Hunks Pulled Over

by Marie Rochelle

  “Funny,” Chance said and then looked over at Sapphire who was staring at him. “Hello, Sapphire. This is really a nice party.”

  Sapphire glanced at Brian and then back at him. “Thank you Chance. I only want the best for my friends.”

  Chance instantly knew from Sapphire’s cool response that Brian had told her what he had said about her.

  “Sapphire, I think I should—”

  “If you want something to drink, I have a variety of things in the kitchen,” Sapphire informed him before walking away.

  The tension in the air was so thick it could have choked any one of them. A frown was etched across Shauntie’s pretty forehead as she glanced at him. Chance knew from the confused look on her face that Shauntie didn’t know what was going on between them.

  Chance thought now might be the perfect time he take Sapphire up on her offer and go to the kitchen for something to drink. He needed to distance himself for a few minutes because he didn’t want to spoil Nash’s engagement party.

  “I think I’m going to get something to drink,” he said. “I’ll talk to you guys later.”

  “Good idea,” Brian replied. “I’m going to check on Sapphire to make sure she’s okay.”

  Turning way before the situation got any worst, Chance hurried across the room back towards the kitchen he noticed when he walked in.

  Maybe coming to the party was more than a huge mistake of his part, but he wanted to keep his word to Nash. However, everyone seemed to be having an amazing time until he showed up and placed a black cloud over everything. Another reason he’d decided to come was a little selfishness on his part, because he hated the idea of being home alone while everyone was here having a good time.

  Going into the kitchen, Chance grabbed a beer out of the ice bucket on the side of the counter. Twisting off the lid, he tossed it in the trashcan at the side of the island. Resting his back against the marble island, Chance took a long, fulfilling sip of his beer as he tried to think of a way to apologize to Sapphire but nothing was coming to his mind.

  Honestly, he didn’t want to be wasting his time thinking about a way to make Sapphire like him more. Especially since Emerald was the woman he couldn’t get out of his mind. Just the short few times he’d found ways to be in the same room as her she had captivated him making him want to spend even more time with her.

  Emerald stirred up emotions in him and passions he wasn’t aware he’d ever had or could ever feel. He got pleasure from mixing things up with her. It was a fantastic release of energy for him, but not so much for Emerald. However, he got the slight indication she actually loved their little arguments as much as him.

  Chance always welcomed the challenge of a good mystery. Until Emerald came along, he never realized how boring his old girlfriends were. Whatever Emerald was hiding from him was a lot more fascinating than anything all of his former female acquaintances had to offer him.

  He considered himself a master of solving problems and the unknown; however, Emerald’s will wasn’t as easy to get past as he thought it would be.

  Chance placed his drink next to him on the counter as he continued to stare out into the crowd. From his first meeting with Emerald, he had sized her up in mere seconds. She wasn’t fond of him, but for the life of him he wasn’t sure why she disliked him so much.

  Usually when he walked into a room, every woman there stepped it up a notch to get his attention, but not one Ms. Emerald Stone. She almost looked for ways to push him away from her and it bothered him. His ego had taken a tiny hit when Emerald turned down his dinner invitation.

  Most people who knew him thought of him as cocky and sometimes full of himself, but that was so far for the truth. Instead, he was usually concerned about keeping the friends he had acquired over the years.

  Brian believed he knew everything about him, but he truly didn’t. He never had taken time to look beyond the image he presented to get to know the man he truly was.

  Yet, Chance had to admit that he did have a hand at making some people think the worst of him and some of their opinions didn’t matter to him because they were never his friends in the first place. However, for some odd reason when he looked into Emerald’s beautiful light brown eyes he didn’t like what he saw reflected there.

  God, why couldn’t he get his mind off her? She hadn’t been in his life a week, but she was constantly in his thoughts. He needed to find a way to get her out of it and now was as good a time as any.

