Third Chances (Men Of Manhattan #2) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,51

He seemed to tolerate my flirting with Penny because he knew it was a joke. And it was a joke. She was like a little sister to me.

"I know. I'm just messing with you," I said. "You're right. I remember her screaming Professor Hunter all night long when I lived with you guys." And jerking off to it, pretending she was my naughty student. Fuck, maybe he should beat me up.

Chapter 19

Daphne

My friends were right. Rob had even said we could just see how the weekend went. He had actually taken sex off the table. I hadn't agreed to his deal. But that wasn't because I didn't think it was a good idea. Having sex this soon in a relationship was disastrous. Relationships weren't built on physical attraction. Not having sex was a prime idea. Just fantastic, really. I certainly wasn't thinking about having sex with him.

I sighed. Even my mind was rambling. Could we really be more than a weekend fling? I didn't want to think about all the red flags. I just wanted to have fun. I wanted to feel alive. If even a little bit of Rob's energy rubbed off on me, it would be for the better. Now that sex was off the table, I wanted it even more though. Did he do that on purpose?

We walked into the restaurant and my eyes found his right away, like I could sense his presence. There was just something magnetizing that I was drawn to. I couldn't even control it. I should have been more relaxed entering a restaurant tonight since I didn't have any bracelets on my wrist. But I was more nervous than ever. Having Rob's brown eyes on me was the most nerve wracking thing in the world. I didn't understand him at all. I didn't know what he wanted from me.

I looked away from his gaze, taking in the ambiance of the restaurant. Unlike the Jaguar's Den, all the waiters and waitresses were dressed in normal clothes. This restaurant also had more of a casual vibe than a sexual one, which I was happy about. The far end of the restaurant was open to a veranda where couples were dancing. I could feel the breeze from the night air from where I was standing. There weren't any crazy decorations or anything, because the view was the only thing anyone was going to look at anyway. When my eyes found Rob's again, he was staring at me even more intently. I awkwardly tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

"There they are," Kristen whispered. "Awesome, there's one seat open next to Professor Hunter. I call dibs." She quickly brushed past me.

I saw James lean over and whisper something in Rob's ear. Rob immediately nodded and stood up. I felt frozen as he walked toward me, his eyes completely fixed on me. They traveled from my feet to my face in the most primitive way possible. Sex wasn't off the table despite what he had said. He was clearly undressing me with his eyes. Not that there was much left for the imagination. This dress was completely ridiculous. The fabric crisscrossed along the front and the back, leaving so much skin exposed I wasn't even sure it could be classified as a dress.

"He's totally checking you out," Layla said.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious."

Layla laughed. "I didn't realize how confident you were. Go get 'em, girl."

I wasn't trying to be rude to Layla. I just couldn't think of anything normal to say when I was staring at Rob the exact same way he was staring at me. He was wearing a freshly pressed gray suit. He wasn't sporting a tie and his light blue dress shirt had the top few buttons undone. Even though I had already seen him without a shirt, I found myself wanting to unbutton it with my teeth.

Get a grip. I had never been someone who wanted something just because they were told they couldn't have it. But right now, I wanted to jump him. He was like the forbidden fruit. And I knew he was going to taste so fucking good.

"All the niceties have to wait one second or else my brother is going to kill me. You might want to pull your dress down, gorgeous." He winked at me.

"What?" I put my hand over my chest. He seriously wanted me to reveal more of my cleavage? I wasn't even sure that was possible unless I didn't mind having a nip-slip. Which I