Hunks Pulled Over (5 page)

Hell, if he wasn’t interested in devoting all or nothing then it was a waste of his time to even think about doing it. Privately, Chance wondered if his need to have such a tunnel vision view on everything pushed his desire for stability.

Since he lacked deep roots from his parents along with their lack of guidance, Chance searched for it in other ways when he was growing up especially by dating woman after woman. None of them wanted to plant any deep seeds or roots with him and that was just fine with him back then. All they were searching for was the same good time like he was.

Losing those types of females wasn’t important to him. However, as with any other aspect in his life, he found change very unsettling and Chance worked extremely hard to control matters as much as he could. He hated when things showed up out-of-the-blue and surprised him.

Which is why the sudden appearance of Emerald was throwing him off; she wasn’t what he had been expecting as Dr. David’s assistant. Something about her spoke of unexplored possibilities.

How could he just let all of that go without diving in deeper
?

The second Emerald turned and looked at him, Chance felt this irresistible urge to explore every single inch of her smooth body. He already pushed her buttons once, so why couldn’t he do it again and make it work in his favor?

Chapter Six

Standing outside on her front porch, Emerald fumbled twice trying to unlock her front door before it finally took pity on her and opened on the third try. Going inside, she touched the light switch on the wall, closed the door behind her and locked it.

Emerald headed straight for the kitchen trying to erase the memory of tonight from her mind, but Chance’s gorgeous face was still there lingering inside her head. How in the hell had he ended up in the same town as her? The last time she’d heard about Chance ‘The Touchdown King’ Cutter he was still living in Connecticut miles and miles away from her.

Storming up to the cabinet, she yanked it open and grabbed a wine glass from the middle shelf. Usually after a long day at work, she had a cup of green tea to relax her body but today turned out to be more than just a lengthy day. Hell, she was brought face to face with an unwanted visitor and the memory of their past together.

Moving away from the cabinet, Emerald went to the refrigerator. She opened it and grabbed a half full bottle of red wine off the top shelf. Tonight, green tea wasn’t going to be powerful enough to soothe her racing nerves or pounding headache. No! Something a hell of a lot stronger was in need to help her out. Pouring herself a large glass, Emerald placed the bottle down on the island then strolled back into the living room. She kicked off her high heels and stretched out on the couch.

Emerald took a sip of her favorite wine, closed her eyes and hoped the alcohol would kick in pretty fast. She still couldn’t get over the fact Chance Cutter was back.

Why couldn’t he have been about a hundred pounds overweight with a balding spot the size of Texas on his head? But, that wasn’t the case at all; he was still too good-looking for words.

His blue eyes still made her traitorous heart skip a beat and her panties wet. Chance still carried himself with that commanding air of self-confidence she used to love and hate all at the same time.

God, why didn’t she say something instead of staring at how perfectly his police uniform fit his tall and lean body? The rich outlines of his wide shoulders strained against the dark blue fabric.

No...no...no.

Emerald wasn’t going to do this to herself again. Not ever again!

Anyways, she couldn’t have Chance anywhere on her mind because she still had to deal with the Adonis situation. She had a bad feeling that if she didn’t end things between them soon Adonis was about to move them to the next step and she wasn’t wearing a life vest to jump off the moving boat speeding across the water of their relationship.

Opening her eyes, Emerald took another sip of her wine wondering how much longer she could keep Adonis off the topic of them moving in together. The more he pushed the topic she found even more creative ways to avoid it, but something had to give. They couldn’t keep running around in circles like this.

Her eyes glanced down at the cordless phone lying on the table. She debated on whether or not to call Adonis and invite him over to talk. Emerald looked up at the clock on the living room wall and noticed how late it was.

If she called Adonis at this time of night, he wouldn’t think she would be actually getting in touch with him only to talk. So, she quickly changed her mind. Instead, she would invite him out to lunch tomorrow and break things off with him then with other people around since he had a bad habit of not wanting to take no for an answer. Having him out around other people would make it better for her.

