22
A iva stared at herself in the mirror. Knox would arrive to pick her up at any minute, and she wanted to garner the same reaction from him as she had when he’d picked her up the first time. She and Tara chose a mint dress that flattered her girls nicely. It housed cutouts on the side and an open back. The bottom half flowed and stopped mid-thigh. Several things would play peek-a-boo with Knox tonight.
She’d pulled her thick hair up, leaving pieces down on each side of her face, kept her make-up light, and paired the outfit with stud earrings, a simple necklace, and wedge heels.
She’d just grabbed her clutch and was headed down the hall when there was a knock on her front door. Aiva pulled it open and found Knox on the other side with a beautiful bouquet of soft pink roses.
“There’s that definition of temptation again,” Knox stated.
“Well, if you’re ruining dates with other men for me, I’m ruining the impression you have of other women on dates for you,” she responded, taking the bouquet he held out to her.
Knox leaned down, speaking against her lips. “Who said I planned to go on dates with other women?” He gave her a soft kiss.
Aiva laughed. “Come on in. I’ll put these in water, and we can go.”
She entered her kitchen, grabbed a vase, filled it with water, placed the flowers in, and sat them beside the ones he’d brought her last weekend. She’d removed the few that had wilted, but the rest still looked good.
When they were in Knox’s vehicle, she thought about asking him where they were going, but he’d told her when he asked her out that he wanted it to be a surprise, which meant that he wouldn’t tell her if she asked now. Instead, she turned slightly in her seat.
“How is Yasmine doing?”
“She’s good. She’s enjoying the extra time she gets to spend with her grandparents, but I’m sure that has more to do with them letting her get away with almost everything.”
Aiva chuckled. “Isn’t that what grandparents are supposed to do?”
“Let them tell it.”
“How’s she adjusting to being with you full-time?”
“She hasn’t said much about it. I don’t think she’s noticed the difference, but I plan on sitting down with her after everything is finalized.”
Aiva nodded. She’d only met Yasmine once, but she seemed like a smart little girl and would notice something different. However, kids were resilient, and she knew it wouldn’t affect her too heavily, and if it did, she could bounce back with the proper guidance and help.
“I’m sure she’s excited school will be out next month.”
“Surprisingly, I think she’s going to miss it. I’ve never seen a child enjoy school as much as Yas, but I know she’s also excited since I’m taking her to Disneyland.”
“I bet she’s going to have a blast. I’ll have to run that by Meila and see what she thinks of taking our youngest siblings at some point,” Aiva replied.
They lapsed into silence, and she took in the passing scenery. They were leaving the city limits, and again she wanted to ask where they were going but refrained.
They drove twenty minutes outside the city limits and pulled off into a small gravel parking lot. Aiva had passed it many times when leaving the city, but the gate that was now open had always been closed.
She got out of the car as Knox closed the gate. He then made a stop at the trunk. When he came to her side, he held a picnic basket in one hand. His other one took hers, and they started down a gravel path.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been on a picnic, but she was excited about this one. While she always appreciated anything someone did for her, she enjoyed the simple things. However, she got the feeling that this might have been anything but simple.
When the path opened up, Aiva found herself in awe as she looked around. They’d stepped into a cherry orchard, and in the middle was a white mesh tent decorated with plush blankets and pillows that looked soft—a small wooden floor table in the center decorated with flowers, candles, and dinnerware.
The entrance was draped in tulle with flowers intertwined. A vase of pampas grass sat outside on one side, a small white rug at the opening, and a woven bag chair on the other side. She’d been right; this picnic was going to be anything but simple.
“We’re in an orchard,” she stated, turning to him.
“A small one, but yes. Do you like it?”
Aiva smiled at him. “It’s beautiful. You keep setting the bar higher, Mr. Chandler.”
He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. “That’s the plan, Ms. Neel.”
She rose on her tiptoes, giving him a soft kiss before stepping out of his hold. Sitting on the chair, she removed her wedges, placed them aside, and stepped into the tent. The blankets were soft and plush under her feet, and the pillows even more so as she sat against them.
Knox joined her a moment later, placing the picnic basket to the right of the table. Aiva watched him take out the different containers and a bottle of wine.
Once food was on their plates and wine poured, she looked around them again, taking in the surroundings.
“How did you come across this place?” she asked after taking a drink of her wine. She half expected him to tell her that he owned it. It wouldn’t have surprised her.
“A friend owns it, and I thought it would be a nice place for a second date.”
“Well, you were correct,” Aiva responded before taking a bite of the grilled chicken salad in front of her.
They talked while they ate, and as the sun set, Knox left the tent, and she watched him walk behind one of the cherry trees. There was a soft humming, and the tree trunks closest to them illuminated by the string lights wound around them. She hadn’t even noticed there were lights on them before, so taken with the picnic set up instead.
“I see you thought of everything,” she teased when he returned to the tent.
“I did. I have to make sure this date makes your list of best dates.”
