Third Chances (Men Of Manhattan #2) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,31

vibrations through my palm that was pressed against his chest. A sense of humor was another thing on my list. Rob definitely had that.

"What about you?"

"What about me?" He trailed his fingers through my hair. It seemed like he was doing it absentmindedly, but it was soothing.

"What do you do for a living?"

He shrugged, which caused my face to move even closer to his. "I'm just enjoying living right now." I smelled the mix of mint and coconut on his breath. It was very tempting to kiss him again.

"What does that mean exactly?" Unemployed? Possibly unmotivated to achieve anything? Two more red flags.

"It means that I'm taking time to figure out what I want to do, what will truly make me happy. I'm traveling. I'm having fun. And I'm going to take as long as I need to figure it out, because I refuse to sit behind a desk every day pushing papers and being miserable."

That wasn't the answer I was expecting. I knew enough about Professor Hunter to know that he came from money. Which meant Rob did too. Yes, he was clearly living off his parents. But his answer didn't seem to hint at the fact that he was a stuck up rich brat. He was trying to find himself. And wasn't that the most important thing anyone could do? I was lucky. I grew up knowing I wanted to be a teacher. Just like Alina grew up knowing she wanted to run her grandmother's bakery and Layla wanted to be a meteorologist. But we were exceptions. Most people discovered their passions later in life. Most people changed their majors in college at least five times. It was admirable to want to find your passion. Underneath all the brash comments and rough exterior, maybe there was someone deep and insightful. I found myself wanting to know more.

"And what have you found out during your travels?"

"That Costa Rican prison sucks."

I laughed. Maybe that deep insightful person was also hiding under a layer of sarcasm. "Do I get to hear that story?"

"I told you it wasn't a good story."

"I want to hear it anyway." If it wasn't good, it meant it wasn't funny. Or maybe he got arrested for doing something he was embarrassed about. Either way, it seemed like the perfect way to get to know him. And I wanted to get to know him. Despite all the red flags, he had so many characteristics that I hadn't found in anyone yet. My list was ridiculously long. If there was one good thing to come out of this weekend, maybe it was realizing that my expectations were too high. Rob was right about me. He could read me like an open book. It had been awhile since I had taken a good long look in the mirror. I loved being a teacher, but maybe there was something missing from my life too. I wasn't sure if I was passionate about anything anymore. I wanted to remember how to enjoy living too.

Chapter 12

Rob

I was having a hard time getting a read on this girl. She seemed to enjoy resisting me one minute, and then she did...well...this. I looked down at Daphne, nuzzled perfectly in the crook of my arm, her hand pressed against my chest and her thigh draped on top of my legs. I was good at knowing what women wanted. But I was kind of lost on her.

At every turn she seemed to contradict herself. The most interesting part of all was that she seemed so confident, yet she was embarrassed about her skimpy bikini. Did she seriously not realize how amazing she looked? The neon colors made the tan she was starting to get pop. Her skin was silky smooth. It felt amazing underneath my palms. I ran my hand slowly down her back as I stared at her perfect ass. It was virtually uncovered by the thin strip of fabric that somehow classified as a bikini bottom. I certainly wasn't complaining. It didn't leave much to the imagination, but I didn't mind. I was going to picture her naked either way. This just made it easy to tell that she was going to look amazing in my bed.

I let my hand slip to the top of her ass. She didn't flinch. Another contradiction. If I told her I was going to feel her up she would have told me off. For sure. But she couldn't seem to resist when I started doing it. I guess it