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“Hunter called a charter company. We’re covered.”
“Great. Thanks for your patience, Simon.”
“No worries. I’m fine. I’ll grab some tickets for a show tonight.”
“Have a good time.” Jack hung up the phone, his hand resting on the receiver for a moment. He’d wondered if Kristy might enjoy a show. Cirque du Soleil was playing.
He rolled out of bed.
He took a cold shower and brewed himself a cup of coffee in the in-room machine. Then he picked up the phone to call his assistant.
“Hey, Jack,” came Lisa’s voice on her cell phone.
“Morning,” he responded. “Didn’t wake you, did I?”
“It’s seven o’clock,” she responded. Lisa was a morning person extraordinaire.
“Been jogging yet?”
“Just putting on my shoes.”
“Well, I’m stuck in Vegas.”
“Really? How’d that happen?”
“Jet trouble. Simon’s having it repaired.”
“You okay?”
“Fine.”
“Why don’t you grab a flight?”
“I’ve got a passenger.” It wasn’t really an answer, since commercial airlines generally had more than one seat available on their flights.
But Lisa was too polite to ask any questions. “You need anything from me?”
“Did we hear from Neil Roberts on the Perkins project?”
“Let’s see.” Something rustled in the background. “He says escrow will close on the factory Friday. The union agreements are almost finished—some sticking point on pension transferability. And the tooling for the robotics hit a snag in Bombay, but he’s dealing with it next week.”
Jack jotted a couple of notes on the hotel stationary. “Does he need me to call?”
“Didn’t say so.”
“Okay. I’ll touch base with him on Monday. Anything else?”
“Harry’s retirement in the New Year. If you want the engraving done on time, we have to get the order in now. Gold or platinum.”
“You’ve seen them both. You decide.”
“He’ll want the gold.”
Jack shrugged in the suite. He’d have gone with the platinum. But Lisa knew their Western Regional Controller better than he did. “Go ahead then.”
“You sure?”
“You’re the expert.”
He could hear the grin in her voice. “It’s about time you—”
“Have a good run.”
“I will. Have fun in Vegas.”
Jack grunted something noncommittal before he hung up the phone. He wasn’t in Vegas to have fun.
His gaze wandered to Kristy’s bedroom door. But having fun was certainly turning into a huge temptation.
He left his notes on the small desk and crossed the room to her door, knocking lightly.
“Hmmff?” came a muffled reply.
He eased the door open. “You waking up?”
She rolled onto her back, her blond hair fanning out across the white pillow, and her creamy shoulders peeking out above the ivory duvet while Dee Dee resettled herself on the foot of the bed. “I am now.”
“Not a morning person?” His hand tightened on the doorknob, and he forced his feet to stay glued to the carpet while he let himself wonder if she was naked under the sheets.
“Not when I stay up half the night eating chocolate and ice cream.”
Jack’s gut clenched once more at the memory of how she’d dug into the chocolate volcano, her tongue curling around the spoon, rescuing a drop of chocolate sauce that had dabbed on her lower lip. He wondered for the thousandth time how he’d had the strength to send her off to her own bedroom.
He forced his thoughts back to the present. “I have good news and bad news.”
She sat up, trapping the sheet under her arms, bringing it tight against what he was now sure were her naked breasts. “The good news first.”
It took him an inordinately long time to find his voice. “We have tickets to Cirque du Soleil.”
“I guess I don’t have to guess the bad news.” But she didn’t look overly distressed at the thought of staying in Vegas.
Jack clenched his teeth, redoubling his effort to stay on this side of the room. “Simon’s waiting on the parts shipment,” he lied.
She nodded her acceptance of the explanation. “Any guesses as to when he’ll get them?”
Jack mustered up a casual shrug, the wordsDon’t do it, Don’t do it turning into a mantra inside his head.
He was proud of how normal his voice sounded. “Up in the air. We may have to do some more gambling to keep the room.”
