Read Hunks Pulled Over Online

Authors: Marie Rochelle

Hunks Pulled Over (10 page)

BOOK: Hunks Pulled Over
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Brushing the tears away from her eyes with the back of her hands, Emerald gathered everything back up and placed it back inside the hope chest. She was done wasting her tears on Chance.

He had stolen enough of them when she was turning eighteen years old. Chance coming back into her life now didn’t matter. They weren’t going to ever be close. If she had to deal with him for the sake of her friends then she would do it, but nothing more would ever develop between them no matter how much he kept pushing her.

 

Chapter Fifteen

 

 

Back at his house, Chance climbed into bed and folded his hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling. He wondered what in the hell went wrong tonight with Emerald. Everything seemed to be going so well while they were dancing and then all of the sudden she just got angry and left him standing there.

Never in his life had he ever had this much trouble getting a woman’s undivided attention. Only for a spilt second did Emerald relax in his arms and the feel of her against him was unbelievable.

Shit, when he first spotted her, wearing that dress, dancing with that other guy, he had never been so jealous in his entire life. Despite the fact he had no right to feel that way, he couldn’t hold it back.

Being around Emerald made him feel good. He wanted to make her experience the same emotions but she was knocking down his advances at every turn. Other women he pursued in the past never found problems with the way he flirted with them.

Yet, Emerald acted like all of his compliments were insults to her. Suddenly, a light went off in Chance’s head. It hit him like a ton of bricks where he was going wrong with Emerald. He was treating her like the other women he had dated and tossed to the side because he never thought about having anything long term with them.

Chance wanted something deeper with Emerald. He knew she was different when he saw her in the medical examiner’s office. He couldn’t get something new if he was using the same old tactics from previous relationships.

Emerald probably already had preconceived notions about him because of Shauntie and Sapphire. Women loved to talk and his way with females must have come up in their conversation more than once.

Brian and Nash had already decided Emerald was too good for him because they took it on their own to lie about knowing her. Why couldn’t they have been honest about knowing Emerald? Another person who might try to keep him from dating Emerald would be Sapphire.

She wasn’t a fan of his anymore after his insults concerning her? Yet, none of them mattered. Emerald was attracted to him. No matter how much she tried to put a fight against him, he knew the truth because he saw the hidden desire in her eyes every time she looked at him.

He just couldn’t help imagining what could truly develop between him and Emerald. Something about her screamed unrealized potential and unexplored possibilities. An irresistible urge to experience them to the fullest pushed him not to give up.

Over the years, Chance had crashed and burned throughout his life. Yes, those times were extremely painful to him, but he rose from every one of them and grew as a person. All of those previous situations had given him the stamina he needed to win over Emerald.

Another reason he felt Emerald could be running from him was every single time they were together some kind of potent exchange happened, sparks flew and it was hard for either one of them to deny a strong link was there.

His attention was captured by it at their first meeting and probably so was Emerald’s despite the fact she might find a way to deny it over and over.

Why couldn’t she see that they might be able to have something special off the powerful emotional connection they shared with each other? Whatever was between them only came around once in a lifetime.

For him to be able to make what he want to happen, Chance decided to stop trying to figure out how he knew Emerald and give all of his attention to the present.

Chance hungered to discover more about what made Emerald tick. She was a very beautiful, unique woman that was making him finally see why Brian and Nash decided to stop going out every Friday night and devote their time to only one special woman.

Emerald didn’t know it, but tomorrow morning she was going to encounter a new Chance. He wasn’t going to let her run from him any longer. She might not be aware of it, but Emerald had given him the slight glimpse about a treasure that was lying deep inside of her character which completely called to his fascination about solving mysteries.

He was going to figure out everything he could about Emerald and in the process win her over until she realized in the end how much he could bring into her life.

 

Chapter Sixteen

 

 

At her job the next morning, Emerald strolled off the elevator trying not to yawn because of her restless night of sleep. She continued on down the hallway, but stopped dead in her tracks when her eyes landed on Chance. The gorgeous man who invaded her dreams last night was leaning against the wall. .

Damn, Chance was persistent! She would give him credit for not knowing how to take no for an answer. Putting on a blank face, Emerald got herself together as fast as she could and went on down the hallway toward him.

She tried not to let her eyes wander over how good he looked this morning in his uniform. She saw why other women probably threw themselves at him. He looked extremely sexy.

What was wrong with her
?

She shouldn’t be thinking about Chance like this. Could she still be feeling the effects of her hot dream about him last night and early this morning? “Good morning, Officer Cutter. How can I help you?” she asked in the best professional voice she could muster up.

Pushing his body away from the wall, Chance’s appreciative stare roamed over the black pencil skirt and white top she was wearing, and then he looked at her in the eye.

“I wanted to apologize to you about how I acted last night at Sapphire’s party. I shouldn’t have come on so strong. Since our friends are getting married pretty soon, I want us to be able to get along with each other for the sake of them.”

Emerald didn’t want any strain between her and Chance either when they were around the other couples. Her past with Chance wasn’t going to change, but she could at least try to be more cordial when she had to be in the same room as him.

It had taken a lot for Chance to come here and apologize to her. She hated to admit it, but she was impressed by his actions.

“I agree with you. We shouldn’t have any animosity between us around our friends and I think mostly it was coming from me. I’ll work on getting better with it.”

“Wonderful,” Chance said as he took a step closer to her, an irresistibly devastating grin spreading across his face making her stomach do flip flops.

God! How was it possible for Chance’s sex appeal to get even stronger over the years?
Emerald wondered.

“So, are we calling a truce?” Chance asked, sticking out his hand for her to shake.

