Hunks: Opposites Attract (2 page)

A newly awakened sense of happiness filled Sapphire’s body at the sudden suggestion. Shauntie was so right! She’d loved being out there. Truthfully, she’d hated when she’d had to pack her bags and leave. She hadn’t been that content or relaxed in years.

The cottage would be the ideal location for her to visit and work on her blog while on vacation from her job. She wasn’t going to find a man way out there, but there was a damn good chance she might get her artistic juices back. Sapphire could barely contain her excitement, but it quickly got banked.

The offer was wonderful and very sweet. Shauntie was truly the best friend anyone could ask but she couldn’t take her up on this. She didn’t want to go there when Shauntie hadn’t even spent time there yet with Nash.

“It’s so nice of you to offer but I can’t stay at the cottage,” she answered disappointment clear in her voice. “You should go there first with Nash and enjoy the solitude.”

Shauntie looked around the busy lunch crowd and then leaned in closer to her. “Don’t worry about Nash and me not enjoying ourselves. We find a lot of places inside my house and his to have a good time. I can promise you that we don’t need the cottage right this second.”

Sapphire couldn’t help herself as she burst out laughing. It rang out loudly throughout the crowded restaurant making every single customer’s head turned in their direction before Sapphire covered her mouth with her hand.

“Oh, should I have kept that little tidbit to myself?” Shauntie asked moving back in her seat. “I think you’d like to know that I’m being a little more adventurous. Emerald isn’t the only one who can tell racy stories about her sex life.”

“Girl, you are so bad,” Sapphire answered as she moved her hand away from her mouth. “I don’t need to know those intimate details.”

God, she never knew what Shauntie was going to tell her at any given moment nowadays since Nash came into her friend’s life.

A wide eyed innocent look passed over Shauntie’s beautiful face like she was surprised by her confession. “Sorry,” Shauntie answered. “I thought you wanted to know if Nash and I need the cottage and I thought I would let you know that we didn’t.”

Sapphire knew her friend was only trying to help her out and she appreciated it a lot. She would be crazy not to take her up on her generous offer. She wasn’t getting anything done here.

Why not take a trip away
?

It might just be the thing she needed to get her mind going down the right path. She recalled how her mother raised her that if someone was kind enough to offer you a helping hand tell them ‘Thank You’ and take it.

“How soon do you think I could leave?” Sapphire asked, already envisioning herself sitting at the huge bay window typing away on her laptop.

At the very back of the cabin was a breathtaking pond that, in the spring and summer, had wildflowers growing along the edge. Since the weather was a lot colder now hopefully the pond had already frozen over and she might be able to do a little ice skating while she was there.

Sapphire loved going ice skating at the rink anytime she was lucky enough to get a chance, but lately she’d been so swamped with work and trying to figure out how to change her personal life. She hadn’t even thought about lacing up her skates until now.

A trip back to the cottage would be an amazing way for her to do two things she loved: working on her blog and ice skating. She could light a fire, put on some music and relax with a glass of her favorite wine.

Sure, she would be alone instead of kissing a hot guy like half the world might be doing after the ball dropped, but it honestly didn’t sound like a bad way for her to start off her New Year.

Perhaps this is what she was supposed to be doing instead of being so worried about her single status. Sapphire thought it would be right this time for her to focus on enriching her own life with a stronger self-worth.

“You can leave as soon as you want,” Shauntie replied. “However, I haven’t bought any groceries or supplies for the cottage since we were there. So, I think you should grab some things from the store before you head out on the road. Everything else should be fine once you get there. Are you sure that you’re okay staying way out there by yourself? I can have Nash send Brian or Chance to check on you after a couple of days.”

“Shauntie, I’m not a child. I can handle being out in isolation for a little while,” she replied, insulted that her best friend thought she would be frightened of the woods at night.

Leaning back in her chair, Shauntie held up her hands in mock surrender. “Okay, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have implied that you couldn’t handle being alone. I forget how tough the great Sapphire Rhodes is. Please forgive me.”

