She knew she could get through tonight and then she would tell Chance over dinner that she didn’t want a relationship with him.
Lies...Lies...and more lies. Why deny yourself the opportunity to be with your crush again after all of these years. You know that you want to do it. Why keep pushing Chance away?
Emerald shook the crazy thought from her head as she left her bedroom. She needed a cup of green tea to calm down her nerves. She hoped wherever he was taking her for dinner tonight was casual because she wasn’t about to change her clothes for him.
Stopping in front of the mirror hanging in the hallway, Emerald pulled her white Victoria’s Secret t-shirt over her blue jeans. This was her favorite outfit to unwind in after a lengthy day at work.
Chance didn’t know how he lucked out inviting himself over tonight instead of tomorrow night. She already had plans on Saturday to attend a car show that was about two hours from here. Her father had taken her to them about three or four times a year when she was a little girl. He was a huge car enthusiast and anytime he attended one, it gave him a chance to view antique, classic or customized cars with other people who shared his passion. He always called the car show trips their daddy and daughter outings. She was even thinking about getting a hotel room, so she could make a mini-vacation of it.
She hadn’t been to one in a while and when she saw the promotion for this on the internet Emerald couldn’t hold back her excitement. She’d already asked for time off work weeks ago and her boss gave it to her without one single problem. Hopefully she would be allowed to take some pictures so she could email them to her daddy.
Moving out of the hallway, Emerald was going in the direction of the kitchen when the doorbell rang. She paused by the side of the couch and stared at the front door. For a split second, she thought about not answering it and then scolded herself for being stupid. She would be able to handle Chance.
Smoothing her hands down over her jeans, Emerald turned around and went to answer the door. Turning the handle, Emerald opened it and the second she spotted Chance on the other side all other thoughts vanished from her mind.
His shoulder was braced against the door frame stretching the fabric of his dark gray dress shirt across his chest. The sleeves were rolled up showing off the silky hairs on his nicely tanned arms. Emerald couldn’t help but look at the powerful set of his shoulders. Chance was right there in front of her looking devilishly handsome.
“Hello Emerald,” Chance said, standing up to his full height. “Thanks for agreeing to have dinner with me tonight.”
“It’s not like I had a choice,” she responded. “Where are we going?”
“Nowhere. I brought dinner here to you.” He held up a large bag from her favorite Chinese restaurant, Mr. Wok.
“I love their food. How did you know?” she asked.
“Who doesn’t love Mr. Wok? He has one of the best, if not the best, restaurant in town,” Chance said, smiling down at her. “Can I come in before our food gets cold?”
Emerald felt her face grow red from embarrassment. Thank God she had darker skin or Chance would have seen how taken aback she was by him tonight. She almost felt like a school girl on her first date.
“Sorry, come on it,” She took a step back and waved Chance on inside. A thought suddenly crossed her mind as he walked past her with the bag of delicious smelling food.
“How did you know where I lived?” Emerald asked, closing the door behind them.
“I’m a cop remember. I can find out things pretty easy.” Chance turned around and looked at her.
Except how we know each other. Emerald couldn’t keep the comment from entering her head. “You’re right. Come on inside the kitchen. I want to see what you brought for us to eat. I also need to talk to you about something important over dinner.” Emerald walked past Chance trying not to look back at how well his jeans hugged him in all of the right places.
Calm down, girl! Remember you want to push him away not pull him in closer.
“I hope you’re hungry,” Chance said, following behind her. “I brought enough food here tonight to feed a small army.”
Inside the kitchen, she went over to the cabinet and grabbed a couple of plates from the middle shelf. Turning back around, Emerald held them against her chest watching as Chance took the containers of steaming food out of the bag and arranged them on the table.
She still had a hard time believing she was here with Chance like this after so many years. She got over her resentment of him the other night. How could she keep his past against him when she had her own part in it? He wanted to score with a lot of girls during his fraternity years and unfortunately she was one of them who had fallen victim to his irresistible charm.
Enough, Emerald scolded herself.
She had made too good of a life for herself to keep living in the past. She didn’t want to be with Chance, so why was she acting like she did want him in her life on a more permanent basis?
“Here are the plates,” she said going up to Chance as he removed the lids from the containers.
Standing next to him, Emerald noticed that he had all of her favorites: Bar-B-Q Spareribs, Shrimp with mixed vegetables, Broccoli with Garlic Sauce, Crispy Noodles and Fortune cookies. Chance wasn’t lying to her earlier. He did have enough food to feed an army. There was no way they would be able to eat all of this.
“Thank you.” Chance took the plates from her and laid them to the side and then glanced around. “I can’t believe I forgot the most important thing,” he complained.
Emerald didn’t know what else he could have wanted from the restaurant. She looked over the table filled with food again and then back at Chance. “What did you forget?”
“This,” Chance whispered a second before he pulled her to him and kissed her.
