Page 30 of Third Chances (Men of Manhattan 2)

"I never even said I was cashing in."

"It was implied when you started making out with me."

"Again, I was just giving you what you wanted." He leaned forward. His breath was hot in my ear. "Don't worry, you'll like what I actually have planned for you." He lightly bit my earlobe.

Chapter 10

Rob

The moan that escaped her lips made it hard for me to step back. But the chase was half the fun. This girl was stubborn and uptight. It was going to be amusing watching her unwind. Slowly. Very slowly. It was part of the game. And now that I had kissed her, there was no way I was going to stop.

I stepped back and ran my hand through my hair. Girls loved that for some reason. I watched her eyes follow my fingers. She crossed her arms and looked away from me.

"As far as I'm concerned, our deal is done," she said. "The only thing that either of us owe the other one is you making Javier get these bracelets off me."

"We both know that's not what you want."

She looked back up at me. "Yes I do. All I want is for these bracelets to be off my wrist and to be swimming laps. Alone."

I put my hand to my chest. "Ouch. I thought that kiss was amazing."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't."

I smiled as she turned and walked away. Her ass swayed just the right amount. Like she was trying a little to be sexy, but not trying too hard. She was definitely sexy. And very stubborn. Luckily for me, this weekend she was going to be mine.

"Wait up," I said and caught up to her. "Aren't you worried that more creepy guys are going to walk by?" I slipped my hand into hers.

"None as creepy as you, surely." Despite what she had just said, she kept her fingers intertwined with mine.

I looked down at her hand. I rarely held hands. It seemed more intimate than a light touch on the lower back. But I liked it. Her palm felt warm against mine. Almost...sweaty? I tried to look at her face but she turned away. She was nervous. Which was incredibly cute. She seemed so confident and feisty out by the pool. I was used to girls bending over backwards to be with me. But this girl was different. She was putting up a good fight. Her body was giving off so many tells it wasn't even fair, though. She didn't seem to realize how obvious it was that she wanted me. It just made her even cuter. Since when was I attracted to cute? I shook away the though and tightened my fingers around hers.

She looked down at our hands and then up at me. "Why won't you let your brother talk to his fiancée?"

"Are you going to pester me about this too? Look, I know Penny. She's fine. She worries about him. That's all. If something was really wrong, I'd let him talk

to her. I'm not a monster. Besides, I already talked to her last night. And left her a note. She's just used to talking to him every day."

"You care about her." She said it in a way like she was surprised. Maybe even shocked.

"Yeah. Of course I do. She's going to be my little sister."

Daphne shrugged. "I've just found that guys like you usually only care about themselves."

"I wouldn't have pegged you as someone that would judge a book by its cover."

"I'm not. And I wouldn't. I'm not just judging you based on your six pack and perfect tan." She flushed slightly. "We've interacted. You forced me to put sunscreen all over you and got a hard on. And then you tricked me into making out with you in front of a bunch of people. That's what I was judging you based on. And all the super suggestive things that come out of your mouth. You do it so naturally that you must do it all the time. Which means that either you're a player or you're afraid of commitment or both."

"Maybe I just haven't found the right person yet." I wasn't sure why I had said it. It just kind of spilled out. I didn't want to be a player. I didn't want people to label me that way. And I wasn't afraid of commitment. I actually wanted something more than a one night thing. Am I just waiting for the right person?

She pushed her lips to one side as if she was biting the inside of her cheek. "That's something that a player would say to get a good girl into bed."

I laughed. "And what about you then?"

"What about me?"

"You clearly don't know how to let loose and have fun. Your friends put those bracelets on you and forced you to buy this bikini because you probably dress the same way you act." I pulled a price sticker off the back of her bathing suit bottom.

She pressed her lips together.

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