Hunks: Opposites Attract (6 page)

It was the beautiful black woman dentist from his delivery route and she was holding a can of pepper spray. As Brian stood frozen he watched as her big brown eyes grew huge on her stunning face as she recognized him too.

Her thick black hair was pulled from her face in a loose bun at the back of her long, slender neck; however, a few strands of hairs had escaped and had fallen against her smooth caramel cheek.

Brian dropped his gaze giving his eyes a chance to skim over her body noticing how full her breasts were compared to her narrow waist. She was tall, maybe along five feet six inches, but he liked how her hips and thighs filled out the dark blue jeans that covered her long legs. She was slim but not to the point of being overly skinny.

But what he liked the most was how the corners of her full, tempting mouth turned upwards more than they turned down. The woman in front of him didn’t fit into the mode of any woman in his circle of friends and for some reason that was probably what had drawn him to her in the first place.

Why was she here? How did she even know Nash? Was his buddy cheating on Shauntie and she didn’t know about it? Brian had countless questions racing in his head that he needed answers to and this spunky woman could be the only person who could answer them for him.

“Why don’t you put the can of pepper spray away and tell me why the police are on their way?” Brian questioned in a soft, calm voice. He didn’t want to scare her into spraying either one of them accidentally.

“No. I’m not about to put this can down or answer any of your questions,” she snapped, eyeing him cautiously. “Don’t you dare come any closer to me; I’m not playing with you.”

Brian seriously doubted the woman in front of him who wasn’t anywhere close to his six feet five inches could physically harm him. The only problem that concerned him right now was she told him the police were on their way. Why had the police been called and why was she acting so scared of him? Did she think he was going to hurt her? It wasn’t like they were strangers because he delivered mail to her office six days a week.

“Listen, I’m not going to hurt you.” Brian moved away from the counter and took a small step towards her.

He racked his brain to remember her last name. He knew that she was a dentist in the building, but with the situation going on around him his mind was coming up totally blank.

Brian had to give her credit. Despite the fact she showed recognition in her eyes, she wasn’t letting that keep her from pointing that can of pepper spray directly at his face. He could see in her eyes that she wouldn’t have a problem using it on him.

“Stop right there! I’m not going to warn you again. Stay right there!” She took a step back from him, but didn’t lower the can one inch.

How in the hell did he end up in this position? Nash was the person who pushed him to come out here to get away from all of the uncertainty in his life. Yet, here he was being held hostage by a woman he’d thought about asking out on a date not forty-five minutes ago when he was outside. Brian suddenly realized he would have to think of a different way to make her lower the spray because she wasn’t about to let him get any closer to her and grab it out of her hand.

“Miss...I know that you recognized me when you came through the door just like I knew who you are. We both know that because I deliver mail in your building. I think you’re a dentist. Am I right? Why don’t you tell me what you’re doing here? Maybe we can get this figured out before the police show up.”

“You’re right,” she answered. “You did look familiar to me when I walked through the kitchen door, but that doesn’t matter to me. It still doesn’t explain why you broke into Shauntie’s cottage.”

“You know Shauntie?” Brian couldn’t keep the surprise out of his voice. Nash was cheating on Shauntie with a woman that she knew? He thought his buddy was so in love with Shauntie. Could it all be an act?

“She’s my best friend and unlike you I am invited to be here. This place belongs to her. You broke in and now you’re going to jail.”

“Listen, my name is Brian Terry and I’m friend’s with—” The rest of Brian’s words got cut off by a sudden pounding on the front door.

“Open up, it’s the police!” a male voice demanded.

Realization quickly settled in with Brian about what was going to happen if he didn’t make this woman understand that he wasn’t breaking into this place. He had permission to be here too—from Nash, but she didn’t know it.

“Please, will you just listen to me?” he snapped. Shit! He couldn’t afford to get arrested, not when he was about to start a new business. It would never get off the ground if he had an arrest record.

Hell...no!” the woman shouted before the knock came again but more insistent this time followed by another angry shout.

“Open up! This is the police. This is your last warning!”

“I’m coming,” she shouted shooting him one last look before spinning around and rushing out of the kitchen door.

