The Perfect Storm (The Blake Boys Book 6) (16 page)

“T.K.’s helicopter just landed; he should be here in a few minutes. Things ran late at the club. You know how it is when he plays with your father. You play too, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do. My game has improved tremendously in the last year, but I’m not foolish enough to play with my dad and T.K.” He grinned.

Irene leaned on T.K.’s huge oak desk. “So how are things after the divorce? If you don’t mind me saying so, you need a good woman who appreciates you. I hate to think of you being alone in that gorgeous new home you’re building.”

J.J. laughed to himself. Irene was ramping up her sales pitch to foist off another delightful, beautiful young woman on him. What was is it with all of his mother’s friends trying to fix him up on dates?

“You don’t have to worry about me, Irene. The divorce has given me some time to think about things and focus on what I really want in life.”

“What else do you want besides finding a good woman and having kids? For us older folks, it’s a symbol of hope for the future of our family, that long after we’re dead a part of us will still be living.”

“The Blake family tree is in no danger of losing any branches as long as Seth and Morgan are within breathing distance of each other.” He mused.

“J.J.! You’re bad!” Irene swatted at his arm.

They all kidded Seth about his enthusiasm for procreating, but he thought it was nice that his little brother found someone to love who fulfilled him in ways that made him want to have kids. Seth never really talked about kids until he’d met Morgan. The flash of a line on T.K.’s phone caught both their eyes.

“That’s my cue his helicopter is nearby.”

“Well, thank you for keeping me company Irene. It’s been too long.” J.J. rose up and gave the woman a bear hug.

“My pleasure. I can’t believe what a handsome man you turned out to be. You’re gorgeous like your daddy. Don’t tell your mother I said that.” Irene laughed. “By the way, I have a niece named Melissa who would be perfect for you.”

“I think I’m going to be by myself for a while. But thanks for the offer.” J.J. smiled at her.

“Melissa is going to be pissed.” She let out an exaggerated sigh.

J.J. escorted Irene to the helipad. As soon it touched down, a man in a black suit got out and began helping the passengers exit. John Jacob, who didn’t like flying around in what he called tin canned contraptions, seemed to have fared well with the ride. Jack Stanton, the owner of Regency, exited next, and then T.K., who turned around to assist someone else. J.J. was in shock when he saw Sam getting out. T.K. put an arm around her and smiled as they walked toward them.

Sam thought she was seeing a mirage when she got out of the helicopter. She’d spent a month crying over that man when she wasn’t at work, and here he was looking refreshed and handsome as usual. He told her he loved her and then walked out on her—shouldn’t be a wreck sitting around in the same flannel shirt for a month with a mountain man beard? She hated that he left, but she had to stick to her guns. It was her life and nobody told her what to do.

If she didn’t stand her ground, he’d spend the rest of their lives engineering things behind her back to get what he wanted in the name of love. That’s wasn’t love. It was unhealthy lunacy.

She wished she could say that she’d moved on, but she slept in one of the shirts he’d left at her house. The pillow on the right side of the bed still had a hint of his scent, and she was contemplating buying his cologne once it faded away.

When she received the assignment this morning to escort her clients T.K. Holbrook and John Jacob Blake on a golf outing, she assembled her team and tried to remain calm. John Jacob was polite, as usual, and that enigmatic smile of his didn’t indicate whether he knew what happened or not. But of course he knew. The Blakes were a close bunch of people; that’s one of the reasons she loved them all. It was the kind of close knit family most people dreamed about.

The closer they got to J.J. and T.K.’s secretary, Irene, the more pronounced the scowl became on J.J.’s face. So now, what? Exchange pleasantries like they barely knew each other? She was a professional. If she could get through this loaded afternoon, there was hope they could be civil to each other in the future.

“Hello, Samantha Jane.” He walked toward her.

“J.J., nice to see you again.” She cleared her throat and moved out of the way.

“I’m ready chow down!” T.K. said.

“Gentlemen, lunch is being served in Mr. Holbrook’s private dining room. We can head that way now.” Sam turned in an effort to herd them to the doors of the stadium but no one moved. “Gentlemen, good food waits for no one. I suggest we get a move on.”

