Page 17 of Third Chances (Men of Manhattan 2)

I laughed awkwardly. "I'm sure he's just messing with us." I tried to pay attention to the delicious food, but my thoughts kept wandering back to the cards. I didn't want to play this stupid game. Couldn't I get out of it?

Alina sat down and picked up her fork. "That guy was super handsy, though. You would have thought his card said, 'let me grope you.'" She shook her head and took a bite of her steak. "This is soooo good."

We all were silent as we shoved our food in our mouths. Apparently they were all as famished as me.

"I need to pee, bitches," Layla said after she finished her piña colada.

Alina stood up and Layla slid out of the booth.

It only took a second for a guy to approach her. Hopefully she didn't have to go to the bathroom too badly.

"What do you think he's going to make her do?" I asked.

"By the way she's laughing? Maybe tell a funny joke?"

I wish the cards were that innocent. A second later, Layla turned around and the guy spanked her.

Kristen finished her last bite of tilapia. "We should probably go save her. I want to go dance anyway. You guys in?"

"Absolutely," Alina said.

"I'm still eating," I said and tried to slow down my ravenous eating so that it would look like I wasn't done yet.

"Come on, Momma Bear," Kristen said.

Alina laughed. "Oh, stop torturing Daphne. She'll dance when she's done eating, right?"

I nodded, even though I was planning my escape route as we spoke.

"Fine," Kristen said. "Man the fort."

I watched them walk over to Layla and steal her away from the guy. I didn't even notice Pablo come back over to the table. He was as quiet as a jaguar. His voice almost made me jump.

"May I interest you in some dessert?" He was holding up a tray of the fanciest desserts I had ever seen. "The triple chocolate mousse cake is our specialty. And it is my personal favorite." He gave me a seductive smile.

"Could I get a piece to go?"

"Certainly."

Five minutes later, I was sneaking out of the restaurant, trying to hide my wrist and hold my boxed dessert. I made my way to the front desk. I needed to have a word with Javier about this stupid bracelet game. I refused to play. It wasn't fun. It was simply degrading to women.

But as soon as I arrived in the lobby, I saw a group of guys walking toward me. One of them smiled. They would intercept me on the way to the front desk. I was not going to risk having to do whatever was on their stupid cards. I bolted to the elevator, got in, and pressed the close-door button until the doors slid closed. I sighed. That was a close call.

I looked both ways before exiting onto our floor, and hurried into our room. I had somehow escaped playing the game tonight, but I wasn't sure how long my luck would hold out. We were going to be here for a whole week. I plopped down on the bed and opened up the triple chocolate mousse cake. Tomorrow I'd have a heated conversation with Javier. Tonight, I'd just watch that movie I had wanted to earlier.

Chapter 6

Daphne

Someone pushing my shoulder woke me up. I groaned in my sleep, trying to ignore it. I was used to sleeping alone. Which meant I always spread out like a starfish in bed.

"Move over," Layla said and pushed me again, this time with both hands, forcing me to roll over.

"Ow!" I yelled as I fell off the bed. I landed with a thud on the wood floor. I reached down to grab my hip and noticed four gold bracelets on my wrist in addition to the one I always wore. What the heck? I stood up and looked over at my sleeping friends. Oh my God. Had they robbed a jewelry store last night? I didn't remember them coming back. They had plenty of time to become jewelry thieves. Crap! The evidence was all over me. Why did they put the evidence on me?

I tried to unclasp the bracelets but there didn't seem to be any visible latch. I can't go to Costa Rican prison! I tugged on the bracelets, trying to break them off. And then it hit me. These were the gold bracelets that were part of the bracelet game.

And there wasn't just one of the terrible bracelet on me, but four. Which meant I'd be expected to do four borderline inappropriate things throughout the day. No. I stared at the bracelets in horror. "What did you guys do?"

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