Pulling up in front of the cottage, Emerald got out of the car shivering when the cool air hit her. Why hadn’t she brought a warmer jacket with her? She took a quick glance at the second car parked next to Sapphire’s and then brushed it off. Right at this very second she was more concerned about getting inside than finding out who it belonged to at the moment.
She was dying to be back in the city instead of out here with the cold and God knows what else. Running up the stairs Emerald knocked on the door and then jogged in place praying that Sapphire was in there instead of back in town buying something.
The minutes seemed to drag on before the door was finally opened by Sapphire looking like she just rolled out of bed.
“Sapphire, what are you still doing in bed this late in the day?” Emerald complained, brushing past her stunned friend. “Aren’t you usually working on that blog of yours that you’re so obsessed with?”
Emerald stopped in her tracks as she caught sight of perfectly cut abs before a shirt was pulled down over them. She stared at the very handsome man with thick, dark brown hair and a killer pair of gray eyes. He just looked at her then back at Sapphire.
“Who in the hell are you?” Emerald sputtered, “and do you have a brother?” Emerald barely heard the front door closing behind her before Sapphire was standing next to her trying to fix her disheveled hair into a semi reasonable look.
“Emerald, what are you doing here? How did you know where to find me?” Sapphire asked.
“I went by your house to see if you wanted to go shopping, but you weren’t home and one of your neighbors told me you decided to come all the way out here. They didn’t mention you’d brought along some company.”
Looking away from the man by the fireplace, Emerald gave Sapphire her full attention. “Are you going to tell me who he is? First, Shauntie ends up finding her hunk to win her end of the challenge and now it seems like you’re well on your way to doing the same thing. New Year’s Eve is coming fast. I have to tell you the guy you picked for your hunks bet is amazingly hot! I think you’re going to win faster than Shauntie.”
“Emerald, shut up!” Sapphire shouted, scared.
****
Sapphire stood next to Emerald in stunned silence as Brian’s eyes glanced at her friend then back at her in pure confusion. She could tell he was trying to figure out what was going on.
Why did Emerald have to show up now? Right at the moment, Sapphire hated Emerald more than anything in the world. How could she ever think they were friends? After giving it some more thought, she was all set to tell Brian the truth over dinner tonight but Emerald and her big mouth came along ripping the chance from her hands with her ‘speak first and think last’ personality.
Her stomach churned with fearful anxiety as Brian moved around the couch and stood directly in front of her. Nobody had to tell her that the bomb was about to drop. There was a long, brittle silence as Sapphire waited for Brian to speak.
“What is she talking about, Sapphire?” Brian asked, in a low controlled voice.
“It’s nothing,” Sapphire denied. “Emerald was only running her mouth but she’s going to leave.”
Sapphire reached out to grab Emerald by the arm, but Brian stopped her. “No, let her stay. I don’t care about her being here. I want an answer to my question and please don’t lie to me.”
She closed her eyes, her heart aching with pain at what she was about to do. Sapphire tried to think of a way out of this but she couldn’t. Brian wouldn’t let it go until he got the answers he wanted from her.
“I can’t do it,” she whispered.
“The hell you can’t. Tell me what’s going on. Hell, if Emerald is lying then explain what she’s lying about. I only want to know what all of this is about.” His expression was very hard to read as he watched her.
“Several weeks ago, Emerald, Shauntie and I were having drink during one our girls nights out. We were talking about how we were fed up dating men who weren’t into us and would rather be focusing their attention on their careers.”
Crossing his arms over his chest, Brian continued to watch her with an unblinking stare. “Go on. Tell me more. I know you’re leaving out a lot of things.”
“Baby, how about we talk about this another time.” Sapphire reached out to touch Brian and her heart broke when he took a step back.
“No. Finish telling me.”
A pain squeezed at her heart at the thought of losing Brian forever because of this. Sapphire glance at Emerald and noticed how she wouldn’t meet her eyes. Oh, now her motor mouth friend wanted to look away and not tell the world about her stupid idea.
“Sapphire...”
Swinging her eyes back over to Brian, Sapphire took a deep breath then continued. “Emerald suggested we should date men who weren’t as rich as us. She thought they would know how to respect us more since they wouldn’t be in competition with us.”
Brian shot Emerald a look, but she ignored him as well. “I know there’s more so tell me.”
“She gave us all deadlines to find our men and the one who did it the fastest would win. I never thought of it as a bet, but I guess Emerald did.”
“What were the deadlines for the three of you?” Dark gray eyes pinned her to the spot and Sapphire knew she was one step closer to losing this wonderful man in front of her.
“Please...let’s just stop this. I mean it isn’t going to get us anywhere.” Tears blinded her eyes and choked her voice.
Brian was seemingly unmoved by her tears. “No.”
“Shauntie’s deadline was Christmas. Emerald’s deadline is Valentine’s Day and mine is...”
She couldn’t do it. Sapphire couldn’t say the words Brian wanted to hear.
“You don’t have to tell me. I already know. Your deadline is New Year’s Eve which is your favorite holiday. Am I right?” Brian demanded. “But there’s even more you’ve been keeping from me, isn’t there. You have a blog. What kind of blog is it?”
