Tempting Fate (The Blake Boys Book 9) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Table of Contents

  Look for these titles from A. J. Locke

  Title Page

  Copyright Warning

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  About the Author

  Also by Rhonda Laurel

  Coming Soon

  More Romance from Etopia Press

  Look for these titles from Rhonda Laurel

  Now Available

  The Blake Boys Series

  For the Love of the Game (Book One)

  MVP (Book Two)

  The Blake Legacy (Book Three)

  Texas Heat (Book Four)

  Love Notes and Football (Book Five)

  The Perfect Storm (Book Six)

  Slow Burn (Book Seven)

  Cowboy’s Heart (Book Eight)

  Tempting Fate (Book Nine)

  The Hollywood Heat Series

  Star Crossed (Book One)

  Hollywood Rush (Book Two)

  Ebb Tide

  Shutter

  “Masquerade” Halloween Heat IV

  In Print

  The Rhonda Laurel Collection

  “Masquerade” Halloween Heat MF

  The Blake Boys Collection

  The Blake Boys Collection II

  Tempting Fate

  The Blake Boys Book Nine

  Rhonda Laurel

  Etopia Press

  Copyright Warning

  EBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared, or given away. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is a crime punishable by law. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded to or downloaded from file sharing sites, or distributed in any other way via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000 (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/).

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real in any way. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Published By

  Etopia Press

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  Oak Ridge, TN 37830

  http://www.etopiapress.com

  Tempting Fate

  Copyright © 2015 by Rhonda Laurel

  ISBN: 978-1-941692-77-6

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  First Etopia Press electronic publication: May 2015

  ~ Dedication ~

  To Channing and Cassidy, thanks for making every moment count.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Channing Blake gazed out of the office window of his elegant office at Blake Enterprises and took in the magnificent view of downtown Dallas. It was a beautiful, sunny day. He could feel the energy of the bustling streets below from the fiftieth floor. It had been six months since he’d moved back to Texas and begun working for his family’s company, and the transition of moving from Washington, DC back home to the Twelve Horseshoes Ranch was harder than he’d imagined. He loved country life, but he’d grown fond of the nation’s capital. He’d made some pretty good friends while in law school and was sad to see that part of his life come to an end.

  But there was no place like home, and the family had a lot to celebrate these days. Each Blake took their turn spoiling the newest family member Matt, Tate and Isabelle’s newborn. And his oldest brother J.J. and his wife, Sam, were expecting too. Love was abundant on the ranch, but it seemed to be eluding him. He’d given up his pursuit of his old flame, Emma Winterbourne, who was content to drop in and out of his life when she pleased. He’d had a thing for her since high school, and when he reconnected with her a couple of years ago, he thought everything was going great. She drove him crazy with her erratic behavior, and he blamed his inability to completely break things off on their amazing sexual chemistry. They hadn’t been in touch for months, and he had almost started to forget about her. Until she called him yesterday saying she was back in town and wanted to have dinner.

  Channing plunked back down in his comfortable black leather chair and grabbed one of the law books sprawled across his desk. Leave it to his big brother J.J. to call with a question about some obscure agriculture law in Kentucky while he was supposed to be on parental leave. So Channing had gone five floors down to the company’s law library and checked out a few books. He preferred a book in his hand over Internet searching, and Gertrude, the elderly librarian who was in charge, loved getting visits from him. There was a knock on his office door, and then it opened.

  “You busy?” It was Bo, his good friend and CFO of Blake Enterprises.

  Channing waved him into the office. “Come on in. I need the break.”

  “I see J.J.’s keeping you busy.”

  “I’ve been neck deep in Kentucky agricultural laws for two days.”

  “There’s some farm land he’s interested in, and he doesn’t like surprises when he’s negotiating.” Bo shut the door and sat down. “Does he know he’s on leave? I thought he wasn’t working while waiting for the baby to be born.”

  Channing laughed. “I think he needs something to do. He’s driving Sam crazy. I went over there for dinner on Saturday. We went to a bakery to get these cupcakes she likes, and when we got back we heard screaming coming from inside the house. J.J. sprang into action and called the paramedics as he’s running into the house. We get to the family room to find Sam watching a hockey game.” J.J. and Sam’s baby was due any day now, and his usually calm brother was bouncing off the walls.

  “Sam called and begged me to give him something to do.” Bo laughed. “You want to see a movie tonight? That new action flick is out. We can grab dinner after.”

  “How about a rain check? I’m…having dinner with Emma.” Channing pretended to peruse a book.

  “Really.” Bo grinned. “How long has she been back in town?”

  “That’s a good question. I’ll find out tonight.”

  “This will be round three with Emma?” Bo tapped his fingers on the desk.

  “Something like that,” Channing murmured. “How are you doing on the dating front?”

