That One Time by Marian Tee Page B

clenching his teeth together, the only way he could stop himself from snarling at the other men to stay away from his woman.  
    Emi pointed to the end of the line. “You will line there and wait for your turn. The rules are simple,” she informed him in her accented English. “You will hear a bell. It means you have one minute left to talk to your date. When you hear a buzz, you must move to the next woman – no time to say goodbye. You cannot ask for their contact details. We will give it to you if they allow us to. You must always be respectful. We will ask you to leave if you are not. Do you understand?”
    “Yes,” he bit out. Just the fact that he had to be issued a warning about respecting women had him bristling, not because he was offended but because it meant Ayah could be at risk of being offended by any of these fuckers.  
    When Emi left, his glance swung back to Ayah. She was smiling as she listened with seeming attentiveness to what her “date” was saying. Jealousy struck him like lightning, making Nic want to challenge everyone to a fight. No one had the right to make Ayah smile like that but him.
    Her date said something else, and this time Ayah blinked before laughing out loud, the sound of it like the sweetest and most seductive melody to Nic’s ears…and no doubt to all the other men.
    Nic closed his eyes. This was going to be one long fucking event.
    ****
    As the buzzer sounded, Ayah did her best to surreptitiously look at her phone under the table, checking it for messages. But before she could unlock the screen, nimble fingers had swiped it out of her hold. Her head jerked up. “Mari!”
    Her friend shook her head disapprovingly. “Concentrate!”
    “But what if Luuk—”
    Mari’s glare became more evil.
    She shut up. She would just explain to Luuk later if she ended up missing his call or text.
    Her “fifth” date worked at the stock exchange, liked reading books, and had a cute smile. She knew right away that they would get along – as friends. Her sixth date was very handsome, and his dimples only added to his sex appeal. He was a lot of fun, teasing her outrageously about being the most popular girl in the event. He made her laugh, and she just knew they would get along, too – as friends.  
    It wasn’t as if she was comparing them to Luuk like Mari warned her not to, Ayah reasoned to herself. It was just impossible for her heart to get into this entire thing because somebody already owned it.  
    The thought had Ayah snickering privately to herself. Even to her own ears, it sounded very mushy.
    It was the same cycle over and over, and who her date was didn’t really matter or register. They were not Luuk, ergo they were all the same to Ayah. As she waited for her next date, she glanced down at her notecards, which contained a list of questions she was supposed to ask if she ran out of things to say.
    Sensing someone taking the seat opposite her, Ayah looked up with a smile but instead she ended up choking.
    No, it couldn’t possibly be—
    She looked closer.
    It really was—
    Nic calmly tore the lid off one of the unopened bottles of water on the table and handed it to her.
    She took it and drank everything in one gulp.
    Ayah’s shock amused him, but more than that, the way she stared at him like he was a gift from the heavens made his entire body vibrate in heightened awareness. She still wanted him, was still attracted to him, and most importantly, she seemed like…
    He did not want to continue the thought. This time, he was the one who needed water and so he opened another bottle, drinking it all in a single gulp as well.
    Then they stared at each other.
    Somewhere behind her, Ayah heard Mari cough meaningfully and she was jerked back to reality. She scrambled for her notecards even as she tried madly to make sense of what was happening. What was he doing here? How had he found her? Was he mad that she was a part of this?
    She stole a look.
    Same beautiful blond hair,