Table of Contents
Look for these titles from Rhonda Laurel
Copyright Warning
DEDICATION
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
~ About the Author ~
~ Also by Rhonda Laurel ~
More Romance from Etopia Press
Look for these titles from Rhonda Laurel
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The Blake Boys Series
For the Love of the Game (Book One)
MVP (Book Two)
The Blake Legacy (Book Three)
Texas Heat (Book Four)
Love Notes and Football (Book Five)
The Perfect Storm (Book Six)
Slow Burn (Book Seven)
Cowboy’s Heart (Book Eight)
Tempting Fate (Book Nine)
Executive Desires (Book Ten)
Meet the Blakes (Book Eleven)
The Final Play (Book Twelve)
Stranded in Paradise (Book Thirteen)
The Hollywood Heat Series
Star Crossed (Book One)
Hollywood Rush (Book Two)
Ebb Tide
Shutter
“Masquerade” Halloween Heat IV
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The Rhonda Laurel Collection
“Masquerade” Halloween Heat MF
The Blake Boys Collection
The Blake Boys Collection II
The Blake Boys Collection III
Stranded in Paradise
The Blake Boys Book Thirteen
Rhonda Laurel
Copyright Warning
EBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared, or given away. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is a crime punishable by law. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded to or downloaded from file sharing sites, or distributed in any other way via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000 (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/).
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real in any way. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Published By
Etopia Press
1643 Warwick Ave., #124
Warwick, RI 02889
http://www.etopiapress.com
Stranded in Paradise
Copyright © 2016 by Rhonda Laurel
ISBN: 978-1-944138-35-6
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Etopia Press electronic publication: January 2016
DEDICATION
To Jared and Autumn, thanks for being a match made in heaven.
CHAPTER ONE
Jared Reed gave the heirloom tomato a sniff and a good squeeze, making sure it was ripe enough to purchase. He thought a tomato salad would be a great first course to the seared duck breast recipe he’d gotten from his friend Michelle. She thought cooking would be therapeutic for him, and with his architecture firm booming with business, he did have a lot on his mind. An evening puttering around the kitchen trying his hand at a new dish was a good way to wind down from the hectic week. There were more things on his shopping list, so he continued navigating his cart through the produce section in search of the next items—the baby spinach that would be sautéed in garlic, and Bosc pears to be simmered in a balsamic reduction.
The evening trips to the gourmet supermarket a few blocks from his office had revealed a smorgasbord of enticing dishes…and he wasn’t talking about the food. The women who shopped there always looked like they were headed out for a night on the town. He’d flirted with a few women who shopped there, but nothing ever went farther than lustful glances and seductive quips about the many uses for a zucchini. But when it came time to seal the deal and ask her out, he’d change his mind. There were a lot of things to be done these days, and dating wasn’t one of them. It wouldn’t be fair to string someone along and waste time having things not work out when he was looking for a long-term commitment with the right person.
A young couple shopping for a romantic dinner caught his eye. She wore a pretty dress that stopped just above her knees and had her hair up in a bun, while he must have come straight from work because he still had on his business attire. They walked close together, holding hands and talking in whispered tones and giggling as she fed him strawberries. The guy happily agreed to everything she put in their cart even though he winced a few times when she wasn’t looking. He was definitely into her and was probably more interested in what was for dessert rather than the rabbit food she was assembling for the main course. He remembered the honeymoon phase well. It was that magical time in a relationship when you were inseparable, basking in the possibilities of love and what the future held.
Their canoodling reminded him of his life with his ex-wife Taylor in the early days. He’d been smitten with Taylor Hastings the second he’d met her. She was beautiful, intelligent, and had a zest for life unlike anyone he’d ever seen. Sure she was a little snobby, bourgeois, and obviously out of his league, and he loved it. One smile from her and he was putty in her hands. Even if it meant taking her to those ostentatious restaurants and hanging out with her elitist friends. But they’d made it work for long as they could until reality crept up on them. Her relentless need for the approval of her equally brilliant doctor father fueled her ambition but left little time for nurturing their marriage. It became clear after some time that her career came first and any plans to start a family had been put on the back burner.
It was a truly lovely time until it ended. Once the rose-colored glasses came off, two relative strangers had to deal with the reality before them. Leaving the cap off the toothpaste or not hanging up a jacket could lead to World War Three. He and Taylor started as a fairytale but ended up a cautionary tale of what happened when two driven people weren’t on the same page about the important things. When he would mention starting a family, she’d tell him it wasn’t the right time. After a few of those discussions yielding the same results, he’d known it would be best if they parted ways before they started hating each other.
