Page 29 of Third Chances (Men of Manhattan 2)

"Daphne doesn't know anything about bachelor party bro code. Now, I'm escorting her to the front desk before she can mess up all our weekend plans."

"I'm not..."

But Rob had already grabbed my hand and turned me away from his friends. I tried to snatch my towel off my pool chair, but he pulled me away from my friends too.

"I need my towel to cover up my bracelets and bathing suit."

"You don't need to cover up your bathing suit. You have an amazing body. And why do you think I'm holding your hand?"

"Because you're incredibly forward."

Rob laughed. "No. Barely anyone can see your bracelets when we're holding hands. And if they do catch sight of your bracelets, they won't mess with you when we're clearly together."

"We are not together."

"Okay then." He dropped my hand as he opened up the door to the hotel for me. The blast of air conditioning felt amazing. I had gotten overheated from the Costa Rican heat. I glanced over at Rob. Or maybe I was overheated from having my hands all over his perfect body. I turned away from him and noticed a group of guys walking toward us.

"Hold my hand again," I whispered to him.

"Nah, I'm going to respect your boundaries."

"Now you're going to respect my boundaries? After you had your hands all over me?"

"I'm pretty sure you're the one who had your hands all over me, gorgeous."

"Seriously, Rob, hold my hand."

"We're not together. Your words."

"Please. Come on. Those guys are getting closer. They might try to use their cards on me."

"I guess that's a risk you're going to have to take."

"Please, Rob. I'll do anything."

"Anything?" He raised his left eyebrow.

I gulped. "Yes. Anything." I looked over at the group of guys. They were nearly upon us. "Come on."

He shrugged. "Okay, deal." He immediately stopped walking and pushed the middle of my chest, pressing my back against the wall. His lips were on me before I even had time to realize what was happening.

Holy shit. Normally I would have waited longer to kiss someone after just meeting them. But I had just told him he could have whatever he wanted. A kiss seemed innocent enough. Besides, when was I ever going to get another chance to make out with a sexy stranger at an exclusive resort? Especially one that looked like Rob.

He ran his tongue across my lips, slowly easing them open. He tasted like mint and something sweet. Coconut maybe? I felt one of his hands slide to my ass and lift my leg up around his waist.

It was maybe becoming a little more PG-13 now, but I didn't want him to stop. I couldn't even remember the last time I had been kissed like this. I moved my hands to the back of his head, gripping his hair. It was softer than I imagined. I pulled him closer to me, deepening the kiss.

He groaned into my mouth.

There was something so primal about the noise. I wanted to hear him make it again and again. And suddenly I wanted to touch every inch of him, even though I had just applied sunscreen in the same places. I ran my fingers down the back of his neck and over the muscles of his broad shoulders. I let my hands trail down his strong biceps.

He pulled back far too soon and smiled. "I told you that you wanted to kiss me." He kept my thigh in his hand.

"Psh, yeah right. I was just letting you kiss me because of the deal we just made."

"The deal where you said you'd do anything? You really think I'd waste that on a kiss that you were clearly already begging me for?" He removed his hand from my thigh.

"Yes, what other deal would I be talking about? We're even now." I put my foot back down on the ground and pushed on his chest so I could get away from him. But he didn't budge.

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