Damn it! This couldn’t be happening to him.

Brian knew he had to get out of this kitchen and fast or he wouldn’t be able to tell his side of the story. If he didn’t leave now the police would be on him in a matter of seconds. He hadn’t broken into this place because Nash had given him a key. He was an invited guest just like her. Brian took off after Shauntie’s friend hoping to catch up with her before she made it to the door, but he didn’t make it in time.

Just as Brian rounded the corner, he stopped in his tracks and watched in growing horror as the front door was flung open and Chance charged in with his gun drawn. The second Chance’s eyes landed on him, they darted back and forth between him and the woman but he didn’t lower his gun.

“Miss, are you the one who called about an intruder?” Chance asked, staring at him.

“Yes, my name is Sapphire Rhodes and this man broke into this place. Arrest him.” Sapphire spun around and pointed her finger in his direction. “Slap the cuffs on him and take him away.”

“Brian, what is going on here?” Chance asked, sliding his gun back into his holster. “What are you doing out here? Did you break in like Ms. Rhodes is accusing?”

Brian took his eyes off of Chance and focused his attention on Sapphire who was taking a step back from them with complete surprise on her face. He would tell from her perplexed expression that she was wondering how he knew Chance. If she was taken back by Chance knowing him, he wondered how she was going to react to his answer to Chance’s question. “Of course, I didn’t break in here. I wanted something different to do for the New Year’s Eve holiday and Nash suggested that I stay here while he and Shauntie went on vacation. I guess he didn’t know that Shauntie had offered Sapphire the same deal as me. I didn’t have a clue she was already here. So, when she heard me downstairs, I’m assuming she called the police to report an intruder which is why you’re here.”

Chapter Seven

Standing back off to the side of the living room, Sapphire listened in complete disbelief as Brian gave the police officer his side of the story. How in the hell was the man she wanted to ask out on a date, friends with Shauntie’s boyfriend? Why hadn’t Shauntie told her about this? Why hadn’t she or Emerald met either one of these men before now?

Sapphire replayed the conversation she’d had with Shauntie in her head. There was no way her friend didn’t know about this. If Shauntie knew Brian then she had to figure out he was the mailman she had talked about.

God, Brian was friends with Nash and this cop named Chance who was standing right in front of her. The more Sapphire thought about it the madder she got. Shauntie had set her up on purpose. What kind of girlfriend did that to her best friend?

No way in hell was she going to let this slide. Here she thought when she was telling Shauntie about her mystery man that she was clueless to his identity, but she had known all along whom she was talking about. How could she play her like this?

Her mailman Brian was best friends with Nash. From what she was hearing, the two of them were around each other all of the time. So Shauntie had put two and two together and decided to hook her up with Brian at the cottage. For all she knew, Shauntie would have been the one to plant the idea in Nash’s head to send Brian up here.

Wait a minute. Maybe she was blowing this all of out portion and it was actually a coincidence. Could Shauntie have been truly smart enough to get one over on her without her figuring it out?

The thought rolled around in Sapphire’s head. Well, she was going to get to the bottom of this mess before Chance left because she was going to make sure he took Brian with him. This was her only down time and she wasn’t in the mood for a side kick. It didn’t matter one bit to her that he was hotter than Rob Lowe and Johnny Messner combined.

Easing further away from Brian and Chance, Sapphire grabbed her cell phone from her back pocket and punched in Shauntie’s phone number. One thing was for sure, Shauntie better not try to lie to her because she would be able to tell. Her best friend was a lot of things, but a good liar wasn’t one of them. The phone rang four times before Shauntie finally answered.

“Hey Sapphire. How are you enjoying the cottage? Have you gotten settled in?” Shauntie asked.

Sapphire ignored her friend’s questions and jumped right in with a few of her own. “Do you know a guy named Brian Terry?” she demanded.

“Yes, I know Brian. He’s one of Nash’s best friends,” Shauntie answered.

“What about a police officer named Chance?” Sapphire questioned, looking back at the two men who were still standing near the doorway. She still wondered if Shauntie was telling her the entire truth about this.

