Hunks Pulled Over (13 page)

Removing his hand, Chance moved back from her, spun around and went down the steps. Emerald stood at the door watching as Chance got inside of his car, waved at her and then drove off.

She wondered how she had allowed herself to fall back down the same road with Chance. Going back into the house, Emerald shut the door and rested her back against it. She closed her eyes as the reality of her life slowly hit her. The feelings she thought were dead and buried were shooting back to the surface.

She was falling for Chance all over again. How in the hell was she going to stop this from happening? Emerald didn’t know and right at this moment she couldn’t think of anyone to ask for help either. She was stuck between a rock and hard place.

****

Chance drove down the street calling himself a thousand names for what happened back at Emerald’s house. How did he allow things to get so out of control? Everything was going so perfectly and he had to kiss her that one last time. The only thing was that he just couldn’t stop once he got started because she tasted so damn good.

Pulling over to the side of the street a few blocks away from Emerald’s house, he parked his car and tried to figure out a way to fix the mess he made tonight. Slamming his hand against the steering wheel, Chance was worried he wouldn’t be able to make Emerald understand how much he was beginning to care about her; but he would have to make her see his side of things.

He had to do it tonight before she left on her trip tomorrow morning. Chance couldn’t give Emerald another day to think of a new way to shove him back another ten steps from her. Just as Chance was about to restart his car and drive back to Emerald’s house his cell phone went off.

Snatching it up off the passenger seat, Chance frowned at the number on caller-id. What in the world did his sister want? She only called him when she needed him to do something for her. He knew that if he ignored her that Kate would keep calling him, so he answered the phone.

“Kate, what do you want?” he sighed.

“Is that any way to talk to your baby sister?” Kate whined.

“Kate, you’re almost seventeen years old, I think it’s beyond time you stopped with the pouty thing you’re always doing. Just tell me what you want me to do for you.”

“You know the singer Coco?” his sister asked. “Her song ‘
Seven Minutes’
is the hottest song on the radio right now. Well, she’s coming to town next week and she’s singing at this nightclub called
Peppers
, but you can’t get in unless you’re twenty-one without someone older. I want you to take me.”

He wasn’t about to go to any concert with a building packed with screaming teenagers and twenty-something year olds.

“I’m not going to any concert. Why can’t Nicholas take you?” Chance asked.

“Nicholas is an asshole and I wouldn’t ask my brother for a drink of water if I was dying of thirst. He promised to take me to one of her concerts two months ago and took his girlfriend instead Anyway, I was hoping since you were a cop I might get a chance to get closer to the stage.”

“No, I can’t take you. Find someone else.”

“I knew you wouldn’t do it,” Kate snapped. “You’re always saying how much you want to get closer to me, but whenever I want to do something with you, you find a way to back out of it. I really thought I would be able to count on you for this.”

Instantly, Chance felt bad. He was constantly promising himself that he would work on his relationship with his younger siblings, but he did always back out when they wanted to do something he thought was stupid.

What would it hurt if he took Kate to this Coco’s concert
?

He had to admit he did like a couple of her songs. She wasn’t a bad singer and this would give him a way to bond a little more with his little sister.

“Fine, I’ll take you,” Chance said, giving in.

“Thank you! Thank you!” Kate screamed causing Chance to move his phone away from his ear.

“Stop screaming so I can talk to you.”

“I’m sorry,” his sister quickly apologized. “I’m just so excited you’re going to take me. One of my friend’s brother works at the bar, so he can score us free tickets. Thanks again, Chance.”

“You’re welcome. What day is the concert next week?”

“Friday night. It starts at seven o’clock, but I want to get there a little early so I can see her arrive.”

Blowing out a breath, Chance rested his head on his headrest. God, the concert hadn’t even happened yet and he was already worn out thinking about it. Kate was going to drive him up the wall, he could already tell from the sound of her voice.

“Okay. I’ll mark it down on my calendar so I won’t forget,” Chance told her,” but when I’m ready to leave I don’t want to hear one word out of you. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, I understand and you are the best big brother in the entire world,” Kate gushed then hung up on him before he could tell her anything else.

Chance snapped his phone closed and tossed it back down on the passenger seat of his car. Great! Now, he had plans with his irritating little sister while the relationship he was trying to start with Emerald was going downhill fast.

He had to think of something to get Emerald to forgive him for tonight. He wasn’t ready to lose her before he even got a chance to be with her. Starting up his car, Chance pulled away from the curb and headed for his house. After he got home and took a shower maybe an idea or two would come to him.

Chapter Twenty-One

Glancing down at the colorful flyer in her hand filled with pictures of classic cars, Emerald strolled around the car show looking at the Thunderbirds and Corvettes parked around her on the spacious lot.

She still couldn’t believe that the seasonal car show had traveled to this state. She knew when her dad attended them they usually traveled from state to state, but hadn’t been aware it still went on. Her father would love the classic cars from the fifties, sixties and seventies here today. There were even some vintage trucks and pony cars tossed in. Coming on this trip was the best thing for her, since all last night Chance stayed on her mind. She almost overslept because she kept replaying what happened between them over and over in her head.

Chance had worked her body against her front door better than some of her boyfriends had done in her bedroom. She had dated men who were on equal footing as her, but outside of the office they were the biggest losers she ever had the misfortune of going out on a date with.

Emerald figured out a very long time ago that she wasn’t in need of a protector or provider, but someone who wanted to listen to her after a long day at work.

Moving away from the pony cars, Emerald made her way over to the custom vintage ones that her father always wished he could buy, but knew he would catch hell from her mother if he actually brought one home.

Dissatisfaction crushed her at how the judges wouldn’t allow her to take pictures but she was able to grab an extra flyer to send her father. Most of the cars were astonishing; she had never seen so many incredible vehicles in one place in her life.