Shauntie and Sapphire finding true love and happiness made Emerald take notice of her less than appealing love life. Did she truly know the real reason she accepted that first dinner date from Adonis? Was it because she hated the idea of being alone? Had she gone out with him because Adonis had been the first man to ask her out in months since she thought of the hunks challenge?

Shauntie hated it and totally refused to get involved, but she ended up with a sexy as hell fiancée. In addition, Sapphire found Brian who was as equally good-looking as Nash.

Currently, here she was all alone sitting on her couch drinking a glass of wine thinking about her girlfriends’ good fortune. Were her standards too high when it came to the opposite sex?

Emerald sat her half-empty glass down on the table. She needed someone to talk to and there was only one person she could think of calling about her predicament. She dialed the number and waited.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” her mother asked, concerned.

“Mama, how do you know something is wrong?” Emerald questioned.

“You only call me this late when something is bothering you. So, tell me what it is.”

She loved how her mother always got to the point. She never was a fan of beating around the bush. Her mother’s favorite motto was ‘Direct is best.’

“Do you think my standards are too high when it comes to men?”

“Yes,” her mother answered as soon as the question was out of her mouth.

“Mama...”

“What? You asked me a question and I gave you an honest answer,” her mother pointed out to her. “You’re also more than a little guarded. Honey, how do you ever expect to find a good man and settle down if you don’t let him in?”

“There aren’t any good men left,” Emerald mumbled under her breath.

“Emerald, you can’t say that because you get rid of all of your boyfriends before you allow them to prove themselves to you.”

She wanted to disagree with her mother, but Emerald knew she couldn’t. She did leave guys pretty suddenly without any fair warning to them.

“Emerald, what’s brought this on? I thought you told me a few days ago that you were seeing a nice guy. Did something happen with him?”

The concern in her mother’s voice touched her. No matter what was going on in her mother’s life she was always there for her daughter giving her a shoulder to cry on.

“Do you remember my girlfriends Shauntie and Sapphire?”

Her mother had a steel trap mind, so there was no way she had forgotten them.

“Of course, I do. Didn’t you take a trip to Shauntie’s cottage one time for a mini vacation?”

“Yes, I did. Well, she’s getting married and Sapphire is in a committed relationship with a great guy named Brian. I think she’ll end up marrying him in the very near future.”

“Oh, I see what the problem is now. You’re feeling like the squeaky wheel on the bus.”

Squeaky wheel on the bus,
Emerald wondered what in the hell her mother was comparing her to now.

“Mama what are you talking about?”

“Everyone knows that the squeaky wheel on the bus gets the most attention. Since you’re the single one in your trio of marriage-bound friends you’ll stick out more making them want to help you find a boyfriend and eventually a husband.” Had her life gotten so bad that her own mother was comparing her to an old wheel?
Lord, help her.

“Listen mama, I really need to go, but I’ll take your advice to heart. I’ll think about giving any new guy that comes into my life a better chance. How does that sound to you?”

“Sweetheart, I love you and all I want for you is to truly be happy even if that means you won’t have a husband and a family.”

A smile pulled at the corner of Emerald’s mouth as she listened to her mother. She loved her girls dearly but sometimes a woman just needed to hear her mother’s words of wisdom.

“I know you do and I want the same thing myself,” Emerald confessed.

“Why don’t you come down for a visit and stay for a couple of days? I know with the way you work you should have enough vacation time saved up.”

The thought of a vacation sounded wonderful but she couldn’t do it right now because her job was so hectic.

“I’ll think about it, but I need to get off the phone. I’m getting tired and I’m supposed to meet Sapphire and Shauntie for breakfast in the morning. We planned this a week ago, so I can’t miss it.”

“Okay, but you call me if you need me again. I’ll tell your dad that you called.”

“Where is daddy anyway?” Emerald asked.

“He’s probably downstairs asleep in front of the television. I need to go and get him. You know how his back gets if he stays in that chair for too long.”

