Page 39 of Third Chances (Men of Manhattan 2)

"I don't want to hang out with some girls that used to be in my class. That one girl basically stalked me."

"Which one?"

"The one will brunette hair. Kristen Dwyer."

"So what? It's your bachelor party. Make her dreams come too. She's hot."

"I feel like I need to say this one more time, to nail it into your head," James said. "I will never, ever cheat on Penny. Ever."

"Fine. I totally get it. If she was my girl I wouldn't cheat on her either. She is so fucking sexy. And I promise, if you ever die in some terrible, fiery accident, I will totally make sure she stays sexual satisfied for you. Best man code."

"I'm going to kill you in your sleep tonight." James picked up his book again. "And then I'm going to make Mason my best man."

Mason laughed. "You should have just made me your best man to begin with. I never say anything inappropriate about Penny."

"Ever since you started dating Bee. But before that, you had your fair share of comments too."

"All I ever said is that I could hook her up with a great job and an amazing salary. No benefits, but still."

"You wanted her to be a hooker."

"Oh, shit," I said. "Mason, did I ever tell you that when I first met Penny, I thought she was a prostitute that James had hired for me?"

Mason laughed. "Tell me that isn't true?"

"No, seriously. It was hilarious."

"I'm going to go get a drink," James said. He tossed his book on his chair and walked away from us.

"He's going to the front desk to call Penny, right?" I asked

"I'll give him one minute and then I'll run after him." Mason turned to me. "Lighten up on him a bit, though, will you? You know how he gets."

"You mean you think he is addicted to her?" I had been through a lot with James. I had sat with him during withdrawal. I knew him better than anyone else did. Well, maybe not Penny. She had me beat.

"I don't know." Mason dropped his magazine and stood up. "I just meant that he's in love and he misses her." He stared after James. "He seems different, you know? With her."

"You mean he's fun again?"

"And not obliterated, yes."

"You always were the one that was a bad influence on him," I said.

"Me? I'm pretty sure

that was you."

I laughed. "Maybe he was the one that was a bad influence on us." I watched James as he walked around the pool. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't seen him like this before. That wasn't seriously the problem, was it? Withdrawal? He had been clean for years. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach as the realization slowly dawned on me. I wasn't sure why I had never realized it before. He had been clean since he started dating Penny.

Before Mason could go after him, I stood up. "I'll go talk to him."

Chapter 13

Daphne

I tried to casually glance over at Rob again, hoping he wouldn't notice. I had misjudged him. That wasn't something I usually did. There was so much more to him than the handsome, funny man front. Why was he hiding that?

When he started talking about his time living in Costa Rica, I had been completely absorbed. Hopefully he had been too, because when I realized I was running my hands through the contours of his six pack while I listened, I couldn't seem to stop. I had never felt a body as hard as his before. It was like my hand was the opposite end of a magnet. It just wanted to be pressed against him. And I liked the way his muscles felt under my fingers. I liked the way he looked at me even more. It was as though he desired me. No one had ever desired me like that before.

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