Easing her way around the few people who separated her from the man she loved, Sapphire stopped at the side of his table taking the extra few minutes to just look at him before he realized she was there.
“Hello, Brian.”
His head snapped up and his beautiful gray eyes became flat and unreadable as stone when he looked at her. “What in the hell are you doing here?” he demanded, picking up his drink and taking a drink.
“I came to see you. Can I have a seat?” Sapphire asked, softly.
“No, I don’t want to be bothered with you.”
Ignoring him, Sapphire pulled out the seat next to him and sat down. She laid her purse down in front of her. “Baby, I’ve missed you so much. I tried calling you but you haven’t picked up your phone.”
“Shouldn’t that have been your answer?” Brian snapped, glaring at her. “I don’t want to be bothered with a liar. Why are you really here? Did you need another post for your blog?”
She closed her eyes, feeling utterly miserable but Sapphire knew she deserved Brian’s anger. “No. I don’t have my blog anymore. I deleted the account the same day you left me. I want you, not the blog. Will you please listen to me?” Sapphire reopened her eyes and looked at Brian, hoping he saw the love on her face.
“You’ve already told me enough. There isn’t anything else I want to hear from you.” His voice was absolutely emotionless now and it chilled her. Raising his glass, Brian took another drink. “I have a suggestion for you. Why don’t you stay here and find another man to use for the hunks challenge. I’m taking myself out of the running.”
“You damn idiot,” Sapphire snapped. “Why can’t you get it through your head that I don’t want another man? I love you. I only want you. I told you before and I’ll tell you again. I wanted to be with you from the first moment I saw you.”
“Well, your love isn’t going to be returned because I don’t love you. Why would I? What do you have to offer me? Unlike Nash, I would hate the thought of being married to someone like you. I need a woman who isn’t so clingy and needy for attention. Only a desperate and sad woman would have agreed to that dumb challenge in the first place.”
Falling back against the chair, Sapphire couldn’t keep back the sudden tears that filled her eyes. Brian’s words were brutal and swift just like he meant them to be. He didn’t have to be so cruel. If he wanted her gone all he had to do was tell her to leave again and she would have gotten up leaving him alone with his drink.
“Don’t you have anything to say?” Brian asked as he placed his glass back down on the table.
Unable to speak, Sapphire just shook her head as hot tears rained down her cheeks. She had to get away from Brian. Picking up her purse, she jumped up from her seat almost knocking over the table in her hurry to get away. Nothing Brian had said to her before now was as hurtful as those words. He knew how to wound her and he’d used his final card to do just that.
“Sapphire, wait a minute,” Brian said, softly. “Please...listen, I need to tell you something.” He touched her on the arm, but she shook off his touch.
“Don’t,” she whispered before running away from the table and back through the crowd towards the front door.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Busting out of the front entrance, Sapphire brushed the tears away from her cheeks as she ran towards her car parked at the very back of the parking lot. Damn Brian! She wasn’t about to sit there and let him talk to her so hatefully. He had no right to insult her the way he just did.
Yes, she loved him and probably would for a very long time, but if he wanted to be alone so badly instead of with her she would leave his ass alone in the dark corner with his drink. Sapphire was so lost in her own misery that she didn’t hear the person behind her until a hand wrapped around her arm.
“Sapphire, why didn’t you stay and listen to me when I asked you,” Brian asked, spinning her around to face him. “You just ran out of there leaving me alone at the table.”
“Let go of me,” she snapped, jerking her arm away from him. “You wanted me to leave you alone and I did it. Why did you follow me? Oh, did you want to toss another insult at me for good measure?”
Sapphire spun back around, but Brian didn’t let her get three steps before he stepped in front of her blocking her path. “I’m sorry for what I said to you...I didn’t mean it.”
“Why are you telling me this now? Did that last sip of your drink give you a conscience?” she questioned.
“I’m telling you this because I love you.” Brian reached out to touch her, but she took another step back.
“Don’t you dare touch me. Remember you don’t want to be with this sad and desperate woman.”
Dropping his hand, Brian sighed running his fingers through his hair. “Do you want to know why I was drinking tonight?”
“Not really. I came here to tell you how I felt and you got a lot of pleasure in telling me to get lost. So, I’m not interested in anything you have to tell me.” Sapphire walked around Brian and this time he didn’t try to stop her.
“I called Nash tonight and he told me about his engagement to Shauntie. I was hoping he would be on my side; however, when I told him about what happened between us, he wasn’t. He actually told me I was the biggest asshole in the world for letting you go and he was right.”
Stopping in her tracks, Sapphire slowly spun back around. “Why do you think he’s right?”
“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me in a very long time. I shouldn’t have taken what you did so hard, but I think hearing it from someone else is what drove me over the edge. I wanted to take your calls all of those times you called me but I couldn’t.”
“Why not?” she asked, taking a step closer to Brian. Sapphire wanted to know what he was going to tell her.
“I guess part of it was my ego. I mean what man really wants to admit he was the wrong one? It was hard for me and I couldn’t go see you because I was afraid you wouldn’t even open the door for me. So, instead of trying to get back with you before New Year’s Eve I came here and decided to drown my sorrows with liquor.”
“If you wanted to get back with me, why were you so hateful to me when I came here? You’ve been the only thing I thought about for days.”
“Don’t you know?” Brian wrapped his hand around her wrist tugging her to him until their bodies were touching. “My pride had taken a hit. Here I was sitting at a nightclub on single’s night drinking and secretly cussing my stupidity for dumping the woman I love then you show up looking beautiful. I couldn’t take it and I lashed out. But, baby, you have to know I do love you and I want to be with you. I’m willing to take a step back if you want to but I just don’t want to lose you. Do you think you can overlook my dumb lapse in judgment for the past couple of days?”
“Yes, I think I can forgive you under one condition,” she teased, staring up into Brian’s handsome face.
“I would do anything for you. I hope you know that but if you don’t I want to prove it to you each and every day while we’re together,” Brian whispered in her ear while he held her close to him. “We might have moved too fast the first time, but I will make sure we won’t this time around.”
“Take me back inside and dance with me. I want to celebrate when the ball drops with the man I love.”
Leaning back from her, Brian wrapped his arms around her waist. “I love you Sapphire. I love you so damn much and I’ll make it up to you for walking away from you the way I did. Let’s get inside before we miss the count down on the big screen television. It’s been such a long time since I kissed your beautiful mouth and I’ve missed it more than you know.”
A smile of contentment and happiness spread across Sapphire’s face as she allowed Brian’s words to settle into her mind. He was right. They had moved fast, maybe too fast, but they were back together which meant they both knew now not to keep secrets from each other. Brian might not know this but his love had made her into a new woman, a woman who was no longer
afraid to speak her mind or give her opinion without using a faceless blog to do it.
The End
Hunks: Opposites Attract Page 17
