Hunks Too Hot To Touch Read online

  Moving her drink around on the table, Shauntie wondered why tonight was turning out differently than she thought it would. Why was it becoming the ‘why didn’t she have a man’ show?

  Why couldn’t Emerald get it through her thick skill? She wasn’t in need of a man because she was quite happy being alone. She didn’t need to come home and have someone there waiting for her.

  Her life was going down the path she wanted this time in her life. Besides, most men she was a little interested in, more than often got intimidated by her being a doctor. More than a handful of them hated she made more money than them. They couldn’t handle the pressure of dating a professional woman and never called her out for a second date.

  On those rare occasions, the men who did call her back only wanted her to buy them things or use her for networking; because those guys with the powerful jobs only wanted to move up even more within their circle of friends. They weren’t the slight bit interested in becoming involved with a woman who was their equal or to some extent more successful than they were.

  For the time being Shauntie was done with dating. All she thought about these days was working and helping her clients that needed improvement to their failing eyesight. Why should she mess up her uncomplicated life now with complications? She had come to terms with the fact she might be single for the rest of her life and she was beginning to accept it. Now, Emerald had to bring up finding a man tonight and she wouldn’t let it go until she got her point across.

  Emerald’s looks fitted her spunky personality from her short black hair, curvy body, cat-like eyes and her light mocha skin topped off by the a beauty mark on the right side of her cheek. Shauntie didn’t understand why her girlfriend was in search of a man.

  Her friend was truly stunning and most men would love to date her opinionated friend. Sometimes Emerald was a force to be reckoned with when she put her mind to something. However, those qualities were what made her so unique because she didn’t let anyone or anything stand in her way.

  Shauntie constantly thought of herself as a take charge kind of woman, but Emerald had both her and Sapphire beat when it came to getting what she yearned for. Anytime she got an idea inside of her head, Emerald didn’t release it until she achieved it and it didn’t matter how long it might take her. Emerald would get it sooner or later. Glancing to her left, Shauntie watched from the corner of her eye, her other best friend, Sapphire Rhodes play with her bottle of beer. She and Sapphire had formed a friendship in the ninth grade and it had only grown stronger over the years. Sapphire was the polar opposite of Emerald when it came to looks. She was tall, thin and so perfect that she could have made millions being a runway model; however, instead of a flashy career with a lot of fans and women craving to be her Sapphire decided her chosen career path was to become a dentist. Ever since she could remember back to her teenage years, Sapphire always dreamt and talked about going into a giving profession, so she could help people who were less fortunate than her.

  Many people instantly misjudged Sapphire because of her stunning looks and thought she had a snobby attitude. However, she was so gentle and sweet which gave her the personality she needed to make a perfect and understanding dentist.

  “Shauntie, what do you think about my idea?” Emerald asked, staring at her with a hopeful look on her face.

  “What idea?” Shauntie inquired, confused. What had she missed?

  “Shauntie, will you stop daydreaming and pay attention. You missed a good conversation. I was telling Sapphire how professional men aren’t very comfortable with us being in the same league as them. The more I’ve dated them, the more clearly this plan of mine started to form in my head. Why shouldn’t we try something new and different?”

  “Are you really serious about dating a working man? Do you know any men who don’t work sixteen hour days? I’ve never seen you date a man who wasn’t at least a partner or working his way towards that goal. Can you tell me the last time you dated a plumber or window washer?” Shauntie knew that Emerald wouldn’t be able to give her an answer.

  Emerald probably couldn’t count them on one hand. Her girlfriend only dated attractive and rich men who drove Jaguars, not dump trucks. She wouldn’t last two days with a man who couldn’t take her out to a fancy meal.

  Why was she trying to change her ways now? Emerald had been fine up to now doing what she was doing.

  “No, I can’t.” Emerald snapped, glaring at her. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t change my ways and date a nice guy who isn’t more interested in his stock broker than me when we’re out on a romantic date. Sapphire is just as tired as I am with dating money bags men too. That’s why she agreed to go along with my plan.”

  Plan...what plan was Emerald talking about? One of her friends should fill her in on what was going on and fast. Shauntie wasn’t in the mood to listen to any more of this craziness. She could have stayed at home and debated where she was going to place her Christmas tree this year.

  “You do know that you’re something without a man at your side?” she asked, looking at both Sapphire and Emerald. “Sure, it’s wonderful to have someone to talk about your day with when you come home from work but if I don’t have it I won’t feel like less than a woman.

  “Sapphire, I don’t even know what you are agreeing to but I don’t think you should do it. You know how you are about things. You love jumping in feet first and then you change your mind at the snap of a finger.”

  “Shauntie, before you shoot my plan down, at least let me explain it to you. I mean it’s really good and you’re going to love it.” Emerald grinned at her from across the table which was usually a very bad sign.

  Lord, what was about to come out of her friend’s mouth.

  “See, this plan is going to be foolproof because all of us will get everything we want. I swear you’re going to love it. Sapphire and I decided to find our ‘perfect hardworking man’ before our favorite holidays. Sapphire’s is New Years’ Eve, mine is Valentine’s Day and yours is Christmas which means you better get your butt moving if you want to find your man.”

