ENTRY 7
IN A HEARTBEAT

I studied the words of the flyer in my hands as I tapped my foot on the pavement. Alice was late. How I'd let her convince me to attend a Valentine's Day speed dating event at our local bar was beyond me. Yes, I was single, but I wasn't lonely, and despite what she'd said, I wasn't in desperate need of some companionship.

"I'm sorry. I know I'm late. Aro was being a real tool today." She rushed over to my side, out of breath.

"Alice, slow down. It's fine. Let's just go in and get this over with."

The bar was packed, leaving little room to maneuver in the space. We moved over to the corner of the bar, grabbing drinks before turning toward the makeshift stage.

A woman with frizzy brown hair stepped up to a microphone, calling us to attention.

"Welcome to the annual Valentine's Day speed dating event here at New Moon Tavern! I'm Jessica; I'll be your love guide this evening."

There was a smattering of applause and hoots from some of the attendees.

"Let's go over the rules and then we'll get down to business." She rattled off several dos and don'ts.

It was all very straightforward. The ladies sat; the guys rotated. Five minutes per 'date.' The gong meant time's up. At the end, we'd write down the names of anyone we liked. If there was a match, we got their details.

"Do not give out your personal information during your dates. Be respectful. But most of all, have fun!" The gong rang and we were off.

Alice hooked her arm in mine and headed to the tables. She smiled and whispered, "good luck" before settling in to await her first suitor.

Sipping my drink, I looked around at the dwindling crowd.

The scrapping of a chair brought my attention back to my table. Short, spiky blond hair and blue eyes in a round face. Blinding white smile.

Hand extended in introduction. "Mike."

"Bella."

Conversation was stilted as he tried to cram in as many details about himself in the time allotted. It was all very one-sided, and I barely got a word in edgewise.

When the gong sounded, I breathed out in relief. He left with a smile and a "lovely to meet you."

Next was Eric, twenty-five, software engineer, World of Warcraft enthusiast. Cheesy and slightly cringeworthy opening line: "I'm learning about important dates in history. Wanna be one of them?" No thank you.

James, thirty, greasy ponytail and predatory eyes. He picked up the menu and tried to win me over with: "Know what's on the menu? Me-N-U." Absolutely not.

Riley and his too-tight t-shirt. "Go ahead, feel my shirt. It's made of boyfriend material!" Hard pass.

Dud after dud followed, and as I sipped from my continuously refilled glass, I silently cursed Alice for roping me into this. The last time I'd looked her way, I'd caught sight of a tall wavy-haired blond. I overheard her tell him he'd kept her waiting long enough, and he sincerely apologized, adding a "ma'am." It looked like Alice may have found a match.

As the gong echoed, I checked my watch, calculating only fifteen minutes until the event ended.

My date stood, not sparing me a glance as he left. "Last date of the evening. Make it count!" Jessica announced.

"Hello. I'm Edward." I'd been planning to pass the remaining time as I had my last date, but his voice drew my attention. It was smooth yet held a degree of roughness that made my breath falter and my body flush. The reaction doubled when I looked up and saw the most stunning pair of green eyes, framed by long lashes. The rest of his features were just as striking. Strong jaw dotted with the slightest bit of stubble. Plump lips lifted up into a lopsided smile.

I cleared my throat and responded, "Bella."

"So aside from taking my breath away, what do you do for a living?" OMG. Did I really just say that out loud? Judging by his chuckle, I did.

"I'm sorry. I think I've had too much to drink. My filter is broken."

"It's okay. I've had my fair share of liquid courage this evening. Some of these dates have been … interesting to put it mildly."

It was my turn to laugh. That was the understatement of the century.

"I'm a pediatric cardiologist over at Mount Sinai." A baby heart doctor? I'm officially swooning. "What about you?"

"I work at The Times. Science section. I majored in biology and journalism at Columbia."

We continued to exchange watered-down versions of our life stories.

"So, Bella, tell me, what's a charming, beautiful woman like yourself doing at a speed dating event on Valentine's Day? Why aren't you out making someone the luckiest man in this city?"

My smile dimmed, thoughts of why I was single flooding my mind. I fixed my expression before I spoke. "I could ask you the same question. I know we've only spent four minutes together, but you're insanely attractive, witty, and you fix babies. How have you not stolen someone's heart by now?"

"Well, I'm hoping that I may have done just that. But we'll have to wait and see I suppose."

Before I could question what he meant, the gong sounded and he stood, turning my hand over and placing something in it before he headed off.

My skin tingled from where his fingers had grazed mine. I looked down and unfolded the napkin that he'd placed in my palm.

I don't know about you, but I definitely found love in a heartbeat. Meet me at the bar when this thing is done if you're willing to make me the luckiest man in this city.

He was right. He'd stolen my heart in under three hundred seconds. Grabbing my bag, I tuned out the rest of Jessica's speech and made my way over to the man who'd shown me what I'd been missing.

#V3ENTRIES

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