Emerald stood completely still as Chance kissed her for a second time today. Minutes later, a low moan eased from the back of her throat as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. His kiss was as challenging as it was rewarding. She kissed him back lingeringly, savoring yet hating the moment at the same time.
Easing his mouth away from hers, Chance trailed a line of kisses across her jaw until he reached her ear. “I could kiss you for the rest of the night, but I think we should eat before the food gets cold.”
Closing her eyes, Emerald realized no matter how her mind tried to fight Chance her body would always do what it wanted and for some crazy reason it craved Chance’s touch.
“You’re right. I don’t want all of this mouth-watering food to go to waste.” She tried to move back, but Chance stopped her.
“I really loved our kiss. I hope you won’t try to find a way not to relax tonight with me. I’m truly harmless. I swear.”
“I’m not going to chase you away. I liked the kiss as much as you did, Officer Cutter.”
Chance’s eyes narrowed at her. “My name is Chance,” he corrected her.
Emerald loved the reaction she got from Chance. She knew he was dying for her to call him by his first name, but it wasn’t going to be that easy for him to get what he wanted from her.
“I know what your first name is, but I don’t think you’ve done enough to impress me to call you by your first name.”
She had been so caught up in everything Shauntie and Sapphire had going on in their lives, she forgot how much she loved living each moment in her life as if it was her last, but always keeping one eye out for tomorrow.
Grinning at Chance, Emerald spun away from him and picked up a plate to get some food. She might actually allow herself to relax and get into her date tonight with him. What harm would it truly cause?
Chapter Nineteen
“Why were you so against having dinner with me? I think it turned out to be a pretty good night for us.” Chance pushed his empty plate away. He watched as Emerald tried to think of something to tell him.
“I wasn’t against having dinner with you. I mean I didn’t kick you off my porch when you showed up with the bag of food,” she replied.
“Did you invite me in because you wanted to keep the date or you wanted the food from Mr. Wok more?” he teased.
Emerald stared at him and then burst out laughing. “Okay, I will admit that I was starving and the food did play a small part in whether you were allowed to stay. However, if I hadn’t wanted to keep the date, I would have sent you away.”
Unexpected warmth surged through him at Emerald’s answer. She was warming up to him. Chance couldn’t keep the huge grin off his face. Tonight was going in the direction that he hoped it would when he had thought about it all last night.
“Tell me more about yourself. I thought about asking Shauntie and Sapphire, but decided to ask you instead,” he told her.
Emerald arched an eyebrow at him. “I heard that you’ve been asking about me. Why?”
“What do you expect me to do? I mean when a beautiful woman refuses to give me any information about her I’ve got to do some investigating on my own.”
Leaning across the table, Emerald slowly smiled at him. He loved how her light brown eyes lit up. “I thought you told me how much you loved a mystery. I can’t give all of my information away. How mysterious is that?” she flirted.
“Darling, don’t worry, I could find out everything I wanted to know about you and still be amazed. You have this quality about you that will never get old. I’m hoping this won’t be the last time we share a meal together. I like being here with you tonight. Our dinner this evening was the first time in a very long time I wanted to get to know the woman instead the color of her bra.”
Emerald was barely able to control her gasp of surprise as she leaned back from him. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m very serious, Emerald,” Chance admitted. “No one has ever affected me this way before. I don’t want to ruin it by rushing into bed with you.”
“I...I never said I wanted to have sex with you,” she gasped, staring at him.
“How much longer are you going to deny this strong sexual vibe between us? It was the first thing that drew me to you, but it isn’t what kept me coming back to you. You intrigued my mind. I had to think of different ways to spend a moment of time around you.”
“I’m shocked. I don’t know what to say. I never thought ‘The Touchdown King’ would want more than a one night stand with a woman.”
“Don’t call me by that nickname,” Chance said.
Hearing Emerald call him by his college nickname made Chance sick to his stomach. Those were days he didn’t want to think about anymore. He had broken a lot of girls’ hearts back then and none of them had deserved it.
He knew Emerald probably heard his old nickname from Sapphire. Brian probably told her to warn Emerald against getting involved with him. He wouldn’t let his past ruin what he was trying to start with Emerald. Everyone deserved a fresh start including him.
“Sorry, I didn’t know it would bother you,” Emerald apologized.
Getting up from the table, she grabbed their plates off the table. “I think it’s time for you to leave.”
Fuck! Just when he was getting somewhere with her, he had to lose it over a name he had actually given himself. She wasn’t to blame for calling him by it.
Chance got up from his seat and followed behind her. He wasn’t ready to leave yet. He had been making progress with her. Now, she was slamming the door in his face.
“Emerald, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.” Touching her on the shoulder, Chance turned her around to face him. “How about we go into the living-room and talk some more?”
The silence lengthened between them making him uncomfortable. He felt like his chest was about to burst.
“Don’t you dare raise your voice at me again or you’ll be out the door. I won’t care about how sorry you are,” Emerald warned him.
“I swear I won’t,” Chance promised. Sliding his hands behind her back, he tugged Emerald to him. “Thank you for letting me stay a little longer.”