  Get her moving? Hold on a damn minute! She’d never agreed to anything like this? She wasn’t looking for anyone at all.

  “I never agreed to do this with the two of you,” Shauntie pointed out. “I’m fine just the way I am. Don’t include me in this crazy plan of yours.”

  Out of the three of them, Shauntie knew she had to be sensible person and not jump into this without thinking it through. She wanted more than a hot body in her bed. She’d vowed to herself never to go down that path again. She’d learned her lesson once and she wasn’t about to make that mistake again...not in this lifetime.

  “Sapphire, are you truly serious about doing this with Emerald? Come on. You know how crazy this sounds?”

  Sapphire shrugged as she pushed her untouched beer away. “I think it might be fun. For once we can be the ones hunting down a man. Emerald didn’t say we had to marry the guys by our favorite holidays, only get them in our lives. What’s the big deal?

  “We only want to have a good time. I’m only twenty-eight years old and I’ve spent over half my life in school. Don’t you think it’s about time we get to have some fun? Why not try to find a sexy man to spend our favorite holidays with?”

  The passion in her friend’s voice shocked the hell out of her. Sapphire was usually so laid back and reserved. Shauntie was truly speechless. She couldn’t believe Sapphire could have forgotten about him. Her best friend knew about her last bad relationship with J.T. and yet she was ready to toss her back out there to the wolves.

  After everything that happened to her, she thought Sapphire would understand why she wasn’t interested in getting back out there into the dating pool. Well, it didn’t matter at all to her if Emerald and Sapphire wanted to go out man hunting. It wasn’t any of her business, but her participation shouldn’t have been assumed.

  “Girls, I’m sorry. I don’t have any right to judge either one of you” Shauntie wanted to
get off the topic and on to something else. She didn’t need the memories of J.T. and how badly things ended between them rushing back to her. Not after she’d spent so much time getting the asshole out of her head. “Have fun looking for your men, but I’m not going to participate.”

  “Why are you always the fun police?” Emerald complained, leaning across the table. “Anytime I think of something fun and creative for us to do you constantly, and I do mean constantly, find ways to shoot everything down within minutes of the words leaving my mouth. I’m tired of it.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Sapphire chimed in, shocking Shauntie causing her eyes to dart over to her friend she had known for the longest. She never thought Sapphire would jump on Emerald’s side so quickly against her.

  After the stabbing insults, Shauntie swallowed hard trying not to reveal her anger but more importantly her hurt. Why had she even come here tonight? She might as well go home and enjoy her own company because she wasn’t going to stay here with her ‘so-called’ best friends and continue to get insulted.

  Digging inside of her purse, Shauntie grabbed some money for her drink and then tossed it down on the table. “There’s my money for my drink. I’m leaving since the fun police is ruining everyone’s night,” she complained as she got up from the table.

  Shauntie saw Sapphire and Emerald’s eyes widen from shock, but before either one of them could utter one word she stormed away from the table leaving them there to go over their plan. Hell, she would rather grab something to eat from a drive-thru and then climb into bed with a good book. Anything sounded better to her than spending another minute with Sapphire and Emerald after the way they ganged up on her. .

  “Shauntie, don’t leave. We’re sorry. Sapphire and I don’t really think of you as the fun police. This is our night. Please come back and let us apologize,” Emerald hollered after her, but she just ignored them and kept walking. The thoughts of being home sounded better and better the closer she got to the door.

  Chapter Two

  Driving his black pickup truck up the circular driveway, Nash Wentworth admired the three- storey Victorian house that resembled something out of an Architectural Digest magazine.

  Was he really at the right place?

  He had worked on expensive houses before but none of them at this level. Late last night his little sister had called him waking him up out of a damn good dream to give him a referral for a new possibility for his roofing business.

  Nash wasn’t about to lose a potential job opportunity, so he had gotten out of bed and dug out a pen and paper jotting down the information. However, Nash never thought the house he would be checking out this morning would be located in the part of town only the well-privileged and ultra snobby could afford.

  He and his buddies constantly joked about getting called to do a job out at one of these houses in the ‘elite’ neighborhoods and here he was. Nash couldn’t wait until he told his friends about this over their Friday night beers at Pepper’s a local nightclub they loved going to after a long week at work.

  This weekend at the bar Nash knew he was going to have a better story than Brian or Chance. So, they better be ready to pay up with a lot of beer and BBQ Sluggers. He was so energized about this job and the bragging rights he would get from it. Nash almost wished it was Friday instead of Thursday, but he was a patient man. He could wait until tomorrow night. This was so good he would definitely win the-most-exciting-thing-to-happen-that-week contest they had going each other.

  Most of the people in this neighborhood probably thought they were so much better than him, but it wasn’t true. It didn’t matter if he worked with his hands every day; he was just as good as them. His money was green just like theirs.

