A Christmas Rendezvous (The Eden Empire Book 4)

by Karen Booth

  On her second run-in with her one-night stand,

  they go from the bedroom to the war room!

  It’s bad enough that high-powered attorney Isabel Blackwell is spending her Christmas on a high-stakes case. Then she discovers she’s up against the man who took her breath away one very special night. As a litigator, Jeremy Sharp shouldn’t be underestimated, but as lovers, Jeremy and Isabel can’t resist another rendezvous. Will this duel mean playing to win—or playing for keeps?

  “I wonder what you’re after, Jeremy.

  A drink? Conversation? Or something more?” Isabel sat forward and drew her finger around the rim of her glass, looking at him, unafraid to confront him with her gaze.

  “I want whatever you might be willing to give me,” he admitted.

  She smiled and the slightest blush crossed her cheeks. Good God, she was so beautiful he had to wonder if he was dreaming. “So I’m in the driver’s seat. That’s what you’re telling me.”

  “Of course. As it should be, right?”

  She nodded, arching her eyebrows in a way that suggested she hadn’t quite been prepared for where their conversation had turned. He loved feeling like he could surprise her, even if the boost to his ego might be completely unwarranted.

  “So, Jeremy. Since I’m in charge, let me just share one more thing about myself. I don’t know how you feel about good views, but I have a spectacular one of the city. Upstairs in my room.”

  * * *

  A Christmas Rendezvous concludes

  the Eden Empire series.

  Dear Reader,

  Thanks for picking up A Christmas Rendezvous! I’m a bit sad that it’s time for the travails of the Eden family to wrap up, but I’m sure that if you’ve been reading all along, you’re dying to know what happens. And if this is your first in the series, don’t be afraid to jump right in.

  There’s a bit of a shift in this story, as the heroine is not a member of the Eden family, but rather attorney Isabel, Sam Blackwell’s sister. Eden’s department store is under siege, and I liked the idea of someone from the outside coming in to help the sisters fight this battle. Unfortunately for Isabel, her primary opponent in this legal war is Jeremy, the guy she had a one-night stand with a week before she took on the case. Talk about an “oops” moment.

  Isabel and Jeremy each have their own obstacles when it comes to love, but one thing I explored in this book is what it’s like when time becomes one of those hurdles. Isabel is thirty-eight and Jeremy is forty, and they both want to get on with their lives and find happiness with someone they love. Whether love is found young or old or you’re still looking, I think that’s a very relatable feeling.

  I sincerely hope you enjoyed the Eden Empire series. I have loved writing every book. Drop me a line anytime at karen@karenbooth.net. I love hearing from readers!

  Karen

  Karen Booth

  A Christmas Rendezvous

  Karen Booth is a Midwestern girl transplanted in the South, raised on ’80s music and repeated readings of Forever by Judy Blume. When she takes a break from the art of romance, she’s listening to music with her nearly grown kids or sweet-talking her husband into making her a cocktail. Learn more about Karen at karenbooth.net.

  Books by Karen Booth

  Harlequin Desire

  The Best Man’s Baby

  The Ten-Day Baby Takeover

  Snowed in with a Billionaire

  The Eden Empire

  A Christmas Temptation

  A Cinderella Seduction

  A Bet with Benefits

  A Christmas Seduction

  A Christmas Rendezvous

  Dynasties: Secrets of the A-List

  Tempted by Scandal

  Visit her Author Profile page at Harlequin.com, or karenbooth.net, for more titles.

  You can find Karen Booth on Facebook, along with other Harlequin Desire authors, at Facebook.com/harlequindesireauthors!

  For Val Skorup. You are the best cheerleader

  a person could ever want, a great friend

  and a total rock star.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from Second Chance Temptation by Joss Wood

  One

  Isabel Blackwell’s head had hardly hit the pillow when the hotel alarm went off. The fire alarm.

  Frustrated and annoyed, she sat up in bed and shoved back her sleep mask while the siren droned on out in the hall. This was getting old. The luxury Bacharach New York hotel had been her home for nearly two weeks and this was the fourth time the fire alarm had sounded. She’d intentionally gone to bed early to try to sleep away her difficult day. Her brother, Sam, had convinced her to take on a legal case she did not want—saving Eden’s Department Store from a man with a vendetta and a decades-old promissory note. So much for the escape of a good night’s rest.

  “Attention, guests,” the prerecorded message sounded over the hallway PA system. “Please proceed to the nearest fire exit in an orderly manner. Do not use the elevators. I repeat, do not use the elevators. Thank you.”

  “Do not use the elevators,” Isabel mumbled to herself in a robotic voice. She tossed back the comforter, grabbed her robe, shoved her feet into a pair of ballet flats and dutifully shuffled down the hallway with the other guests. It was not quite 10:00 p.m., so she was the only one in her pajamas, but she refused to be embarrassed by it. Hers were pale pink silk charmeuse and she’d spent a fortune on them. Plus, if anyone should be feeling self-conscious, it was the hotel management. They needed to get their property under control.

