The moment Jeremy saw Chandra come in through the door, his eyes widened with delight. She was a sight to behold. Her hair was done up into a loose bun at the top of her head, and her cocktail dress fit perfectly about her slim frame. Her smile was radiant when she said, “Hi, Jeremy.”
Sitting there, Jeremy’s throat felt rather dry. Opposite him were Dara and Soriya. They smiled at each other with delight at the reaction they’d received from Jeremy. Score! That was exactly what they wanted. A pleasant surprise of beauty showing up on a date. They could totally tell he was smitten with their sister.
Jeremy cleared his throat at that point and then said, “Hi. You look beautiful.”
Chan didn’t expect that. After all, she didn’t think she’d put that much effort into looking good for the date. She’d been told by her sisters The Twilight was a fancy restaurant and had urged her to dress up a little. And this was exactly what she’d ended up wearing. A nice cocktail dress, but nothing too fancy.
Jeremy flicked his gaze to her ankle and saw the bandage still there. Instantly, he felt more than a little guilt coursing through his body. He’d promised to check up on her last Sunday evening. However, that promise flew out the window as soon as Ethan showed up with a bunch of their other friends. After all, Ethan’s visits had been far and few between over the years. Hence, he had to cancel with Chan. He was glad she was okay with it, and oddly enough, he found her easygoing attitude very cute and endearing.
“Are you sure your foot is fine?” he asked.
Chandra, who was standing at the door, glanced down to her ankle. She nodded and said, “Yes, I’ll be fine.” She wiggled her foot about a little to show him the movement didn’t hurt her as much as it had four days ago.
On that note, she knew she looked a bit odd wearing a cute cocktail dress of pale blue with a pair of flat ballet shoes instead of heels. Furthermore, one of her ankles was wrapped with a bandage.
Yes, she definitely looked weird, but it couldn’t be helped. Her ankle wasn’t yet one hundred percent healed. Not to mention the bruises. It was quite marked, blue and black against pale skin.
“Don’t worry, Jeremy,” Soriya chimed in. “She’ll be fine.”
“The doctor said she didn’t have any broken bones,” Dara explained. “It should be good in a couple days, and it’s been a couple days already.
Chan nodded in agreement.
Jeremy chuckled. “Good to hear that,” he said and got up from his seat. He went over to Chan and stood there gazing at her, a pleasant smile plastered on his face.
Dara and Soriya, who were watching the pair, had big, bright smiles on their faces as well. Of course, it couldn’t be helped their sister was now attracting two very hot, rich guys as potential love interests. The duo had decided their beloved sister Chan could choose whomever she loved; it didn’t matter if their future brother-in-law was Jeremy or Sam or any other guy. Just as long as that guy didn’t happen to be like Dave, all was fine.
To Chan, Jeremy asked, “Are you ready?”
Chan nodded. “Yes.”
They were heading toward the door when Soriya said loudly, “Have fun, kids.”
“We will,” Chan said over her shoulder.
They were on their way toward the car a few minutes later when Jeremy said, “Sorry I didn’t turn up last Sunday.”
Chan flashed back to that particular Sunday. It had been the day when she’d woken up to find Sam Harrington in her living room, comfortably sipping coffee. The thought of him still caused her stomach to flutter deliciously and her heart to race—just a little.
“That’s okay. You have friends from out of town,” she said. “By the way, did you guys have tons of fun?”
Jeremy saw the twinkle in her eyes and laughed. God, she was beautiful. “Yeah, just guys hanging out.”
Jeremy unlocked his sports car, and the pair got in. Chan made herself comfortable and put on her seatbelt as Jeremy started the engine.
“I was just hanging out, too,” she said. “I was actually very tired Sunday.” She wasn’t lying.
Sam Harrington. Even the thought of the name caused her stomach to flutter with delight. Why had he kept texting her? She’d figured out already it had been Soriya who’d given him her phone number. Of course, the first text had been a complete surprise, a very pleasant one, telling her who he was and then asking her how she was. She’d replied instantly that Monday afternoon, informing him she’d been fine and although the ankle had swollen a lot more, it wasn’t as bad as she thought.
