Third Chances (Men Of Manhattan #2) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,21

in love with him, I was always a fan of his story with Penny. And I believed that the school made up rumors about them. Because I had seen them in tabloids too. They clearly adored each other. And here he was on his bachelor party. If they weren't truly in love, they wouldn't be getting married.

I realized I was standing there awkwardly. "So, Mason, Matt, James, and Rob," I said, gesturing toward each of them as I said their names. "Nice to meet you, guys."

"The pleasure is all ours," Matt said. "I see you ladies already lost your bracelets. I guess you're hot commodities at the Blue Parrot Resort."

Layla laughed. "Not exactly." She looked over at me.

Don't you dare. I will hate you forever. I'm warning you, Layla. But we barely knew each other. She couldn't read my stares yet.

"Daphne's the only one of us who is single. So we gave them all to her." She pulled my towel off my arm, revealing both my inappropriately tiny bikini and my four gold bracelets all at once.

Shit! I quickly folded my arms in front of my chest.

I looked over at Rob. He had put his hands in the pockets of his swim trunks. He looked disappointed. I felt my heart sink. I thought he was attracted to me. But now that he had seen my stupid bikini, it seemed like he had changed his mind. Probably because it was way too revealing and I looked like a hooker. I was pretty impressed that he was staring at my bracelets instead of my breasts though.

"And this is why you save your card until after breakfast," Matt said to Rob and walked toward me.

No. No, no, no.

"Daphne, it's nice to meet you." He put his hand out for me to shake.

Which meant I had to unfold my arms. Damn it. I put my hand out for him to shake and then immediately crossed my arms again when his eyes wandered to my breasts.

"I was just about to head back to our room," I said. "I forgot my sunglasses, so..." I let my voice trail off.

"Gotcha. How about I walk you?"

Did he seriously think that was a proposition for sex? "Oh. No. I really just forgot my sunglasses. I'm certainly not in need of an escort."

Matt smiled as he pulled a card out of his pocket. "How about we do this first?" He held the card out in front of me.

I reluctantly looked down at the card. It read, "Apply sunscreen to me."

Phew. "I'm actually a huge proponent of sunscreen. So, I've already applied it. But thanks for offering. Maybe you should use it on one of those girls over there? They look like they're dangerously close to getting sunburnt." I pointed to a group of women on the other side of the pool. They were a little older than us, but not by much. I was sure they'd love to have Matt's hands all over them.

Matt smiled. "Oh, no, the card means that you have to apply it to me. And I'm not wearing any."

I looked over at my friends for help. But there wasn't anything they could do. I noticed Rob whispering something to Professor Hunter out of the corner of my eye.

"And I also don't have any here, which means we need to go buy some first." He linked his arm in mine.

"Actually, I have some in my bag." I pulled my arm out of his. Crap, did I just agree to do this?

"Perfect."

I sighed. Whatever. I'd apply sunscreen to this muscular stranger and then I'd swim my laps and have a relaxing afternoon. I grabbed the sunscreen out of my bag and followed Matt over to his chair.

"Front or back first, sweetheart?" he asked.

Sweetheart? Vomit. "Um...back?" The front was going to be more awkward.

"Sure thing." He lay down on his stomach.

"You really should wear sunscreen whenever you go outside. Just a few minutes in the sun without it can be very damaging, you know."

"It's good you were here to save me, then."

"If you'd like, I can just show you how to apply it properly by yourself so you don't miss any spots. The back is always the hardest, but it's doable. Do you want me to show you?"

"How about we talk about that after you apply mine real quick? I don't want to get burnt."

Fair point. God knows how long he had already been out here without it. I can't believe I'm doing this. I put a glob of