’ll be on my way.” She felt herself blush when she asked, “Um . . . are you okay with me taking a personal day off on Friday if there are no problems on the job?”
    When Hank looked down at his shoes, she knew that the reason for her request wasn’t lost on him. Shit, how embarrassing. For all she knew, Seth had something important going on Friday and wouldn’t be able to spend the day in bed as she was hoping. It never hurt to be prepared though, right? She never took all of her vacation or personal days so she had plenty to work with.
    “Sure, no problem. You better get going if you are going to finish today, though.” Her mouth dropped when he threw over his shoulder, “Give Jackson my best.” Yeah, the reason for her request hadn’t escaped him at all. Oh, well, a little embarrassment was well worth a day of Seth . . . naked.
    ***
    Seth had cursed at his desk when he realized that he would have to miss lunch with Mia. He was scheduled to meet with the bank to discuss