Hunks: Opposites Attract

by Marie Rochelle

  Brian was torn. Should he stay or should he go?

  A part of him wanted to keep his promise to Shauntie and stay here so Sapphire wouldn’t be alone. However; on the other hand, Sapphire wasn’t acting like she required or wanted his protection. Actually, Brian thought she didn’t care about what he did either way.

  Honestly, she would be quite safe out here by herself if he hadn’t shown up unannounced because Sapphire came across like a very fearless woman, but against his better judgment he was going to stay with her.

  He wouldn’t feel right about leaving Sapphire out here by herself. Yes, she could probably do just fine without him; yet, if he left he wouldn’t get to know Sapphire any better. He found Sapphire extremely attractive and something about her made him want to strip away all of her layers.

  Sapphire’s personality was very intriguing which made it impossible for him to leave without finding out how deep things could grow between them. Nash hadn’t wasted a second going after Shauntie when he found out who she really was.

  He had confidence in his abilities to win Sapphire over just like Nash had done with Shauntie. When Brian had first laid eyes on Sapphire at her office, he might have been intimated by her name being on the glass door, because she was on her own playing field and around people she knew.

  Yet, out here in the woods with them being all alone put Sapphire on an equal footing with him which meant he wasn’t going to back down until he got to know her better. Over the years, he had decided to become more self-directed with the course he wanted to take his life in.

  He was setting new goals for himself as he had gotten older. At the top of his priority list was quitting his job as a mail carrier. After he moved on from delivering mail, the extra free time he gained would get put towards becoming a professional web designer.

  For the past six months, the thought of quitting his job had been dancing around in his head but he didn’t have enough nerve to do it back then. However, now was his time to build a better future for himself with the money he had saved up over the years.

  Brian was no longer going to push his dream to the side. Before taking the job as a mailman, he used to be so self-confident and constantly set new goals for himself each New Year’s Eve. It suddenly stopped but he wasn’t going to allow it to occur anymore.

  It was beyond time for him to take the bull by the horns and move forward on his new career path. He was done sitting by the sidelines and watching his friends doing jobs they loved. He deserved a career he loved just as much as them. His old job wasn’t fitting into what he had envisioned in his life. He had energy to burn. So, the more he got to do, the better he would feel at the end of the day.

  The time he spent at the cottage would be used to outline his new job plan, but if he also found a way to get closer to Sapphire, Brian wouldn’t be upset at all by giving her some extra time too.

  Unzipping the bag on the bed, Brian began removing his clothes and putting things away in his bedroom. He thought about inviting Sapphire to have dinner with him tonight, but then decided it might be for the best to give her some space. She didn’t need to get crowded by him so soon after Chance’s visit.

  Normally, Brian tried his best to avoid confrontations and Sapphire’s call to the police shocked him; however, he got a lucky break that Chance answered the call and showed up instead of another police officer who might not be so inclined to take his word. Today could have turned out so much worse and right now he could be spending the night in jail.

  Picking up the empty duffel bag, he placed it inside the closet towards the back and then closed the door. Going back over to the bed, Brian sat down and ran his fingers through is hair.

  Brian wasn’t a 100% sure how exactly he would approach Sapphire when he finally made his way downstairs, but Brian crossed his fingers that she wouldn’t hold the experience from earlier against him. He was a pretty good guy when a person got to know him, and more than anything he wanted Sapphire to get to know him.

  Chapter Nine

  Sapphire tapped her fingers against the edge of her laptop. She couldn’t stop glaring at the stupid cursor that continued to blink at her against the white screen. Her mind was supposed to be on restarting her blog; however, a tall, handsome green-eyed man two doors away from her bedroom was preventing her from typing one word.

  She still couldn’t believe her man was under the same roof as her. Well, Brian wasn’t really her man, but she had been lusting after him for weeks and now here he was.

  What was she suppose to do now? How was she...

  God, Sapphire couldn’t even finish her thought about him because her body was already dying to feel his touch, but that wasn’t going to be happening any time soon. She would be able to hold off. Jumping into bed with Brian on his first night here wasn’t something in their near future.

  Could it be in tomorrow’s plan. She pushed the thought away.

  She and Brian were staying at the cottage for two different reasons. She came out here to get back in touch with her favorite hobby and honestly Sapphire wasn’t sure what the reasons were behind Brian taking the long drive out here.

  All that mattered was she found a way to keep her attraction to Brian at a minimum. Yeah, that was easier said than done. Brian was so damn HOT! All she could think about was stripping him out of his clothes and finding out more about his gorgeous body, but she wouldn’t put play before work. She had never done it before and she wouldn’t start it now.

  It didn’t matter that Brian was six feet five I inches of mouth watering perfection.

  Pushing her hair back from her face, Sapphire pulled it away from her neck in a quick ponytail. Yes, Brian was hotter than John Stamos and Rob Lowe combined and might have most women dropping their panties in a hot second, but she could fight off the urge as long as she could. He would get pushed to the darkest part of her mind until she was ready to get personal with him.

