Tempting Fate (The Blake Boys Book 9) (2 page)

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.

Emma was doing a great job navigating his car. She was talking, but the words wouldn’t seep into his head. Finally he made himself focus on the woman kind enough to drive him to the hospital.

“I’m sorry.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “What did you say?”

“I said this is a nice ride.” Emma smiled.

“It was a graduation present from my parents,” he replied.

“This is a pretty big change from that dusty old pick-up truck. It fits your new lawyer image. Did you get a new wardrobe of expensive tailored suits too?”

“As a matter of fact I did. But I still have my truck back at the house.” He grinned. He kept if for sentimental value more than anything. He worked on it more than he drove it. His father had given him that truck in high school, and he’d had some fond memories in it.

“Please get rid of it.”

“Woman, we had our first kiss in that truck.”

“That’s right, we did.” Emma scrunched her nose. “It must be nice to be back to the open country after being in overcrowded Washington, DC.”

“It wasn’t so bad. I enjoyed the culture and history of our nation’s capital and made a lot of good friends,” he countered.

“I thought I would enjoy New York, but things just moved so fast. Everyone was always rushing from once place to another and didn’t take time to talk to each other. My home sickness became a chronic disease.”

“Seth had that same problem when he first moved to Philadelphia. It took him some time to acclimate to the fast-paced city life.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Emma’s smile disappear at the mention of his brother. The move to Philadelphia when Seth joined the Titans was the final nail in the coffin of his and Penny’s relationship. But that was another lifetime. Seth was happily married with kids, and Penny was engaged to be married.

“I know. He’d write Penny and complain about it. She thought for sure he wouldn’t stay with the Titans for long and would come back home.” She gripped the steering wheel.

“He gave it a shot. Look how much his life changed. He’s married with—”

“So what are your plans?” Emma interrupted. “Going to get a condo in Dallas?”

“No. Why would I do that?”

“You still live in your parents’ house. Don’t you want to have some independence?” She adjusted the rear view mirror.

“I moved into the guesthouse when I returned home.”

They reached the hospital in record time. Emma dropped him off at the door and went to park the car. As soon as the doors opened on the third floor, he could see Tate talking to a frazzled J.J. It must have been worse than they originally thought. Isabelle was holding a very wide-awake Matt while trying to comfort Sam, who was sitting in a chair rubbing her belly. He took a deep breath and joined his family.

“Is there any news?” Channing asked as he approached.

“Mama’s in there now.” Tate gave him a hug.

“Hey, Curly, you still up?” Channing smiled at his new nephew, Matt. He must have been getting ready for bed because the infant had on his jammies, and his trademark curly locks that he’d inherited from both his parents were tumbled all over his head.

“I’m going in there.” J.J. headed toward the room.

“Your mom will be out soon. He’s going to be fine.” Sam stopped her husband with a gentle caress on his arm. She gave Channing the once over. “Where did you sneak off to earlier?”

“I went out with some friends.” He ran a hand through his hair.

“Or did you have a hot date with Ms. Lukewarm?” Isabelle motioned to Emma, who was coming down the hall.

“Well, if it isn’t the woman in red,” Sam murmured.

Emma must have sensed she was the topic of conversation because she nervously adjusted the neckline of her dress so her cleavage wasn’t so pronounced. It didn’t work, so she wrapped the shawl she was carrying around herself. She said hello to everyone and took a seat.

“What happened?” Channing asked again, hoping to distract everyone.

“Mama didn’t say.” J.J. sighed.

“Well, she doesn’t want to leave his side, that’s understandable.” Isabelle rubbed Matt’s back.

A half hour later Teri-Lyn came out of the room.

“How’s Daddy?” J.J. gave her a hug.

“What is everyone doing here? It’s way past Matt’s bedtime.” Teri-Lyn gave her grandson a kiss on the cheek.

Channing put his arm around her. “What’s wrong with Daddy?”

“He’s fine, just a little embarrassed. He just took a little spill in the kitchen.”

“What? What happened?”

