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, those wicked blue eyes, the chiseled face, and that wonderfully hard body, which seemed even sexier than she remembered.
Ayah quickly looked down again. Great, she thought. Now she was even more confused and scatter-brained. How the heck could any girl concentrate with such a hot guy in front of them?
Another loud cough from Mari behind her had Ayah blurting out the first question on her notecard.
Ask his name.
Example: How do I call you? What’s your name? Hi, I’m _. And you are?
She said automatically, “Hi, I’m Ayah, and you are...” That was when she saw his name badge. “Ayah’s owner,” she finished weakly.
Ayah’s owner.
Oh my God, but that was seriously sexy!
Luuk leaned forward.
She...did her best not to lean forward as well. Everything in her wanted to close the distance between them just so she could “accidentally” kiss him and find out if it was as good as she remembered, too.
Did Ayah know she was staring at his lips? He deliberately gave her a smile that oozed of dirty hot sex, and Nic was rewarded with a tiny whimper.
“You can call me anything you want, lieverd.”
Ayah was close to melting in her seat.
He smirked. “Any other questions?”
“Umm...” She looked down at her notecards, more flustered than ever. The next question started with the words “how long”, but her Chinese reading skills totally failed her then, probably because she was so nervous. How long...was what? How long was his cock?
Nic choked. The couple next to them choked as well.
Oh my God, had she just said that?
“Do you really want me to answer that?”
Not really, Ayah thought. She already knew—-
Everyone was choking again.
Ayah very sloooooowly covered her face. She had said that out loud, too?
God, she was so amusing, cute, and hot. He wanted her in his bed – now. “Ayah—-”
She shook her head, still keeping her face covered with her hands. She would never ever get to live this down.
The more embarrassed she was, the stronger the urge became to pull her onto his lap and embarrass her more. Nic suppressed a groan, the thought more than enough to have his cock fully erect inside his pants.
Facing Ayah again, he gently pushed her hair away from her face, smoothing the locks back as he said quietly, “I think it’s time we ended this little game, don’t you think?”
She nodded, still not looking at him.
“You didn’t really want to speed date dozens of guys, did you?”
She shook her head quickly, emphatically.
Nic smiled. “Then we need to prove it, don’t you think?”
She stilled. “How?” Her voice was muffled by her hands.
“With a kiss.”
Slowly, her hands moved down, revealing her eyes first, which were filled with doubt. “But what about your...”
“It’s over,” he said, understanding her concern right away. His heart clenched as he spoke. Now he was beginning to understand why all the people here seemed to hate his guts.
Ayah was...incorruptibly innocent.
And here he was, a devil wooing an angel. A year had passed since that one time they had met and found each other, but she had always been faithful...to him, without him ever asking her to be.
Deeply humbled, he said softly, “I’m yours if you want me.”
Ayah’s eyes filled with tears.
He took a deep breath. He knew he was taking a risk, asking her to leave all this and fly away with him to see where it took them. But he was done playing it safe. It had been the worst kind of hell the past twelve months, pretending that his body didn’t ache for Ayah’s every night.