Hunks: Opposites Attract (3 page)

“Not at all,” Nash replied, honestly. “I knew that I already had feelings for Shauntie. My only problem was how to get her to see me and what might happen when she found out the truth about J.T. However, I got lucky. Shauntie was amazing enough to forgive me about my cousin.”

“I hate to admit it but you’re right. I should have asked her out but now I can’t because of the holiday break, but I’ll do it as soon as I go back to work. So, tell me about this trip you’re taking Shauntie on. Does she have any clue that you’ll pop the question?”

Grinning from ear to ear, Nash shook his head. “She doesn’t have a clue. I got some help from her two best friends about the ring she might like. I swore both of them to secrecy, so I’m crossing my fingers they’ll keep their words. When are you going to get some free time so I can introduce you to Shauntie’s friends? She’s met mine and I want my buddies to meet hers.”

“Every time I’m ready to meet them, Chance backs out at the very last minute. I don’t want to do it by myself and get the third degree from two women I don’t know. Chance has to be there with me. He’s better with comebacks then I am and we both know it.”

His expression stilled and grew serious. “You’re right. Chance isn’t sticking to his word. How about Shauntie and I pick out a day and then get back with you and Chance? I’ll make sure Chance doesn’t find a way to back out on us. I wonder why he’s doing it anyway,” Nash questioned.

“Chance thinks you’re going to try to fix him up with one of Shauntie’s friends. He isn’t interested in being fixed up when he doesn’t have a problem finding his own women,” Brian told him.

“I’ve never tried to fix up Chance before, so why is he so worried I’ll do it now? I don’t care who he’s dating. It’s his life and he can run it any way he wants. God, he should know me better than that by now. Enough about Chance,” Nash said. “I came here to see you. Tell me, are you going to do anything special since you turned down my invitation to go on the trip with me and Shauntie?”

“No, I’ll probably just stay at home and watch the ball drop on television,” Brian admitted. “Chance is going out with some new girl he met while at a convenience store. You know how much women love Chance in his police uniform.”

“Yeah, I’ve been around a few times when Chance’s uniform has gotten him some phone numbers. He doesn’t have to do much to draw their attention. I can’t blame him for calling them. He’s single and isn’t interested in anything serious.

“Brian, you need to do more than sit at home on New Year Eve’s. How about you get away for a few days and relax?” Nash suggested. “I know you’ve wanted to do something like that for a while. A mini vacation will do you some good. It will give you time to think about how you’re going to ask that woman you wouldn’t tell me about.”

Brian loved Nash’s idea, but there was only one little problem with it. Where in the hell was he going to go at this short notice? All the places he thought about were probably already booked weeks or even months ahead of time.

“I love you have this big plan for me, but do you also have the just the right place for me to take this sabbatical of yours? I mean it might be kind of hard to find anywhere to stay at such short notice,” Brian pointed out.

“Well...I... I hadn’t thought that far in advance,” Nash admitted, “but I’m sure I can come up with something. Just give me a minute to think about it.”

“Sure,” Brian laughed, but without humor. “I can give you two hours and you still wouldn’t be able to think of a nice, quiet location for me to relax over the New Year’s Eve holiday. Thanks again for your suggestion, but I’m going to stick with what I had in mind at first.”

For a long moment, Nash looked back at him and Brian wondered what was going on inside of his head. He watched as the different thoughts reflected across his friend’s face, but none of them were a clue to what Nash was thinking about or even if he would let him in on it.

“I have it!” Nash shouted, grinning at him. “I know where I can send you. This is just the spot you need to be and I know you will enjoy it.”

Brian was curious about where Nash wanted to ship him off to after he saw the changes on his face. “Well, are you going to tell me or do I have to play twenty questions with you?”

“You can stay at Shauntie’s cottage. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before now. Here let me give you the key.” Reaching into his pocket, Nash dug out his keys and then took off the key ring Shauntie had given to him.

He tossed it on the table in front of Brian. “It’s very secluded and you can stay there until the New Year. I know Shauntie won’t care at all.”

