Page 114 of Third Chances (Men of Manhattan 2)

"Maybe after I take a nap, though?"

"Now, Girl who's scared to call the man she loves."

"Please just keep calling me Momma Bear." I sighed and sat up. "I'll go call him then." I walked out into the hallway as quietly as possibly, trying not to disturb Kristen and Layla sleeping. Before I could chicken out, I pressed on Rob's number in my phone.

It rang several times and went to voicemail. It was one of those generic voicemail messages with some lady talking. Maybe it's not his phone. Maybe Mason gave Layla the wrong number. I shook my head. There was no reason for him to do that. Unless Rob really, really didn't want to talk to me.

It took me a second to realize that the voicemail had beeped awhile ago. Shit.

"Hey, Rob. It's me, Daphne Hughes from the Blue Parrot Resort. Sorry, that was a weird way to describe myself. I don't work there, we met there." I laughed awkwardly. "Wow, I wish I could somehow hack onto your phone and erase this and start over." I laughed again at my own joke. What the hell am I doing? "I'm sorry, I should probably tell you how I got your number. I'm not Kristen. I promise I'm not stalking you. Layla asked Mason for your number. That's how I got it. I don't know if Mason told you that, though, so I just wanted to make sure you knew."

Beep.

What the heck? The voicemail had cut me off. Shit! I had more to say. Was it weird for me to call back right away? Screw it. I pressed on his name again and waited for the voicemail to kick in.

"It's Daphne Hughes again. Your voicemail cut me off before I got to say why I was calling." Why am I calling? He's going to think I'm crazy. "I was wrong, Rob. I don't want to be alone while I figure out how to deal with...everything. I want to be with you. I mean, we can see how it goes, I guess. I'm not asking for you to commit to me. We barely know each other. That would be crazy. Right?" Don't ask him to validate your craziness! "Sorry, that was weird. I just meant, I love you. Fuck." I covered my mouth with hand. Did I just say that I loved him? Did I just curse at him? "That's not what I meant. I meant that I love the way you make me feel. You have a really good...energy."

Beep.

God. No! I quickly hit his name again. It eventually went to voicemail.

"I'm not a hippy. I don't like vibe people's energies. This is Daphne Hughes again, by the way. Wow, once you start leaving messages it's really hard to stop, you know what I mean? But I'm stopping now. I just needed you to know that I'm sorry for assuming the worst about James. I'm sorry for freaking out about your sexual history. I don't know if it counts as history if it was just a few days ago, but that's beside the point. And I'm really sorry for pushing you away. I'm just sorry for everything. I've been having a hard time, which you could probably tell. I'm a mess, honestly. But you made me feel better. You made me smile and laugh and I really, really like you. I'm just asking for another chance. I'll be back in New York on Friday. I know your brother's wedding is this weekend so you're super busy. But if you could call me, I'd really like to hear your voice. I want to give us a shot. If you're willing..."

Beep.

I sighed. There was nothing else I really needed to say. I just had to wait. I walked back into the room. Alina had fallen asleep on the couch. I went over and sat down beside her.

"Did he pick up?" she asked groggily.

"No, he didn't answer."

"Give him some time."

Time was one thing I had a lot of. I had no plans for the rest of the summer. I could wait. Maybe I really would turn into a stalker like Kristen. Because no one in their right mind would call me back after hearing those messages.

Chapter 37

Daphne

My phone ringing made me jump. Oh my God, it's him! I slid my finger across the screen without looking at the caller ID. "Hey!"

Alina groaned in her sleep.

I pulled the phone away from my ear. "Sorry." I slipped out into the hall again. I put the phone to my ear again. My heart was beating so fast. "Hey," I said, a little calmer.

"Hey, Daphne. How's the bachelorette party going?"

I sighed and leaned against the wall. Bryce. It was Bryce. He was probably just calling to see how Alina was. "Hey, Bryce. It's great."

He laughed. "Is everyone still asleep?"

"Um...yeah. Do you want to talk to Alina?"

"No, just come down to the front desk."

"Why?"

But Bryce didn't answer. He had already hung up the phone.

---