She shook her head. “Your dad and I were having some fun cleaning up after dinner, and we…thought we’d try something new. Well, his foot slipped, and he fell off the kitchen table…”

Channing held up his hands. “No. Just, no.” He didn’t want to hear about any shenanigans involving his parents. He was still reeling over the strip poker incident.

“What exactly were you doing?” Isabelle furrowed her eyebrows.

“It really doesn’t matter.” J.J.’s elevated voice echoed into the hallway.

Teri-Lyn turned to her oldest son. “Your father and I are two healthy adults who still have romantic feelings for each other. Just because you get older doesn’t mean you can’t—”

Tate covered his ears. “I don’t want to hear this.”

The elevator doors opened at the end of the corridor, and the rest of the Blakes came pouring out. Seth, Morgan, Tyler, Michelle, and the boys came scurrying down the hall as if the world was on fire. Channing shook his head. It was an official Blake reunion.

“What’s wrong? Is Daddy all right?” Tyler asked as he approached.

“Big brother, Daddy injured himself getting frisky with Mama.” Channing bit back a smile.

Morgan burst out laughing.

Tyler bent over and put his hands on his knees. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

Michelle suppressed a grin and caressed his back. “Tyler, stop it. It’s perfectly natural for your parents to still show love in that special way.”

“I left a perfectly good steak at the Slap Shot to round up the troops and come down here.” Seth laughed.

“Leaving a good steak.” Tate shook his head. “Now that is the truly the worst thing that’s happened tonight.”

“So how exactly did the injury happen?” Morgan waggled her eyebrows.

Teri-Lyn giggled. “He pulled something, and that’s all I’m going to say. Sorry it took so long to come out to tell you all, but your father and I were trying to think of a better story. But then his pain medication kicked in, and he wanted to fool around again.”

“You called in a panic. You asked Sam to tell the security people at the ranch not to report the incident to Regency,” J.J. said.

“She’s good at handling delicate situations. I didn’t want an emergency call on record because your father—”

“We got it.”

“John Jacob would have a fit if he knew someone was reading about his private parts in some report.” Teri-Lyn shook her head. “But the good news is I get to see all my grandbabies!”

There was a loud yell, and everyone turned to see Sam taking deep breaths.

“Samantha Jane, what’s wrong?” J.J. ran his hand over the floppy bun atop her head.

Sam pointed to the puddle on the floor. “It’s show time. For real.”

Channing yelled for a nurse, who came right over with a wheelchair.

J.J. started rambling, but Sam stopped him by pulling him down for a comforting kiss. “We’ve been doing these drills for the past month. We’re ready.”

“Sweet! The baby will be born the same day Daddy had his s-e-x injury.” Tyler spelled out, mindful that his nephews were within earshot.

“Tyler.” Sam giggled and gritted her teeth. “Don’t make me laugh or I’ll punch you.”

“S-e-x!” Connor and Colby chanted.

“Mommy, what’s frisky?” Jake asked.

“Yikes,” Morgan mumbled. “Boys we’re not going to repeat any of those words and definitely not in school.”

“Can someone call Sam’s family?” J.J. gave Seth his phone.

“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of it,” Seth said. “Go bring us back another Blake boy.”

The ladies all gave Seth a frown. Sam and J.J. decided they wanted to be surprised about the baby’s sex, so the bets had been flowing around the ranch since they announced their pregnancy.

“Ladies,” Seth pointed to the boys playing on the floor, “you still doubt the science?”

The family cheered Sam and J.J. on as they headed for the maternity ward. Channing wanted to stay at the hospital, but it suddenly dawned on him that his date with Emma wasn’t finished.

Channing approached her. “Emma, I’m so sorry about all this.”

“No worries.” She smiled. “This was quite an exciting evening. There’s never a dull moment with the Blakes.”

“I’ll take you home.”

“You should be here with your family. I can get a ride home.”

“You will do no such thing. Take my car.” Channing offered his hand to help her out of the chair. “I’ll walk you out.”