Picking up the key, Brian gave Nash a long glance of utter disbelief. He was stunned by his friend’s generosity that he didn’t know what to say. “Are you sure about this,” he asked, twirling the key between two of his fingers. “Don’t you think that you should ask Shauntie about this first?” His excitement might be short lived if Shauntie pulled the rug from underneath both of them about the cottage. He didn’t want to be what caused a fight between Nash and Shauntie.

“Go upstairs and start getting packed. Shauntie won’t care at all. She told me she never goes to the cottage during cold weather and since it’s empty why not let you get some enjoyment out of it? Are you going to think of another way to turn down my offer?”

Brian held the key up and then glanced back over at Nash. This was the best idea his buddy could have come up with at a moment’s notice. He wasn’t stupid and only a dumb man would turn this down.

“I think I’m going on a little trip,” Brian answered as his hand closed around the key ring.

“Great! I know you’re going to find everything you need at the cottage. From the way, Shauntie talks about the area, it’s a dream come true for anyone who loves the wilderness.”

“Sounds like it’ll be just what I’ve been waiting for.” Brian was more than excited. He was still at the idea of being alone the next couple of days. The time alone with give him another chance to think about if he should go along with the career change he was thinking about.

The cottage might end up being the answer to all of his problems.

Chapter Two

“Shauntie, will you stop worrying about me so much because I know what I’m doing.”” Sapphire held the cell phone to her ear with one hand while she pulled up the cottage and parked. “I told you when I called you from the gas station that I could find this place again. I’m excellent when it comes to direction.”

Turning off the car, Sapphire stared out the windshield at the light powdering of snow on the ground and on the cottage’s roof. The whiteness of the fresh untouched snow on the porch contrasted with the dark blue siding drawing her eyes to the white rocking chair on the wrap-around porch. The image could have been placed in a Hallmark movie about a city woman going back to her country roots.

Everything about Shauntie’s picturesque little cottage brought a smile to Sapphire’s face. She loved being here with the peace and quiet surrounding her.

What more could she ask for
?

“Sapphire, are you still there?” Shauntie asked, drawing her out of her hypnotic state.

Well, that lasted about five seconds. She wasn’t going to get any peace until she gave Shauntie what she wanted.

Sighing into the phone, Sapphire answered her overprotective best friend. “Yes, I’m still here. I was just getting lost in how beautiful the cottage looks this time of year. Remember when we came here it was the middle of summer. The place looks totally amazing with the snow covering the ground. You really should have come here with Nash. It’s very romantic.”

“I’m not about to give up on a trip to New York to see some snow on the ground and maybe a deer or two in the forest. You make it sound like something out of a Disney movie and I’ve never considered myself Snow White. No, you can have the place all to yourself. I’ll tell Nash all about it when he gets back home. He went to check on Brian and then he was going shopping for our trip. We’re trying to get everything taken care of today before our flight.”

“I still can’t believe you fell in love with Nash and now you’re going out of town with him. Wasn’t I the one who took the challenge with Emerald about finding a man before my favorite holiday?” Sapphire said. “You hated the idea and vowed not to get involved at all; however, you were the one who did it in a matter of weeks. Do you have some kind of magical powers I don’t know about? Care to share some of it with me?” Sapphire teased, as she grabbed her purse out of the passenger seat.

“Come on. You already know that Nash did most of the work in our relationship.” Shauntie pointed out trying to make her feel better. Yet, both of them knew Emerald would set her sights on someone guy and win him over. There wasn’t a man in the world that Emerald couldn’t charm with her personality and smile. “I wouldn’t have gone to the lengths he did to win me over. I couldn’t ask for a better man. But you shouldn’t give up. New Year’s Eve isn’t here yet. You might end up accomplishing what you set out to do. Don’t forget that Emerald hasn’t found her hunky man yet either,”

Looking around the woods which surrounded the cottage, Sapphire
seriously
doubted that her dream man was going to walk out of the forest. This wasn’t a romance novel, but real life she was living in. Men just didn’t appear out of thin air when a woman was searching for her Mr. Right.