  She followed along down the stairs, through the lobby past the befuddled and apologetic bell captain, and out onto the street. Early December was not an ideal time to be parading around a Manhattan sidewalk in silk pj’s, but she hoped that by now, the hotel staff had finely honed their skills of determining whether there was an actual fire.

  The manager shot out of the revolving door, frantic. “Folks, I am so sorry. We’re working as fast as we can to get you back inside and to your rooms.” He fished a stack of cards from his suit pocket and began doling them out. “Please. Everyone. Enjoy a complimentary cocktail at the bar as our way of apologizing.”

  Isabel took his offering. She wasn’t about to pass up a free drink.

  “What if you already have one waiting for you?” a low rumble of a voice behind her muttered.

  Isabel turned and her jaw went slack. Standing before her was a vision so handsome she found herself wondering if she had actually fallen asleep upstairs and was now in the middle of a splendidly hot dream. Tall and trim, the voice had a strong square jaw covered in neatly trimmed scruff, steely gray eyes and extremely enticing bedhead hair. It had even gone a very sexy salt-and-pepper at the temples, pure kryptonite for Isabel. She had a real weakness for a distinguished man. “You had to leave a drink behind?” she had the presence of mind to ask. “That’s a very sad story.”

  The voice crossed his arms and looked off through the hotel’s glass doors, longingly. “The bartender had just poured the best Manhattan I’ve ever had. And
it’s wasting away in there.” He then returned his sights to her, his vision drifting down to her feet, then lazily winding its way back up. As he took in every inch of her, it warmed her from head to toe. “Aren’t you freezing?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “I run hot.”

  A corner of his mouth curled in amusement, and that was when she noticed exactly how scrumptious his lips were. He offered his hand. “Jeremy.”

  “Isabel.” She wrapped her fingers around his, and found herself frozen in place. He wasn’t moving, either. No, they were both holding on, heat and a steady current coursing between them. It had been too long since she’d shared even an instant of flirtation with a man, let alone a chemistry-laden minute or two. Her job was always getting in the way, a big reason she disliked it so much.

  “You weren’t kidding,” he said. “How are you so warm?”

  How are you so hot? “Lucky, I guess.”

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” the hotel manager announced, poking his head out of the door. “Turns out it was a false alarm. You may go back inside.”

  “Looks like you can go rescue your Manhattan,” Isabel said to Jeremy.

  “Join me? I hate to drink alone.” He cocked his head to one side and both eyebrows popped up in invitation.

  Isabel had been fully prepared to go back upstairs and simply take a few thoughts of dreamy Jeremy for a spin as she drifted off to sleep. “I’m in my pajamas.”

  “Don’t forget the sleep mask.” He reached up and plucked it from her hair. “Do these things really work?”

  She smoothed back her hair, deciding this was only a good sign—he’d invited her to have a drink with him when she looked far less than her best. “They do work. Once you get used to it.”

  “I’ve never tried one. Maybe I should. I don’t sleep that well.”

  Isabel fought back what she really wanted to say—that she wouldn’t mind having the chance to make him slumber like a baby. Instead, she took the mask from his hand and tucked it into the pocket of her robe. “If you can stand to be seen with me, I’d love a drink.”

  “You could be wearing a potato sack and I’d still invite you for a drink.” He stepped aside and with a flourish of his hand, invited her to lead the way.

  Oh, Jeremy was smooth. For a moment she wondered if he was too much so. In her experience, men like that were only interested in fun. She’d moved to New York for a fresh start, so she could pursue a less unsavory line of legal work—adoption law, to be specific—and finally get serious about love. At thirty-eight, she was eager to get on with her life. Still, it was silly to judge yummy Jeremy by a few words in their first conversation. “Good to know your standards.” Isabel marched inside and crossed the lobby, stopping at the bar entrance. Despite the generous disbursement of drink coupons from the manager, the room was sparsely occupied, with only a few people seated at the long mahogany bar. It was an elegant space, albeit a bit stuck in time, with black-and-white-checkerboard floors and crystal chandeliers dripping from the barrel ceiling. “You’ll have to let me know where you left your drink behind.”

  “Over here.” Jeremy strolled ahead and Isabel took her chance to watch him from behind. The view was stunning—a sharp shoulder line atop a towering lean frame. His midnight-blue suit jacket obscured his backside, but she could imagine how spectacular it must be. He arrived at a corner table, and sure enough, there was his drink, along with a stack of papers, which he quickly shuffled into a briefcase.

  “You really did leave in a hurry,” she said. “Is this your first night staying here? I don’t take the fire alarm all that seriously anymore. Most of the time it’s nothing.”

  “I’m not a guest. I just had a meeting. I actually live in Brooklyn, but I thought I’d grab a drink before I headed home.” He slid her a sly look. “Now I’m glad I did.”

  Isabel knew she should ask what he did for a living, but that would only lead to discussion of her own occupation. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about being a lawyer, a career she’d once dreamed of but that had since turned into a bit of a nightmare, another reason for moving away from Washington, DC. She’d somehow gone from earnest attorney to a political “fixer,” cleaning up the personal messes of the powerful. She was good at it. Very good, actually. But she’d grown weary of that particular rat race. And in Washington, everyone was a rodent of one form or another.

