Page 49 of Laws of Love
“Aiva,” Kaley stated, approaching but stopping to look between Knox and Yasmine.
“Kaley, this is my friend Knox and his daughter Yasmine. This is my little sister Kaley,” she introduced them. Her sister gave them a smile and a wave before turning back to her.
“Can I have my play pass now?”
“Sure, sweetie.” Aiva picked the card up and handed it to her.
“You want to come play with me, Yasmine?” Kaley asked the younger girl.
“Can I, Daddy?”
Knox nodded. “Sure, just stay where I can see you, and don’t lose your card.”
The two girls skipped away, and his attention settled back on her. She gestured for him to take a seat across from her.
“For future reference, we are not friends, but because she’s your little sister, I’m going to let it slide,” he told her with a smirk.
“You’re right. You were my client,” she teased.
“Cute.”
The two sat and talked, getting to know each other more and making general conversation while monitoring both children. Aiva shouldn’t have been surprised by how easily they could flow from one conversation into another.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d dated someone where the conversation had flowed so effortlessly and openly. She’d thought so during their first two dates. It didn’t feel like small talk, and she wasn’t consciously aware they were having get-to-know-you conversations because it felt so natural. Maybe it was because he’d been her client, so they’d gotten acquainted that way. Aiva wasn’t sure, but she liked not having the awkwardness of those conversations.
“Are you busy next Saturday?” Knox asked.
They hadn’t gone out in two weeks. They’d spoken on the phone several times over those weeks, and he would text her in the morning and at night.
“I’m taking my youngest brothers out. What about Friday?”
“Yas and I are having dinner with my parents on Friday.”
She didn’t want to suggest Sunday or a weekday evening because she knew Yasmine would have school the following day.
“If you’re willing to do breakfast or lunch, I’m free for breakfast on Wednesday morning and lunch on Sunday. That way, you’re not away from Yasmine on a night she has to get up for school the next day.”
Knox smiled at her as he picked her hand up from the table. “We can do both if that works for you.”
“It does,” Aiva responded.
“Excuse me?”
Aiva turned her attention to a woman who’d just stopped at their table. Her little sister and Yasmine were standing beside her.
“Is this your child?” the woman asked, pointing to Kaley.
“Yes,” Aiva answered, deciding to keep it simple. “Did something happen?”
“Your child pushed my son. He fell and hurt himself, and now he’s in tears.”
Aiva looked from the woman to her little sister, then back again. “Well, what did he do?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“She will not start a fight. But she will defend herself and end one. So, if she pushed your son, he provoked her.”
“How dare you? My boy would never—”