Emerald laughed. “I know. I love you, bye.”

“I love you too, bye baby,” her mother said before hanging up.

Pressing the off button on the phone, Emerald laid it back on the table and then got up. She was going to take a quick shower and then head off to bed. Hopefully, the hot water would be enough to wash away the memory of Chance reappearing in her life tonight.

Chapter Seven

“Good morning, Emerald.”

Emerald stopped labeling the newest specimens bags as the voice she least wanted to hear this morning spoke behind her. Today, she actually wished for Dr. David’s bothersome conversation or unwanted dinner invitation instead of him.

He was the reason that she couldn’t get any sleep after she got off the phone with her mother or even enjoy her breakfast with her girlfriends this morning.

“Morning, Officer Cutter,” she answered as she laid the sharpie marker down on the table next to her.

Spinning around in her chair, Emerald barely stopped her jaw from dropping at the sight of Chance in street clothes. His body looked
damn
good in his uniform, but
nothing
like it did right now in his street clothes. Chance was a very handsome man and sadly he knew it.

The shirt Chance was wearing stretched across his wide chest displaying his flat touchable abs to perfection. He had tucked the material inside a pair of tight jeans, the legs pulled over a pair of black cowboy boots. He was going for the ultra-sexy, bad boy look and achieved it with flying colors in her book. She couldn’t let him know how good she thought he looked.

He’d come back here for a reason and telling her good morning wasn’t it.

Instantly, panic set in Emerald’s body making her heart jump. She quickly folded her hands together and placed them in her lap while she silently counted to ten until she got herself back under some semblance of control.

“What can I do for you this morning?” Emerald asked in what she hoped was a steady voice.

Chance’s brows moved a little as she continued to stare at him and waited for him to continue. “I wanted to stop by and tell you again how well you handled the Hamiltons last night especially Mrs. Hamilton.”

The unwelcome tension taking hold of Emerald’s body slowly evaporated. He wasn’t here to talk about their past connection. She could
handle
this.

“Thank you. How did things go with them after you drove them back home?” Emerald inquired. She was still concerned about Mrs. Hamilton’s mental state.

“Mrs. Hamilton went straight to bed and I told Mr. Hamilton if he needed anything at all to call me. I felt so bad for them,” Chance told her.

“I did too. Rex’s mother almost had me in tears,” she confessed. “Was there something else I can do for you, officer?”

“Yes.” Chance slid his hands in the front pockets of his jeans and walked closer to her until he was standing about ten feet away. “I was wondering if you would like to have lunch with me,” he said, shocking her. “I still can’t shake this feeling that we know each other.”

Emerald barely caught herself before she almost fell off the small rolling stool she was sitting on. What was Chance thinking? They couldn’t go out on a date with each other.

“I’m sorry. I can’t go out with you.” Getting up from her seat, Emerald picked up the plastic bags and carried them back over to Dr. David’s work space. He was coming in later on in the afternoon, so she came in early to get everything set up for him.

“Why not?” Chance questioned, following behind her.

“I told you before that I don’t think we know each other, besides my boyfriend wouldn’t like me having lunch with you.”

Good going
, her mind taunted.
Use Adonis one last time before you dump him later on today at lunch. Your mother would be so proud of you.

Pivoting, Emerald gasped as her breasts brushed against Chance’s hard chest. She knew he had followed her, but she had no clue he was so close behind. Talk about too close for comfort.

“I think it’s a very good idea, besides, I’m not asking your boyfriend out on a date.”

Emerald’s light brown eyes narrowed and hardened at Chance and his arrogance. “Are you saying that you don’t care I’m seeing someone?”

Of course, Chance only cared about himself. She should have remembered that fact about him. It is what made his world go around.

“I don’t think you really have a boyfriend,” Chance told her as he took a step back.

She thought she detected a hint of laughter in his eyes. God, this man had some nerve to be calling her a liar.