Meet the Blakes (5 page)

She had known it was a bad idea to play poker with him. The stakes were always so damn high. The wager he’d made the night before was a little less sexy than his usual requests—he wanted to take a day trip to the lake they used to frequent before he’d left. The place was usually closed up this time of year, but he was insistent that it was where he wanted to go.

As soon as he got out of the truck, John Jacob ran to the dock and began taking his clothes off. The boots went first, then he pulled his shirt over his head, revealing his gorgeous physique. So what if he was good-looking and had chiseled abs and finely sculpted arms? He did ranch work—a nice physique was expected. But still she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the man. When he reached for his belt buckle and took off his jeans and stood there in his boxer shorts, her breath hitched.

“Are you gonna just stare at me or are you going to join me?”

“This is just a ploy to get me naked.”

“I swear it’s not.” He held up his hands in protest.

“You could have fooled me.” She put her hand on her hip.

“On the contrary. I’ve been trying to get you naked for years and nothing’s worked yet.” He laughed.

Teri-Lyn marched up to him. “With so many women throwing themselves at you, the least I could do is keep my honor intact. Besides, when I’m with someone for the first time I want it to be special.”

“I agree. It should be.” His eyes gleamed.

She wanted to choke him. He’d just wheedled out of her that she hadn’t been with anyone in that special way, especially Kent. She turned away in an effort to get some space from him, but he scooped her up into his arms and got closer to the edge of the dock.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Wouldn’t I?” He threw her up in the air but caught her.

“If you throw me into this lake, you’re in big trouble John Jacob!” Teri-Lyn gripped his neck.

“Is it the fun kind of trouble?”

“I won’t speak to you…for a month!”

“We both know you can’t go that long without talking to me.”

She squinted at him. “Wanna bet? You can go that long without talking to me when you’re off on one of your adventures.”

“I do call, but you hang up on me.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “When Brent wants to see me he drops by the farm.”

“Brent’s an idiot.”

“But he’s available and very attentive.”

“Oh yeah?”

Teri-Lyn let out a big yelp as John Jacob threw her into the air. A moment later, she was enveloped in cold water. John Jacob followed her in. She knew the comment about Brent would piss him off, but she couldn’t help herself. There was nothing left to do but swim to the dock and kick his ass.

If only she could find him. She looked around at the calm waters, wondering where he was. Did he hit his head when he jumped in? She glanced around, paddling in a circle, but there was no sign of him. A rush of panic raced cold through her veins.

“John Jacob! Where are you?”

He surfaced out of the water next to her. “Right here!”

She hit him on the arm. “You jerk! You scared the heck out of me!”

“You worried about me?”

“Hardly, I—” She didn’t finish because he smothered her words with a kiss.

She didn’t feel like fighting him anymore so she gave in to the warmth and passion that exuded from him. The current of the water rocked them to and fro, but she was anchored to him by his strong arms.

“You are so beautiful,” John Jacob said against her lips.

“If I’m so beautiful, why do you keep leaving me?”

“It breaks my heart every time I have to go away, but I swear it’s for a good purpose. One of these days I’ll have everything I need to be worthy of you.” He caressed her face.

“You’re already everything that I want and need. Don’t let that business with the Winterbournes consume you.”

“Just give me a little more time. I promise you I’m working hard so I can stay in Texas and start a life with you.”

“And our house full of boys?” She laughed.

“As many as you’re willing to give me.” He nipped at her lower lip.

The sun was setting and it was getting chilly. Teri-Lyn huddled closer to him. “I need to get out of these wet clothes.”

“I got the key to the cabin.”

They swam back to the dock. John Jacob dressed quickly and took her to the cabin. He wrapped her in the blanket on the couch and got to work on starting a fire. For a place that had been empty for a while, it did seemed in pretty good shape. The furniture wasn’t dusty and the kindling he needed to start the fire was neatly stacked next to the fireplace. She smelled a set up, but it was too good being with him to give him a hard time right now.

“Is there anything to eat around here? I’m starving.” She looked at him then turned away. He still hadn’t put his shirt back on.