“Keep it up and see what you get,” Sapphire laughed. “Are you really happy with Nash?” she asked, changing the subject. “Have you gotten over that he’s related to J.T.?”

Dropping her hand, Shauntie stared at her from across the table. “I have to be honest. At first I thought it was something I wouldn’t be able to see past ever. But when Nash was gone and I thought I’d lost him I missed him like crazy. The separation made me realize how much I truly cared about him. He’s the man I’m in love with.”

“Do you still have a problem with him making less money than you?” Sapphire asked.

“Lack of money isn’t what I think about when I see Nash,” said Shauntie with a smile. “Yes, I might make a little more money than him, but our love for each other surpasses the amount on the check we deposit into the bank. He treats me with respect and love, two things that money can’t buy no matter how hard some people might try to use it for that situation.”

An instant squeezing hurt wrapped its hand around Sapphire’s heart as she listened to Shauntie talk about her relationship with Nash. She was thrilled that her friend had found the love of her life, but there was a touch of envy inside of her. She was still alone.

“What about you?” The question was tossed out there so suddenly that Sapphire was momentarily stunned by the change of topic.

“What do you mean what about me?” she asked confused about what Shauntie wanted to know.

“Wasn’t there a guy you were going to ask out on a date? Did you ever do it? I never heard anymore about him from you.”

She had only brought up the sexy mailman once to Shauntie. Sapphire had forgotten what an excellent memory her girlfriend had. She should have known she wasn’t going to get out of here without being asked a question about a man or her lack of one.

“No, I never asked him out a date,” she replied. “The opportunity never came up and I wasn’t going to force anything. Besides, it would have been a little strange for me to go up to a total stranger and ask him out. “

Shauntie’s eyebrows rose in amazement. “Sapphire, how do you think people get to know each other? Most couples started off being strangers first until one of them gets enough nerve to ask the other person out. Please don’t tell me you didn’t do it because you were scared of getting rejected?”

Unconsciously, Sapphire’s brow furrowed. “No, I’m not scared of rejection. I just decided not to ask him out on a date and there was nothing more to it. So, can we just leave it alone?”

“Sorry. I won’t bring him up again. I didn’t mean to upset you. How about we get out of here? I need to go home and pack for my trip because I won’t be able to do anything when Nash comes over later,” Sapphire teased as she got up from the table.

“God...I don’t want to hear about your sex life when mine is dead and buried,” Sapphire complained as she stood up. “I might as well start looking into adopting multiple cats and find a rocking chair for my front porch.”

“Your sex life isn’t dead nor is it buried. I think it’s on a little vacation for the moment. It will probably be up and running before you know it. All you have to do is find the right man and you’ll be telling me all of your juicy secrets.” Spinning away from her, Shauntie headed toward the front of the restaurant.

Yeah right
, Sapphire thought as she followed Shauntie.

She was more positive there weren’t any juicy secrets in her future to tell anyone especially not Emerald or Shauntie. Hell, Emerald would end up fulfilling her end of the deal before she even got her foot into the door of a new relationship.

Chapter One

“Man, do you have to be in such a good mood all the time since you got involved with Shauntie? You haven’t been dating her that long and you’re already acting like an old married couple,” Brian Terry complained, tossing back bourbon and coke before slamming the glass down on the bar counter.

“How can I not be the happiest man in the world?” Nash Wentworth, his childhood buddy boasted. “I finally got the most flawless woman in the world and I’m planning to ask her to marry me on our trip to New York.”

Brian’s bluish-gray eyes narrowed and hardened as he stared at Nash. “Don’t you think you’re moving a little fast here? You haven’t been dating Shauntie for that long. Yes, she’s gorgeous, but don’t you want to wait a little while longer before you put a ring on her finger? You can’t know everything you need to know about her yet.”

Easing back from him, Nash folded his arms over his chest. “Nothing you can come up with will make me change my mind about asking Shauntie to marry me. I’m in love with her. I loved her before she even knew who I was. My feelings have only grown stronger.”

“Isn’t there anything I can say or do to make you rethink his stupid mistake?” Brian demanded. “I know Chance’ll be on my side with this one. You just aren’t ready to be a married man yet.”

