Hunks Pulled Over (2 page)

“Really,” Chance taunted, a cocky grin spread across his face as he unfolded his arms. “If your trust in her is so great, why is she still your girlfriend and not your fiancée? Let me tell you why. You don’t trust her as much as you tell everyone you do. In addition, no man in his right mind would ever marry a woman who’s a liar. He wouldn’t be able to trust her.

“No matter how hot she is and how out of the world the bedroom sex might be each and every night, deep down you know that I’m telling you the truth. Yet, you’re just too caught up in the newness of the relationship to admit it to yourself or even us for that matter.”

“You son of a bitch,” Brian shouted as he lunged out of his seat reaching for Chance’s shirt.

Chance jumped up from his bar stool smirking as Nash stepped between him and Brian. He never doubted for a moment that Nash wouldn’t stop any physical contact from happening between him and Brian. Nash was a good guy which meant he constantly stepped in at the last minute to smooth things over when situations got out of hand with people.

“Brian, don’t let Chance push your buttons. We both know what an arrogant asshole he can be sometimes. He loves getting under people’s skin and tonight was your night.”

“Hey! Don’t forget that I’m right here and I can hear you,” Chance snapped behind Nash. “I was only speaking the truth. Shauntie isn’t as untrustworthy as Sapphire and all of us know it. What other reason would be keeping Brian here from popping the question?”

Turning away from Brian, Nash glared at him, his green eyes turning hard as jade. The intensity of the look on Nash’s face almost made Chance take a step back but he held his ground.

“I love Shauntie. I couldn’t imagine another woman making me as happy as she does. She’s the female I want at my side when I go to bed at night and wake up in the morning. From the second I laid eyes on Shauntie, I knew she was meant to be with me. Unlike you, Brian and I want a family with a house full of kids. We like the silly idea of coming home to the same woman every night asking about how her day went at work. So, why don’t you take your smart ass opinions and leave, before I forget you’re my friend as well as a cop and punch the hell out of you.” Nash’s threat was very loud and clear.

Fuck! This isn’t how he thought the night would turn out.

Chance knew he’d gone too far. He would have to give Nash and Brian both some breathing room to cool off before he gave them apology. If he did it right now, neither one of his buddies would think it was sincere.

Holding up his hands, Chance took a step back to defuse the situation before it blew up any more than it already was. “Fine, I’m leaving. I’m due at work in a couple of hours anyway. I need to go home and change clothes. Don’t have too much fun without me.”

“I’m positive we’re going to have a damn good time once your ass is gone,” Brian shouted at him.

Spinning around, Chance walked through the crowd making his way towards the exit sign at the front of the bar. He felt Nash’s as well as Brian’s eyes following him as he left for the night. He knew both of them were in all probability wondering what his fucking problem was and it would help if he actually knew himself.

It might make his nasty attitude a lot easier to fix, but for now Chance would keep his anger at his best friends’ happiness to himself.

Chapter Two

“Are you sure you can’t join us for drinks later at my house?” Shauntie talked on her cell phone to her friend Emerald Stone. “I have bridal magazines spread all over the place and I want to show you and Sapphire the wedding dress I want to wear.”

Emerald pulled her car into her assigned spot at the medical examiner’s parking lot and turned it off. She was thrilled her best friend was engaged and planning her upcoming wedding to Nash, but she wasn’t in the mood to look at wedding gowns.

Come on. Admit that you’re so jealous about how fast Shauntie and Sapphire found their sexy hunks, but your search for yours has turned ice cold.

Knocking the ridiculous thought out of her mind, Emerald focused her attention back on Shauntie and the enthusiasm in her girlfriend’s voice. She never thought Shauntie would be this cheerful again after her break up with J.T. and the constant losers that seemed to roll in and out of her best friend’s life.

“I really wish I could Shauntie, but I got called into work at the last minute. I just pulled into the parking lot. As you know, I could be here most of the night and well into the morning,” she said. ““Why don’t you and Sapphire have fun without me? I’ll come by later on in the week. You can show me everything then. I know whatever dress you decide to wear will look amazing on you,” Emerald said. “You have such a killer body which means it’s so easy for you to wear anything you want.”