  Tonight was the night for her.

  Sapphire was determined to get something typed into Sapphire’s World before the day was over. Posting her daily thoughts into her personal blog put her instantly at ease because she would rather do that than talk about her feelings most of the time.

  Small talk wasn’t a huge part of her life and she would decide not to attend most social functions Sapphire got invited to unless Emerald or Shauntie was here to keep her company...well, entertained for the evening. Being around a lot of people outside of her friends, patients and employees at work made her uncomfortable sometimes.

  Now, Shauntie and Emerald both knew how much blogging relaxed the tension from her body after a long stressful work day. However, when she had initially brought up the idea of her blog to her girlfriends, neither one of them were too thrilled about being the subject of her hobby or having their lives plastered across the internet for everyone to read.

  But after she promised only to use first names and not to bring up any personal information about them, they finally agreed she could mention them from time to time. She swore she would only use them as her accessories when she needed them to fatten up her posts.

  Crazy as it sounded to her two best friends in the beginning, Sapphire knew people would want to know what she was thinking. Yeah, it sounded strange but she felt it was true. With the ‘reality world’ society everyone lived in now, most people had a little voyeur in them even if none of them were brave enough to admit it to themselves or anyone else.

  Sapphire would never forget the first night she posted something. The entry wasn’t anything big but it was in her memory like a person’s first kiss. The post was only about two hundred and fifty words; nevertheless, it had drawn her close to twenty followers and it continued to grow the more she gave everyone a glimpse into her life.

  Any time she felt the burning urge to vent; Sapphire made a beeline for her laptop and typed her problems into her personal blog.

  Outside of her job her life was pretty simple which could be her whole problem in a nut shell; she lived mostly a privat
e way of life when she wasn’t out with Shauntie or Emerald on the weekends. She was all alone because most men took one look at her and instantly decided she would be too high maintenance, so she only dated men in the same social circle as herself.

  Yet, after a while, they started to bore her to death. She didn’t want to hear about their work day or how much money they would be making in the next five years.

  Blind dates weren’t her thing either because having too many friends trying to fix her up tended to lead towards too many demands and if they weren’t met, the other person acted like they were the injured party, but in actuality nothing was further from the truth.

  Most of the time Sapphire considered herself pretty self-reliant and she didn’t have to ask her girls for advice, unless she wasn’t able to figure it out by herself and Brian was definitely one of those things.

  She couldn’t figure him out at all. Why did he make her so nervous?

  In the past, she asked good-looking men out on dates and never harbored on it when they turned her down. She came to the conclusion that they wouldn’t have been a good match. However, Brian was different from those men and in more ways than their social status. Something about him bothered her in a way that was very surprising.

  From the very brief time they were in each other’s company, Sapphire sensed Brian was a man who knew what he wanted. He wouldn’t have a problem standing up to her. Not once had he backed down from her or the can of pepper spray she threatened him with while they were downstairs in the kitchen.

  Brian’s fearless attitude had turned her on just a tiny bit, but she wouldn’t let him know, not just let. Anyways, she wasn’t here to pick up Brian. She only had one goal in mind and that was to find some captivating topics to discuss on her blog, so her followers would keep coming back for more.

  Keeping lying to yourself and you’ll see where it gets you, her mind taunted. You’re using the blog as a shield not to get closer to Brian.

  Sapphire wasn’t ready to get into what her mind was telling her. She had more important business to tend to right at this very second. She couldn’t keep staring at her laptop for the rest of the night. The last time she’d posted something was over three weeks ago. She never went that long without an update. No wonder she had been feeling so out of sorts at work.

  Could she be losing her magic touch when it came to this? Sapphire tried not to let the thought depress her.

  People decided to start blogs for different reasons: money, politics, and food or even about their pets. The list could go on and on. However, her blogging as a personal journal was a fantastic method she used to get something off of her chest. Her favorite time of night was when she crawled into bed and wrote from her heart but now her heart was empty.

  Nothing exciting was going on in her life.

  How can you think nothing exciting is going on in your life? What about Brian? The thought brushed the back of her mind.

  Sapphire shot up straight in her seat as reality struck her right between the eyes. What hadn’t she realized it before now? The most talk worthy—no—blog worthy topic was right under the same roof as her!

  Was she so stupid that she hadn’t seen it before now? Emerald wanted her to find a man before New Year’s Eve and the man she wanted had fallen right into her lap. Who wouldn’t want to hear about the process she was making with him each and every day?

  Placing her hands on the keyboard, Sapphire instantly got her thoughts together and then typed her first post.

  ****

  Sapphire’s World

  December 26

  I’m finally back!!!

  I know it’s been a while since I’ve written anything for my blog, but my mind has been on vacation. I won’t ever admit to having writer’s block...ever! All of you know how I love writing about anything and everything going on in my life. Well, I have something good to tell all of my wonderful followers, but I have to start from the beginning first.

