Kaiya grimaced inwardly at her unfair judgment of the woman. Tyler didn’t look like the type of father who would allow his drunken mother near his child. She had to give him that even though he was a heartbreaker.
“Kaiya, this is my mother, Emelie,” Tyler said when they reached her. “Mom, this is Kaiya Anderson, the owner of this place.”
Apparently seeing her reaction when Lili ran up to them, the woman said, “I’ve been sober for ten years now, dear.”
Flushed, Kaiya nodded. She was happy that Tyler now had his mom in his life. In the past, he had lamented a lot about her absence and worried about her constantly.
“Wait, did you just say Kaiya Anderson?”
Kaiya nodded and noted as the smile froze on the woman’s face. Kaiya could visibly see as the woman recoiled from her and stepped away. She wanted to question the woman’s reaction to her name but decided to ignore it. Instead, she dwelt on Tyler’s dedication to his daughter.
The green-eyed monster reared its ugly head again as she wondered how he would’ve been with their child. She shook off the sad thought. Smiling brightly, she welcomed them. Jalissa, Kalilah, and Milania were also introduced to the woman, and they shook hands with her.
Thankfully, Lili chose that moment to say her goodbyes. She threw her arms around Kaiya’s waist.
“Bye, Miss Kaiya.”
As usual, touched by the gesture, she smiled at the little girl. “Bye, Lili. See you next time.”
Turning to Milania, Lili said, “Would you like to come to my house for a play date?”
Milania nodded before turning to look at her mother. Plastering a dazzling smile on her face, Kalilah said, “Of course, she can come for a play date. In fact, her Aunt Kaiya will accompany her.”
Kaiya let out an inaudible gasp and shot her sister the evil eye. Kalilah grinned and winked at her.
Turning, she stared at Tyler to see his reaction. His face was expressionless, but she could tell he wasn’t pleased. Lili batted her eyelids at him, and her mouth formed a pout.
“Please, Daddy.”
No one could resist such cuteness, especially as her mouth began wobbling; so Kaiya couldn’t blame Tyler for grudgingly giving in.
“Okay, Pumpkin.”
Lili and Milania whopped with delight. The little girl hugged her father and thanked him. She also hugged Kaiya and her newly-found playmate.
“What the heck was that?” Kaiya rounded on her sister the minute Lili and her guardians left.
“It’s simply payback for the time you invited Finn to our girls night dinner years ago without my consent,” Kalilah replied cheekily, placing her hand on her rotund stomach.
Kaiya groaned and wondered what she’d gotten herself entangled with. “But that was such a long time ago,” she grumbled, biting the inside of her cheek.
Kalilah, in her glowing pregnancy look, laughed. “Revenge comes no matter how long it takes.”
Kaiya rolled her eyes.
“Well, I don’t think it’s a good idea for Kaiya to be around Tyler. I don’t trust him one bit,” Jalissa said.
“Thank you!” Kaiya exclaimed, smiling at her best friend.
Kalilah giggled. “Too late! You’re in trouble because I don’t think this play date is gonna be just a Lili-Milania thing. Tyler will definitely be there. I noticed the undeniable sexual tension between you two.”
Jalissa snickered. “I noticed that too. As a matter of fact, he looked at you lustfully several times when your attention was on Lili.”
Kaiya threw up her hands in exasperation. “Oh, come on. Both of you are exaggerating. There’s nothing going on between Tyler and me. I’d rather have something to do with the devil that that cheater.”
Remorse filled her after her eruption. She hadn’t meant to spoil the light and gaily mood. She just didn’t want anything that would associate her with Tyler in that regard. Granted, there was still some chemistry between them—she was honest enough to admit that—but she was going to do absolutely nothing about it.
Apologizing to her sister and her friend who had been stunned into silence by her flare-up, she briskly walked away.
