Hunks Pulled Over (11 page)

Wrapping his arms around Shauntie’s waist, he planted a kiss on the side of her neck. He really wasn’t worried about whether Chance or Emerald got together or not. All he cared about was picking a wedding date, so he could make Shauntie his forever.

“Can we talk about something different? Emerald and Chance are both consenting adults. Whatever they decide to do or don’t decide to do with each other isn’t really any of our business.”

“I can’t believe you don’t care,” Shauntie complained, hitting him on the shoulder. “They are our friends. We should want them as happy as we are.”

“Baby, are you truly happy with me?” A part of him still worried about whether he was good enough for her. Shauntie was a beautiful woman and could do so much better than him. What if he was holding her back?

“Nash, I love you more than words could say. I was lost until you came into my life. Don’t ever doubt how much you mean to me.” Shauntie planted a kiss on his mouth then moved back.

“That’s good to hear because I’m not about to give you up especially after I put that ring on your finger.”

Raising her hand, Shauntie held up the ring and looked at it. “I love my ring and I never plan on taking it off. I only want my girls to find the same thing I have with you.”

“Sweetheart, Brian and Sapphire are in love with each other. I’m pretty sure marriage is in their future. Don’t worry about them.”

“I know.” Shauntie sighed as she lowered her hand. “I guess that I want all of us to be in love and happy.”

“I know you do and your big heart is one of the qualities that I love the most about you,” Nash admitted as he ran his hand up and down Shauntie’s leg. He could never touch her enough.

“Nash, you are so amazing. I can’t wait until I become your wife.”

“If you’re really serious about that I think we should get married on Valentine’s Day.”

“You can’t be serious,” Shauntie gasped, leaning back from him. “That would give me less than three weeks to plan our wedding. I need more time than that.”

“I’m dead serious,” he said, staring at her. “Why don’t you think about it and let me know?”

He would have married Shauntie the day after he proposed, but she wanted more time to plan the wedding of her dreams and Nash wanted to give his fiancée everything she wanted. However, he was losing patience. He didn’t think he could wait much longer to make her his wife.

“I’ll think about it, but I don’t think I’ll change my mind,” Shauntie admitted. “Okay, I love being here with you like this, but I need to get to work.” She got up off his lap and stood next to his chair. “I only stopped by here because I wanted to see you since you were already gone when I woke up this morning. I hate waking up alone in bed now. I miss having your big body next to mine.”

“I saw you sleeping and I didn’t have the heart to wake you up. By the way, don’t fix anything for dinner. I’m going to take you out.”

Nash watched how Shauntie’s face lit up with pleasure. He loved making his woman excited. She was his everything.

“Oh, where are we going?” Shauntie asked, smiling down at him.

He shook his head. “I’m not telling you anything, but wear something sexy. I want to show off my gorgeous woman.”

“Are you sure that you can’t give me one teeny tiny hint before I go?” she pouted.

“Positive. Now get out of here before you distract me more than you already have,” he said then slapped Shauntie on the ass before sliding his chair back underneath his desk.

“Fine, I’m leaving but I want you to know I’m very upset with you for not at least giving me a clue about our plans tonight.” Shauntie spun around and headed for the door.

“Baby, I love you,” he hollered after her.

“Honey, I love you more,” Shauntie told him before walking out of his office.

****

After Nash was sure that Shauntie was gone, he reached for the phone of his desk. He needed to call Brian to see if he knew anything else about Chance going after Emerald. He wouldn’t let Chance’s next conquest be with one of Shauntie’s best friends.

Chance wasn’t going to ruin what he had with Shauntie. Brian would be on board with him. They would put a stop on whatever Chance was up to with Emerald.

If Shauntie came here to talk to him about it then she was concerned too and she shouldn’t be worried about Emerald’s love life. The only thing on her pretty little mind should be thinking was their upcoming wedding.

Chapter Eighteen

Chance was going to show up tonight. Emerald just knew it as she slipped her feet into her favorite pair of comfortable tennis shoes. The idea of not being home had crossed her mind, but why should she run away from her own place? Chance invited himself over, so he would have to deal with whatever way she decided to treat him tonight.

Emerald had thought about calling her mother for some quick advice when she’d gotten home from work, but she didn’t do it. She wasn’t in the mood to hear one of her mother’s pep talks. Something like: ‘
Don’t be afraid to open your heart. Now don’t let him take advantage of you, but don’t hold your emotions so tightly that you’ll miss out on a great guy.’

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?”