Jared shook his head, trying to shake the memories that came flooding back. There were days when he missed having someone special, but he’d run through the marriage gauntlet and barely made it out alive. He’d decided to focus on other things like his booming architecture firm. Now he was working on projects bigger than he’d ever dreamed through Blake Enterprises. That left little time to lament about not having kids of his own. He might not be a dad, but he was a pretty damn good uncle and loved spending time with his ever-growing family.
The crowd at the meat counter was heavy, so he headed down the aisle with all the gourmet spices instead. He forced his thoughts away from his failed marriage and back to the things he still had to do while he cooked dinner—like talking to his sister Morgan about his Charisma dilemma.
When his Aunt Debra had called and asked if he’d filled the office manager position in his growing firm, he’d had no idea she was asking for his cousin Charisma. His cousin ha
d been through a lot the past year and now she’d found herself unemployed. He was all for helping family, but it wasn’t that simple. Morgan and Charisma had recently called a truce, and he didn’t want to rock the boat. Part of Morgan’s gripe with their cousin was that she’d tried to insinuate herself into Morgan’s life countless times. Jared worked with the Blakes, Morgan’s in-laws, and that would mean whoever worked for him would have to interact with them too. He’d talk things over with his little sister before he made any decisions. He knew the Blakes were all attending a party to celebrate the engagement of his friend Bo to his girlfriend Summer Waverly. The official engagement party was weeks away, but the Blakes never really needed a reason to get together and have a good time. He’d had a meeting he couldn’t get out of today, so he couldn’t fly down, but he’d promised he’d make it to the official celebration.
He couldn’t help a resigned smile as he selected fresh spices and his favorite seasonings and tossed them in his cart. The Blake family was so preoccupied with his lack of a social life that they’d even conspired for months to set him up with Summer’s identical twin sister Autumn. The sisters owned NuWave Gaming, a thriving electronics company that was taking the tech world by storm. However, fate was never in their favor, for each time they were supposed to meet, something would come up. She’d have to go out of town for work. He’d thrown his back out playing football the week of the double wedding at the ranch and had to attend via video chat. He took it as a sign it wasn’t meant to be, no matter how beautiful, intelligent, accomplished, and how much his perfect match she might be according to the women in his family. From what he knew about her, she didn’t seem all that interested in dating either. According to Bo, she’d date a guy for a month or so, then dump him. He heard she’d been dating some baseball player, but the second the guy mentioned her name in an interview, she’d cut him loose. Obviously the woman didn’t like to be tied down.
He got the remaining items on his grocery list and headed for the checkout line. The happy couple was now in front of him paying for their items. He hoped everything would turn out the way each of them wanted. But he was happy he didn’t have the weight of someone else’s happiness on his shoulders. He was content navigating his future on his own.
* * *
Autumn Waverly looked around at the guests, hoping everyone was having a good time. Luckily she was surrounded by people who loved a party. And the Jamisons and Blakes needed little inspiration to get together and have a good time. When her twin sister Summer got engaged to her boyfriend Bo, Autumn had known she couldn’t wait for an official engagement party to start celebrating. Who could’ve guessed when they’d moved into the building that the nerdy, sexy CFO across the hall would capture her sister’s heart. Bo was handsome, earthy, fun, and was just as business-savvy and geeky as Summer. They truly were a match made in heaven, and now they were getting married.
Since their parents lived in another state, it would’ve been difficult for their mom to be involved in the wedding planning, so Autumn offered to do it. Bo’s mom, Bonnie, seemed a little disappointed when Summer told her she’d tasked her twin with the organizing. She knew Bo’s brother Corbett was in the throes of planning his own wedding to his fiancée Courtney and she figured Bonnie was up to her eyeballs with that. But the last thing she wanted to do was step on her future in-laws’ toes. But the truth was, she needed some help. Teri-Lyn told her she could assist her in any way needed, but how could Autumn take help from her without offending Bonnie?
She wanted to show her sister she could pull off the wedding of her dreams. They’d talked about how they wanted their special days since they were kids, and she felt like she could single-handedly plan the entire thing. One thing was certain, wedding planning kept her mind off the twinge of loneliness that would crop up every now and again. They’d been together their entire lives and now things were changing. She was over the moon for Summer, but she felt like a piece of her was being ripped away at the same time.
