Third Chances

by Smoak, Ivy

  He raised his left eyebrow. "But you're the one moaning."

  I would have been hypnotized by how sexy he looked with his eyebrow raised if what he had said hadn't been so patronizing. I pushed his other hand off of me. "A deal's a deal." I climbed off of his lap. "Javier. Now."

  Someone laughed to our left. I looked over at Matt. He had clearly enjoyed Rob's strikeout.

  Rob sighed. "Fine. But I guarantee that I'm going to get you to change your mind eventually."

  "Right. I don't think so."

  "Rob, take this with you," Matt said and tossed him a cell phone. "It's your turn to watch it."

  Professor Hunter snapped the book he was reading shut. "I have a better idea. Just let me talk to Penny for five minutes and..."

  "Not happening," Rob said. "Bachelor party rules."

  "She wouldn't be calling if something wasn't wrong. You know that." He looked truly concerned. Like he was worried his bride to be was in trouble and only he could save her. It was so romantic. It made me think again of how all my friends were getting engaged and married and I was stuck. Alone. I wanted what Professor Hunter had with his fiancée. True love. The kind you read about. Because I had actually read about them in a tabloid once.

  "She just misses you, man," Mason said and turned the page of the magazine he was thumbing through. "Bee's already called me a few times."

  "Yeah, but you got to talk to her. I'm just asking for a few minutes."

  "You should let him talk to her," I said.

  Professor Hunter looked up at me. "See, that's what we needed. A female's perspective. Thank you, Daphne. Now give me my fucking phone."

  "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.

  "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.

  "And I'm guessing that you're a serial monogamist if you have such issues with the way I live. But despite that, you haven't found the right guy yet. You've done everything right, but your friends are the ones that keep getting engaged and married and you feel like you're slipping behind. I bet you have a checklist of all the things your dream guy would have. So the real problem is that you're too picky and maybe you're even avoiding falling in love a little because it would mean you have to give up control for one second. How off am I?"

  "Completely off." She pulled her hand out of mine and folded her arms in front of her chest. She probably didn't realize that doing so really just pushed her boobs up. I looked back up at her face. She was blinking fast, like she was holding back tears.

  Shit. I hadn't meant to upset her. I just didn't like when people judged me. So my reaction was to judge her back? Smooth.

  "That's a shame," I quickly said. "Because if it was true, then it would mean we were both waiting for the right person to come along. Which means we could spend the weekend figuring out if we could be that for each other."

  She laughed.

  I liked her laugh a lot more than imminent tears. "Seriously, we could spend all weekend in bed really getting to know each other."

  She laughed again. "As tempting as that is, I'm going to have to pass. I'm here to hang out with my friends, not to hook up with strangers. So how about you get these bracelets off of me and we can go our separate ways?"

  That definitely wasn't going to happen. "Okay, beautiful. I'll distract Javier while you steal the cards."

  "What?" She stopped right before we got to the front desk.

  "Just follow my lead." I walked up to Javier and leaned against the counter. "Hey, Javier."

  "What can I do for you, Mr. Hunter?"

  "I was just wondering what your iguana policy is?"

  I saw Daphne put her hand over her mouth out of the corner of my eye.

  "Our iguana policy?" Javier asked.

  "Yeah."

  "Um...we don't usually allow pets on the premises."

  "Right, right. But I just caught this iguana outside, and I'd really love to keep it."

  "Well, how big is it?"

  "Oh, it's really big. The biggest one I've ever seen."

  Daphne laughed and then immediately clasped her hands over her mouth again.

  Javier turned around, but Daphne had just ducked. He looked back at me. "If you want I can call the manager to see if..."

  "No! I mean, no that's okay."

  Daphne had just reached her hand toward the stack of cards which was sitting right by the phone.

  "So, you don't want to keep the iguana?" Javier asked.

  Daphne successfully grabbed a stack of cards.

  "Nope, I've changed my mind. I'll just kill it." I tapped the counter and went to go follow her.

  "Mr. Hunter, killing animals in this rainforest is illegal. Mr. Hunter!" Javier called after me.

  But I was already running up to Daphne. I quickly grabbed the cards out of her hand before she got a chance to swipe any of them over her bracelets.

  "What the heck! Those are mine!"

  I lifted them up in the air so she couldn't reach. She tried to jump to grab them, but I just held them up even higher and enjoyed the view of her tits bouncing.