She’d thought that would be the end of their text courting. Needless to say, she was wrong. He’d been texting her at least once every day since and even showed up only yesterday with Lilly.
She, Dara, and Soriya were only too delighted to see Lilly, who was asking to borrow more children’s books from their large collection. Then of course, Soriya had invited them to stay for dinner.
She sighed, her mind on Sam, wondering what he was doing now, wondering if he’d text her again today because he hadn’t sent her one and it was already evening.
“Is everything okay?”
Jeremy’s voice jolted her back to reality, and Chan guiltily nodded. “Yes, sorry about that,” she said, staring out the window.
“You were in quite deep thought there.” He chuckled.
“Yes, well…” Chan began. “I was just remembering Saturday night and everything that has happened so far.”
Jeremy nodded. “Yeah, your friends, eh?”
Chan hadn’t been thinking about her friends. She’d been thinking about Sam Harrington, a multibillionaire elite who made her heart dance with delight and jump with nervousness every time she saw him or received his texts.
Some ten minutes later, Chan found herself walking side by side with Jeremy toward The Twilight. She noted the place was packed full of customers.
“May I help you, sir?” a maître de asked Jeremy at the door.
“Table for Jeremy White,” he replied.
“Of course,” the maître de said. “This way, sir.”
The place was indeed very elegant, the interior classically designed in black and gold, and the furnishings were comfortable.
Chan eyed the crowd with interest as they were led to their table, which she assumed was situated upstairs because they were heading that way. As they came onto the landing, she sighed with delight. This place was designed in such a way it was both elegant and relaxing. There were a few large groups dining here on the first floor. Most of the females were dressed immaculately in cocktail dresses, while the men wore expensive suits.
Chan was just thinking how appetizing the food looked as she glimpsed at some dishes on other people’s tables when she heard Jeremy chuckling in delight.
“Well, what do you know?” he said. “Fancy meeting them here.”
Chan was curious as to whom Jeremy was referring. Thus, she took a step to the side of the man in front of her as they headed toward their own table. In doing so, she revealed herself to the people seated the next few tables down.
First, she noted the beautiful blonde who eyed Jeremy with distaste. Beside her was the man who made Chan’s heart skip a beat, followed by furious racing. Oh God! Sam Harrington. What the heck was he doing here?
She couldn’t take her eyes off him as he got up from his seat and headed their way.
Sam wasn’t surprise to see Chandra and Jeremy here in the restaurant. In fact, he’d known they were going to have their date here and had devised a meeting. Hence, this was not coincidental.
He couldn’t take his eyes off Chan the moment he’d seen them upon the landing. She was beautiful tonight, dressed in a lovely cocktail dress and her hair done up. All he wanted to do was be with her. And hell, he wished this were his date with her, not hers with Jeremy.
His eyes were locked on her person as he came over to them. “Jeremy.”
Jeremy chuckled. “I didn’t know you were having dinner here.”
Sam was a bad liar, so he kept his mouth s
hut and simply nodded.
“I thought you were having a date today,” he said, his eyes on Chan.
Chan didn’t miss the sarcastic tone beneath that deep, smooth voice of his. Nor the way he looked at her. God! Couldn’t he look at something else? Those warm brown eyes made her feel more than a little restless.
Jeremy didn’t miss the fact that his cousin kept eyeing Chan either, and he felt a little possessive and protective toward her. Heck, he was a man, and he knew immediately Sam was interested in Chandra.
“I am,” he said clearly, turning his eyes to Chan.
Chan blushed profusely. Oh God! She could feel Sam’s intense gaze burning at her skin.
“So you’re the Chan Jeremy’s always talking about,” Sam teased. “The world is small, don’t you think?”
Chan said, “I guess so.”
“Sam?” Jeremy asked. “You know Chan?”
Sam nodded. “Hmm.”
“Chan!” Lilly caught Chandra’s attention. In a flash, she found herself being hugged by little arms about her waist.
“Hi, Lilly,” she greeted, pleasantly surprised. Of course, she should have guessed if Sam was here, it was mostly likely Lilly would be here, too. Unless, of course, Sam was on a date like she and Jeremy were. That brought her mind back to the blonde she’d met in the bathroom last Saturday night, the woman she’d wrongly assumed to be Sam’s wife.