The happy couple were making their rounds with the guests, which included Bo’s family and some people from their work. The doorbell rang, and someone from the catering staff opened the door. It was Cassidy and Channing Blake. Cassidy had sent her a text earlier saying she was running behind schedule with a client and she and Channing would be arriving late. A lot of good things had come from Summer and Bo dating. The Blakes took them in as family the minute they met them, and Autumn found a new friend in Cassidy. She admired her new friend’s courageous fight against cancer and the way she approached life. She and Cassidy had made plans to go to the spa tomorrow and see the latest action movie starring Chris Cavanaugh afterward. Autumn was jazzed to hear the actor was a friend of Seth’s.
Autumn hugged them both. “Hey, you two. I was beginning to worry. Did you finish up with your client?”
“Yes, I did. So, no worries, we’re still on for the spa tomorrow.”
“Thank goodness. I have knots in places I didn’t know I had muscles.” Autumn laughed.
Channing looked around. “Everything looks awesome. And you were worried about throwing together something so quickly. I told you my family doesn’t care about décor as long as the food is good.”
“I figured that out when Bonnie held Bo Sr.’s surprise birthday party at the Bright Star.” She grinned. She’d been skeptical when she’d stepped into the watering hole and saw the sawdust on the floor, the mechanical bull in the corner, and the flashing neon sign that said “Cowboy Up or Go Home” behind the bar. It was hard to believe a family of billionaires spent all their spare time there. But when the party got into full swing and Bo Sr. asked her to line dance, she was hooked on country living. She’d droned on about what a good time she’d had until Summer and Cassidy took her to get a pair of cowboy boots and a hat.
“Has Bonnie cornered you yet?” Cassidy asked in a low tone.
“No. I think Teri-Lyn is running interference. Every time she heads my way, Teri-Lyn shoves a shrimp puff in her mouth.” Autumn bit her lip.
Channing smiled. “Bonnie can be a bit abrasive, but she means well.”
Bo and Summer had just finished chatting with J.J. and Sam while nibbling on appetizers and came over to join them.
“Autumn, thanks again for hosting the party. I know how busy you’ve been marketing the latest product rollout.” Bo put his arm around her and kissed her on the cheek.
“My pleasure. Anything for you two.”
“She’s been a dynamo at work,” Summer said. “I can barely keep up with her these days.”
Autumn laughed. “Nice change of pace, eh?”
“No, we both work hard but in different ways. That’s why we own a kick-ass gaming company.” Summer winked at her.
“Very true.” Autumn figured it was a good time to launch into bridal planner mode. “Just a heads-up. Mom has been all over me about the date for the engagement party. I told her I would see if I could get you to hammer out a date tonight. Think that’s possible?”
“Sure, we can get our schedules together and see what’s good for everyone.” Summer looked at Bo.
“Whatever date you decide on is fine by me.” Bo kissed Summer.
Channing patted Bo on the back. “You two are so sweet it’s sickening. It’s great to see.”
“So,” Autumn said, “I’ve been reading my wedding planner book and I think we should get a move on things. I have a list of caterers and some fabric swatches out on the dining room table. Maybe we can pin down the color scheme tonight and—”
“Whoa.” Summer put her hands on her shoulders. “Take a breath. I don’t want you to go crazy. I love what you’re doing, but we do have a company to run and you have a life too.”
“But you put me in charge.” She pouted.
“I know. I did that because when you are passionate about something you have a laser-like focus that frightens people,” Summer reminded her.
Before Autumn could reply, Teri-Lyn’s voice called out across the room. “Here are my h
appy kids.” Teri-Lyn approached and hugged the couple.
“There’s my favorite couple!” Bonnie, who was right behind Teri-Lyn, said loudly.
“Mom.” Bo gave her a look. “Corbett and Courtney are floating around here somewhere. You want to tamp it down?”
“Oh, they’re on the balcony talking to your father.” Bonnie patted his arm. “And it wouldn’t be a competition if Little Miss Control Freak didn’t want the wedding of the century. They would have been married by now. Who changes a wedding date twice?”
Autumn laughed to herself. It was no secret that Courtney was a domineering perfectionist. Autumn had made the mistake of smiling while introducing herself to the couple at a Blake shindig. Courtney watched her for the rest of the night like Autumn was going to slip Corbett her number. True, Corbett was a handsome guy who looked more like Bo than either brother cared to admit, but she knew he was off-limits. She had the feeling the second wedding date change was made to see if she could outdo Bo and Summer’s special moment.
Teri-Lyn put her arm around Bonnie. “I explained to your mama that it doesn’t matter if they reschedule. Weddings are an important event in a couple’s life. They just want it to be perfect.”
Bonnie looked at Bo and Summer, then gave Autumn a sideways glance. “So, how are things going?”
“J.J. is going to be my best man, and Autumn will be the matron of honor. That’s as far as we got.” Bo chuckled.
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