Third Chances - Chapter 13
Daphne
I tried to casually glance over at Rob again, hoping he wouldn't notice. I had misjudged him. That wasn't something I usually did. There was so much more to him than the handsome, funny man front. Why was he hiding that?
When he started talking about his time living in Costa Rica, I had been completely absorbed.
Hopefully he had been too, because when I realized I was running my hands through the contours of his six pack while I listened, I couldn't seem to stop.
I had never felt a body as hard as his before.
It was like my hand was the opposite end of a magnet.
It just wanted to be pressed against him.
And I liked the way his muscles felt under my fingers.
I liked the way he looked at me even more.
It was as though he desired me. No one had ever desired me like that before.
The story he had told me wasn't sexy at all.
But he was so passionate about what he was saying.
I could hear it in his voice. Which somehow resulted in his story sounding sexy.
Everything that came out of his mouth somehow exuded sex.
I was scared of my own reaction to him. I had never been this physically attracted to anyone in my life. I needed to calm down.
When Rob stood up from his chair, I immediately closed my eyes.
I shouldn't have been thinking about him anyway.
It wasn't like I was just going to jump in bed with him.
That wasn't me. I didn't have vacation flings, or any flings for that matter.
He was right about me too. I was a serial monogamist. I believed in deep connections and long relationships.
I jumped when I felt a large hand fall on my shoulder. My eyelids flew open. Rob was standing above me with a smile on his face.
"You're not used to being touched, huh?" His thumb dropped slightly, stopping dangerously close to my breast.
I shrugged away from his hand before I could let his touch effect me even more. "I'm perfectly used to being touched. It's not like I'm some prude virgin." Why the hell did I just said that?
His smile got even broader. "Good to know. I just wanted to tell you that I'll be back in a few minutes. Did any of you ladies want something to drink?"
Kristen rolled over onto her back and pushed her sunglasses on top of her head. "No thanks. We're leaving for a tour of the rainforest in a few minutes. But maybe we could all meet up for drinks later?"
I pressed my lips together as I stared at her.
She was basically setting me up on a date.
Kristen always thought she knew what was best for me.
But if she knew at all the way I was feeling right now, she'd know that I couldn't hang out with Rob anymore.
Really, I should be avoiding him at all costs.
Whatever this electricity was between us was only going to end badly.
For me. Besides, I never just went out for drinks with a guy.
It was always dinner. Drinks was basically just code for let's fuck.
It didn't imply getting to know each other at all.
"I think my friends and I would be up for that. Have fun in the rainforest, ladies. There's a beautiful waterfall near here. You should tell your tour guide to take you there."
"Thanks for the tip," Kristen said. "I guess we'll see you later?"
"Absolutely." He bent down and grabbed my wrist.
For some reason I thought he was going to kiss my hand. The thought sent goose bumps up my arms.
"I almost forgot." He pulled out a card from his pocket and swiped it across one of my bracelets. "That one was for the snuggling." He pulled out two more cards and removed my other two bracelets. "And that's because I don't like to share."
His words combined with the way he was looking at me made me even wetter than I already was.
I tried to cross my legs discreetly. Despite how sexy what he just said was, though, I couldn't help but wonder what was on the two cards he hadn't shown me.
There wasn't a doubt in my mind that he'd make me do whatever was on them whenever we ran into each other next.
"What was on the other cards?" I asked.
He looked down at them and smiled before putting them in his pocket. "I guess you'll find out later."
"Aren't the rules that I have to do the action on the card before you take off my bracelet?"
"I just did you a favor. Now you don't have to worry about a bunch of guys on your tour trying to hit on you."
"But I have to worry about you instead."
He smiled. "Just me." He lightly touched the bottom of my chin.
"That's the whole point, beautiful." He stopped touching me just as quickly as he had started and he turned around without another word.
I watched his perfect male form run past the pool to catch up with his brother who had walked away awhile ago.
"Damn," Kristen said. "He's almost as hot as his brother."
"Almost? He's just as hot as Professor Hunter," I said more defensively than I realized. But Kristen was so far gone in her own obsession that she didn't even realize my tone.
"He asked me to call him James. How sexy is that? I'm on a first name basis with Professor Hunter." Kristen squealed.
Alina laughed and sat up. "I'm guessing that you didn't notice that he looked super uncomfortable around you?"
"What?" Kristen asked. "He didn't look uncomfortable. I thought he looked happy to see me. Plus he remembered who I was."
Alina laughed. "Sure. But what we should really be talking about right now is how Daphne can't keep her hands off of Professor Hunter's little brother."
"That isn't true," I said. "He was using his stupid cards on me. I didn't have a choice."
"Mhm. How did the Javier talk go? I'm guessing not great since you still had your bracelets when you came back."
"The talk didn't go great, but I stole some cards so that I could take the rest of those stupid bracelets off." I threw their bracelets back at them. "Don't you dare put those on me again."
"Wait, you stole something? You broke the rules? Are you feeling okay, Momma Bear?"
That was basically the same thing that Rob had said to me. That I didn't know how to have fun. "I know how to have fun, you guys."
"Does that mean you're going to have some fun with Rob later?" Layla had decided to jump in on their teasing too.
"No. Absolutely not."
"It sounded like you already shared a pretty spicy kiss," Kristen said.
"He was exaggerating," I lied. Because it was true.
Just thinking about that kiss made my head spin.
"Besides, we're probably never going to see him again.
He didn't even ask where we wanted to meet.
Or what room we were in. Or anything." As I said it, I realized how I hoped it wasn't true.
No, I didn't want to hop in bed with him.
But I wouldn't mind sharing a few more of those kisses.
"I'll just go tell Mason our room number then," Layla said and stood up. She had already walked over to Mason before I could tell her to stop.
"We should probably go get ready for our rainforest tour," Alina said. "I can't wait to see the waterfall Rob told us about. I hope the tour guide will take us there. I'm even going to keep my bikini on under my clothes in case we're allowed to swim."
"That's a great idea," Kristen said as she stood up and stretched. "Hopefully we get back in time to shower though. I have to look amazing for my date with Professor Hunter tonight."
"You don't have a date with Professor Hunter tonight," I said. "And what would Tim think if he knew you were talking about another guy like this?"
"Tim and I each have a few people on our 'allowed to fuck' list."
"Your what?"
"Our lists of people that we're allowed to have sex with outside of our relationship."
"That's not a thing."
"Of course it's a thing. It's mostly celebrities, obviously. But Professor Hunter is at the top of mine. Tim's fine with it."
"You two have the weirdest relationship ever."
"Whatever you say, Momma Bear. I am going to be totally selfless tonight though. You haven't gotten laid in forever. So my main goal tonight is for you to get in Rob's pants."
"I don't want your help with that."
"Mhm." She winked at me.
"Kristen, I don't. I'm not going to sleep with some guy I just met this morning."
"Mhm." She winked at me again.
"Stop winking at me."
"We're all set," Layla said as she joined us again. "Mason's going to call our room tonight to let us know where to meet them. You're welcome," she said and looked right at me.
"I don't know why you guys are focusing on me right now. It's Alina's bachelorette party. Let's make her do stupid stuff instead."
"I'm actually greatly enjoying this," Alina said. "And I already know which dress you should wear tonight. First I'm getting my rainforest on, though. So let's get ready before we miss the tour." She linked her arm in mine.
"When did bachelorette parties turn into torturing single girls parties?" I tried to focus on my question instead of the butterflies in my stomach.