enthusiastic about picking up and hying off to the next exotic locale. After an hour of doing nothing but stare at her ceiling, Avery finally rose and showered as if on autopilot. Over her morning coffee and banana, she checked her upcoming schedule on her computer.
She was stuck going to Vegas, and then on to Houston and NASA. She couldn’t get out of those trips, or push them out to later dates. Then she reviewed her trip to Bermuda and the data she wanted to collect from that point on the globe.
Dammit!
That trip was solid as well, give or take a few days on either end. But she hadn’t decided on a spot on the globe after Bermuda just yet. Maybe she could come back here for a while. She didn’t have to be anywhere after Bermuda for close to four months, when her stint with NASA began in full force.
Maybe she could come back here, spend that time with Colt. If he wanted her to.
Well, she would propose a few items to him. But first, she had to pay him back. She put in a call to her accountant first.
“Lorne Danes,” he answered. Lorne was in his late forties, and devilishly handsome, with his black hair graying at the temples, and a brilliant financial mind.
“Hi Lorne, it’s Avery.” She didn’t even need to use her last name.
“Ah, my favorite client. Where are in the world are you?”
“I’m in Colorado, actually.”
“Just a few hours away from Vegas. What can I do for you, love?” Lorne asked.
“Well, you’re not going to believe this—”
He started laughing and said, “Let me guess, you lost your wallet.”
“Oh, you know me so well, it’s scary.”
“What’s scary is your propensity for losing your wallet. My accountant’s heart hurts at the thought of all the money you’ve lost over the years.”
“Yeah, at least I am lucky that I have more than enough so I don’t have to worry about the loss. So listen, I lost my wallet before I managed to pay for where I’m staying. And I’m doing so on sort of an agreement to pay by the end of my stay.”
“How much do you need me to wire?”
“Actually, I was hoping you could send me cash by courier. And I’m going to contact Missy at the penthouse, have her bring you both the envelope with my new credit card, and my state identification card for Nevada. I’ll email you the address where I’m staying, along with a map to my cabin. If you could have it all couriered to me, that would be great.”
He sighed. “Sure, I can do that. I’d prefer to wire it, it would be less expensive on your end if I did it that way. By courier will cost you.”
“I know, but it can’t be helped. I need my ID and credit card.”
“How much do you need in cash?”
She tried to calculate what her stay would cost, and what Colt had spent on groceries, plus what it would cost on her drive to Vegas. She’d probably need to stop overnight in Utah. “Let’s go with five thousand in cash. That should cover most of my incidentals.”
“I can do that. How soon will Missy be by?” he asked.
“How about I let you know in my email, once I have confirmation on a time from her?”
“You do realize that a courier from Vegas to where you’re staying and back will take a few days because of the drive? Unless you want to have it flown on the jet.”
“I know it would be here quicker on the Lear.”
“And it might still take me a few days to get a trusted courier who can travel for, say, upwards of six hours on a round trip.”
“I realize that. Put the ball in motion on your end, and I’ll get Missy working on this end to bring what I need to your office.”
“I’m on it, love,” Lorne replied.
“Great. I’ll see you at the gala.”
“I wouldn’t miss it. And I’ll keep an eye out for that email,” he said.
“Thanks, Lorne. I appreciate it,” she replied and hung up.
Avery called Missy, her housekeeper at the Vegas penthouse, and explained the situation. Missy laughed at her predicament, with an only you know how to get into trouble like that air. This had occurred frequently enough that Avery kept a spare state identification card in the top desk drawer in her office in a spot that was easy for Missy to locate.
Missy promised to take both over to Lorne’s office in