Chapter 40

"Hi, Lilly," she greeted her, pleasantly surprised. Of course, she should have guessed if Sam was here, it was most 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 Jeremy and smiled. "Hi, Uncle Jeremy."

Chan opened her mouth to say something but couldn't find the right words. Uncle Jeremy?

She eyed Jeremy with a questioning look, to which Jeremy replied, "Lilly is my cousin once removed."

Chan was, naturally, in shocked surprise with that revelation. 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 d' they'd be joining this table and to please arrange the cutlery 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 him and asked innocently. "Why?"

"Because she's my date, darling."

Lilly 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."

"You have rules for dating?" Lilly asked.

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 said, "I think last Saturday night."

Nina nodded. "Ah. Yes. You and your friend were 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 Lilly, 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 listened 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 Lilly. 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 sat frozen as she felt Jeremy's firm lips against hers. She didn't feel anything. Why didn't she feel anything? Jeremy's lips were against hers.

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."

Jeremy didn't quite agree with the wonderful evening but nodded nonetheless.

Chan undid her seat belt 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.