Hunks: Opposites Attract

by Marie Rochelle

  Moving away from the table, Sapphire shoved away her unfounded fears. She wouldn’t let bad posts to her blog stop her from continuing with it. Everyone wasn’t going to like her posts and others might love it. People’s opinions were different.

  She made her way across the room and picked her laptop up off the table. Carrying it back over to the bed, Sapphire arranged a couple of pillows behind her back and then got more comfortable before she logged on to her blog.

  Instantly, she spotted six new comments had been added under her blog. Great! This is what she had wanted to see, but she wasn’t sure if they were good or bad. There was only one way to find out. Taking a deep breath, she clicked on the six and all of the comments appeared in black and white right before her eyes.

  ****

  Sapphire’s World

  6 Comments: (new)

  Blog lover said: God, I am so happy that you’re back. I’ve missed reading about the adventures you have going on in your life. Please post more soon. I want to find out if you and Emerald get lucky as Shauntie. Really, this was a great post after your hiatus.

  Hello Kitty 1172: I think Emerald needs to stay out of everyone’s personal life and get a man of her own. I wouldn’t do this if I was you. It would be a waste of your time

  Tina Michaels: Are you looking for your hunk? I love men who work with their hands. My boyfriend is a plumber and I couldn’t have a sexier man. I say go for it! You know that opposites attract. If you aren’t happy with the men you’ve been dating it’s past time you changed.

  Anonymous: I agree with Tina. Emerald’s idea wasn’t bad. See if you can find a hot man to celebrate New Year’s Eve with. Men do stuff like this all of the time. Why shouldn’t a woman? Please continue to tell us how the search goes. I think that New Years Eve is almost here

  Justin Lennon: As a man who follows your blog, I think as long as you’re up front with the guy who you are interested in, he shouldn’t care. I know that I wouldn’t be upset. I love dating black women. I’ve already considered myself a black man in a white man’s body.

  January Adams: I think it’s cool Emerald wanted to do something so outrageous, but remember in the end it will still be your decision. So, I agree with most of your other posts. Go for it and have fun. Don’t keep us hanging with your next update. I’ll be back to tomorrow to see if you’ve written anything new.

  ****

  Closing her laptop, Sapphire couldn’t keep the excitement from racing through her body after reading the latest comments. Shauntie was right. Coming out here had gotten her over her writer’s block.

  Tonight turned out better than she could have ever hoped for. She had only one negative comment, but that came with the territory when you posted something on the internet. All in all, she was extremely pleased and couldn’t wait until she posted something new tomorrow.

  Stop acting like your blog is the most important occurrence in your life right now.

  Sapphire tried to ignore her inner thoughts, but she couldn’t push them away. The man she wanted to hook up with before New Years Eve was downstairs watching television. It was just so incredible. Brian, the man she had been fantasizing about, was best friends with Shauntie’s boyfriend Nash.

  How could that ever be possible that two best friends hooking up with guys who were also best friends?

  Well, actually she hadn’t ‘hooked up’ with Brian yet, but after their connection in the kitchen earlier getting together didn’t seem that far out of reach. So, the biggest question was who was going to make the first move?

  If Emerald was here, she would tell her to stop playing it so damn safe and go after what she wanted. What in the hell was she waiting for? Yet, Shauntie would have a totally different prospective. She would tell her don’t chase after a man under any circumstances

  Shauntie thought it was a man’s job to pursue the woman; however, her thought process had changed a little after Nash came into her life. Shauntie might actually agree with Emerald now, which would be a rarity.

  Decisions. Decisions.

  Sapphire knew she had so much to think about, but she needed to get some sleep first. She placed the laptop on the night stand. She always had a clearer head after a good night’s sleep. Things always looked so much better in the morning no matter how badly the day before might have gone.

  Sapphire turned off the lights before crawling underneath the covers. Tomorrow couldn’t come fast enough for her. She might not be ready to completely admit it to herself yet, but she was ready to take the next step in getting what she wanted from Brian.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Reading over the short grocery list one last time, Brian secretly hoped Sapphire would make an appearance downstairs before he left for the long drive into town. Last night after he’d gone to bed, he still couldn’t get the alluring, sensual scent of her perfume out of his head. Sapphire was a very attractive woman and her fragrance matched her captivating personality.

  It haunted him pushing him to get another sample of it, but he fought back the urge to get out of bed and make the short trip down the hall to her bedroom. He could tell that Sapphire wouldn’t appreciate him showing up at the bedroom door late at night for no apparent reason.

  Nevertheless, how was he supposed to get to know her any better if she spent most of her time locked away in her bedroom? Brian knew this trip to the grocery store would be the perfect way to make them communicate more with each other. There was no way Sapphire wouldn’t talk to him on the long way there.

  Brian had to get Sapphire out of the cottage for a few hours at the most. How could he not want to spent time with a gorgeous, intelligent woman like her? He’d thought about the best way to do it. Now, he just needed to make sure Sapphire fell nicely into the trap he was trying to set.