  “There are a few women in rotation but nothing serious.”

  Channing raised an eyebrow. “You dog. What have you done with Bodine Jamison?”

  “I blame our adventures in Vegas. Barring the daring escape from the male strip club, I had a good time. Hanging out with no strings attached may be just what I need right now.”

  “Good for you. Wanna go to DC? Some friends of mine from law school are having an engagement party next week. Maybe the bride-to-be has some single, stringless friends you can hang with.”

  “No way. No more parties in strange cities for me.”

  Channing heard a ping coming from his cell phone; it was a text message from Emma. She wanted to know what time he was picking her up. A part of him felt like he was jumping through hoops like he always did when she called. But this time it would be different. They could share a meal, and nothing had to come of it.

  His fingers flew over the keys, then he threw the phone down on the desk. “I have to be
insane to listen to anything she has to say.”

  “Or horny.”

  “That too.” Channing pushed off from his desk. Unfortunately Bo was right about that.

  The sex drought had been going on for over a year. He’d made the decision to start thinking with the head that didn’t get him into romantic quagmires and spend his time more productively. He’d taken his precocious nephews to every museum on the eastern seaboard, had a workout routine that could have rivaled his brother Seth’s, and had even helped as a pit-crew member on his brother Tyler’s racing team. Hopefully he wouldn’t do anything stupid tonight. But the temptation to see her again, for better or worse, was just too great to ignore.

  Bo stood. “Well, I wish you all the luck one can muster when dealing with a Winterbourne woman.”

  “Bubba, do me a favor? Don’t tell anyone I’m going out with her. I think we’ve had enough family discussions about my relationship with Emma.”

  * * *

  There was a flurry of activity at his parents’ house when Channing arrived home from work. Bo Sr. was there, as well as Tate and Isabelle with Matt, who was enjoying some good spoiling from his grandparents. He could have gone straight to the guesthouse but no way would he miss out on the fun.

  The decision to move into his own space occurred one night when he came home and found his parents playing strip poker. He hightailed it out of the living room so fast he narrowly missed knocking over his mama’s favorite vase. But he thought he handled it better than his brother Tyler, who’d have bouts of hysterical blindness at the mere mention of their parents canoodling.

  The little ones that flooded the ranch these days were a joy to be around, and he was happy to be an uncle many times over. His baby nephew Matt’s eyes lit up when he saw Channing, AKA Uncle C.J., so he took his nephew and played with him, confident it would be a matter of minutes before his grandma found an excuse to get her hands on him. Like clockwork, Teri-Lyn came over and said she wanted to change Matt’s clothes for dinner. With all the cooing going on, he eased out of the living room, only to run into J.J. and Sam coming through the front door, and was herded back into the family revelry.

  J.J. tried to ask him a few questions about work, but Sam told him to give Channing a break. He checked his watch. He had an hour to get ready.

  The third time he sneaked a peek at his watch to check the time, J.J. and Tate noticed and began giving him funny looks. The window on his self-preservation was closing. Knowing how devious they were, one of them was going to ask him to do something time consuming so that he’d have to reveal he had plans. One mention of Emma’s name would ignite, in his opinion, an unnecessary discussion. His personal life was private, right? Uh, no. He was a Blake, and meddling was the family motto.

  He was finally able to escape when everyone went into the dining room for dinner. He uttered a quick apology to his mama that he was going out with friends tonight. She gave him a kiss and nudged him gently in the ribs, an indicator that she didn’t believe a word he said.

  He flew over to the guesthouse and changed clothes, trying his best to look casual yet chic with a pair of designer jeans, shirt, and a suit jacket. He didn’t want to look like he was trying too hard to impress her. She knew what she was missing or she wouldn’t have called him. Still, looking good was always the best revenge. A spritz of cologne and a brush through his hair, and he was out the door.

  The minute Emma opened the door of her sister Penny’s house, his heart stopped. She was just as beautiful as the last time he saw her, but she’d changed a bit. She had a sleek new haircut with frosted highlights that made her lovely red hair even more pronounced. He could see every curve of her body, the red dress she wore with the plunging neckline left little to the imagination, but he knew that was the point.

  “Ms. Winterbourne. You look amazing.” Channing smiled.

  “Thank you, Mr. Blake. You look as handsome as ever.” She kissed him on the cheek. “You want to come in for a drink?”

  “I’m afraid I’ll have to drive at warp speed to make our dinner reservation. But thanks for the offer.” He wasn’t stupid. He wanted a nice, cordial public date. He didn’t care that “Little C.J.” was screaming at him to end that ridiculous celibacy pact. He’d steeled himself to the possibility that she may look stunning this evening, and no matter how great the temptation, he could go without having sex for one more night.