“I won’t tell you.”
“Either you’ll tell me or your good friend here will. I deserve to know the truth especially after the way I opened my heart to you earlier.”
Sapphire replayed every single thing her and Brian had done with each other since coming to the cabin and it might not have been much, but the last few days were the best in her life. How could she taint them by telling Brian about her blog? He might have been able to get over the ‘bet’ Emerald tossed at them. However, he wouldn’t forgive her for writing about him on the internet. Why had she done it? Why didn’t she think it through more before she typed that first sentence?
“This is your last chance to come clean with me,” Brian warned her and the honesty in his words filled the room.
Her thoughts quickly filtered back to the day she’d met Brian and how things had changed so fast between them. Just a few hours ago, she was happy and planning a future with him. Now, all of that was gone because she hadn’t told him the truth before Emerald showed up at the door.
“I have a personal blog called Sapphire’s World and I write about different things going on in my life. I mean we live in a reality world now and everyone wants to know what the other person is doing behind their closed doors.”
A muscle flickered angrily in Brian’s jaw as it began to set in what she was telling him. More tears poured down her cheeks as the love she used to see on his face slowly faded away right before her eyes.
“You wrote about us on your blog didn’t you?” Brian shoved his hands into his pockets, his shoulders hunched forward as he shook his head. “I can’t believe this is happening to me. I thought you were so different, but you aren’t.”
A hot distraught tear trickled down her cheek as she watched Brian turn away from her and make his way towards the stairs. “Where are you going?” she asked.
“Do you really need me to draw a picture for you?” Brian tossed back over his shoulder as he headed up the stairs. “I’m leaving. I can’t stay here with you. God, it’s bad
enough I was only being used to fulfill a bet, but you had to embarrass me more by placing it on the internet. What is wrong with you?”
Sapphire flinched when Brian went into his room slamming the door closed behind him. A flash of wild grief ripped through her as she dropped to the ground covering her face with her hands. She ached with an inner pain that she knew would never be healed.
“Sapphire, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I just was so surprised to see Brian here and my mouth just...You know how I can be. Let me talk to him. I can make him see this was all my idea. I know I can fix this.” Emerald pleaded touching her on the shoulder.
“Don’t touch me,” Sapphire shouted hating the sound of her former friend’s voice. “Get out of here. I don’t want to see you. Leave me alone.”
“Sweetie, I don’t think you should be alone after Brian leaves. You need someone here with you.”
Raising her head, Sapphire glared at Emerald so hard that she took a step back. “Yes, I might need someone but that person sure in the hell isn’t you. NOW GET OUT!!!”
“Okay, I’ll give you time to calm down and then I’ll call you after I get back home. If we use our heads, I know we can come up with a way to get you back together with Brian,” Emerald said, watching her then she turned and went out the door.
The sound of Brian’s footsteps coming back down the stairs made Sapphire pull her body up off the floor. Fresh tears filled her eyes at the sight of his black duffel bag in his hands along with his car keys.
“Brian, please stay and talk to me. I know what I did was wrong, but we can work through it. I know we can,” Sapphire pleaded as she rushed up to him, but Brian walked around her and continued towards the door.
“I have nothing else left to say to you. It’s over between us. You’re just upset you didn’t win your bet before New Year’s Eve, but I’m sure you’ll be able to find another man to fill my void. It’s not like you were looking for love or anything.”
Opening the door, Brian went out slamming it closed behind him. Sapphire stood in the same spot staring at the door for what seem like hours before she finally made her way back over to the couch.
Sitting down, she sat in lonely silence staring into the fireplace already missing what she ruined having with Brian by listening to Emerald. As long as she lived, Sapphire would never forget the anguish in his voice as Brian walked out the door leaving her all alone.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Moving away from her living room window, Sapphire couldn’t stand there any longer watching all of the happy couples holding hands as they walked down the street. After what happened with Brian at the cottage, she couldn’t stay there so she packed up her bags and left. She’d been home for two days now and the pain of losing Brian still cut deep.
How could she have been so stupid? Brian was every woman’s dream and she lost him by being a complete and utter fool. New Year’s Eve was here and once again she was alone with a glass of white wine in her hand.
Everyone constantly told her how smart she was so why in the hell did she feel so dumb? Sapphire knew tonight would have been different if she had not put Brian in her blog, and had told him about the hunks challenge the night they’d made love, but she backed out of doing it . Every time the perfect chance came to her she found an excuse to sweep it under the rug.
As much as she wanted to keep putting the blame on Emerald, she couldn’t do that any longer. Emerald might have thought of the challenge, but she was the one who went through with it and now she was paying the consequences.
At least she had liquor to numb her pain until the New Year started; Sapphire brought the glass to her lips and realized it was empty. Damn it!
Walking across the room, Sapphire headed toward the kitchen and the bottle of white wine waiting for her on the kitchen table. She was halfway there when the doorbell rang surprising her.