  The sound of footsteps coming towards the kitchen made him glance away from the door and back at the slip of paper in his right hand. That was a close call. Sapphire couldn’t catch him staring at the door like he was sitting here waiting for her. He had to act cooler around her if this was going to work to his advantage. Sapphire didn’t seem like she would be into overly clingy men.

  “I thought you’d be gone into town by now,” Sapphire said as she stopped in her tracks and stared at him from the kitchen doorway. “Why are you still here? Did you forget something?”

  Walking past him, Sapphire walked over to the cabinet, opened it up and grabbed a glass from the middle shelf.

  Making her way to him, she picked up the orange juice container off the table and poured herself a glass. She sat the container back down and took a sip of her juice.

  From the corner of his eye, Brian watched how Sapphire’s throat moved as she drank the morning beverage and he couldn’t get over how sexy the movement looked.

  Damn! Had it been that long since he was this close to an attractive woman that the sight of one drinking orange juice was making his cock hard? He either needed to get a life or get laid whichever one came first.

  “No, I was going over this list one last time,” Brian answered as he reached for his orange juice and took a sip.

  Her hair looked unbelievable too this morning. Instead of being pulled back into a high ponytail like it was when he first met her, today Sapphire wore it long and it brushed the top of her breasts. He liked how her thick red sweater formed to her body showing off her perky breasts and slender waist. She looked absolutely beautiful.

  “Do you have your part of the list for me?” Brian asked. His plan wouldn’t work if Sapphire had actually done hers like he requested last night. He was crossing his fingers that it had slipped her mind yesterday.

  Sapphire lowered the glass away from her mouth. Brian could tell that she hadn’t done a grocery list from the perplexed look on her pretty face. A tiny frown had formed on her forehead as her eyebrows pulled down over her eyes.

  “I forgot all about that darn list.” Sapphire sighed as she sat her glass down on the table. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll write some things do
wn for you.”

  She reached for the pen and notepad in front of him, but Brian’s hand shot out stopping her from picking them up.

  “I have a better idea.”

  Her eyes looked at his hand on top of hers then back up at his face with one perfect eyebrow arched. “What is it?” she asked, easing her hand away from his.

  “Why don’t we both go into town together?” he suggested. “I mean aren’t two heads better than one and besides, I don’t see why you wouldn’t want to go with me. I’m a fun guy to be around.”

  “I never said that you weren’t,” Sapphire replied. “But I did have other plans this morning.”

  “Oh, what were they?” Brian inquired. Turning around in his chair, Brian crossed his arms across his chest. “Were you planning on hiding away in your room like yesterday? I thought we were going to start over. Is there a reason you don’t want to hang out with me? Let me know now, so I can fix it and move on. We’re going to be here a while with each other and I don’t want us avoiding each other at every turn.”

  Her lips parted in surprise as Sapphire stared blankly at him a few seconds. “I’m not scared of going anywhere with you, Brian. In addition, I wasn’t hiding from you yesterday; I had some personal stuff to take care of. Why do you care anyway?”

  “Prove you aren’t trying to avoid me,” he taunted. “Go to the store with me. I might even let you push the cart if you’re nice to me.”

  The beginning of a smile tipped the corner of Sapphire’s pretty much. “Fine, let me grab my purse and coat. I’ll meet you outside at the car.” Spinning away from him, Sapphire walked out of the kitchen.

  Relaxing more in his chair, Brian watched Sapphire leave as triumph flooded his veins. Yes! He had talked her into going out with him. Not that he was considering it as a date or anything, but Sapphire had an air of calm and self-confidence that he liked and was interested in finding out more about.

  She was on a different level from the females he picked up at the bars. There was a hint of defiance in her tone as well as a subtle dare. For some reason, Sapphire was testing him. Why, he didn’t know, but he was more than ready to take her up on any challenge she might toss in his direction.

  Finishing off the last of his orange juice, Brian got up from his seat and snatched his car keys off the table. If the roads were bad or slick then they would have a better chance getting into town with his SUV.

  ****

  Upstairs in her bedroom, Sapphire grabbed her jacket out of the closet. She couldn’t believe how she allowed Brian to talk to her into leaving the cottage with him to go grocery shopping, but she wasn’t going to let him get the better of her.

  He was so wrong about her hiding from him yesterday. She had things to do up here that didn’t have a thing to do with him. Why was he even up in all of her business in the first place?

  She even proved it to Brian downstairs by agreeing to help him shop for supplies. Maybe the trip would give her more insight into what made him tick. Brian had to be more than a handsome face and fantastic body.

  Since Shauntie seemed pretty fond of Nash’s best friend she would use this time to find out why. Her plans to go ice skating on the pond could wait until she came back from her trip with Brian. It wasn’t like the pond was going to go anywhere.

  Moving away from the closet with her thick fleece jacket in her hand, Sapphire picked up her purse off the bed before she headed out the bedroom door. Who knew, maybe this drive to town with Brian would turn out in her favor? Brian seemed like he was in a very talkative mood, he might reveal more about himself to her.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Care to tell me why you’re out here all by yourself instead of with your boyfriend planning something romantic for ringing in the New Year?”

