Third Chances (Men Of Manhattan #2) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,6

pocket and pulled out a business card. "I'm just asking for one date, Daphne. Give me a chance to change your mind." He handed me the card.

Four red flags? I don't think so. "I'll think about it." I put the card into the front pouch of Alina's suitcase. I didn't need it. There was no way for me to rationalize why it would be okay for me to date him. Even though I hadn't been on a date in months. Just visualizing Justin calling me mommy was enough to make me forget about how sexy and distinguished Rick was. Things were on my checklist for a reason. If I just abandoned principles, there would be no reason for a list.

"I hope you have fun on your vacation."

"Thanks."

"And I hope to hear from you soon." He smiled. "Bye, Daphne."

"Bye, Rick." Hopefully I would never see him again. I pulled Alina's suitcase toward the limo.

Layla opened the door and poked her head out. "Ow ow!" she screamed.

My face probably turned bright red.

I turned around to see Rick smiling. He winked at me and I quickly climbed into the limo.

"What is wrong with you?" I said.

"Who's the silver fox?" Layla asked, ignoring my question.

"One of my students' fathers."

"He's sexy as hell."

I looked out the limo at Rick walking away. He might be sexy, but he wasn't what I was looking for. What am I looking for? "I guess," I said instead.

"You guess? I'd let him do terrible things to me," Kristen said. She stood up and hit her head on the ceiling of the limo. "Ow. Why do they design everything in the world for short people?"

I laughed. "They don't. You're just abnormally tall. You two have both had too much to drink." I grabbed the champagne bottle that had ended up in Layla's hand. "Layla, you're married to Ethan. Who, by the way, is such a catch. And Kristen, you're dating Tim. And apparently you like him for some reason. Kristen, sit down."

Kristen made a pouty face and sat back down in her seat. "You know Tim is a catch. Don't even, Daphne. Isn't Tim a catch, Alina?"

"Can you please take this thing off my fucking head?" Alina screamed through the pillowcase.

"Maybe we should gag her too," Layla said.

I wasn't sure why, but I started laughing really hard and I couldn't seem to stop. Which made Layla and Kristen start laughing too.

"If any of you touch me, I will punch you so hard in the boob," Alina said.

"That's why we tied her hands," Kristen said.

We all just started laughing harder.

"Oh my God, we should take that thing off her head," I said when I was able to breathe again. "We've already successfully kidnapped her."

"Not until we get to our destination," Kristen said.

Layla laughed. "There's no way she can get through security like that."

"Security?" Alina said. "Are we going to the airport? Where are you idiots taking me?!"

Kristen slapped Layla's arm. "Way to give it away. Fine, I guess we can let you see and untie you now that you know we're heading to the airport." She scooted over to Alina, pulled off the pillowcase, and untied her hands.

Alina immediately punched her in the boob.

"Shit that hurts!" Kristen grabbed her right breast.

"What is wrong with you guys?!" Alina yelled.

"What's wrong with us? You just titty punched me!"

"Yeah...I told you I was going to do that. I don't know why you didn't believe me." Alina started laughing. "Momma Bear! Why would you let them do this to me?" Alina collapsed on the seat beside me.

Momma Bear. I sighed. You would think being an accessory to kidnapping would rid you of the nickname Momma Bear. Maybe I needed to live on the edge more. Maybe I should date students' parents and drink champagne in the morning. Ugh. There was no way I'd change my mind about the first one. But champagne in the morning? Why the hell not? I took a sip from the bottle I had confiscated from Layla. Besides, I hated flying. Hopefully this would help calm me down before takeoff.

Chapter 3

Daphne

Kristen held the tickets to her chest. "Are you ladies ready to find out where we're heading this weekend?"

"Yes," Alina, Layla, and I all agreed.

"Well, too bad. All I'm telling you right now is that we need to go to gate A."

"Isn't that for international flights?" I asked.

"Mhm," Kristen said and clapped her hands together.

"Kristen, I didn't bring my passport," Alina said. "Why didn't you just tell me what we were doing?