  “What would you like to drink?” Jeremy asked, pulling out a chair for her.

  Isabel eased into the seat, which was sumptuously upholstered in white velvet with black trim. “I’ll have a gin and tonic, two limes.” She reached into her robe and pulled out the drink coupon, holding it out for Jeremy.

  “Save that for a rainy day. It was my invitation. I intend to buy you a drink.”

  Isabel had to smile. It’d been a long time since a man had treated her nicely and actually made an effort. She’d been starting to wonder if gentlemanly behavior was a lost art. “Thank you.”

  Jeremy flagged down the bartender and was back with her drink in a few minutes. He sat next to her, his warm scent settling over her. It was both woodsy and citrusy, conjuring visions of a romantic fire crackling away. “So, tell me about yourself. What do you do?”

  She had to make a choice right then and there as to how this night was going to go. Either they would do the same old getting-to-know-you routine that every man and woman who have just met must seemingly pursue, or they would head in a different direction. Coming to New York was supposed to be a fresh start for Isabel and she intended to follow through on that. She would not cling to old habits. She would try something new.

  She reached out and set her hand on Jeremy’s, which was resting on the tabletop. “I vote that we don’t talk about work. At all. I don’t think we should talk about where we went to school or who we used to date or how many important people we know.”

  Jeremy’s eyes darkened, but there was a spark behind them—a mischievous glint. He was, at the very least, intrigued. “Okay, then. What do you want to talk about?”

  She stirred her drink, not letting go of his hand. She loved that they already had this unspoken familiarity. Like they understood each other, and so soon after meeting each other. “I don’t know. A little brutal honesty between strangers?”

  He laughed and turned his hand until their palms were flat against each other. He clasped his fingers around hers. How that one touch could convey so much, she wasn’t sure, but excitement bubbled up inside her so fast she thought she might pop like a cork from a champagne bottle. It was as if she’d been in a deep sleep and her entire body had rattled back to life. She wasn’t the sort of woman who pinned a lot of hope on a man, but she found herself wondering where this might go.

  “Like truth or dare, but just the truth part?” he asked.

  Isabel swallowed hard, but did her best to convey cool. “Oh, no. I never said I wasn’t up for a dare.”

  * * *

  Jeremy was so tempted to dare Isabel to kiss him, he had to issue himself a mental warning: Slow down, buddy. He was essentially fearless, but he wasn’t the guy to make leaps with a woman. Not anymore. He greatly enjoyed their company, but he’d been burned badly by a toxic marriage and the hellish divorce that followed. Since then, he’d learned to employ caution, but he did occasionally need to remind himself.

  Still, he didn’t want to waste his evening ruminating on his past mistakes. Not now. Not when he was sitting with Isabel, a woman who made him want to employ zero restraint. She was not only a captivating beauty, with sleek black hair framing a flawless complexion and warm brown eyes; she had a demeanor unlike any he’d ever encountered, from anyone—man or woman. What person goes to a bar in pale pink silk pajamas and matching robe and seems wholly comfortable? And the bit about not trying to impress each other? That was like a breath of fresh air. If he had to start talking about his job, he’d just get stressed. Especially afte
r the meeting he’d had in this very bar an hour ago.

  “I’m afraid I haven’t played truth or dare since I was a teenager,” he admitted.

  “Me, neither. And almost all of the dares seemed to involve kissing.”

  It was as if she’d read his mind.

  “But we aren’t teenagers anymore, are we?” she added.

  “Not me. I turned forty this year.” Jeremy cleared his throat, struggling to keep up with her. He was usually laser-focused on a retort. As a lawyer, he got plenty of practice. “Okay, then. Tell me something almost nobody knows about you.”

  She smiled cleverly, stirring her drink. “That could take all night. I have lots of secrets.” She bent her neck to one side and absentmindedly traced her delicate fingers along her collarbone.

  The first secret Jeremy wanted to know was what was under those pajamas. He wanted to know who was under there—what Isabel would kiss like. What her touch would be like, what it would be like to have her naked form pressed against his. “How about three things I need to know about you? As a person. Three things you believe in.”

  She twisted up her beautiful lips, seeming deep in thought. “Okay. I believe that there is no good reason to lie, but that doesn’t mean you have to confess everything. I believe that a good nap will cure most problems. And I believe that love is ultimately the only thing that ever saves anyone.”

  “Really?” Jeremy found that last part a bit too sunny and optimistic, but then again, he had his reasons for rolling his eyes at love.

  “Like I said, a little brutal honesty between strangers. I have no reason to be anything less than ridiculously open and bare my soul.”

  “You’re a therapist, aren’t you? One of those people you pay hundreds of dollars an hour to, just so you can reveal the most humiliating things you’ve ever done.”

  She shook her head. “Hey. That’s against the rules. We said we weren’t going to talk about work.”