Page 197 of Billionaire Temptations

“He was not, and,” I shrugged my shoulders, “he was cute.”

“Date worthy?” Evelyn asked.

“Maybe. But I’m sure I’ll never see him again, so no big deal.”

I left the shop at five to go home and get ready for my night out with Evelyn. As I was applying my makeup, a text message came through from Cliff.

“Hi. I missed you today. Like, I really missed you. I know you said you weren’t ready for a relationship, but I could totally see us together. We can take it really slow. I’m willing to wait for as long as it takes.”

I sighed as I set down my makeup brush, picked up my phone, and began to text him back. After thinking about it, I decided not to respond, as it would probably lead to blowing up my phone all night. So, I’d respond to him tomorrow. Tonight was a girls’ night out, not a man-drama night.

As we enteredthe Martini Bar, we signed in at the long rectangular table by the door and were told to grab a drink and relax before the event started.

“What can I get you, miss?” the bartender asked.

“I’ll have a neat martini with three olives, please.”

“And for you?” He glanced at Evelyn as he wiped down the counter.

“Dry martini with a twist.” She smiled.

Leaning against the edge of the bar, I noted all the girls there in hopes of finding their Prince Charming tonight.

“Where are the guys? Is this lesbian speed dating? Because if it is, Evelyn, I’m killing you.”

She laughed. “No. It’s not lesbian speed dating. The guys are put in another room so no one can interact with each other before it starts.”

“Oh.”

The bartender handed me my martini.

As I sipped it, I counted the small square and round tables with number signs in the middle. There were twenty tables in total. The event host got on the speaker and announced it was time to start. We were told to line up in a single line, and whatever number we were in line was the number of which table we would start at first. I was third in line, so I had to start with table three. We, women, were told to close our eyes until the men took their seats at the table. I was slightly offended and found it a bit sexist that we couldn’t sit at the tables first and have the men come to us. That was what I would do if I hosted one of these things.

As soon as the bell rang, we all scattered out of line and headed to our designated tables. I took a seat across from the guy at table three.

“Hi, I’m Mark.” He smiled.

“I’m Emily. So, what do you do for work?” I bluntly asked.

“I’m an architect. And you?”

“I own a boutique called Emily’s Edge.”

He was cute in his wavy black hair way.

“How do you feel about relationships?” I asked as I leaned over the table and narrowed my eye at him.

“Um. I like relationships? I think having someone special to share your life with is important.”

“What do you think about cheaters?”

He leaned back in his chair, and a look of fear fell into his eyes, which led me to believe he was a cheater.

“I think they’re wrong, but you never know the circumstances as to why they cheated. There are two sides to every story.”

The bell rang, and it was time to get up and go to the next table.

“Hi, I’m Brad.” His perfectly over-whitened teeth blinded me.

---