  Picking up his beer, Chance took another drink thinking maybe a dance with a good-looking woman here tonight would get Emerald out of his head at least for a few hours.

  As Chance stared out onto the dance floor, something or namely someone, caught his undivided attention as he lowered the beer bottle away from his mouth.

  No! It couldn’t be her.

  She’d just been on his mind so much lately that he was seeing Emerald dancing with some other guy. There was no way in hell she knew Shauntie or Sapphire because Nash would have told him.

  Chance pitched his half-full beer into the trashcan next to him. Walking out of the kitchen, he slowly made his way towards the dance floor not taking his eyes off how the little black dress molded Emerald’s body hinting to the perfect curves she had beneath the material.

  He itched to run his hand up and down the curve of her hips. He couldn’t wait until he had her wrapped in his arms with her soft warm body pressed against him. He didn’t realize how close he had gotten to Emerald and her dance partner until he was standing only inches behind them on the make shift dance floor.

  “Can I cut in?” he asked, tapping the guy on the shoulder. Chance hoped the guy didn’t give him any trouble because he was going to be dancing with Emerald in the next few minutes.

  The man stopped and glanced back at him over his shoulder. Chance noticed how Emerald’s eyes grew wider when they landed on him. She was as stunned as he had been to see her. She looked like she was ready to give him a piece of her mind until her dance partner spoke up.

  “No, I don’t mind at all. Emerald’s a great dancer,” the guy told him and then walked away leaving him standing there with a stunning but pissed off Emerald.

  “What in the hell are you doing here?” Emerald asked, taking a step back from him. She would have bumped into the couple behind her if he hadn’t pulled her into his arms.

  The feel of her body against his felt magnificent. She fit him perfectly almost like they had done this before with each other. Chance wasn’t about to let Emerald fight him over having this moment with her.

  “I don’t want to dance with you. Let go of me,” she hissed, struggling against him bringing his cock to life making it grow harder against the front of his slacks.

  “Stop moving around so much,” he whispered in her ear as he pulled her even closer to his body. “Do you want people to start staring at us and notice what your struggles are doing to my body? You have to feel it.”

  Emerald’s eyes widened as he brushed his cock against her stomach. She instantly stopped moving her body. “I can’t believe you. You probably get that way with any woman who’s this close to you.”

  “No, I haven’t gotten this hard in a long time. Darling, it’s all for you, but if you’re really intent on leaving I can let you go and show everyone here what I was willing to offer you.”

  “Fine, I’ll dance with you, but only for this one song,” Emerald snapped.

  Chance hid his smile as he twirled Emerald around on the dance floor slowly leading her to a more secluded spot over by the wall away from prying eyes. He wasn’t about to miss out on this opportunity of finally having her alone. He’d never gotten so much pleasure from dancing with a woman as much as he was at this moment with her.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked, staring down into her upturned face.

  Her light brown eyes met his blue ones as she frowned up at him. “I’m here celebrating Shauntie’s engagement to Nash,” Emerald answered. “She’s one of my best friends along wi
th Sapphire. Why wouldn’t I be here tonight?”

  Chance almost stepped on Emerald’s feet after hearing her answer. Damn Brian and Nash. Both of them knew who Emerald was all along, but decided to keep the truth from him.

  But why?

  “Officer Cutter, why are you here? Are you someone’s date?”

  He pushed his buddies’ lies to the back of his mind and gave Emerald his full attention. “Chance,” he correctly instantly. He wanted to hear her say his name. He wasn’t at work. This was his down time with a beautiful woman and he wanted his name on her lips.

  Emerald shook her head. “No, I’d rather not,” she told him as their song ended. “Alright, thanks for the dance, but I’m leaving now.”

  She tried to move out of his arms, but Chance wasn’t having it. He was going to continue to dance with her until he got the answers that he wanted from her. Another slow song came on by Marvin Gaye and he eased Emerald right back against his chest.

  “Hey, I told you that I was done dancing with you.”