As they walked down the long corridor, Channing was grateful that their dinner conversation had been interrupted. He wasn’t quite sure about her newfound interest in starting over, but the turnabout intrigued him. What was it about her that made him suspend common sense? He’d asked himself that question many a day. Yes, she was gorgeous and smart, but there were still so many inconsistencies in her behavior. He wondered sometimes if she thought it was a good idea for them to be together or, like him, if her libido overrode logic. Maybe—

Channing’s train of thought was halted when Emma shoved him into an empty private room and locked it. Before he could get a word out she lunged at him, dug her fingers into his hair to bring him closer, and covered her mouth with his, dipping her tongue playfully into his mouth.

“Emma, what are you doing?” He breathed when they came up for air.

“I missed you.” She kissed his neck and ran her hand down the front of his pants.

“Somebody’s going to come in and kick us out,” he whispered.

“I sincerely doubt it, since your family built two of the wings of the hospital. Have you been working out? Your body’s gotten firmer since the last time we were together.” She giggled and squeezed his bicep.

“Being a full time attorney doesn’t exempt me from ranch work. I think Bo works me harder than he did before.” Channing laughed.

“And I get to reap the benefits. Tell Bo I said thanks.”

The righteous, long-winded speech he’d prepared just in case his libido kicked in and compelled him to do something stupid went right out the window. And pulling her flush against him so she could feel how his body reacted to hers was just plain idiotic. If they got caught he’d never hear the end of it. His family was right down the hall, for heaven’s sake! It was bad enough his father was lying up in a bed because of his sexual acrobatics at home, and his brother and sister-in-law were having a baby. Getting caught screwing in a private room would be the icing on the cake on an already auspicious day for the Blake family.

He was hard as a rock already, but when he unzipped her dress and Emma stood and let it hit the floor, revealing sexy black lacy lingerie underneath, he knew he was a goner. There was still a chance to put on the brakes and start thinking with the right head, but it was hard when she unzipped his pants and grasped his shaft with her silky hands and led him to the bed.

Channing unclasped her bra and threw it on the floor. Her bare breasts against his chest felt like hot silk against his skin. They fumbled clumsily as she helped him undress, stripping him down to his birthday day suit in record time. He laid her down on the bed and covered her body, parting her legs with his knee. She let out a guttural growl in appreciation as he helped her out of her panties. He reached for jeans, retrieved a condom from his wallet, tore the wrapper open, and sheathed himself quickly. He was going to hate himself tomorrow, but tonight it felt like the right thing to do.

He spied the controls on the bed and decided to take advantage. He reclined the top of the bed while maneuvering the bottom portion on an upward angle. Emma wiggled as the motorized bed to inspect his handiwork.

“I like the way you think.” She laughed and kissed him again.

Channing thrust into her and repeated his hungry, manic movements. Emma kept up the pace. He was normally gentle and appeasing but tonight he was rough and in control. Emma locked her legs around his waist to keep him place as she trailed kisses down his chest. Channing pumped into her over and over again until Emma called out his name when she climaxed. His body followed hers into the sexual abyss, and he collapsed on top of her.

“That was awesome,” she panted.

“Sorry, did I hurt you?” he mumbled into her hair.

“No. I like this new side of you.”

“You inspired that performance.”

“I knew you missed me.” She rubbed his stubbled cheek.

He looked at her. “Is that was tonight was all about? Proving a point that I still want you?”

“No. Of course not.”

Channing went into the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face to get his perspective back. Falling back into old patterns with Emma was a bad idea. She’d done it to him again. He shook the cobwebs out of his head and went back into the room. He listened attentively to Emma’s chatter as they finished dressing, noticing the change in her words. She must have said the words dating and exclusive twice, but they were just more words he didn’t want to hear right now.

They eased out into the corridor when the coast was clear after two near misses with hospital staff. Channing escorted her to the car, then bade her goodnight. He kissed her even though he felt like he wanted to throttle her.

“Let’s get together again when I get back from New York. We have a lot to talk about.” She gave him a hopeful smile as he opened the car door for her.