“As a matter of fact.” He dashed out of the cabin to the truck and came back with a basket. There were sandwiches, cheeses, fruit, and a bottle of wine, not the usual hearty foods he ate.

She suppressed a grin. He’d totally set this up. “These are fancy eats for you. Where’s the ribs and potato salad? And the beer?”

“Lila and Bonnie said that wasn’t romantic food.” He rolled his eyes. “Put on my shirt. We can hang your things near the fireplace.”

“Thanks.” She put the blanket down and took the shirt from him. She pulled at the buttons on her shirt, waiting for him to turn around, but he stood there watching her. “Turn around.”

“It’s no fun if I can’t see.”

“Exactly.” She put her hand on her hip.

“OK.” He turned his back to her.

Teri-Lyn hastily took off her jeans and her shirt and threw them at his head. “Hang those up.”

“Aren’t your underthings soaked too?” He laughed.

“They’ll dry on my body.” She rolled up the sleeves on his shirt.

“That’s just silly. They can dry with the rest of your things.”

“Well, you better not turn around.”

“I promise.”

She hurriedly wiggled out of her panties and unclasped her bra and put his shirt back on. “Ok. I’m finished.”

He held out his hand for the undergarments. “Pretty.”

He took his time hanging up the underthings, but when he finally did, they ate and talked and cuddled on the couch. He told her a few funny stories about the places he’d worked and how he and Bo watched each other’s backs. She wondered how many women he’d been with but decided she didn’t want to know. She wanted to enjoy their moment together, not be plagued with jealousy over the multitude of women who probably threw themselves at him.

Teri-Lyn sighed. The air was thick with romance, and she’d be lying if she wasn’t tempted to fool around with him. He was gorgeous, and she was head over heels in love with him. And even though her friends thought she was a square for not sleeping with him, it meant more to her to give herself to her husband on their wedding night. John Jacob was deep into one of his stories when she interrupted him.

“Do you think it’s silly that I want to wait until marriage to have sex?”

He moved a piece of her red hair away from her eye with his finger. “No. People don’t take intimacy seriously these days. I respect that you want your first experience to be special. When the time comes, I’ll make sure it’s something you’ll never forget. And by the way, just because I’m away doesn’t mean I’m carousing with other women. I’m a patient man. You’re well worth the wait.”

She nestled closer and tightened her grip on him.

The sound of Sam’s playful threats to J.J. from the pool brought her back to their family fun.

“I hope you know you’re going to pay dearly for that,” Sam said as she climbed out of the water.

“I know.” He grabbed a towel off a lounger and wrapped it around her.

“Hi, Grandma!” Jack waved to her.

“Hi, baby.” She blew him a kiss. “You having fun with your mommy and daddy?”

“Big payback is in order for Daddy,” Sam grumbled.

“I can’t wait.” J.J. kissed her. “Bo and Summer will be here in an hour.”

“Go play with your son.” Sam snapped his butt with the towel as he did a cannon ball back into the pool.

“Let’s get you out of those wet clothes.” Teri-Lyn said as they went into the house.

Sam zipped into the laundry room and sifted through a basket of fresh clothes for a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, then went into the guest bathroom and changed. “Luckily your son put a load in the machine when he got home,” she called out.

“Sounds suspicious. Maybe he
planned
to dunk you into the pool.” Teri-Lyn put Sam’s wet clothes on a drying rack. When Sam came back, trying to pull her wet hair into a ponytail, Teri-Lyn motioned for her to sit on the stool by the folding counter. “I can help you with that.”

“Thanks.” Sam smiled “I reviewed the security details for the wedding and—”

“I had tea with your partner Kendrick yesterday and we went over the plans.”

“Oh. I wasn’t aware.” Sam turned her head to look back at her.

“I told him not to bother you. He followed your instructions to the letter and I am very pleased with all the precautions in place.” Teri-Lyn turned Sam’s head to face forward again. “What I want is for you to have a good time in a family capacity
only
. You do such a good job watching over us that you deserve a break. Kendrick is more than capable of handling things.”

“But—”

“No buts. My children are not working. I want us all to revel in the wonderful things we have to be grateful for, end of story.”

