The Perfect Storm (The Blake Boys Book 6) (14 page)

“Our paths may never have crossed, but I assure you we keep a watchful eye over you.”

“That explains the Regency cars I see cruising by the house.” Eden rolled her eyes. “So you’re on J.J.’s personal security detail now?”

“Mr. Blake doesn’t like to travel with security. As you well know, he’s more than capable of handling himself.”

“He was too busy to bring it himself?” She said.

“He’s out of town.”

“That must be why he hasn’t returned my calls.”

“Well, I must be going.” Sam headed for the door.

“Are you sleeping with him?” Eden asked.

“Excuse me?”

“It’s a simple question.”

“It’s an inappropriate question.” Sam fired back.

“I can tell. Once you’ve been with a man like him, it’s hard to miss the signs, and it’s even harder to forget.”

“You sound rather sentimental for a divorced woman.”

“I miss the man he used to be before he blew his knee out. He was passionate, arrogant as hell, and he was on his way to greatness.”

“And you don’t think being the President of a billion-dollar company fits the bill?”

“He should be playing ball, not stuck behind some desk in a stuffy office to make his father happy,” Eden snapped.

“Continuing to play could have crippled him after the surgery. Surely you knew that he was trying to preserve his quality of life so he could enjoy it with you,” Sam said.

“He could have taken the chance for me.”

Sam couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How could her lust for power and limelight supersede her husband’s health and well-being? But by the looks of the failed seduction setting, she still wanted him.

“I have to be going. It’s a long drive back to Dallas.” Sam went for the door but she couldn’t leave without some parting advice. “The next time you want to get your ex-husband’s attention, just go see him. Don’t leave a million dollar necklace in a public place or try to sign up for a reality show. You should know he doesn’t respond to things like that.”

Sam left Eden standing in the living room and saw herself out.

* * *

When Anna Beth called and told him Sam had to go to Eden’s house to deliver a necklace Eden left at a spa, J.J. felt like the world was coming to an end. Her assurance that all was well did little to quell the feeling that something was horribly wrong.

J.J. was stuck in a meeting with Mike Simon, a business contact who’d been trying to get him to invest in a new commercial building while he was in New York. The meeting droned on, but J.J.’s mind was fixed on Sam and Eden. Mike insisted on taking him to lunch but he declined, determined to talk to Sam. J.J. opened the door, grateful for an end to a long day. He was barely back in his hotel room when he called Sam.

“Hello, Mr. Blake.”

He could hear her smile over the phone and it made it his heart flutter.

“How are you? Sorry I haven’t called all day. The meeting went much longer than I expected.” He loosened his tie.

“That’s fine. I know you were busy wheeling and dealing.” She laughed.

Laughter was a good sign. It hopefully meant she wasn’t scarred from her experience with Eden.

“Anna Beth told me you picked up a necklace Eden left at a spa and returned it to her.”

“Yes, I did. I think she was expecting you to return it.” Sam quipped.

“I’m sorry about that.” He ran a hand over his face.

“Don’t worry about it. That’s my job, remember?”

“Are you still at the office?”

“Yes.” Sam sighed. “I just received notification of an unexpected business trip of a client and I have to organize things.”

“I was hoping we could have dinner when I got back tomorrow.”

“Sounds like we’re having dinner when
I
get back.”

“I was looking forward to seeing you the second I got off the plane.”

“The second?”

“Well, yeah. I was going to call Regency and tell them I needed an escort from the private airport.”

“What an abuse of power,” she teased.

“So, this trip…is it dangerous?” He tried to sound as casual as possible.

“No. We’ve got all the bases covered.”

“How long will you be gone?”

“Two weeks. John Blake, you sound like you miss me.”

“Maybe I do.” He chuckled.

“So we have a dinner date when I return?”

“I’m looking forward to it.” He grinned. “And Sam?”

“Yes?”

“Be careful.”

“Of course.” She laughed then ended the call.

CHAPTER NINE

J.J. juggled the bags in his hands as he rang Sam’s doorbell. She had arrived home late from the airport after her two week security excursion, so he picked up dinner.