“I’m not going to listen to any of this while you’re nursing this bottle,” Nash said, moving the liquor bottle out of Brian’s reach. “Do you want to tell me why your housekeeper Nina called me over here? I was on my way to Shauntie’s house to help her pack for our trip when I got the phone call. Why are you drinking this early in the afternoon? Is there a reason why you aren’t at work today? I thought you were trying to save up your personal days, so you could take a trip this summer?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Brian got up from his seat and reached for the bourbon, but Nash got to it first.

“Brian, you’ve had enough to drink. Just tell me what’s going on with you. You aren’t much of a drinker, so what made you go into your secret stock and pull this out. Just tell me what’s going on with you. As long as I’ve known you, I don’t
ever
recall you drowning your problems in liquor.”

Leaning back in the chair, Brian ran his hands through his hair and then down his face. Minutes ticked by without any sort of an answer and Nash was beginning to get worried. His buddy wasn’t the kind of man to keep things to himself. Sometimes, he was like an open book to him and Chance.

“I want Shauntie,” Brian mumbled.

“What in the fuck are you talking about?” Nash snapped. He grabbed Brian by the front of his shirt yanking him up from his chair. “Why in the hell do you want my girlfriend?”

Brian wrapped his hand around Nash’s wrist and tried to yank it away from his shirt, but he didn’t let go.

“Nash, you misunderstood me,” he gasped as his buddy’s grip grew tighter.

“How did I misunderstand you? I heard you loud and clear. There’s no way in hell that I’m going to allow you to get near Shauntie again. She’s going to be my fiancée after this trip is over. Do you hear me?”

Struggling against the hard grip on his body, Brian kept pulling until Nash finally decided to let go. “God man... are you trying to kill me?” He coughed a couple of times trying to get oxygen back into his lungs.

“How in the hell do you expect me to react when my best friend tells me he wants my woman?” Nash shouted, shoving him. “Do you think I would take a comment like that lying down? I should be kicking your ass right now.”

Stumbling backwards, Brian grabbed the edge of the table so he wouldn’t fall over onto the floor. “Stop it Nash!” he hollered. “You didn’t let me finish the rest of my sentence before went all crazy and attacked me.”

“Brian, I wasn’t twenty feet from you. Do you expect me to be okay with your comment?” Nash snapped.

“I wasn’t talking about wanting
your
Shauntie. I only meant I wanted a woman like your girlfriend. A female who will be able to see past what I might not be able to give her to the man underneath.”

Brian grabbed the arm of the chair and fell back down into it. He made a mental note to never bring up Nash’s girlfriend unless it was something to do with them as a couple. He didn’t want his buddy trying to kick his ass again over a few misspoken words.

If he ever doubted Nash was in love with Shauntie, he knew that he was now by his reaction. Brian also made a mental note to warn Chance not to bring up Shauntie in conversation either.

“You’ll never have a woman like Shauntie because you’re too worried about what she might think about you. In addition, I don’t think you could handle being with a woman who made more money than you.”

“Nash, you’re so far off the mark.” Brian hated that his friend had figured out a small part of his problem. “I would be able to handle if my girlfriend’s paycheck was bigger than mine. How can you say I can’t handle having less money than my woman?”

“Are you trying to tell me that you asked out that attractive doctor you were interested in? I never heard anymore about her,” Nash asked calling him out on his lie.

“So, what if I didn’t ask her out on a date?” he demanded tired of the way this conversation was headed. “What business is it of yours? There could have been another reason besides her money. Maybe I thought our personalities wouldn’t blend well together. Did you ever think about that?”

Shaking his head, Nash took a seat at the table stretching his long legs out in front of him. “All I’m saying is that you need to think about why you didn’t ask her out on a date? From what little you told me about her, she showed some interest in you. Why do you think she would have turned down an invitation to lunch or for a cup of coffee?”

“Did you feel any kind of apprehension with Shauntie?” Brian asked him. “I mean were you ever nervous she would laugh at you for asking her out on a date?”