Shauntie’s laughter rang out on the other end of the phone at her comment. “Don’t try throwing compliments in my direction to make up for you backing out on me tonight. I’m going to hold you to that rain check. Please don’t work to hard and remember to keep enough distance between you and your touchy-feely boss. I swear that guy has
never
met a woman he didn’t like.”

Emerald couldn’t help the sigh that left her mouth at the mention of her boss, Doctor Martin David. He’d asked her out on more than one date, but she turned him down every time. He just wasn’t her type at all, but Martin couldn’t seem to get it through his head. He never went too far with her, but he just always found a way to get on her last nerve.

“How about we not talk about my boss?” Emerald suggested already hating the idea of going into work and running into him. “You know how I feel about that man.”

“Oh, come on. Just think, you could play doctor with him and he would know where every single one of your body parts is located,” Shauntie teased her.

“You aren’t funny,” Emerald tossed back. She swallowed hard at the mere suggestion of having to play doctor with her boss. God, it was a sickening thought and one she didn’t want crossing her mind again –
ever
!

“Okay, I’m sorry,” Shauntie quickly apologized as her laughter went away. “I just couldn’t help it. So, I’m going to let you get to work. If you don’t get off work too late give me a call.”

“Are you sure about me calling you?” Emerald asked, reaching for her purse on the passenger seat. “I’m positive Nash will be at your house by then. I know he isn’t going to want you talking to me or anyone else on the phone. You know how much he loves his alone time with you.”

Emerald heard Shauntie searching through papers in the background. “You’re right about that; however, Nash is staying at his house tonight because he has an early morning appointment. So, I’ll be here alone once Sapphire leaves. Just call me, alright?”

“I’ll try my best if I’m not too worn out, “Emerald promised. “Sometimes, I think I’ll get off early and these cases end up going well into the next morning.”

“Bye Emerald,” Shauntie said.

“Bye girl,” Emerald answered and closed the phone tossing it back into her purse.

Getting out of the car, Emerald shut the door and then set her car alarm before heading towards the entrance. Her boss did get on her last nerve with his flirty comments and lingering looks, but when it came to determining the cause of death of a body, Dr. Martin David was the best Chief Medical Examiner in the whole state.

Emerald was woman enough to admit that she was beyond lucky to be his assistant. In the short five years she had worked alongside him, the knowledge she’d gained was priceless.

Her first year on the job, Emerald learned very fast how to deal with assisting with an autopsy, police officers and helping a grieving family by using empathy.

Honestly, if her boss hadn’t been nice enough to work with her, she wouldn’t be still at a job she truly loved more than anything in the world.

Walking inside the building, she headed down the long hallway towards the elevators wondering why Dr. David hadn’t called her to meet him onsite for the first examination of the body. She was usually there to collect specimens and help him transport the newly found body.

Emerald stopped in front of the elevators and pushed the arrow. Usually, she wasn’t fond of coming to work on her days off since she seldom got them. However, today the call from her boss turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

She wasn’t really in the frame of mind to sit at Shauntie’s house. Both of her girlfriends finished her challenge in record time and actually fell in love with two great guys. How could she sit there and listen to them talk about all of the good things going on in their lives while she was still searching for her hunk?

Yeah, Emerald knew it was only the beginning of January and she still had a little while before Valentine’s Day. However, the kind of guy she truly desired wasn’t going to fall from the sky right into her lap. Those kinds of things only happened in those romantic comedy movies that she refused to watch anytime they were released in the theaters.

Her current ‘boyfriend’ Adonis was a nice enough guy and he was attractive with his light brown eyes and smooth caramel complexion, but he was as dull as a bag of bricks. Every day after work, all he wanted to do was spend time with her or have her hang out at his house.

The beep of the elevator signaled Emerald of its arrival. The metal doors opened and Emerald walked on pushing the button she needed. Resting her head back against the elevator wall, she waited as the door slid closed.