“Hi, John.” Sam wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

“I like the way you say hello.” J.J. returned the kiss and guided her into the house. He kicked the door closed with his foot.

“I thought you’d like that. What did you bring for dinner?”

“I brought Chinese food and a couple of bottles of wine and beer, of course.”

“I’m starving.”

“Me, too.” He rested the bags on the dining room table. J.J. cupped Sam’s ass and pulled her against her erection so she could feel his enthusiasm.

“Oh, no, you don’t. We eat first, then hanky-panky.” Sam pushed against his chest.

“Then let’s get this date started.” J.J. headed to kitchen to get plates.

“How was your day?” She searched the draw for a corkscrew.

“Meetings and boredom. Anna Beth called in sick again today. I’m beginning to worry about her. How are things at Regency?”

“Status quo. You do know what’s wrong with Anna Beth right?” She looked at him.

“No, should I?”

“I think she’s suffering from a broken heart.”

“What? Who broke it?”

Sam sat beside him and made a face. “You, dummy. The girl looks at you with stars in her eyes, for heaven’s sake.”

“I didn’t realize.” J.J. sank down on the stool.

“Think of it from her perspective. She took care of you in her own way while you went through your divorce. It would have been a happy romantic coincidence if you realized you’d loved her after all this time.” Sam gave him a pat on the shoulder. “The good news is that you can help her through it, otherwise you’ll be looking for a new assistant and I know you like her.”

“How did you know?”

She shrugged. “She looks like she wants to throttle me when I come into the office to see you. How’s the family? Tyler’s been pretty quiet.”

“Tyler’s spending some time with a friend of mine, Scott Norwood, who’s teaching him the ropes of race car driving.”

“You know Scott Norwood? No, of course you do.” She chuckled.

“He said Tyler’s been a good student.”

“Good for Tyler. If he channeled have his energy from chasing women to a career, he’d be unstoppable.”

“How about your family? You never talk about them.”

“I love them dearly but distance is best. They don’t approve of my career, my lifestyle. But I’m being berated for not wanting to attend the family reunion so they can vilify me for not being a good wife to someone, and holding me up as an example to the younger women of what not finding a man will lead to.” She rolled her eyes.

“You’re just ahead of your time for them, that’s all. I’ve been thinking.” J.J. scratched at his beard. “I instituted that damn mandatory policy about taking vacation, and half of my staff is giving me the fish eye. So I thought maybe we could go away.”

“Where would you want to go?”

“Lady’s choice. Where ever you want to go is fine with me.” He caressed her hand.

“I will make a list and we can narrow it down together. I’ll go get my laptop.” She smiled.

He stopped her. “After dinner. New rule: no electronic devices at the table. I’d like to have you all to myself for an hour or so, sans technology.”

“It’s a deal.”

After dinner they sat cuddled on Sam’s couch and perused the internet for destination ideas. J.J. fed her chocolate ice cream as she went to every travel site imaginable.

“I don’t want you to get a headache over this.” He kissed her neck.

“I’m not. I like to research. What if we end up in some nightmarish resort?” She giggled.

“You have a week to pick a destination.”

“You are such a bossy boots.”

“I like to call it effective leadership skills.” He scooped her up and headed for the bedroom.

“Feel like taking a shower with me, cowboy?” Sam kissed his jawline as J.J. bounded up the stairs.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Sam whipped around the room lighting candles and fished for mood music on her CD player. She then turned on the shower and play with the settings until she got the water at a cozy temperature. When she went toward the linen closet to get extra towels, J.J. jumped in front of her and caressed her arms.

“This would be even more romantic if you took off your clothes and got into that shower with me.” He suppressed a smile.

“Are you making fun of my attempts at spontaneous romance?” She narrowed her eyes.

“Setting the mood is nice, but all I need is you.”