“Hi, Chan,” Lilly replied, looking up at her with adoration.
Jeremy came down to his knees and said, “I’m right over here, princess. Didn’t you see me?”
Lilly turned around to look at her uncle and smiled. “Hi, Uncle Jeremy.”
Chan blinked. She opened her mouth to say something but couldn’t find the right word. Uncle Jeremy?
She eyed Jeremy with a questioning look, to which Jeremy replied, “Lilly is my niece.”
Of course. But what was he to Sam? How were they related?
What had the world come to? She was going out on dates with a guy who happened to be related to another guy she liked.
“Daddy,” Lilly said loudly, “can Chan sit with us?”
Sam was gazing at Chan, his eyes twinkling, as he said, “Of course, sweetheart.”
Lilly took a step back, then led Chan by the hand toward their table. “Come on,” she said. “You can sit next to me.”
Chan couldn’t do anything except follow Lilly’s lead, while Jeremy told the maître de they’d be joining this table and to please arrange the cutleries accordingly.
When Lilly pulled a chair out for her, Chan found out she was sitting beside Sam.
Jeremy noted the arrangement and chuckled. “Lilly, may I have that seat beside Chan?”
Lilly looked up at her uncle and asked innocently. “Why?”
“Because she’s my date, darling.”
Lilly blinked blankly. Then she turned to Chan. “You’re doing a date with Uncle Jeremy?”
Chan blushed. In her peripheral vision, she noted Sam was watching her with interest. His stare really unnerved her, and she felt more than a little flustered. She licked her lip and said, “Yes.”
Lilly groaned, which Chan thought was very cute. “Do you have to sit next to your date?”
Jeremy nodded. “Yes. It’s one of the rules.”
The little girl blinked. “You have rules for dating?”
Chan didn’t know there were rules either and was quite eager to find out.
Jeremy chuckled. “Of course,” he said. “Do you want to know other rules for dating? I’ll teach you.”
Lilly nodded enthusiastically.
“Then you have to obey them.”
Lilly sighed and reluctantly got up from her chair. She turned to Chan. “We have to swap seats.”
Chan chuckled and stroked Lilly’s head fondly. “That’s fine with me.” She gladly stood and took the seat beside Jeremy. Thank God she didn’t have to sit next to Sam. She knew she wouldn’t function well during dinner if she were to do that, what with him being so close and all.
“What made you choose this place for your date, Jeremy?” Nina asked from across the table.
Sam eyed Nina as the woman stared at Jeremy. He didn’t miss the fact that she didn’t like Chan very much. Not that it was any of his business, but it would have been nice if Nina were a bit more pleasant to the woman he was interested in.
“I just thought it was a nice place for dinner,” Jeremy said. “That’s all.”
Chan felt uncomfortable at Nina’s glare.
“Haven’t we met?” the woman asked.
Chan nodded. “I think last Saturday night.”
Nina nodded. “Ah. Yes. You and your friend in the restroom.”
Sam put two and two together. Chan and Nina must have met in the restroom while he met Chan’s sisters. Suddenly, he wanted to laugh. The world was indeed small.
“If you guys already know each other,” Jeremy said, “then I don’t need to do any introduction.”
“No,” Nina said. “Do the introduction, Jeremy. I don’t know her.”
Chan blushed. “I’m Chandra Chandler.” Then she waited for the woman to reply.
“Nina Pearson. Sam’s longtime friend.”
Jeremy wanted to snort at the statement. Sam’s longtime friend. More like an unrequited love.
To his niece, he said, “All right, Lilly, spit it out. How do you know Chandra?”
Lilly said, “We met her at the Thursday Market ages ago. She gave me five bucks for the monkey show.”
Jeremy glanced at Chan. “Oh, I see now.”
Nina rolled her eyes heavenward.
Chan kept quiet as Jeremy interrogated Lilly. Meanwhile, she avoided eye contact with Sam. He seemed to be in a fine mood tonight. Then she remembered he didn’t text her today. Perhaps he’d been too busy with Nina. Of course, she noted again how handsome the pair looked. They were a perfect couple, and she instantly felt the ache within her heart.