Sam tunneled on and glanced back to see the crowd had finally started moving. She pressed the button to call the elevator and kept her gaze forward, but she could see those probing eyes in the steel reflection of the elevator doors. Irene was chatting about what a lovely day it was and how life was full of surprises. It was an interminable three minute ride but they were finally on the private floor of the clubhouse. As soon as it looked like they were settled, she excused herself.

“I’ll give you gentlemen time to enjoy your meal. I’ll check back on you in about two hours.” She gave them a tight smile and turned to leave.

“Sam, I would be honored if you joined us for lunch.” John Jacob stood.

“That’s right.” Jack Stanton stood. “Where are my manners? That sounds like a great idea. Kendrick, take Sam’s post while we dine.”

“OK.” She gulped.

“Sure thing, Mr. Stanton.” Kendrick smirked and walked out of the dining area.

J.J. held out a chair for her but she ignored him and took the seat at the opposite end of the table next to John Jacob. She peeked up at him from behind the menu and those intense eyes were talking to her, telling her things he couldn’t say in front of his father and the other patrons at the table. Damn, she wanted to be really mad at him right now. The men went back to talking about their golf game.

Soon the waitress appeared and began to take their orders. Sam, whose stomach was doing flip-flops, was looking for something light.

“Sam, do you like spicy food? If you do, the buffalo wings are five-alarm buckets of sweat, but they’re tasty,” T.K. said.

“That shouldn’t bother Samantha. She loves to live dangerously. In fact that may be her life motto,” J.J. quipped.

“And we have to be careful with whatever J.J. orders, because he’s liable to go in the kitchen and cook it himself. Going behind the scenes and manipulating things is what he does best.”

The table got uncomfortably quiet. John Jacob, T.K. and Jack were looking from her to J.J.

J.J. threw down the menu. “I talked to Jack because I was worried about you.”

“But you do realize you were wrong?”

“Maybe the execution was a little heavy handed, but it was necessary.” His jaw ticked.

She rolled her eyes. “So no, you can’t admit that you were wrong.”

“I love you. The thought of getting a call from someone telling me you were hurt or even worse, dead, scares the hell out of me. Being without you for a month has been harder than my divorce. You’d rather be out there protecting some stranger instead of protecting the heart of the man who has loved you since the day you walked into his office for that audit. I over stepped my bounds going to Jack. I apologize.”

The men kept looking at the two of them.

“You look pretty good for someone who’s been pining away for me.” She folded her arms over her chest.

“Keeping fit is how I deal with stress.” He shrugged. “Are you gonna respond to anything I said to you?”

“You said you loved me for the second time. That was nice.” She bit her lip.

“Is that the only thing you heard?”

“You don’t want me to get hurt and some other frilly sentimental things. But the most important thing you said was that you loved me.”

“Heaven help me, I do.” He gripped his water glass.

“There may be hope for you yet, John Blake. If you can understand that ‘I love you’ does not mean ‘I make all the decisions.’”

J.J. stood up but sat back down. “Before we go any further we need to get some things settled. I was wrong for interfering in your job, and I promise I will never again try to influence Jack in any capacity.”

“Do you think I believe that? Besides, being involved with you would change how I’m treated at Regency. It’s the nature of people. Once everyone finds out I’m dating you, my normal life will go out the window.”

“No it won’t.”

“Mr. Stanton, tell him.” Sam motioned toward the man.

“She’s right,” Jack said. “No one would admit it, but I’m going to be thinking that if something happens to her, you’re going to come to Regency and wring a bunch of necks.”

“Fine. I’ll work on that.” He tapped his fingers on the table. “Next, I want us to live together after my house is completed. We can give it a trial of…say six months, and then make it permanent.”

“Living together already?” she asked.

“You forget you gave me a key to your house, a drawer and some closet space. I even left my favorite electric tooth brush over there.”

“Fair enough, as long as I keep my condo and you don’t take it as some kind of slight against you if I sleep there some nights if I’m too exhausted to drive to the ranch.”

“No problem. I’ll just come to the condo those nights.” He grinned.

