Page 25 of Third Chances (Men of Manhattan 2)

"Actually, I have some in my bag." I pulled my arm out of his. Crap, did I just agree to do this?

"Perfect."

I sighed. Whatever. I'd apply sunscreen to this muscular stranger and then I'd swim my laps and have a relaxing afternoon. I grabbed the sunscreen out of my bag and followed Matt over to his chair.

"Front or back first, sweetheart?" he asked.

Sweetheart? Vomit. "Um...back?" The front was going to be more awkward.

"Sure thing." He lay down on his stomach.

"You really should wear sunscreen whenever you go outside. Just a few minutes in the sun without it can be very damaging, you know."

"It's good you were here to save me, then."

"If you'd like, I can just show you how to apply it properly by yourself so you don't miss any spots. The back is always the hardest, but it's doable. Do you want me to show you?"

"How about we talk about that after you apply mine real quick? I don't want to get burnt."

Fair point. God knows how long he had already been out here without it. I can't believe I'm doing this. I put a glob of sunscreen on my hand and sat down on the edge of his pool chair.

Rob crouched down next to Matt and whispered something in his ear.

"Nope," Matt said.

Rob looked up at me and winked.

Was he trying to get me out of this? That was really sweet. None of my friends had tried to help me.

Rob whispered something else in Matt's ear.

"Seriously?" Matt sat up and stared at him

"I swear."

Matt looked at me for a second and then stood up. "Why do I feel like I'm going to regret this?"

Rob smiled. "Because she's beautiful."

I knew I blushed at his words. When our waiter had said it last night, he was talking to all four of us. But Rob was saying it directly to me.

"Okay, well, thanks. I'll just...here," I said and put the glob of sunscreen that was in my hand onto Matt's hand. "You should still apply that. You don't want to get burnt. Especially on your shoulders. Actually, you're going to need more than that. So just bring this back when you're done." I put the bottle in his other hand. "And I'm just going to go back over to my friends. It was nice meeting all of you." I turned away from them.

"Not so fast." I almost jumped at the touch of a hand on my waist and the warm breath on my neck.

I looked up at Rob. His face was close to mine. I noticed how his shaggy hair stuck a little to his forehead because of the heat. My eyes wandered down his face to his alluring deep brown of his eyes, which were intently staring at me.

I gulped. I wasn't one to get flustered over a guy. "Well thanks for saving me from that, Rob." I awkwardly stuck out my hand to him.

"Well, don't thank me yet. I didn't save you." He lifted up Matt's card. "I'm just taking Matt's place because I can tell you'd rather it be me."

Chapter 8

Rob

She gaped at me. Her jaw actually dropped. Like that was the most shocking thing anyone had ever said to her. She was clearly in need of some fun. But I barely noticed her gaping, because I was completely transfixed by her green eyes. They looked like emeralds in the sun. I had never seen eyes that color before. It felt like I had been waiting to see her without her sunglasses forever. And now here she was, the girl in the grass. I shouldn't have been surprised that her eyes were the very color of the grass she used to lay in.

I had been dreaming about this girl for over a year and now she had just shown up out of the blue. She was literally about to fall into my lap. I had blown my first chance with her. I wasn't going to blow my second chance. Especially to Matt. I lightly touched the bottom of her chin.

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