Sam laughed. “Message received.”

“Good. And I didn’t want to have to throw you in the pool to make my point.” She finished off the braid. “There.”

Sam looked in the mirror on the wall. “Pretty good for someone who didn’t have daughters.”

“With any luck, one of you will
finally
bring a baby girl into this family.”

“I pity the little girl born into this family of overprotective cowboys. Regency would have to double its staff. John Jacob would want a stone fortress erected around the ranch.”

“It would be pandemonium.” Teri-Lyn sighed. She followed Sam back outside, bid her and her family farewell, and headed home.

The idea of a female Blake child lingered in her mind. It had been a lot of fun raising rough-and-tumble little boys who were always running about, getting into trouble. But still she wondered if a sweet, loving little girl would have softened up the boys and mellowed John Jacob a bit.

CHAPTER FOUR

John Jacob loved visiting the Blake Enterprises building. He owned a lot of commercial buildings, but none of them filled him with such a feeling of pride and accomplishment as this one did. The fifty-story skyscraper was the global headquarters for the company and the first major commercial purchase he’d ever made. When he wasn’t at the ranch spending time with his family, this was his second home.

These days J.J. and Bo made all the decisions, and John Jacob was proud of the tremendous strides they’d made in the time they taken up their executive posts. Today was a special occasion—Morgan’s brother Jared was becoming an official part of the team. He was a talented architect and a welcome addition to the family. He’d done impressive work with the boys’ homes on the ranch and had tackled a few commercial projects as well. He was a serious young man who worked hard, maybe too hard. Teri-Lyn had decided that Jared needed love in his life, and together with his stepmother Sydney, they were plotting to find him a woman.

Rudy, the security guard, stood at attention when he approached the front desk. “Good morning, Mr. Blake.”

It was always good to see Rudy. He was here the first day they’d opened the doors to this building. He was a dedicated employee who had an eye for detail. Not much escaped the man. John Jacob had offered to promote him several times over the years, but he’d politely refused. He always said he knew and appreciated his station in life and that was good enough for him.

“Good morning Rudy, good to see you again. How’s Janice and the kids?”

“Fine sir. Growing like weeds.” He smiled.

“Good. J.J. tells me your oldest daughter, Grace, is enjoying her first year in college.”

His eyes widened. “Yes, she’d doing great. She was on the dean’s list last semester.”

“That’s great. I knew when I met her at the company outing she was smart as a whip. She picked a fine college to attend.”

“Thank you, sir. I really appreciate the scholarship program you have in place for the employees’ children. It’s really made a difference.”

He nodded. “Life is hard enough trying to keep our kids happy and safe. We shouldn’t have to worry about providing them with a decent education too.”

“I miss seeing you every day, but John Jr. is doing an excellent job. You’d be proud of the way he leads the charge around here.”

“Thank you. I knew he was the right man for the job. So what’s new?” He spied the open Regency manual on the desk.

“Your daughter-in-law has scheduled some refresher classes that I’ll be taking next week. I want to make a good impression.”

“Sam’s the best.”

“Congratulations on Ty and C.J.’s impending weddings. I remember when they had to stand on their toes to look over this desk.” Rudy laughed and rounded the corner with a key.

John Jacob sighed. “Can you believe it? Now they’re grown and starting families of their own.”

Rudy stuck the key into the operation panel on the wall to summon the private elevator that went straight to the fiftieth floor. “You raised some fine men. I appreciate the wedding invite. My wife is excited about visiting the ranch again.”

“I promise you’ll have some great food and a good time.” John Jacob smiled and stepped into the elevator.

“See you then.” Rudy slid his card and pushed the button, then stepped out.

When the bell dinged and the doors opened, Anna Beth was waiting for him.

“Good morning, Mr. Blake, what a surprise. Your sons didn’t tell me you were coming today.” She beamed.

“Good morning, Anna Beth. How’s my favorite executive assistant?”

“Fine, just fine. I snagged you a blueberry muffin from the breakfast cart when it came by and made you some coffee. I can take it into your office.” She took his Stetson from him and hung it on the rack.