Lowering his head, he gave her a kiss nibbling at her bottom lip before letting it go. “How about you fix the coffee while I clean up the food?” he suggested, softly brushing his mouth over hers.
Stepping back, Emerald looked at him. “You can stay for one cup and that’s it.
“Baby, one cup will be just fine with me. All I want to do is get to know you better.”
Chance gave Emerald another kiss then stepped back from her. He knew that he had dodged a bullet tonight. He’d almost ruined everything before they even got started completely. He’d learned a good lesson. Chance wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
Chapter Twenty
Taking a sip of her coffee, Emerald watched Chance over the rim of her cup. How did he talk her into letting him stay longer? She would never know, but she was glad that she did. Surprisingly, he was turning out to be pretty good company.
“Tell me why you decided to become a police officer,” she asked, watching as Chance placed his coffee mug down on her living-room table.
“I needed some direction in my life. Growing up my parents weren’t around much when I was little. My father’s parents raised me until I was about eight years old and then my parents decided to come back into my life.
“After they regained custody of me, I moved around a lot because they were always looking for the next big thing and since they both came from money they had the belief money could buy them happiness. I learned pretty quickly how much I didn’t want to be like them, so I worked hard and earned a full scholarship to college.”
“Did you find what you were looking for away from your parents?” Emerald questioned, surprised at how open Chance was being with her. She never thought he could be this deep or honest.
“I believe going to college was a blessing and a curse for me,” he admitted.
“Why do you say that?” Emerald asked as she set her coffee cup down on the table next to Chance’s.
Chance looked at her then glanced away running his hand down his face. “You don’t want to hear about me all night,” he mumbled. “I asked you out and came over here to find out more about you. Not to tell you all about my life growing up with two people who should have never been parents.”
No. He couldn’t stop now Emerald thought in a panic. Chance was starting to get to the part she wanted to know about the most. She had to find a way to make him finish.
“Chance, I really don’t mind at all hearing your story. I was enjoying learning more about you.”
He shook his head. “No, I think I’ve talked about myself enough tonight,” Chance insisted. “Tell me more about you. What happened in your life that made you decided to take on a career in the medical examiner’s office.”
Emerald knew she couldn’t push Chance any more about his life at college or he might start to put two and two together when it came to her. He opened up a little bit to her, so she would have to return the favor.
“My favorite grandmother passed away when I was around ten years old and the thought of death terrified me. I hated to think one day I wouldn’t be here anymore. I know people don’t live forever, but I wanted to make the pain of losing her less heartbreaking.”
“In addition, I always had a keen interest in the medical field. So, I started doing a lot of researching about the medical profession when I was in high school and found out about an assistant medical examiner.”
“Did you have to study hard for a while to be one?” Chance asked, leaning back against the arm of her couch.
Emerald thought about it for a few minutes. “I’m going to be honest. Some of those microbiology, organic chemistry and anatomy classes kicked my ass, but I was determined to get my degree. My job is everything I wanted without getting a medical degree. I love my career because I get a lot of satisfaction out of it. I couldn’t imagine me doing anything else with my life.” She was surprised how candid she was being with Chance. He was making her reveal more than she thought she would on their date.
Chance was actually paying at
tention to what she was telling him about herself. He was giving her his undivided attention. She couldn’t remember the last time a guy made her this excited to talk about her career. He was showing her a side of him that she hadn’t gotten to know when they were in college.
She might have seen him in a different life but it didn’t happen. Emerald took a glance at the clock on the wall and was surprised to see it was after eleven o’clock. She had no clue time had flown by so fast. She was actually a little upset her date with Chance was coming to an end; however, it was time for him to leave.
“I didn’t realize it was so late. I need to get up early tomorrow,” she said, standing up.
“Have I overstayed my welcome?” Chance asked as he got up from her couch. “I was having such a good time that I wasn’t paying any attention to the clock.” Chance took a step towards her and ran his hand down her bare arm. “Do you want to do something together tomorrow night? I think I have something in mind that will be pretty fun for us to do.”
Emerald wouldn’t have thought twice about going out with him tomorrow night if she didn’t already have plans to attend the car show and going there was very important to her.
“I’m sorry I can’t. I won’t be in town tomorrow. I’m going on a trip,” she told him.
Disappointment crossed Chance’s handsome face and she could tell he was upset they wouldn’t be able to spend time together. Amazingly Emerald hated she couldn’t take Chance up on his offer.
“I feel bad I have to turn you down, but we can do something when I get back into town. I won’t be gone that long.”
Sighing, Chance rested his forehead against hers. “I guess I can wait for you to get back, but you’re making it harder and harder for me to win you over,” he complained.
Emerald hated to admit it, but Chance was doing a better job of winning her over than he knew. He was beginning to make her see another side of him that wasn’t the heartless bastard she still harbored in her head.
“Why do you want to win me over?” she asked, staring up into his eyes.
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