Things couldn’t keep going on the way they were with Adonis. They’d only been seeing each other for about a month, but Emerald knew nothing else would happen between them. Adonis just didn’t get her blood racing. There was nothing about his touch that made her want him to touch her any further.

Shit! Even his kisses were lackluster and too much on the boring side for her. She needed more of a take charge kind of man and Adonis, as sweet as he was, was just too much of a follower for her tastes.

In the past, she had dated guys just to tell people she was in a relationship. Because in the back of her mind, Emerald constantly held out hope that this was only for now. Her perfect man was on his way and someday in the very near future things would be different for her.

Yet, it had taken dating Adonis for her to fully understand that she was lowering her standards way too much. She was about to settle into a pattern she wouldn’t have been happy with five years ago.

Emerald hated the thought of being one of those women who stayed with a guy out of obligation, or he was a good friend to her, and even worse she was afraid to be alone.

She was tired of living her life for something that might not ever show up. So, it was about time she started living each day to the fullest and not wishing for a guy that might not ever come.

No. She couldn’t in good conscience let this relationship go any further. Staying somewhere she honestly wasn’t happy wouldn’t be fair to Adonis. He openly wanted more than she could give him at this point in her busy life.

Perhaps it was time for her to take a step back; Emerald realized she might have a bitter pill to swallow. In spite of that, she had to be true to herself and lately she was beginning to feel like she was putting on a show for Adonis, showing up for the dates with him and going through the motions, but not really feeling anything when she looked into his eyes across the restaurant table. So why not do it now instead of later?

For now her career might be the driving force in her life but she didn’t think she would be actually this upset about not having someone to go home to like Shauntie and Sapphire.

But one thing was for sure, Emerald wasn’t ever about to confess anything to either one of them. They were like sisters to her, but sometimes neither one of them knew how to leave well enough alone.

Shauntie wouldn’t be happy with her being alone and spending most of her days and nights working. Not now, that she was so in love with Nash and planning a huge wedding. Her oldest friend believed everyone including herself should have a huge diamond ring on their finger.

Emerald wasn’t saying that she was against falling on love, but she still craved the attention of an attractive male. She wouldn’t allow the fear of going back to the single status to keep her from moving ahead and improving herself.

She had never been the type of woman to keep anyone in a state of limbo and she wouldn’t place Adonis in a place she didn’t want to be herself. How was she supposed to meet her ‘Mr. Perfect’ if she was still stuck in her failing relationship with the current guy in her life? Adonis truly hadn’t made it to boyfriend status in her mind.

The ring of the elevator drew Emerald from her thoughts about her man search. Pulling her dress down further, she brushed a flyaway strand of hair away from her eye as the elevator’s doors opened.

She couldn’t think about anything else tonight but doing a good job at work. Emerald wasn’t going to allow the drama going on in her personal life to filter over into her professional work ethic. She loved being an assistant medical examiner and she wasn’t going to lose her job over her mind being someplace else...namely on the lack of a man in her life.

Walking off the elevator, Emerald headed for where Dr. David was waiting for her at the end of the hallway. He didn’t tell her a lot on the phone when he called her, so she had prepared herself for anything.

Pausing in front of the closed door, she got herself under control before pushing the door open and walking inside. Instantly, Emerald spotted Dr. David towards the back of the room standing over a body. She placed her purse down on the table by the door and then grabbed her lab coat off the coat rack by the wall.

“Good evening, Dr. David,” she said, making her way over to him. “I apologize for taking so long to get here. I wasn’t in this part of town.”

Moving in front of him, Emerald glanced down at the body of a young male who didn’t look older than sixteen years old. She always hated seeing a young person on the table. “Do we know who he is yet?” she asked as her boss looked up at her.

His dark blue eyes studied her for a few minutes and then glanced at her outfit. “That’s a nice dress you are wearing,” he said then went back to work on the body. “I hope my phone call didn’t take you away from anything important.”