Read Tempting Fate (The Blake Boys Book 9) for Free Online Page B

treat,” Channing said.
    “Even better.” Geoff laughed.
    “I’m sorry to cut the evening short, but Emma and I must be going. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Channing gave his friend a hearty hug. Without so much as a glance at her, he escorted her back inside and worked his way through the crowd toward the door.
    Channing scanned the room for Cassidy, but he couldn’t find her anywhere. He said his good-byes to Hannah and the gang and confirmed the time for the lunch date with Geoff. He pulled Hannah to the side, and after dodging a million questions, she finally gave him Cassidy’s phone number. As he hugged yet another friend, he could see Cassidy heading out, hurriedly pushing past people. He tried to zip through the crowded room with Emma on his heels, but it was too late. Cassidy was gone.
     
    * * *
     
    Cassidy finally took a deep breath once she was inside her apartment. After rambling off a flimsy excuse to her hosts for her early departure, she’d retrieved her coat and made it to the door before Channing could find her.
    What was she thinking, kissing that the jerk? And he had a girlfriend! Each time she thought about locking lips with that lothario her blood boiled. How could she have been so foolish? A man like that always had someone, and she felt like an idiot thinking perhaps he was single because she’d been fantasizing about him so long.
    She sent Mark a text apologizing for ditching him and offered dinner next week as a consolation for her rude behavior. Last time she saw him he was chatting up some attractive venture capitalist and pulling him away from the flirting would have been too cruel. At least someone was getting some action tonight. She just wanted a hot shower and a hypnotist to wipe her memory clean of the evening. She retrieved a cup of strawberry yogurt out of the fridge and a spoon from the drawer, but she really wanted a martini. When Hannah had put that champagne glass in her hand tonight she’d been so tempted to sip. But she resigned herself to holding it in her hand and taking a good whiff.
    She sank down on her ivory couch, hoping she didn’t get clumsy. That would really top off her night, a ruined couch and humiliation from a certain Texas lawyer. Her phone began to ring, so she retrieved it from her evening bag. It was a Texas area code. It had to be him; she never got calls from that part of the country. How the hell did he get her number?
    It rang again. This time it was Mark. When she didn’t answer, he sent a text saying he’d call her when he left the party. Why couldn’t she find a stand-up, environmentally conscientious guy like Mark? So what if he was gay. Channing didn’t know it, but Mark had had a really big crush on him when they lived across the hall from each other. She listened plenty a day to Mark lamenting about his feelings for the Texas hunk.
    Cassidy put away the dishes, then went into the bathroom to give her face a good scrub. She removed her clothes, thinking what a waste it had been to spend all afternoon getting ready. And she hated that she did all of that primping because she knew she’d be running into Channing. By the time she crawled into bed she was exhausted. She didn’t want to think about this night or Channing Blake ever again.

 
     
     
    CHAPTER THREE
     
    Channing checked his watch for the third time as he paced in front of Anna Beth’s desk. He was waiting for J.J. to finish up a conference so they could go home. They’d been carpooling lately which he enjoyed, chatting with his big brother during the commute, and normally he wouldn’t mind the delay. But he’d planned his evening very carefully. He was going to call Cassidy for the twentieth time this week and try to get her to listen to him. He sent flowers daily to her office and home along with heartfelt notes of apology.
    Emma, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. After talking into the wee hours the night of the party, she couldn’t understand why he felt