Third Chances (Men Of Manhattan #2) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,14
exposing her bra.
"What are you doing?!" I yelled.
"Thanks, babe," the guy said and waved his card in front of Kristen's bracelet. It immediately clanged onto the table.
"It's just a game, hot stuff. Move along." She pulled her straps back on and shooed him away.
"What the heck did his card say?"
"Show me your bra."
"Really? That's so ridiculously inappropriate. We're in the middle of a restaurant!"
Kristen shrugged. "No one saw except you guys. It's not a big deal. But I do have a few questions for Javier. How risqu茅 do you think this game gets?" She put her bracelet into her purse.
I moved my hand so that it was underneath the table. I didn't want anyone seeing my bracelet and getting any ideas.
"Come on, let's go dance too until our food comes," Kristen said.
"You two go. I'll stay here and wave you down once our food comes."
"That won't be necessary," Layla said. "Because the food is here! Oh my God, I'm so hungry."
Pablo smiled as he set down our entries. "Enjoying the bracelet game ladies?"
"I take it you were watching?" Kristen said with a smile.
"I may have been." He raised his eyebrow.
"I guess I'm lucky it wasn't any worse. I wouldn't have wanted the whole restaurant to see me naked."
"You'd be surprised how often that happens."
I was already cutting into my chicken. "Wait, does that seriously happen?"
"The cards go from very tame to very, very wild." He rolled his "r's" again in that sexy way of his.
"How wild?"
He winked. "I'm sure you'll find out during your stay. Enjoy, ladies."
"Seriously, how wild do the cards get?" I asked Kristen and Layla as he walked away.
"I don't know, but he was totally insinuating sex, wasn't he? It seems like he was," Kristen said as she stared at his ass.
I laughed awkwardly. "I'm sure he's just messing with us." I tried to pay attention to the delicious food, but my thoughts kept wandering back to the cards. I didn't want to play this stupid game. Couldn't I get out of it?
Alina sat down and picked up her fork. "That guy was super handsy, though. You would have thought his card said, 'let me grope you.'" She shook her head and took a bite of her steak. "This is soooo good."
We all were silent as we shoved our food in our mouths. Apparently they were all as famished as me.
"I need to pee, bitches," Layla said after she finished her pi帽a colada.
Alina stood up and Layla slid out of the booth.
It only took a second for a guy to approach her. Hopefully she didn't have to go to the bathroom too badly.
"What do you think he's going to make her do?" I asked.
"By the way she's laughing? Maybe tell a funny joke?"
I wish the cards were that innocent. A second later, Layla turned around and the guy spanked her.
Kristen finished her last bite of tilapia. "We should probably go save her. I want to go dance anyway. You guys in?"
"Absolutely," Alina said.
"I'm still eating," I said and tried to slow down my ravenous eating so that it would look like I wasn't done yet.
I nodded, even though I was planning my escape route as we spoke.
"Fine," Kristen said. "Man the fort."
I watched them walk over to Layla and steal her away from the guy. I didn't even notice Pablo come back over to the table. He was as quiet as a jaguar. His voice almost made me jump.
"May I interest you in some dessert?" He was holding up a tray of the fanciest desserts I had ever seen. "The triple chocolate mousse cake is our specialty. And it is my personal favorite." He gave me a seductive smile.
"Could I get a piece to go?"
"Certainly."
Five minutes later, I was sneaking out of the restaurant, trying to hide my wrist and hold my boxed dessert. I made my way to the front desk. I needed to have a word with Javier about this stupid bracelet game. I refused to play. It wasn't fun. It was simply degrading to women.
But as soon as I arrived in the lobby, I saw a group of guys walking toward me. One of them smiled. They would intercept me on the way to the front desk. I was not going to risk having to do whatever was on their stupid cards. I bolted to the elevator, got in, and pressed the close-door button until the doors