  “Why are you always trying to run away from me?” he questioned. “I want to get to know you better. I find you very attractive, but you keep finding ways to avoid me. I want you to tell me why you dislike me so much. Is it because I don’t remember how we first met? Don’t lie to me again about us not knowing each other. We do. So, why don’t you let me in on it?”

  Sliding his hand down Emerald’s back, Chance gently pushed Emerald back into the position he liked the best with her breasts pressed against his chest.

  Chapter Eleven

  Emerald couldn’t resist breathing in the warm scent of Chance’s cologne when he pressed her body back against his for the second dance he tricked her into giving him. The moment she overheard Chance asking to cut in on her dance with Albert brought back memories of how they first met each other.

  Back then, Chance was the only guy she thought about or even wanted in her life, but sadly he never stayed around in her radar long enough to remember her or their short time together. She’d known better than to say yes that night, but he just looked so good standing there and she wasn’t about to resist him.

  How could she make someone remember her when they couldn’t recall knowing her in the first place? It would be ridiculous for her to even try to jog Chance’s memory of their past together.

  She really should move out of his arms before this dance led her down a road she didn’t want to revisit; however, Chance’s body felt too good. Better than it should have for a man she hadn’t laid eyes on since her freshman year in college.

  How did she let herself get sucked back into this?

  Something about Chance always made her forget who she was and it wasn’t fair to her. She couldn’t—no, she wouldn’t—allow this to happen to her again when it came to him.

  “You’re awful quiet. Care to tell me what’s going on in that pretty head of yours,” Chance whispered in her ear as his nose brushed against the side of her neck.

  “It’s nothing,” she lied, easing her body back from Chance’s.

  “You’re lying. I can feel the tension in your body. You were thinking about my question, weren’t you?” Chance pushed. “Let me know about you. What are you keeping from me? Did I do something to hurt your feelings that I don’t remember?”

  Anger set in at the way Chance was pushing her. Emerald didn’t ask for this or him to come back into her life. How dare he demand anything of her? She owed him absolutely nothing. Hell, he was lucky that she even danced with him tonight at all. If this didn’t bring back the memory of who she was than nothing would.

  “I’m not keeping anything from you,” Emerald said, backing out of Chance’s arms for a second time that night. “Now, I really need to go. Thank you for the two dances, Officer Cutter.” She turned away, but before she could walk off the dance floor Chance grabbed her by the hand.

  “Emerald, I want you. I never give up on things I want in my life. So, you can run now, but in the end I will get you beautiful.”

  Sighing, she removed Chance’s hand from hers. He was as smug as ever. He wasn’t ever going to change. “Chance, you are so sad. You can’t even recall how we know each other. I know it might not have been the most important time in your life, but it was in mine.”

  “You do remember. Tell me,” he insisted. “I want to know.”

  “Can you please just let it go?” she asked. “Anyways, I’m not running from you because we don’t have anything for me to run from.”

  Taking one last look at Chance, Emerald left him standing on the dance floor like she should have done the first time he asked her to dance all of those years ago.

  Chapter Twelve

  Emerald hurried out of Sapphire’s house, got in her car and drove off. She would apologize to her girls tomorrow for leaving without telling them goodbye, but she had to get out of there before anything got any hotter between her and Chance.

  She was positive that she had grown from a young girl into a successful business woman, but anytime Chance was within touching distance of her it seemed like she couldn’t keep a thought in her mind or her body from betraying her.

  Reaching over, Emerald turned on the radio hoping the music would keep her mind off of Chance, yet it didn’t work. All she could still think about was how mind-blowing it felt to be back in his embrace again.

  Why now? Why her?

  Everything in her life was going pretty good with the exception of a sexy hunky man like Sapphire and Shauntie had now.

  You were dancing with a hunky guy less than twenty minutes ago, her mind taunted. If Chance Cutter isn’t a hunky guy than what is he?