She glanced down at his outstretched hand then reluctantly placed hers inside of it. The instant their skin touched a sizzling spark raced throughout her entire body. It was hot and fast. Emerald’s eyes shot up to Chance’s face looking to see if he felt the same thing and she could tell from how his blue eyes grew a shade darker that he had.

“Yes, I will agree to a truce. I think we both can be in the same room and not want to have the constant tension that is there now.”

“I totally agree with you,” he answered.

Emerald tried to remove her hand, but Chance held on to it and wouldn’t let go.

“I need my hand back.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let it go. I still need to apologize for something else.”

Emerald frowned. What was Chance talking about? He had already apologized to her about what happen at the party. What else was left?

“What do you owe me another apology for?” she questioned.

“You’re about to find out,” Chance answered right before he yanked her to him and kissed her.

The kiss sent the pit of her stomach into a wild swirl. His moist, firm mouth demanded a response as his lips continued to explore hers. His tongue traced the edges of her mouth before slipping inside. Her calm was shattered with the hunger of his kisses. Chance’s mouth left hers to nibble at her earlobe. “Sweetheart, you taste so good. I love kissing you.”

Hearing Chance call her sweetheart was like a bucket of cold water being dumped all over her entire body. Easing her hands between their bodies, she shoved him away from her and took a step back.

“What is wrong with you? Why did you kiss me?” Emerald demanded glaring at Chance. Her body was still on fire. She wasn’t expecting him to kiss her. He had totally surprised her with his actions.

“I’ve wanted to kiss you for a while, so I did it,” Chance confessed, like it wasn’t anything. “Have dinner with me tonight.”

The question was tossed out there so suddenly Emerald just stood there gawking at Chance. He must be out of his mind if he thought she was going to do anything with him.

“No.”

“Why not,” Chance demanded not backing down. “Do you really have a boyfriend? If not, are you seeing someone right now?”

“I’m not involved with anyone, but that doesn’t mean I want to go out on a date with you.”

“Emerald, you’re trying so hard to deny there’s something between us, but you feel the same thing as I do. So, I’m going to help you along,” Chance told her as he walked around her body. “I’ll be at your house around seven o’clock for our first date. Be ready.”

Spinning around, Emerald stared at Chance’s back as he sauntered towards the elevator. “I’m not going anywhere with you” she called after him but he ignored her and continued to get onto the elevator.

How dare Chance think he could tell her what to do? Emerald fumed silently as she opened the door to her workplace and stormed inside.

Taking off her coat, she hung it on the coat rack next to the door. Emerald spotted Dr. David over at his desk working on paperwork left over from the other day. “Good morning, Dr. David,” she said wondering why he was so quiet. Usually she never got a chance to say a word before he was telling her something was wrong.

“Morning, Ms. Stone,” he answered without looking up from his desk. “Did you notice the surprise left on your desk this morning?”

Surprise...what was he talking about?

Turning around, Emerald gasped at the vase of red roses sitting at the side of her desk with a card placed against the front. She didn’t waste any time rushing over there to see who they were from. Picking up the card, she flipped it open.

Emerald
,

Thank you so much for the wonderful dance last night.

I had a great time with you. I can’t wait to see you on our date tonight.

Chance

She tried not to smile, but she couldn’t help it. Chance warned her that he wasn’t going to take no for an answer and this proved he wasn’t. She would have to give him some extra points for this.

“How long have you known Officer Cutter?” Dr. David asked from behind her.

“Not that long,” Emerald replied. Bending over, she took a whiff of the roses. She loved getting flowers, but she never got them a lot from the guys she dated.

“He seems very interested in you. I was surprised when I got here this morning and found him standing in the hallway with the roses.”

Emerald was shocked to find Chance waiting for her too, but she didn’t say anything to her boss about it. He only needed to know so much about her personal life.

“I’m pretty sure he’s only being nice because of the upcoming wedding. Our friends all want us to get along with each other.”

“Anytime a man sends a woman flowers, especially red roses, he’s interested in
more
than a friendship to please their mutual friends,” Dr. David told her.

Her boss might be right, but she wasn’t going any further into this conversation with him. She had to keep things as professional as possible with him. “How about we put Officer Cutter and the flowers to the side?” she suggested. “I still need to finish up the work from last week before I dive into today’s work.”

“Sounds good to me. If you can’t read something I’ve written just let me know. I know sometimes my writing can be pretty bad.”

“All right,” Emerald replied. She picked up the vase of flowers and placed them out of the way because if she didn’t she would be staring at them for the rest of the day.

Last night, she was totally against the idea of Chance being anywhere around her but after the killer kiss they shared in the hallway and the roses waiting for her, she was rethinking her rush to judgment about him.

People could change. Why not him?

 

Chapter Seventeen

 

 

“Do you have any clue what’s going on between Emerald and Chance? I saw the two of them dancing awful close last night at our engagement party.”

Looking up from the work orders on his desk. Nash found his beautiful fiancée standing in the doorway of his office. This morning when he left her house Shauntie was still asleep in bed. She looked so peaceful that he hated the thought of waking her up, so he left her a note on the nightstand instead before taking off for work.

“No, I don’t,” he answered. “Chance did ask me and Brian did we know her, but Brian lied and told him we didn’t. I think he was still upset over the stuff Chance implied about Sapphire.”

“I think Chance likes her,” Shauntie said, walking into his office and closing the door behind her. “I hope they get together. They would make a good-looking couple and then both of my girlfriends would be in great relationships.”

“Do you really believe Chance wouldn’t get bored after a few weeks with Emerald and move on to someone else?”

Shauntie came around his desk and took a seat on his lap. “You’ve met Emerald. Do you think there’s one single thing boring about her?”

BOOK: Hunks Pulled Over
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