  Sapphire glanced away from the road and stared at Brian who was watching her from the corner of his eye. She was trying her best not to get lost in how good he smelled inside the truck. Ever since they’d left the cottage all she could think about was running her hand across his hard thighs.

  God, why was she so horny?

  It wasn’t like she was in need of sex, but Brian sure in the hell made it hard for her not to think about it. Why had she decided to take a break from it for a while? Oh yeah, that’s right. Her last couple of boyfriends had fallen asleep before she had a chance to get her own release.

  Losers...they deserved to be tossed to the curb way before she decided to finally do it. Shauntie and even Emerald had warned her about Robert, Nico and even Walker but she’d been too stubborn to listen.

  One look at Brian and Sapphire knew he wouldn’t leave her waiting for anything. He would know how to make a woman feel good. Instead of being tossed to the curb by a woman, Brian probably did most of the tossing himself. Something about him screamed he could be the ‘love them and leave them’ type of guy.

  Sapphire dragged herself away from her inner thoughts. “You know that I could ask you the same question,” she said, clearly surprised that Brian had asked her that question right out of the gate. “You’re a good-looking man. I’m positive you have a girlfriend waiting for you back in town.”

  “Hey, if you don’t want to go first I can do it. I’m not scared of the question,” Brian said. “I’m at a crossroads about my career. I want to take it in a different direction. I wasn’t able to make a clear decision about it at home, so Nash encouraged me to come out here to clear my head.”

  What kind of career change did Brian want to make? If he stopped being a mailman then what were his plans? Sapphire thought about asking the question, but decided it wasn’t any of her business. She wasn’t overly nosy like Emerald and had to know everything about everyone.

  “Really, I thought you were out here hiding from an ex-girlfriend or a current one.”

  Brian took his eyes off the road and caught her eyes with his. “I’m not like that. I would never hide from a woman. If I wasn’t interested in her anymore, I would be up front with her. Why keep stringing someone along? It isn’t fair to me or her. I feel sorry for you if something like that has happened to you, but stop putting me into the same category as one of your ex-boyfriends. I’m not them and I never will be.”

  Brian’s astonishment was obviously genuine and she regretted her jibe at him. “I apologize,” she said. “I don’t know why I said that to you.” She knew why but she wasn’t about to admit it to him.

  Turning off the highway, Brian continued to drive in the direction of the grocery store. “I’m not offended, just astonished you’re so critical of relationships. I mean you didn’t seem like you would be so judgmental to me.”

  Was she really judgmental? No, it wasn’t possible. She always got to know a person before she made any kind of assumption about them. In any case, at least she thought she did. Honestly, Emerald thought she was too easy-going sometimes.

  “I wouldn’t call myself pessimistic, but I will admit to a few bad experiences with guys in my past. What woman hasn’t dated some losers?” Sapphire spoke with as reasonable a voice as she could manage.

  What gave Brian the right to try to get inside her head like this? He was still a guy she barely knew. He better take a step back or she might have to tell him where is fine looking ass could go.

  “I think a man could tell you the same thing. I’ve also dated some women who weren’t completely honest with me or pretended to be into me for other reasons. I think everyone in the world has a case of the ex story. But, I chose not to harbor on it too long. What good will it do for you anyway? The person you’re wasting all of your energy on has moved on and you’re still giving them all of your time. So, did you come out here because of a guy? Did he do something to upset you?”

  “No, I came out here to get some work done,” Sapphire answered.

  She didn’t give Brian anymore than that because she wasn’t sure how he would react to her having a personal blog. Some people weren’t into the internet as much as others and he might think her hobby was too wild for him.r />
  “I thought you were a doctor from when I delivered your mail. Aren’t you a dentist? I didn’t think a dentist would have work to bring home with them especially during the holidays,” Brian said as he turned right at the corner.

  “I shouldn’t have called it work,” Sapphire corrected. “I need time alone to work on my pastime, but I wasn’t getting anything done back at home. There was too much going on around me and I couldn’t think, so Shauntie gave me the keys to the cottage and you know the rest.”

  Sapphire felt at ease talking to Brian. She was by no means blind to his attraction in the close quarters of the truck; however, something in his manner soothed her making it easy for her to open up to him. She never came this close to telling another person about her blog outside of Emerald and Shauntie.

  “Were you able to get anything done with your hobby last night?” Brian asked as he pulled inside of the grocery store parking lot.

  “Why do you want to know?” Sapphire asked. “Do you want someone to talk to tonight? Did you get lonely all by yourself?” she teased as Brian found a parking spot.

  “What if I did get lonely? Are you volunteering to keep me company?” he flirted back, liking the banter between him and Sapphire. “I mean I wouldn’t have minded you next to me on the couch while I watched television. Will you come downstairs tonight or will you still hide out in your room?”

  Brian wasn’t used to a girl coming back at him so quick witted. Most girls found his humor off putting, but it had a different effect on Sapphire because she actually seemed to like it.

  “Let’s see how our trip goes and if you’re good, I’ll think about keeping you company tonight in the family room. However, I get to pick the movie,” Sapphire said.

  Reaching for the door handle, she started to get out but Brian stopped her by touching her on the elbow. She looked over her shoulder and found him watching her intensely.