Third Chances (Men Of Manhattan #2) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,48
face. They had cornered me. "Of course I like him. I'm just trying to say that it isn't worth pursuing."
"Momma Bear, happiness is worth pursuing." Her words made me feel cold. I knew that. I loved teaching. I loved living in New York. I was actively pursuing happiness. Wasn't I?
"Why are you guys pushing this so hard?" I asked.
"Because we want you to be happy," Alina said.
"And wearing this dress and flirting with a rich playboy is going to make me happy?"
"In the case of Rob Hunter, absolutely."
"I don't know." I sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Are you going to make me pull out my Bridezilla card, Daphne? Because it is my bachelorette party. And there is nothing I want more than to see you hook up with Rob."
"Ew. Why do you want to see that?"
She laughed. "I don't really. But I want to know it's happening somewhere in the hotel."
"You're all so bossy."
"That's because we love you," Kristen said. "Now, throw this on. Boys love when girls show some skin."
"He's already seen me in a bikini all day."
"Mhm. So don't disappoint him by wearing one of your parka-esque dresses tonight."
"Sundress. They're sundresses. Normal people wear them."
"Whatever. Tonight you're not being normal. You're being sexy Daphne. Who loves flirting with handsome bachelors and not fucking it up for her friend that is in love with Professor Hunter."
"You're not in love with Professor Hunter. You're such a psychopath."
"Why do I have a feeling that you're all going to embarrass me tonight?" Layla asked. "Fortunately I don't work with Mason anymore or this would be a nightmare."
Alina laughed. "Welcome to my life."
I scoffed. "Like what you did in Brazil didn't embarrass us," I said under my breath.
"I asked you not to talk about that. Ever. Now put on your whore dress and let's go. I warned you," she added when she must have seen my expression. "You've unleashed the Bridezilla within."
Kill me now.
Chapter 18
Rob
"Is he in the shower yet?" Mason asked as I walked back into the main room.
"Yup, the water just turned on." I sat down next to him on the couch. "I feel like it was poor planning on the girls' part to leave a crucial part of Penny's bachelorette party surprise to you."
"At the time, Bee didn't know I'd be in Costa Rica. But it works out well anyway. I'm just going to pretend to be worried I haven't heard from Bee and get Penny to go check on her. Boom. Surprise done."
"Isn't it kind of a dick move to ask her to check on Bee when you won't let her talk to James?"
"That we won't let her talk to James you mean? And no, Penny will totally understand. She encouraged him to have a bachelor party after all. Now, be quiet when I call." He clicked on Penny's name in his contact list.
"Put it on speaker," I whispered. I wanted to hear that Penny was okay too. If James was worried about her, it would calm him down if I told him she sounded fine on the phone.
Mason pulled his phone away from his ear and hit the speaker button.
"Mason!" Penny's voice filled the room.
Mason laughed. "Hey, Penny. Having a good weekend?"
"Can I talk to him?" She sounded worried. What was she worried about? Just because James and I beat up a professor one time she doesn't trust me to take care of him? When was she going to let that go?
Mason laughed again. "Jumping right into things, then? So, about that...you need to stop calling. You're distracting him from having fun."
"I'm sure he's having quite enough fun."
Rob and I exchanged shrugs. Is that what she was worried about? James having too much fun? He was being a bore if anything. He only had eyes for her.
"Where are you guys?" Penny asked.
"Costa Rica."
"What hotel?"
"Nice try, Penny. I'm not telling you where we are. You're not allowed to infiltrate his bachelor party."
"Mason, I really, really need to talk to him."
"Umm...I would hand the phone over, but he's currently indisposed."
"Indisposed? What have you been doing?"
I hit Mason's arm and shook my head. If he couldn't hear the worry in Penny's voice, I could. She didn't need him to joke around right now. She needed him to tell her everything was okay.
He pushed my arm off him and laughed. "I'm just kidding. He's taking a shower."
There was a slight pause. "Has he been getting packages? Or any mail there?"