“Yes, his name is Chance Cutter and he’s also friends with Nash,” Shauntie answered. “Why are you asking me about them? How do you even know about Brian and Chance? You’ve never met either one of them. Every time I try to set up plans for you and Emerald to meet them, something happens and I have to cancel them.”

Sapphire heard the genuine surprise in Shauntie’s voice and a part of her was beginning to think maybe she had hastily jumped to the wrong conclusion. Maybe she shouldn’t have assumed the worst before knowing all of the facts first.

“Let me tell you how I got introduced to Brian and Chance. Brian is here at the cottage with me. I thought he was an intruder and called the police on him. Guess who showed up? Yeah, that’s right Chance did and Nash informed him that he wasn’t an intruder because your boyfriend had given him a key to the place. Nash told him to come up here and unwind for a couple of days. Do you know anything about this?”

“What! You called the cops on Brian, and Chance was the police officer who showed up?” Shauntie laughed. “I can’t believe it. I’ve wanted you to meet Nash’s best buddies but not this way.”

“Are you really telling me that you had nothing to do with this?” Sapphire asked with a tiny bit of doubt in her voice.

“No, I haven’t talk to Nash since he left this morning. I knew he was going to check on Brian because he felt something was going on with him,” Shauntie told her. “But I didn’t have a clue he would send him out there to our cottage. Why are you so upset? Did Brian get arrested?”

The sincerity was loud and clear in her best friend’s voice. She instantly felt bad for thinking Shauntie would be trying to plot something behind her back concerning Brian. Glancing back over to Brian, Sapphire saw the two men talking. They had moved further away from her, so she couldn’t pick up on what they were saying to each other.

“No, I don’t think Chance is going to arrest Brian since he had permission to be here like I did. I’m not going to stay here with him. I’ll just pack up my bags and leave. I’m really glad I caught you before you left on your trip with Nash and we got everything settled.”

“No, don’t leave,” Shauntie jumped in, cutting her off. “Stay there. You know the place is more than big enough for you and Brian. I can vouch for him. He’s a great guy. Brian isn’t going to do anything to you.”

“How did you figure out Brian was the mailman I told you I thought about asking out on a date?” Sapphire wasn’t interested in small talk.

Shauntie gasped on the other end of the phone. “Sapphire, I didn’t have a clue Brian was the guy you told me about. I wouldn’t have ever set you up like that. You should know me better than that. Besides, I’ve wanted the two of you to meet for a while. I still can’t believe he’s the gorgeous mailman you were lusting over. See how things can work out on their own? I couldn’t have planned this better if I tried. You wanted to spend some alone time with Brian and now there you are, all alone in the wilderness with him.”

Sapphire detected more than hint of happiness in Shauntie’s voice. “Are you serious about this?”

“Yes, I’m very serious. You were talking about how you never got the opportunity to ask Brian out on a date. Can you have any better luck than having him tossed into your lap? It’s meant to be.”

Yes, she had thought about asking Brian out for a cup of coffee or maybe even out to lunch. However, what made Shauntie think she would ever think about staying here with a man that she barely knew?

Was her best friend insane
?

“Sorry, Shauntie I’m going to leave. There isn’t any reason for me to stay. Brian is your friend, not mine. I can’t agree to share a place with a man I don’t know at all. I know you wouldn’t do this and neither would Emerald. Honestly, after being here with him I decided he isn’t as attractive as I first thought he was.”

Suddenly, Shauntie burst out laughing and it lasted for a few seconds before she calmed down. Sapphire was torn between hanging up on her friend and staying on the line to find out what Shauntie had found so damn funny about her predicament.

“Girl, you need to stop lying. Brian is drop dead gorgeous with his light brown hair and those gray eyes of his. I love Nash more than anything in the world, but I’m not blind to how attractive Brian is. He was your type a few days ago. What happened to change your mind in such a short period of time?”

“Nothing happened...nothing at all,” Sapphire answered wanting this phone call over so she could go upstairs and pack up her stuff. Shauntie had made her believe the cottage was going to be her secret getaway; however, Brian showed up out of the blue taking over her personal space.