  Emma’s nervous chatter on the way to the restaurant meant that she was anxious about the evening too. She talked about her career and time in New York in both the present and past tense; he had a hard time keeping up with the conversation. Did she still live there or not? He remembered it was a bad idea to interrupt her when she was in this manic verbal state and figured she’d tell him at some point.

  They arrived in the nick of time for their eight o’clock reservation and were seated immediately. Once the waitress had taken their orders and had dropped off their drinks, Channing sat across the table from the beautiful Emma wondering what was on her mind tonight.

  “So why did you come back to town?” he asked.

  “What makes you think I have a reason other than seeing you?”

  “Because my ego isn’t so big that I’d believe it.” He bit into a buttered dinner roll.

  “I’m here for Penny’s engagement party.”

  “That’s right. Seth mentioned Penny was engaged. I’m happy for her.”

  She squinted her eyes. “How does Seth know?”

  “They keep in touch. So who’s the lucky guy?”

  She rolled her eyes. “A fellow doctor.”

  “That’s terrific. Did Caine try to beat him up too?” He waggled his eyebrows. Who could forget Seth and Emma’s brother’s brawl at the Bright Star a few years ago?

  “No, Caine’s taking a different tack with Clint. Penny said she wasn’t tolerating his brutish tactics anymore.”

  “He’s a little over the top, but he’s just looking out for her.”

  “So you’re not mad about the fight at the Bright Star that night?”

  “No. I never would have asked you out again if I thought Caine would have me on his radar.” He let out a hearty laugh. “Besides, the Blakes and the Winterbournes have been duking it out for generations. My dad says the tension between the families was going on way before Seth and Penny dated.”

  “I didn’t know that. I’m back for this weekend’s events, but I’m also moving back to Texas permanently next month.” She played with her fork.

  “What about your job in New York?”

  She bit her ruby-red lip. “Things didn’t work out. Turns out I’m not cut out for the Big Apple. So I decided to come home and find work with an advertising firm here.”

  Ah, it was all becoming clear. “You were sure that’s where you wanted to be when you decided to take that job.”

  When she first informed him of the job, he’d been delighted. New York wasn’t that far away from Washington, DC. It would have taken a bit of traveling, but he visited Seth, Morgan, and the boys all the time in Philadelphia. It was Emma who had stifled the long distance romance. He suspected she’d found someone else or had gotten swept up into that sophisticated city living. DC was just as cosmopolitan, but he held on to his country roots a little tighter. He loved going out and having fun, but he still liked staying at home and enjoying quiet moments. He was, for the most part, a homebody, and he longed to find someone who didn’t need constant outside stimulation to keep a relationship going.

  “C.J., I’ve been thinking a lot about us.” Emma reached across the table and touched his hand.

  “I didn’t know there was an us. I thought we were two old high school friends who occasionally slept together.” He was going to hold her accountable for her actions, not matter how pretty she looked.

  “I really meant to call you, but I got so busy with work.” She pouted.

  “I’ve had a full schedule too but I made the time,” Channing countered.

  “I’m here now. At
least I will be next month. We can pick up where we left off.”

  “You think it’s that simple?” His jaw ticked.

  “It can be.”

  “You can’t just play fast and loose with my feelings.”

  “That’s not what I’m trying to do.”

  “It feels that way. Did you think about this? Really think about it? What I’m hearing is that New York didn’t work out, and you’re running home to what’s familiar to you. Like I’m an old pair of cowboy boots that you missed. While you were out exploring the world, I was too. Now that I’m home working for my family’s company, my priorities have changed. I want different things now.”

  “Why can’t we work on those things together?”

  Against every instinct in his body to yell yes, he had to stick to his guns. His heart was not a yo-yo for Emma to play with, and now was the time to lay down the ground rules.

  His cell phone rang. Channing looked at the display. It was his brother J.J. calling. Maybe Sam was actually in labor this time.

  Thankful for the interruption, he answered the call despite the incredulous look on Emma’s face. “Hey, big brother, what’s up? Is Sam ready? What? I’ll be right there.”

  Channing stood up so abruptly from the table he almost knocked everything onto the floor. He frantically searched his pocket for his keys.

  “C.J., what’s wrong?” Emma steadied the shaking table.

  “It’s my dad. He’s been rushed to the hospital. Where are my damn keys?” He looked under the table.

  “You valet parked, remember?” Emma stood and touched his arm. “Come on, I’ll drive you. You’re in no shape to do it yourself.”

  * * *

  When the valet attendant pulled up in front of the restaurant, Emma took the wheel of his blue Maserati Gran Turismo. Channing didn’t argue. As she programmed his GPS for the hospital and got on the road, he made calls to find out what happened to his father. Sam & J.J. got a call from their mama saying she was taking him to the emergency room, but that’s all he knew. Their father was the picture of health for a man of his age—his mama saw to that—so his mind ran away with the possibilities of what could have happened.