Sherelle Green - A Los Angeles Passion

“Do you have a blanket or anything for me to cover my dress?” she asked.

Trey fumbled with the baby bag and pulled out a blanket. “Here you go.” He draped the blanket over her shoulder. “It took me over an hour to put that carrier together, and you unsnap him from it like it’s a piece of cake. You’re really great with babies.”

“I should be,” Kiara said with a laugh. “I own LA Little Ones Daycare and Preschool, so I’m around babies all day.”

“I’ve heard of LA Little Ones,” Trey said. “Quite a few folks in the film industry take their kids to your day care.”

Kiara looked up from Matthew. “You work in television?”

“I’m a screenwriter,” Trey said, as a thought came to mind. “And you may be the answer to my prayers. I only have a couple weeks to finish my screenplay, and it’s hard to do that with an infant. Placing him in a day care for the daytime would help me tremendously.”

“I would love to help you out, but I can’t. The current wait for an open slot in my day care is twelve months.”

“You’re kidding me,” Trey said. “A twelve-month wait? Any chance you can make an exception? I know we just met, but you’d be doing me a huge favor.”

Kiara was shaking her head before Trey finished his plea. “Sorry—wish I could. But if I make an exception for you, I’d have to make an exception for others.” Once Matthew was completely calm, Kiara placed him back in the carrier.

“I understand,” Trey said, deflated. “I apologize for asking for special treatment. That usually isn’t like me. It’s just been a stressful few months, so I’m not completely myself.”

Kiara’s eyes softened. “I know it’s not my place to ask, but is your stress because of what your father did?”

Trey frowned. He’d suspected her hot-and-cold behavior toward him was because she’d heard about the suspension and knew Reginald was his father, but it didn’t make having her ask any easier. “Unfortunately, yes, Reginald is my father, but we aren’t that close.”

Trey blinked, surprised that he’d shared that fact. He usually kept any thoughts about Reginald to himself.

“It must be even harder since you aren’t that close,” Kiara said. “I assume that if you were, you’d expect for people to associate you with your father. But since you aren’t, you’re guilty by association with a man you don’t have a close relationship with.”

Trey nodded. “I’ve never heard someone put it so clearly. Yes, that’s exactly it. And honestly, I don’t care for the man. To be investigated and have my character questioned was embarrassing and infuriating. To top it off, Reginald called all his sons to claim his innocence and asked us for our help to prove it. Why he feels privileged enough to even contact us is beyond my understanding. But of course, I will probably agree to help because what type of son would I be if I refuse to help him and prove that I’m no better than he is?”

The words were out of his mouth before he had a chance to reel them back in. Trey’s frustrated eyes caught Kiara’s understanding ones. Why the hell did I just tell her all that? He really needed to take a vacation after he turned in his screenplay because he had no doubt he was slowly losing his mind and, apparently, losing his filter, too.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m usually a more private person, but like I said, it’s been a stressful few months.”

Kiara reached out her hand to touch Trey’s. “It’s okay. I’m glad you told me.” Her fingers began moving in small circles over his skin, the heat from her touch making him wish he could keep her hands right where they were, all night.

“Tell you what,” she said. “This one time, I’ll make an exception and accept Matthew into LA Little Ones for the next two weeks.”

“Thank you,” Trey said with a grateful smile. “You have no idea how much I appreciate this.”

Kiara laughed. “Don’t thank me yet. You don’t know how much it costs. LA Little Ones isn’t cheap.”

“I had a feeling it wasn’t.” Trey leaned closer to Kiara, immediately soaking in the sweet scent of her perfume. “I’m willing to pay whatever it costs because I’m grateful for your help.”

“You’re welcome, but I’m not only doing this for you.” Kiara looked at Matthew, who was now sleeping soundly. “I’m doing this for Matthew’s sake.” She tugged at the contraption holding up the infant. “The BabyBjorn is inside out and a couple clips are configured wrong. At this rate, there’s no way you can babysit by yourself.”

Her eyes were teasing, but Trey also knew there was some truth to what she was saying. He hoped that she realized he didn’t care if Matthew was the real reason she’d agreed to help him out, because accepting Matthew into her day care meant that she would be seeing a lot more of him whether she wanted to or not.

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