“It already has,” Aiva replied, and from the moment they’d stepped into the orchard, it had.
K nox sat beside Aiva as they ate dessert. He’d moved the table out, and they’d moved all the pillows to one side. The sun had set, and night blanketed the sky between the cherry trees. The glow of the lights subtly bathed them. The temperature was pleasant, and he wasn’t sure he could have chosen a better evening for a picnic if he’d tried.
When they finished their slices of key lime pie, he placed the containers outside the tent with everything else and turned to her, propping his elbow on one of the large pillows while she turned on her side to face him, tucking her feet under her.
“Don’t get offended, but I had no idea you were as good of a player as you seemed to have been.”
Knox chuckled. “Is that so? And here I thought you just assumed I was another client.”
“Let’s be real. I knew you’d played at one point when you walked into my office, but I didn’t know you played . One of my little sisters is a big sports fan and almost lost her mind when she discovered I’d gone out with you. If she thought she could have, she probably would have made me call you right then for an autograph.” Aiva shook her head as she laughed.
“What’s her name?”
“Marreigh.”
“Well, I’ll have to make sure she gets that autograph, especially if she’s telling you how great I am. That works in my favor,” he responded with a smirk.
“She would sing your praises, I’m sure, if she got one.”
Knox chuckled. “So, I saw the picture, but how many siblings do you have in total?”
“There are twelve of us.”
“I recall you saying you had a big family on Edison’s side. Is that your dad?”
Knox watched as she contemplated his question before slowly shaking her head. “In the sense that I share his DNA, yes, but nothing aside from that.”
Her father was a sore spot for her, so he asked about her siblings instead. “How many women? How many men?”
“There are seven girls and five boys.”
“What kind of age differences do you have?”
“As they decrease, they aren’t that far in age, but from oldest to youngest, there’s a sizeable gap. So, thirty-five, thirty-three, twenty-eight, twenty-six, a set of twins who are twenty-five, twenty-three, twenty, seventeen, fourteen, eleven, and nine.”
Knox was an only child but would have loved growing up with siblings. Not that his parents hadn’t tried; it just seemed it hadn’t been in the cards for them.
“What about you? Any siblings?”
“I am an only child,” Knox responded.
“How was that growing up?”
“It was nice, in a way. My parents were interested in every little thing I decided I wanted to take up and supported it, and I could talk to them about anything. The line of communication was open. Even with that, I still wish I had a sibling to share things I didn’t always feel comfortable telling my parents, even though I knew they wouldn’t judge or get upset.”
Aiva nodded. “I can understand that. Communication with my mother was the same way, and she was always there to support Meila and me, but it was nice having my sister to talk to about things I didn’t think I could take to my mom.”
“You and Meila are closer than your other siblings.”
“It isn’t that we’re closer because we exclude them, but it was just us for eight years. Then we learned about EJ, Eva, and the twins Lila and Ali. We also work together, so we see each other five days a week and share a mother. I think it just makes us naturally closer.” She paused for a moment. “I believe we all have a close bond that we’ve formed over the years because we all wanted to, but there are still those relationships that sit higher than others, as bad as that sounds. Especially when your shared parent is your mother.”
Knox could understand that. It was sort of how it was with Wolfe’s family. There weren’t as many of them, but his friend was closer to the sibling he shared a mother with than the other three, though they were all close.
“That makes sense, and with blended families, you spend more time with your maternal siblings more often than not.”
“Speaking of siblings, Yas is an only child. Do you plan to give her a sibling?”
Knox placed his hand on her waist, the cutout in the side of her dress allowing him to feel her soft skin beneath his palm, and he leaned in. Lips millimeters apart.
“Are you volunteering?”
Aiva blinked quickly, and her mouth opened then closed as if she couldn’t find the words. He smirked before giving her a soft kiss and pulling away, leaving his hand on her hip, drawing circles with his middle finger.
“If I were a gambling man, I’d bet Mia would give her a sibling first, probably by accident.”
“But you aren’t opposed to having another child?”
“Again, gorgeous. Are you volunteering?”
“Knox,” she stated as she swatted him on the chest, and he chuckled.
“No, I’m not. I’d like at least one more.”
Since he was an only child, he’d always said he wanted to have at least two kids. So they’d have someone to turn to and lean on when they thought they couldn’t come to him. Yasmine had been the best mistake he and Mia made, but his ex-wife had been adamant that she was the only child she was willing to birth. He hadn’t had a problem with that because he wasn’t against adopting or surrogacy.
They sat there talking for the next couple of hours, Knox stealing a kiss now and then, and just like on their first date, the conversation flowed effortlessly. There were no awkward pauses or strained silences.
When he pulled up to her house, he walked her to the door, and before she could step over the threshold, he pulled her into his chest and gave her a searing kiss. The kiss he’d been dying to give her all evening.
They said their goodbyes, and as Knox got back into his car, he felt like this date had been just as big of a success.