Hell... there wasn’t even a Forest Ranger anywhere around here. She loved that Shauntie had such faith in her abilities to make a man come to her before New Year’s Eve, but she lived in reality which meant she knew it wasn’t going to happen.

“Okay...you believe that nonsense, but I’m about to head into the cottage and start a fire. After I’m finished unpacking I’m going to relax in front of it with a nice cup of hot chocolate.”

“Don’t give up. You really never know what could happen.”

Opening the car door, Sapphire got out slamming the car door behind her. She loved how the snow crunched under the heels of her boots. “I’ll try to call you back later on after I’m finished. How long will you and Nash be up? I don’t want to interrupt anything,” she teased.

“Call as late as you want,” Shauntie told her. “I’m still deciding what to pack and anyways it’s only like a little after two o’clock here. I still can’t believe you got there so fast. The last time I drove there it took me at least four hours.”

“I told you I’m very good with directions and I took some back roads to get off the main highway to cut down on time. So, I’m going to let you go and I’ll call you back about seven o’clock. Cross your fingers that I’ll be able to get something down for my blog.”

“I wish you luck on your blog. Just don’t talk about me too much. I know you can get carried away with it sometimes; but most of all, I just want you to relax and stop worrying so much. You already have an amazing career which means the rest of your life should be easy.”

“Shauntie, I know I do, but sometimes I wish I still had a little more.”

“I’m not blind I can tell you’re lonely and there’s nothing wrong with wanting a man in your life. Good luck again with your blog and have some fun while you’re out there,” Shauntie told her before hanging up.

Pressing the end button on her phone, Sapphire tossed it back into her purse and took a few seconds breathing in the fresh clear air. She listened as birds rustled around in the trees and other animals moved around in the thick forest away from her. How could anyone not find the surroundings beautiful? If anything could jump start her writing skills, it would be here.

At first, she was a nervous about being out here by herself; however, now that she was here she knew keeping her inner fear to herself was a good thing because Shauntie would have changed her plans and found a way to come with her.

She loved her best friend dearly and would do anything in the world for her, but now wasn’t the time she wanted or needed a sidekick to help her get through her problems. .

Secretly, Sapphire hoped she didn’t get caught in the beauty of being out of the city and end up not having one idea for her blog. She wanted to get inspiration from her solitude and not get ruined by it.

Hopefully, she would be able keep her word to Shauntie and tonight her fingers would be dancing across the keyboard working on a new creative topic for her loyal followers of
Sapphire’s World.

Moving away from the car, she strolled around the back then unlocked the trunk. Sapphire grabbed everything she needed out of it before slamming it shut. Placing her suitcase on the ground, she pulled it behind her while carrying her bags of groceries with her other hand grateful Shauntie had told her about grabbing food before coming out here. She wasn’t planning on going back into town until it was time for her to leave.

Going up the front steps of the cottage, Sapphire stopped on the porch and placed the groceries next to her luggage before digging the front door keys out of her purse. She slipped the key into the lock, turned it and then pushed the door open. Spinning around, she picked up all of her items.

Once inside, Sapphire kicked the door closed with her foot. She stopped in her tracks as she got lost in the tranquility of being back at the cottage. Everything was just as she remembered from the first time she came here and a part of her loved that Shauntie hadn’t changed the homey decorating.

The dark brown sectional sofa with the floral design was still positioned towards the back of the room a few inches in front of the huge bay window that overlooked the frozen pond. Off to the left side of the window was a medium sized built-in bookshelves filled with a huge collection of books. Another matching shelf was on the right side to accommodate more storage needs.

Three light russet lamps were strategically placed at both ends of the sofa on top of two end tables with the third one at the side of the bookcase. Hanging on the far wall behind the couch was a long mirror giving the room a bigger feel than normally would be in the space.

Directly in front of the living room table was a closet-style storage unit that was concealed behind standard louvered doors hiding a 27-inch television. Other electrical goodies like a home entertainment system were placed there too just in case someone wanted to listen to music.