  All of you already know that I have two best friends named Shauntie and Emerald. They’re more like sisters to me than girlfriends. Shauntie is the fashionable doctor who loves getting ‘dirty’ by planting flowers any day of the week.

  Emerald is my spunky friend who doesn’t know the meaning of the word no. She won’t let anyone or anything stand in her way. This made her the perfect one out of the three of us to come up with this outrageous plan in the first place.

  During one of our girl’s nights out at our favorite club Peppers, Emerald, the wild child she is, decided she was tired of dating the same type of guys. You know, the shirt and tie professionals who spend more time on their IPads or BlackBerrys than paying attention to us.

  So, in her almighty wisdom Emerald determined it was time for each of us to give the hard working hunks a shot at three successful, gorgeous black women. (I really don’t know where she comes up with this stuff, but I loved the idea. How could I not?)

  The last guy I dated couldn’t remember my name, but he knew the ring tones on his cell phone for all of his business associates. He was such a loser! How I spent three months in that relationship I would never know.

  Emerald even gave us a deadline to get all of this accomplished. She picked our favorite holidays to find our hunky workers. Shauntie’s deadline was Christmas. Emerald wasn’t bothered by the fact Shauntie told her she wasn’t going to participate and then Emerald picked Valentine’s Day for herself and gave me New Year’s Eve.

  However, Shauntie wasn’t into doing this at all. She hated the idea more than I loved it. She swore that there wasn’t a hunk out there who could catch her eye and her words came back to bite her in the ass, when Nash came knocking at her door.

  Now, Shauntie who had the biggest complaint about the ‘Finding your Hunk Challenge’ is going on vacation with her sexy hunk. How could someone not interested in finding love get it so quickly?

  I wasn’t jealous (well, not that much). I only want to find my sexy hunk before my old year is out and the New Year comes rushing in. I thought I wasn’t going to find him, but something happened today to change my mind.

  Okay...I’ll stop there for now. I need to leave you wanting more, so until next time thanks for stopping by Sapphire’s World.

  ****

  Excellent first post, Sapphire thought after she saved her first post in weeks.

  She couldn’t believe the joy she just got from typing in those last words. Sapphire shut down her laptop as a smile spread across her face. She was back in the game. Her loyal followers were going to love what she just typed, because it was something different and fun!

  The happiness she was experiencing was indescribable; it was like her mind had been in hibernation and got recharged when all the lights, sounds and colors she loved got downloaded back into her head suddenly. Nothing would ever be able to take the memory of her blog coming back to life right before her eyes.

  Yes! It felt so good to be back!

  Standing up, Sapphire stretched her arms above her head relieving some of the stiffness from her back. She couldn’t help but wonder what Brian was doing now. She hadn’t heard any movement coming from inside of the house, so she wasn’t quite sure where he was or what he was doing at this very second.

  One thing was for sure, she wasn’t just going to run on the attraction she felt for Brian. Without a doubt, he was gorgeous but she didn’t know anything else about him. Sapphire was going to change the way she approached men beginning with Brian. She always went for the men who were handsome and left everything to the sidelines when it came to them.

  Yes, he was the working hunk Emerald wanted her to hook up with but Brian needed more than that going for him. What else made him tick? What were his interests and hobbies? Sapphire was determined to prove she could find out more about Brian not only for her blog but herself as well.

  Walking away from her chair, Sapphire made her way over to the bedroom door. Hopefully, Brian wouldn’t still be holding a grudge against her over the police incident because she wasn’t
wrong for calling them on him. What woman in her right mind wouldn’t have done the same?

  Opening the door, Sapphire went out into the hallway still debating if she should apologize again or just leave it alone. Either way, she and Brian were going to be spending some time together. All that mattered now was how both of them decided to pass the day with each other until the ball dropped and brought in the New Year.

  Chapter Ten

  Sapphire paused in the kitchen doorway and Brian stopped eating his sandwich and stared at her from the breakfast nook. His big body looked odd sitting in the white painted shabby chic chairs with the matching white table and blue and white floral cloth. She wasn’t expecting to see him in here eating the food she’d brought.

  Brian’s dark hair was still damp from his shower and the ends of it were curling against the back of his neck. His gray eyes stood out from his face making them look like steel. As much as she tried to look away from him she couldn’t do it.

  God, he really was a very sexy man.

  The room sparked with an underlying current so much so that she almost left the room, but she took a deep breath and fought through it. Sapphire knew never to run from anything and she sure in the hell wasn’t about to start now with Brian.

  “I didn’t think you would be downstairs. I thought you would still be upstairs unpacking your things,” Sapphire said, coming further into the room.

  Brian placed his thick turkey sandwich with tomato down on his plate. He wiped his mouth and hands with a napkin then laid it beside his glass. “I didn’t bring that many clothes with me since I wasn’t planning on staying after the New Year. I got everything put away pretty fast. So, I decided to come on downstairs and find something to eat. I was starving since I didn’t stop anywhere on the drive here,” he answered, watching her as she walked past him.