Sam nodded. “Very mature. Next?”

“I want to get married a year from the end of our six month trial and have two kids. We can discuss when to have the kids after the honeymoon.”

“I was thinking married in six months and two kids, with a negotiable third, once we see where the family is as a whole after the first two,” she countered.

“No, that’s unacceptable. I want—”

“Son, is your head cloudy?” John Jacob interrupted. “She offered you a better deal with a possible third grandkid for me.”

“A third child?” J.J. asked.

Sam grinned. “I blame spending time with your nephews for that. Morgan and Seth make it seem like manageable chaos.”

She clumsily stood up as J.J. rounded the table, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her. They came up for air when they heard applause. Not only were John Jacob, T.K. and Jack clapping, Regency specialists and the wait and kitchen staff were there too.

“Son, that was the best deal I’ve ever seen brokered.” John Jacob said.

“She had me over a barrel, dad.” J.J. kissed Sam on the forehead.

“Congratulations, you two.” Jack Stanton beamed.

“Mr. Stanton, I don’t know what to say—”

“Everything’s fine, Samantha.”

“T.K., no disrespect but if I see your arm around Samantha Jane again, I’ll be forced to get physical with you.”

“John!” Sam hit him.

“Sam, he’s just doing what men in love do. Sounds like what he’s been trying to do since he met you.” T.K. laughed.

“I told you all we had to do is get these two together and they’d figure it out.” John Jacob smiled.

“Daddy, you orchestrated all of this?” J.J.’s eyes widened.

John Jacob nodded. “I failed you once standing by the sidelines. I wasn’t about to let you lose out on something that’s made you so happy. Maybe you boys could benefit from my advice every now and again.”

“Gentlemen, we’re leaving. Sorry I have to take her off the clock, Jack. I promise this will be the last obnoxious thing I do,” J.J. said.

“You just can’t help yourself, can you?” She shook her head.

“When it comes to you, no.” J.J. took her hand and headed out of the restaurant.

* * *

The sound of the automatic shade rising jolted J.J. out of his sleep. He was still getting accustomed to all the features of the new house. But the best feature of all was waking up next to Sam. The weekend couldn’t come fast enough. They were embarking on a two week vacation to Paris, France. But tonight they were having dinner with the family.

J.J. went downstairs to find her standing near the kitchen island, waiting for him with a cup of coffee in one hand and her cell phone in another.

“Good morning.” She smiled at him and handed him the mug.

“Good morning. You snuck out of bed early today.” He leaned in for a kiss.

“We both know it’s counterproductive for us to both be awake and in bed in the morning. I’m liable to get fired any day now.” Sam ran a hand through his hair.

She was right. Neither of them had been on time to work or any social function since they moved in together. It was way too much fun remaining in bed.

“Will you be going into the office today?”

“No. I have to catch up on my chores around the ranch or Bo will have a hissy fit. He said he’s let me slide this long because I was basking in the glow of love.” He sighed.

“Well, I have to go scout a venue for a client that wants to host a charity fundraiser. But I will be home early to prepare for the housewarming. What time did you tell everyone to come?” She headed for the door.

“Six o’clock.”

“Good, that’s gives me five hours to whip up the best dinner your family ever had. Don’t touch anything in the refrigerator. Anything already prepared will save me some time. Tell Tyler and Channing mitts off when they come by to visit.”

Family dinner. That had a nice ring to it. Family dinner with the woman he loved and the family that loved her in return. The Blake women embraced Sam and never looked back. She golfed with his mother and spent time with Morgan and Isabelle. Even the babies were smitten with their soon-to-be aunt.

“Samantha Jane, aren’t you forgetting something?” J.J. leaned against the doorframe, watching her put on her suit jacket.

Sam came back and threw her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the lips.

“That’s nice. But that’s not what I meant.” J.J. pulled a Kevlar vest from behind his back. “When we had that lengthy discussion about me being an overprotective lunatic, you told me that you would put on this vest every day and it would decrease the number of arguments we would have about your safety.” He gave her an expectant look.

“I’m going to check out a banquet hall.” She huffed.