  "They're mine now," I said.

  "But I'm the one that stole them."

  "Yeah, because of my awesome plan and distraction."

  "Asking about their iguana policy? That wasn't a good distraction."

  "I believe I saw you laughing."

  "Because it was so ridiculous."

  "Mhm. Let's see what we have here." I picked up the first card. "Get topless."

  "It does not say that."

  "Actually it does. Oh, how about this one? Skinny dipping in the pool."

  "You're making those up."

  I held them out for her to prove that I wasn't lying.

  "Don't you dare make me do those. I'll never speak to you again."

  I shrugged. "I thought you were already done speaking to me?"

  "If you promise not to use any of the dirty ones on me, we can still be on speaking terms."

  "And hang out for the rest of the time we're both here?"

  She rolled her eyes. "I have bachelorette party duties. But outside of them, sure, we can hang out."

  "Okay, deal." I put my hand out for her to shake.

  "I feel like this is another trick." She eyed my hand skeptically.

  "No trick, beautiful."

  She looked up into my eyes. I had the urge to press her back against a wall again and do more than kissing. But I was just about to get her exactly where I wanted her. Luckily for me, I had a great poker face.

  "Fine. Deal." She shook my hand.

  "That's great," I said, "because I already promised to give all the dirtiest ones to Matt."

  "What?"

  "When we switched places for the sunscreen application, I told him I'd swipe some cards from the front desk and give him the dirtiest ones."

  "You did trick me." She lightly slapped my arm.

  "Yeah, maybe. But now I only get to..." I picked up another card. "Snuggle with you. So, you're welcome."

  She glanced at the card in my hand. "We don't know each other. I'm not snuggling with you." She walked past me.

  I laughed at the card I had just picked up. "How about you give me a hand job instead then?"

  She started laughing. "Keep dreaming, Rob," she said over her shoulder.

  That was something else I loved. The challenge of turning a no into a yes. After an awesome snuggling session she'd be eager to give me that hand job and then some. Besides, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to get to know her. I found her attitude extremely refreshing.

  Her ass was pretty amazing too.

  Chapter 11

  Daphne

  Rob was right about me. So right that it stung. I hadn't even thought about how vulnerable falling in love left me. I was used to doing whatever I wanted every day, however I wanted. I was used to being in control. Am I really avoiding love?

  I didn't flinch when Rob caught up to me and slipped his hand in mine again. It had been a long time since someone had held my hand.
It made me feel safe somehow. Almost protected. But what I currently needed protection from was Rob.

  I glanced up at him out of the corner of my eye. He was gorgeous, confident, and a great kisser. A really, really good kisser.

  I was never one to condone public displays of affection. I was always yelling at kids in the hallway at school. There was a time and place for everything, and kissing by a set of lockers wasn't that time or place. But I hadn't even been thinking about the appropriateness of it when he kissed me. All I wanted was more. A lot more. And the thought terrified me. I was only going to be here for a week. I had no idea how long he was going to be here. I didn't do one night stands. Why am I even thinking about this?

  Because he's gorgeous, confident, and a great kisser. I quickly looked away from him when he turned his head toward me. Those three things were on my list for my soul mate. Pretty high up there too. But he was also infuriating. He assumed I wanted to kiss him, he didn't seem to have any filter whatsoever, and his confidence was borderline cocky. He was definitely not my soul mate.

  "You still need to take off my bracelet for applying your sunscreen," I said, trying to push aside the thoughts rolling around in my head.

  He smiled. "How long has it been since then?"

  "I don't know. Ten minutes maybe?"

  "Too bad. I think the rules state that the card must be swiped against the bracelet within five minutes of the activity being completed."

  "What rules? There don't seem to be any rules at all for this game. If you don't swipe my bracelet, I'm going to tell Javier that you took that stack of cards."

  "Yeah, I was talking to Javier the whole time. He knows I didn't take anything."

  I didn't care how good his hand felt wrapped around mine. Besides, he was making me incredibly nervous and I was pretty sure my palms were getting sweaty. Which was mortifying. I pulled my hand away from his.

  "Rob, you have ten seconds to swipe my bracelet."

  He raised his left eyebrow. "Or what?"

  "Or..." I let my voice trail off.

  He smiled. It was no longer a question if he was cocky or confident. He was definitely cocky.