Third Chances (Men Of Manhattan #2) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,25
slightly off my hips and were much more on my ass now.
I tried to ignore him as I gently applied the sunscreen under his eyes and over his nose. He was tan, but he had these tiny little freckles under his eyes. They gave him a boyish charm on top of his rugged exterior and clearly dirty mind. I ran my fingers through the scruff on his jaw line. I had always liked how rough facial hair felt on my palms. For some reason it made me even hornier.
I was extremely aware that his hands had moved to the tops of my thighs. His thumbs had hooked on the insides of my thighs and were a fraction of an inch away from my bathing suit bottom. It was hard to pay attention to applying the sunscreen when I was hyper-focused on how close his fingers were to touching me.
"So, I've been thinking about that favor I owe you for doing this. And I can tell how badly you want to kiss me right now. How about I just let you do that?"
"How badly I want to kiss you? I don't think so, hotshot. You're clearly the one that wants to kiss me. Bartering with your friend to get his card. Asking me to straddle you. Running your hands across my ass. Massaging my inner thighs." I slapped his hand away.
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 fianc茅e. 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."