Stop thinking about that! she told herself. Then of course, she noted Nina’s glare. The woman kept Sam’s attention with talk about this and that. Chan didn’t know what they were talking about. She didn’t care, though, nor did she feel the need to find out.
She was doing fine just sitting there with a pleasant smile on her face as she listen to Jeremy demanding every detail about that Thursday night and eventually last Sunday, when Sam caught her attention.
“Chan, how’s your ankle doing?” he asked.
The question drew not only the attention of Jeremy, but Nina as well. They all were eyeing her with interest.
Chan licked her lips. “It’s fine.”
“Is it?” Lilly chimed in. “That’s good. That means we can do heaps of stuff on my birthday this Saturday.”
“You’re coming to Lilly’s birthday party?” Nina shot the question at her.
Chan didn’t like the blonde’s snippy tone. “Lilly invited me.” To Lilly she said, “I’d come regardless of my injured ankle.”
Lilly clasped her hands together with delight.
The evening went wonderful for Sam and Lilly, but not so for Jeremy and Nina. Jeremy found his beautiful date was stolen by his niece. The duo was now sitting comfortably together on one of the couches not far from the table, reading a book on a tablet. Lilly kept giggling, while Chan smiled as she read in a hushed tone to the little girl.
Chan, thus far, found the evening pleasant enough. The food was delicious, and Lilly kept her entertained. She mostly avoided Sam because looking at him just made her want to kiss him, and she had no idea why.
Of course, any thoughts of kissing that handsome man was doused as she read one of her children’s books to Lilly. It was perfect, as this section of the restaurant was almost deserted, and Lilly had begged her to read, so Chan was only too happy to oblige.
On the other side, Sam watched Chan and Lilly together, smiling and giggling. To be sure, the sight made his heart glow with delight. He hadn’t felt like that for a long time, and he treasured it.
It was a few hours later when the group departed, and Jeremy drove Chan back to her apartment.
“Sorry we got interrupted tonight,” Jeremy said, chuckling. “I see Lilly likes you a lot.”
Chan nodded. “She’s an adorable little girl.”
They were silent for a while after that—Chan deep in thought about Sam. When they finally arrived at her apartment building, Jeremy parked the car and said, “Want me to come up with you?”
Chan shook her head. “No. It’s fine. It’s getting late, and you have work tomorrow.”
“All right,” Jeremy said, then leaned forward.
Chan blinked as she felt Jeremy’s firm lips against hers. She sat there frozen.
She didn’t feel anything. Why didn’t she feel anything? Jeremy’s lips were against hers.
When Jeremy finally moved back, looking at her, confused. “Is everything all right?”
Chan frowned. “I’m sorry, Jeremy. I… You took me by surprise.”
Jeremy chuckled. “Sorry about that. I thought it only natural I kiss you since it’s our second date.”
Chan blushed. “Thanks for dinner and the wonderful evening.”
Jeremy didn’t quite agree with the wonderful evening, but nodded nonetheless.
Chan undid her seatbelt and then opened the door. “Good night, Jeremy.”
Jeremy waved. “Good night, Chan.”
“Drive safely,” she said with a smile. She then shut the door and headed toward the apartment building.
Once inside her place, she noted the house was quiet and assumed both her sisters must be asleep. They had an early start tomorrow after all.
Chan headed to her own room and then into her en suite. There she stared at herself in the mirror, her fingers on her lips.
Why didn’t she feel anything when Jeremy kissed her? She didn’t feel afraid of him like she did with Dave. Yet she didn’t feel delighted and that wonderful glow within her chest like she did with Sam, either.
She sighed and told herself to stop thinking about that. She needed to clean up and get to bed. Not to mention, she needed to start preparing the satay meat early tomorrow for Lilly’s birthday party on Saturday.
Nodding at that, she proceeded to clean herself, and some fifteen minutes later, she was in bed, staring up at the ceiling, thinking about Sam, wondering if he was dating Nina. The thought made her heart ache, so she dismissed the idea immediately. They were longtime friends. Nothing to dwell on there.
* * * * *
CHAPTER 28