  Taking off his sunglasses, Nash tossed them on the passenger seat in his truck and ran his hand over his hair. Over the years, he’d found out rather quickly that possible clients liked it better when they could see into his eyes. One client had informed him anytime when he wore his sunglasses; he came off as a little intimidating because it came across like he was trying to get something over on them.

  With the way the economy was going, he couldn’t afford to lose one client with the bills he had to pay. So, he left his sunglasses inside the truck anytime he was dealing with someone new. Starting up and running his own business took a lot of capital and if he was lucky enough to get this new client, it would put him over the top for the rest of the year.

  Usually when his sister gave him a new referral, it usually came from one of her co-workers and everything always turned out perfectly. This job was the first job he got from her that involved someone outside of her workplace. Sitting inside of his work truck, Nash took in the scenery surrounding him from the perfectly manicured lawn to the nicely planted flowerbed at the end of the house.

  A slight movement at the edge of the yard caught Nash’s eye making him sit up straight in his seat. Who in the hell was she? Did she work for Mrs. Kane?

  He couldn’t believe what was right in front of his face. The most perfectly round ass he ever had seen in his life was stuck up in the air and was attached to a woman who was planting flowers in a small section of dirt by the front window.

  A pair of dark blue jeans hugged the woman’s lower body like they were almost painted on making his mouth water at the gorgeous sight. He loved a nice curvy behind on a female.

  Nash had been an ass man since he’d turned thirteen years old when he started taking notice of a girl’s body. Most of his friends either liked breasts or legs, but not him. He loved when a woman had a little extra in the ass department and this female had more than plenty to fill his hands as he made love to her.

  If she looked this good from behind than how good did she look from the front, Nash wondered to himself. Luckily, his wish got granted a few minutes later when she stood up and brushed the dirt from her hands and the sight of her luscious body made all of the air rush from his body.

  The upper part of her body was just as stunning as the rest. Firm, high breasts pressed against the front of her shirt which was tucked inside of her jeans showing off her small waist and womanly hips. If his father was still alive, he would say this woman was built like a Coke bottle.

  Nothing was out of place.

  Unfortunately, Nash couldn’t see much of her face or hair because of her sunglasses and big, brown floppy sunhat. His curiosity was piqued about how soon he would be able to see her face and if it would match the rest of her killer body

  Nash knew he would love to stay inside his truck and stare at the vision before him, but sadly he couldn’t. Undoubtedly his client was probably inside right now peeking at him through the blinds wondering why in the hell his ass was still sitting inside of his work truck instead of at her front door. He couldn’t afford to piss off this new client before he got a chance to introduce himself or check out the job.

  Hopefully, the mystery woman who was planting flowers would still be around when he left since he was considering asking her out for a cup of coffee after he was done here. As long as she didn’t blow him off anything she might agree to would be fine with him.

  Getting out of the truck, Nash stood by the hood wondering what he should do. He stole a glance towards the house and then back at the woman who had resumed her original position of planting flowers.

  A thought suddenly crossed Nash’s mind. What if she wasn’t here when he came back out? He wasn’t sure how long it would take to survey the roof damage to this house. He might miss out on his only opportunity to find out who she was and ask her out on a date. As much as he was dying to land this job and add it to his business he couldn’t take the chance she might actually be gone when he came back outside.

  Hell, Nash knew he was extremely good at his job and possessed the credentials to prove it, so, his client could wait a few more minutes for him.

  Sauntering across the freshly cut grass, Nash made his way towards the woman who caught his attention the second he pulled up in the driveway. The closer he got to
her; he began to wonder why she hadn’t turned her head and looked at him.

  Didn’t she hear him coming right at her? Nash got the answer to his question when he got a little closer to her. He noticed ear plugs in her ear. She was listening to music, and singing along. Nash didn’t recognize the song.

  Nash didn’t want to scare her by touching her on the shoulder or back, so he decided to yell loud enough hoping she would hear him over the music. It was the best idea that he could come up with for the moment.

  “Excuse me miss,” he yelled, but got no answer

  Inching closer to her, Nash tried to grab her attention away from her task a second time. He was almost directly at her side and he called out to her again. “Miss, can you hear me?” He hollered louder this time. The woman screamed and practically leaped off the ground before her head swung in his direction.

  “My God, you scared the hell out of me,” she snapped, standing up pulling the earplugs out of her ears.

  The smoky quality of her voice rushed instantly to Nash’s cock giving him a semi-erection in seconds. Shit! Her voice was what hot, steamy nights filled with hours of sex was made for. Now Nash was dying even more to see her eyes. He wondered if they matched the smooth toffee complexion of her skin.

  Nash wasn’t the kind of man to discriminate when it came to the opposite sex. He loved all types of women. Having a type never entered his mind. If he was drawn to a female then he would ask her out and see where things moved after their first date.

  This woman was totally on his road to the first date status he loved so much. He could find out so much from a first date. Sometimes things worked out and sometimes they didn’t, but he never let that stop him from approaching an attractive woman when he saw one.

  “I’m sorry,” Nash apologized with a quick smile. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I only wanted to know if you knew if Ms. Kane was home. I’m here to check out her leaking roof.”