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"I'm going to do that without you having to test me."
"What's wrong with that, huh?"
Whoever had put that idea in her head ought to burn in hell.
"Everything," I growled. "Or do I need to repeat what I just said?"
"No need," she hissed, "I understood exactly what you said. But that's not good enough to get a pardon. We're going to do this. Consider it fun. Think of it as practicing. I don't know. The main thing is for you to prove to me that you're not a complete idiot when it comes to dating."
She must have noticed in the last couple of weeks that this was not the case at all. The way we treated one another. The things we did together, even far away from what happened in my bedroom… all these were good indicators that I was not too stupid to get to know a woman and, above all, to make her happy.
"Fine. But in return, the next date is the one I want."
Nikau sighed. "Sure. A date according to your wishes. If it's not significantly different from what we usually do. I'll file a complaint."
I narrowed my eyes. "That won't be necessary. But it's good of you to emphasize it in this way."
Of course, I wouldn't tell her what I was thinking– and that I was clearly winning this deal.
"Anything else?"
"Yes. I want to know whose stupid idea it was."
She pressed her lips together. She seemed to be considering whether to tell me a lie or the truth. "Kaia suggested it as a joke when we were on your terrace. I haven't been able to get it out of my head since… but after you came back so unsatisfied from another date, I thought it was time to test you."
Of course this idea came from Kaia. I should have guessed. Whenever she could, she pulled the strings. And mostly because she liked to annoy or embarrass me or make me feel like I was being taken for a ride. Not that I can say I haven't enjoyed teasing her before. But sending me on some sort of roleplaying date with the woman I knew to the core was a bit too much.
"Sure," I muttered. "I'll just have to do another night ambush."
So I could scare her and throw her into the pool.
"So you're going along with this, aren't you?"
"For my sake, please, let's talk about something else," I demanded. "For instance, it wouldn't be a bad idea to repeat the beach party."
Nika narrowed her eyes. "You're just saying that because you want to kidnap me again into some dark corner to…"
Unconsciously she bit her lip. Obviously, the memory was haunting her right now– and I didn't want to complain about it. Everything we had done together in the last few weeks was burning deeper and deeper into my memory. It got worse when she knelt in front of me and looked at me with that anticipatory look.
"Actually, I'm saying this because it's a good way to integrate the residents and get them interested. For people who aren't sure if this is the right place for them."
"Marketing," she interjected.
"That's right. So we're having the next party this month. It'll be run by the restaurant again."
Nikau told me she would start preparations soon. But something told me that the original topic of conversation had not yet been completely taken off the table.
* * *
What Nikau was askingme to do was ludicrous at best– and a disaster at worst, because I stood firm. We'd simply been friends for too long for me to successfully pretend I didn't know her. As I had already told her, I knew far too much about her. I knew all the details, had witnessed so many important events in her life, and we fucked. How much closer can you get to a person?
And now I was supposed to pretend she didn't look familiar as she entered the bar in a black cocktail dress. As if she was just another woman. But she was not– would never be. This was evident from the general reaction of the men in the bar alone, as she made her way toward the bar and thus toward me.
I saw a young man jump up and move toward her out of the corner of my eye. Our gazes locked. Two seconds later he was back on his ass, eyes lowered to the table before him.
It bothered me. Some random wanton was trying his luck with Nikau. She was not here to be the object of some idiot's advances. She was here to spend the rest of the evening with me. Only me.
Even though I was already getting annoyed that I couldn't talk to her like I normally did, but was forced to pretend like it was a first date.
