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

around my cock the minute the bar closed.

"If you think I'm going home with you, Rob Hunter, you're crazy."

Fuck, she did know me. I thought she was bluffing. I wasn't sure what my reputation was, but clearly she wanted a piece of whatever she had heard. "Well, luckily for you, I don't need to take you home to show you just how true it is."

She laughed, but not before I saw her gulp. And that rush of color to her cheeks instantly made me hard. Right now, all I wanted to do was forget about the girl that I had missed out on. I wanted to forget about everything.

I downed the rest of my beer and glanced at the girl's nametag. Tiffany. Well, tonight Tiffany would help me forget. Besides, I had always wanted to fuck someone on the counter of this bar. There was no reason to waste this opportunity just because I was being sentimental. My phone buzzed in my pocket. There was a text from Penny. I clicked on it.

"About to get Mets tickets. Is section B row 7 good? It looks like it would be good."

I laughed and quickly wrote her back. "Those are really shitty seats, Penny."

"Help me please? I need you. I'll even eat a hot dog at the game, albeit not sexily."

I sighed and slipped off the stool. I didn't want to fuck Tiffany. I didn't want another one night stand tonight.

"Where are you going?" Tiffany said. She had a sexy pout on her face.

"Home." I thought about my empty apartment. It wasn't really my home. I wasn't in it enough for that to be the case. And I was itching to leave again. Tonight I'd buy a one way ticket to somewhere I hadn't been. Maybe I'd find a home there.

Right after I helped Penny. Because she needed me. I liked when she needed me.

Chapter 1

Daphne

One Year Later

I went through my checklist one more time and tossed a pair of extra contacts in just in case. When packing, contacts were always the most important thing on my list. Everything else I could buy once I got there. But spending the week in my glasses? Not happening. Bathing suits didn't mix well with glasses. Especially when you had to wear sunglasses too. A pair of sunglasses on top of my normal glasses was something I wanted to keep in the past. Buried somewhere next to colorful scrunchies.

I slid my checklist into a pouch in my suitcase so I'd be able to double-check everything on the way home too. My friends would most definitely make fun of me. They'd also thank me because of all the extra sunscreen I brought, though.

Kristen had specifically told me not to research anything about where we were going. I glanced over at my laptop. For weeks, I had listened to her. I fidgeted with the bracelet on my wrist. There were still ten minutes until the limo was supposed to arrive. I had spent the whole morning cleaning so that I could come home to a spotless house. That was always my favorite part about a vacation - coming home.

I was tempted to call and tell my friends I wasn't feeling well. My students always got me sick. If it wasn't the middle of the summer, it would have been a perfect lie. As it was, it was summer, and I hadn't left my apartment in days. So I hadn't even been exposed to any germs. There wasn't any way to get out of this. Besides, it was going to be fun, right? I hadn't gotten to hang out with my friends all at once in months. They were always so busy. And I'm pretty sure I hadn't been on a vacation since spring break in college.

I wish I had agreed to teach summer school. I rolled my eyes at myself. It was just one week. I needed this. My eyes wandered back to my computer.

Screw it. I turned on my laptop and sat down at my desk. I typed Blue Parrot Resort into Google and pressed enter. And...nothing. Nothing? I retyped it, thinking I had misspelled something. But the result was the same. Or, lack of result. Where the heck was Kristen taking us?

My phone started buzzing in my purse. I pulled it out and answered, balancing the phone between my shoulder and ear as I typed in the name of the resort again.

"You know, I thought for sure you'd already be down here waiting for us,"