Brian! Her heart jumped in her chest only to end as fast as it started. No, he wasn’t having anything to do with her. She had tried calling him on his cell phone, but all of her calls went automatically to voice mail. Brian was done with her and she couldn’t blame him. She had torn his heart out of his chest. Why would he want anything to do with her?
Sighing, Sapphire made her way over to the door and without bothering to check the peephole she opened it, frowning when she saw her unwanted visitor on the other side.
“I thought I told you days ago to stay the hell away from me. Haven’t you caused me enough trouble?”
“I know what I did and I’m about to make it all up to you,” Emerald said, brushing past her walking right into her house liked she owned it.
“Get out! I don’t want to hear anything you have to tell me. We aren’t friends anymore. Anything you have to tell me isn’t worth listening to.” Sapphire held the door open, waiting for Emerald to leave.
“Even if it’s about Brian,” she said.
Hope raced through Sapphire’s body before she quickly banked it. Emerald was lying to her. Brian wouldn’t tell her a damn thing. He probably hated Emerald more than he hated her.
“Stop lying. You don’t know anything about him. You’re just trying to get me to let you stay, but it isn’t going to happen. Now leave!”
“I’m not going anywhere until you hear me out,” Emerald told her. “I might have cost you Brian once, but I’m not about to do it again. It’s New Year’s Eve and you are going to get your man. Even if it means, I have to drag your skinny ass all the way down to Peppers to do it.”
Closing the front door, Sapphire moved across the room until she was standing in front of Emerald. “Brian is at Peppers?” she asked, momentarily forgetting how much she hated her friend. Her breath caught in her lungs. “You actually saw him there?”
“Yes. He’s sitting in the very back of the room nursing a jack and coke. The bartender told me he’s been there for about forty-five minutes. You need to leave and go to him. Peppers is having a singles dance. Don’t you dare let any of those other women there take your man.”
Biting her lip, Sapphire looked away from Emerald. If Brian was at a single’s dance then he wasn’t interested in seeing her. He was actually looking for someone else and on New Year’s Eve at that. The pain she felt came hard and swift.
“No, I’m not going over there. Brian is proving he doesn’t want me anymore if he’s at a single’s dance.”
Emerald glared at her. “Have you not been listening to me? If Brian is on the hunt for a new woman, why is he drinking alone?”
Swinging her head back around, Sapphire took a step closer to Emerald. “Let me tell you why. You had to come out to the cottage and open up that mouth of yours. He left me because of you. Shit, why can’t you just leave me alone?” Anger made her voice harsh and unrelenting.
“You know what. You’re right. I shouldn’t have opened my mouth but I did and now I’m trying to make up for it, but you won’t let me,” Emerald shouted back at her. “What I want to know is when did you become such a coward?”
Sapphire was so furious she could hardly speak. How dare Emerald call her a coward? She wasn’t scared of going to see Brian at Peppers. She just didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. She’d already hurt him enough.
“I’m not a coward,” she replied, in a low voice, taut with anger.
“Prove it,” Emerald taunted.
“Alright, I will.” Sapphire handed Emerald her wine glass and went to get her purse off the couch. She was going to go down to that singles dance and get Brian back. No matter what he said to her, she wasn’t going to leave until he heard what she had to tell him.
Spinning around, she turned towards the door. Sapphire wasn’t about to admit how scared she was about seeing Brian again. It wouldn’t do her any good to allow her fear to take over now. It was a good thing she’d only had one glass of wine today because she needed all of her mind to face what was about to happen.
Sapphire opened the door and she was about to go out when Emerald’s voice
stopped her. “Good luck. I hope you can work things out with him. Don’t worry about your house. I’ll lock it up for you.”
Glancing over her shoulder, Sapphire saw the sincerity on Emerald’s face and some of the anger left her body. Emerald was always going to be Emerald and staying mad at her wasn’t going to work out for either one of them.
“Thank you, Emerald,” she said, and then closed the door behind her.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Walking into the nightclub, Sapphire was taken back by how packed it was for single’s night. Usually Peppers was pretty busy but never like this. She guessed there were more single people in town than she knew.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm her nerves before she found Brian. She would need all of her strength to deal with whatever reaction he gave her. She was prepared for him to yell at her and demand for her to get out of his face. He still had a right to be mad at her, but she hoped she would be able to ease some of his pain. Hopefully, Brian would at least be willing to hear her out for a few minutes. She wasn’t going to ask for a lot from him but she needed him to, at least, accept her olive branch.
Sapphire eased her way through the crowd looking for Brian, but to her disappointment she didn’t see him anywhere. Maybe she’d missed him while she was at home with Emerald. Brian could have spotted Emerald and decided to leave because he knew they were friends.
No. She wasn’t going to give up this easily. Brian was still here and she would find him. Sapphire continued towards the very back of the club and thought about giving up her search until a couple moved out of the way.
Her breath caught in the very back of her throat as she spotted a lone figure sitting at a table tucked away in the corner. His head was bent over a shot glass, the light above his head dancing off his dark brown hair making it almost look black. Brian looked as lonely as she felt and it tore at her heart she was the one who caused him this pain.
Hunks: Opposites Attract Page 16