Sam took perfectly still as J.J. took his time undressing her. The buttons coming undone on her shirt made a loud thudding noise or maybe that was her heart being out of control? She’d seen him passionate and playful, but there was something different about the way he looked at her tonight. She could tell asking her to go away on vacation was a big deal to him, and when she agreed, she was juggling a bout of nerves herself. What was the big deal? They’d gone to Colorado together on his private plane. But that was business. This voyage would be about intimacy and their growing affection for each other. She hadn’t had such a bad case of puppy love since ninth grade, but here he was, captain of the football team in her bathroom wearing nothing but his birthday suit and it was spectacular. The man’s muscled body felt like granite covered with smooth, soft skin.

J.J. stepped in front her in the shower and took the brunt of the power stream. The water cascaded over his shoulders and down his chest, creating a waterfall effect. Sam’s gazed dropped to his erection. He’d been hard ever since they were snuggling on the couch. His breath hitched when she slowly glided her index finger over the tip.

She was torn between wanting a kiss from those devilishly delicious lips or pressing him against the wall and swallowing as much of him as she could, just to hear that deep guttural sound he made. Perhaps sensing the debate within her, J.J. reached for her face and pulled her toward him for a kiss. A tender peck on the lips at first, then another more insistent kiss to get her to open up, and then the all-consuming melding of their mouths. Each time his tongue swept in, he went deeper into her mouth, stealing her ability to speak or cry out.

Sam gripped his ass and pulled him toward her, his cock pulsing between them. This wasn’t like their last encounter. There was something new and more definitive each time they connected. She wanted to be with him like no other man she’d been with before. Next to him, on top of him, the compulsion to be one with him was maddening.

J.J. retrieved a condom from the soap dish to put on, but Sam stopped him. It was only fair that she repay the sensual kindness, after all. J.J.’s hands roamed her body as she delicately put it on and began to roll it down his shaft ever so slowly. She looked up and his eyes were closed, his head leaning back into the water cascading against his face. Sam pulled him down for another kiss. He complied, and then hoisted her into the air, bringing down on his penis. She placed her hands around his neck and locked her legs around his waist. She gasped when J.J. lifted her ass a bit with his hands, bringing her back down on him over and over again. There was nothing else to do but hold on for dear life, for each time he rocked her forward, he made a connection within her she’d never felt before. Her whole body tingled. Their mouths connected again, and she felt his body spasm too. He leaned back as he climaxed, and let the water hit them both on the face.

“John.” She tightened her grip on his neck.

“Hmm?” He turned off the water and walked them out of the shower.

“Nothing. I just thought the moment called for something to be said.” She buried her face in his shoulder.

* * *

J.J. reached for Sam but she wasn’t in bed. He propped himself up on his elbows looking around the bedroom when he heard noises coming from her closet. When she emerged she was pulling a black T-shirt over her head and talking on her cell phone.

“OK. I’ll be there in fifteen.” She kneeled on the bed and gave him a quick kiss. “Hey did I wake you?”

“No. Why are you dressed?” He reached for her hand. “It’s three o’clock in the morning.”

“I got a call from the office. There’s an emergency with a client and I have to go in to handle it.”

“Can’t someone else handle it?”

“I wish they could.” Sam went over to her wall safe, opened it and retrieved a gun.

J.J. eyes widened. Before he knew it, he was standing naked in front of her, gripping her arm. What the hell did she need to do in the middle of the night for a client that required a gun?

“What’s going on?”

“You have to promise me you won’t tell anyone. This is supposed to be confidential.” She caressed his cheek.

“Of course.”

“I have a client whose daughter is into drugs and they’ve been trying to keep it a secret. She’s missing, and I think I know where to look for her. It’s always the same place, but in a very bad area. I have to go in and discreetly retrieve her or they’ll be forced to call the police. Then it will become a public matter.”

“You can’t go by yourself,” J.J. barked.

“I’m not. My team is waiting for me. I’m fine. This is just part of the job.” She reached into a drawer and pulled out a box with a bow on it. “I was going to give you this in the morning over breakfast, but since we’re both up, now’s as good a time as any.”

J.J. opened the box to find a set of keys and the instructions on how to program his own code into her alarm system.