Walking over to a black Mustang, Emerald glanced through one of the rolled down windows and admired the leather seats. She would love to have one of these if she wanted to spend that kind of money on something that drove this fast.

“Now I know I’ve never seen a more gorgeous sight in my life than a good-looking woman who knows the value of a classic car,” a familiar voice flirted behind her.

A tingling sensation began at the base of her spine and shot its way around the rest of her body. She tried to throttle the searing current racing through her, but she couldn’t as she slowly turned around and found the man who stole her dreams last night standing behind her.

Why was Chance here? Had he followed her
?

“No, I didn’t follow you,” Chance said like he had read her thoughts. “I usually come to this every year with Nash and Brian but they cancelled on me since they had better places to be than here with me. What are you doing here? Is this the trip you were talking about last night?”

Taking a step closer, Chance’s stare was bold and assessed her like he was stripping away each piece of her clothing from her body. Emerald had to fight her overwhelming need not to flash back to the last time she was together with Chance at her house.

God, she’d only been around him for maybe over two weeks but her emotions felt like it was way longer. He was so disturbing to her in every way possible. Each time she saw him the pull was stronger than before.

Getting herself together, Emerald answered Chance’s question. “Yes, I was talking about coming down here. My father used to bring me to them. I loved those times we spent together. I got an extra flyer, so I could send it to him.”

“That’s very sweet of you. I’m sure your dad will love it,” Chance said, touching her on the arm.

“Yes, I’m sure he will.”

“Have you looked at all of the cars already? If so I would love for us to go somewhere and grab something to eat? Would you be up to us spending the rest of the day together?”

It was too easy to get lost in the way he looked at her. How could she tell him no?

“I skipped breakfast this morning, so a late lunch sounds wonderful. How about we grab something at the hotel I’m staying at. I was going to spend the rest of the day looking around some shops and then drive back home first thing in the morning. You’re more than welcome to join me for lunch.”

“Darling, I don’t think I can pass up that offer.” Chance moved his hand off her arm. “Can you give me a few minutes? I need to talk to one of the judges about one of the cars. I’ll meet you at the front of the car show in about ten minutes.”

“Sure, I wanted to look at another car before I leave anyway.” She turned around to leave, but Chance grabbed her arm spinning her back around. He kissed her before she could utter one word. The kiss was swift but fulfilling all the same.

“I’ll see you in a few minutes,” Chance whispered against her swollen mouth then sauntered away leaving her staring at his tight ass in his blue jeans.

She took one final look as Chance headed for the judges then walked over towards the red Corvette at the other side of the car show closest to the entrance. Emerald couldn’t believe how much her day had changed since she woke up this morning and she wasn’t upset about it in the least.

Chapter Twenty-Two

As he walked towards the group of judges checking out a black vintage truck, Chance couldn’t believe his good fortune at finding Emerald here today. Last night after he got home from her house, he checked his emails like he did every night and found one from Greg Hamlet, one of his old college fraternity buddies and a judge at the car show, informing him about today.

For an instant, it had crossed his mind not to come but he was glad he did because he had accidentally run into Emerald. He’d turned around from looking at a car and spotted her four cars over from him. Chance had never been so happy to see a woman in his life.

He sensed she possessed something rare and special which could be the cause of him falling in love with her. Chance suddenly stopped in his tracks as he realized he was...
had
fallen in love with Emerald.

All the times he teased Nash about wanting to be with Shauntie from first glance or how Brian was so stupid for loving Sapphire without really knowing her, he’d gone and fallen victim to the same thing.

Emerald pushed his hunger to know about her because of her indifference towards him at first. He never comprehended until now that he wanted a woman with substance who would give him hints about the amazing treasures that lay deep within her already outstanding personality.

Honestly, for the longest time he thought his parents’ lack of love for him had turned him into a man without the ability to love deeply and completely, but Emerald proved him wrong. She intrigued him enough that he pursued her even when she pushed him away again and again.

God, he didn’t have a clue how Emerald might feel, but one thing was for certain. He wasn’t giving up on having her in his life and finding out why she was so familiar to him.

Feeling as if the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders after his sudden realization about Emerald, Chance continued on to the judges so he could talk with Greg. He was interested in buying one of the cars here and he needed to see if it was even up for sale or just for show.

“Hey Greg, thanks again for telling me about this event,” Chance said, as he stood beside his old friend and patted him on the back. “I would have hated to have missed it with only being two hours away.”

“Chance, it’s good to see that you made it. I wasn’t sure if you would be able to come or not,” Greg said, grinning at him. “How have things been going for you? Are you married? Do you have any little Chance Cutters running around?”

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Chance shook his head. “No, I’m not married but I’m working on getting a new woman in my life,” he said with a slight smile thinking about Emerald and how he wanted her in his life now. “How are
your
wife and kids?” he asked.

“Pretty good,” Greg answered. “My youngest daughter is at cheerleading camp and my oldest is about ready to graduate from college. Can you believe I’m a father of two daughters? I would kill any guy who tried any of the shit with them that we did at that fraternity. I don’t know which one of us slept with more girls our last year of college.”

Chance wasn’t fond of his behavior back then and tried not to think about it as much as he could. He knew he hurt a lot of girls who didn’t deserve it.

“I think it might have been me because I know I had a lot going on back then with my parents. You know how my relationship was with them. We hardly talk at all now. I think the last time I talked to them was the middle of last year and it was something to do with my younger brother.”

“I can’t disagree with you,” Greg said. “You did have a revolving door to your room most weekends. Hey, I wanted to ask you. Weren’t you talking to Emerald Stone before you came over here to see me?”