  Go away.

  Emerald put the brakes on her inner thoughts as she stopped at a red light. She only had two more blocks and she would be at home. She already had plans to take a long, hot shower. Afterward she would hopefully crawl into bed without thoughts of Chance dancing around in her head.

  The light turned green and Emerald continued on home. Ten minutes later, she was pulling into her driveway when her cell phone went off. Emerald parked her car and dug her phone out of the side of her purse.

  Checking the caller ID, she noticed Sapphire’s number. She was probably calling her wanting to know why she left the party without so much as a ‘see you later’.

  “Hello,” she answered.

  “What happened?” Sapphire questioned, concern in her voice. “We saw you out on the dance floor with Chance and then a few minutes later you were gone. Did that idiot say something to you? He has really been sticking his big ass foot in his mouth lately.”

  “No,” Emerald replied. “Chance didn’t say anything to me. I just started to feel bad, so I left.” She knew it was a lie, but it was better than telling Sapphire the truth right now.

  There was a pause on the other end of the phone. “Are you sure? Brian told me Chance asked him and Nash about you. Is there something going on between the two of you? I didn’t think you knew each other.”

  Getting out of her car, Emerald slammed it shut and then locked it before heading towards her front door. “We don’t know each other...well, we didn’t until a few days ago. I ran into him at work. Chance did ask me out on a date and I turned him down.”

  She unlocked her door, walked inside, closed it and then locked it behind her. Turning on the lights, Emerald walked down the hallway to her bedroom.

  “Emerald, what aren’t you telling me?” Sapphire asked, surprising her. “I can tell from the sound of your voice that you’re hiding something from me. If you don’t want to tell me I can get Shauntie to call you instead. I’m just worried and want to know what’s going on. You haven’t been yourself in a while.

  “I’m fine. I don’t need to talk to Shauntie either. Why do you think I’m hiding something from you?” Emerald kicked off her shoes before falling down on her queen size bed.

  “As long as I’ve known you, I never remember you running from an attractive man. Chance can be a bit of a jerk sometimes, but he’s stil
l a good-looking guy. Tell me the truth.”

  For a split second, Emerald almost told Sapphire her past connection with Chance then changed her mind. Why keep dwelling in the past? Nothing was going to change it.

  “Sapphire, I’m telling you the truth,” she lied again. “I wasn’t running from Chance. I did start to feel a little sick and I decided to leave. Okay, I need to get off the phone. I’m going to take a shower and then go to bed. I have to be at work early tomorrow.”

  “Emerald, I’m not done with this,” Sapphire warned her. “Have a good night, but expect to be hearing from me or Shauntie again.”

  “I will. Goodbye.” Emerald hung up the phone and tossed it down on the bed.

  Darn it! Even Sapphire had noticed the underlying currents between her and Chance. She wouldn’t be able to hold off everyone’s questions forever because she wasn’t doing a good job of keeping her own scattered emotions at bay.

  Tonight had taught her something very important. Chance wasn’t going to stop pursuing her and she wouldn’t be able to handle him in the present unless she dealt with her feelings left over from the past.

  Sighing, Emerald got up off the bed and made her way across the room towards her walk-in closet. Going inside, she went to the very back and grabbed a small green hope chest with butterflies scattered across it off the shelf. She went back to her bed.

  Sitting in the middle yoga style, Emerald placed the chest in front of her. Running her fingers across the top, she remembered how many times she thought about opening this but always found a way to put it back up, but tonight would be the night she went through with it.

  Flipping it open, she picked out several things glancing at them briefly before placing them to the side until she reached what she was looking for at the very bottom. Emerald pulled out a beautiful purple and silver masquerade ball mask.

  She had worn it to her first and only fraternity party during her freshman year of college. It was the night she got to dance with her crush Chance Cutter. Emerald would never forget that night as long as she lived. The memory was burned in her mind like a tattoo.