He's The One™

Later that night, Kaia invited both Alex and Zac over for dinner.

Kaia was in the kitchen preparing vegetable soup and salmon while Alex and Alexa sat in the living room playing card games. Zac was busy on the couch nearby reading over some emails and forwarding a few to Naomi. After a while, he put down his iPad and massaged his temples before going into the kitchen to see how Kaia was doing.

Taking a cursory glance around the kitchen for the first time, Zac noticed the vegetables on the chopping board next to a knife. Wordlessly, he walked up next to Kaia who was washing salmon and picked up a few vegetables to wash.

When Zac leaned over and turned on the faucet, Kaia flinched. She immediately spun around before letting out an audible sigh of relief. "Zac…! Hi, um w—what are you doing in the kitchen?" she asked cautiously.

"Helping you," he replied, before placing the vegetables back on the chopping board and turning off the faucet.

Kaia stared at Zac's blank and unreadable expression quizzically before breaking into a small smile. "You don't have to help. I'm pretty sure I can handle it. Besides, you're a guest."

At the mention of "father-daughter," Kaia instinctively turned around and glanced over at Alex who was attempting to peek at Alexa's cards. She heard her daughter's giggles as she tried to hide her cards away from Alex's prying eyes.

A soft and wistful smile spread across Kaia's face as she watched them from afar. She was reminded of how well they got along with each other. This caused a slight twinge in her heart as her soft smile cracked slightly.

Alex sensed that someone was staring at him and glanced up. He was about to look back down but stopped as he met Kaia's gaze. Staring into her glazed over eyes, he raised his left eyebrow slightly.

As Kaia's vision started to clear, she found herself looking directly into Alex's eyes. Suddenly realizing what was going on, she snapped back to reality. Panicking, she blushed and spun around to hide her embarrassment. She mentally wacked herself as she tried to calm her rapidly beating heart. She tried to forget Alex's sexy eyebrow raise and deep blue eyes but to no avail.

Zac, who was oblivious to what had occurred between his boss and Kaia was still busy getting the vegetables ready for the vegetable soup. He boiled the water and turned around to ask Kaia what else she needed to do. But before he could ask, he saw a flash of movement in his peripheral view. With a curious glance, he noticed Kaia turn away from the living room with a tinge of red blossoming in her cheeks.

A corner of Zac's lips twitched upward as he swiveled in the direction of the living room and saw Alex staring at the back of Kaia's head with a conflicted expression. With slightly pursed lips, Zac studied Alex. He couldn't help but get an uncomfortable sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Like the peace before a raging storm kind of feeling...

Alexa, who had moved a few feet away from Alex in a half-hearted attempt to keep his eyes away from her cards finally noticed that his attention was elsewhere. She was about to call out to him but stopped when she saw that he was intently staring at something. Following his line of sight, she saw her mummy who had her back turned.

She watched as her mummy swiftly moved a little deeper into the kitchen. Alexa continued staring for a while as a mischievous smile spread across her face. She was about to go over and tease her mummy, but halted when she met Zac's gaze. She pointed at her mummy and mouthed, "Papa Alex?" to which Zac responded with a slight nod. A small giggle was starting to form, but she suppressed it with a hand.

Meanwhile, Kaia tried to inch away from Alex's stare. She could feel his gaze boring a hole into her back as she used the lemon press to squeeze the life out of the mangled lemon. She calmed her nerves as she went about pan frying the honey garlic salmon. Her neck and ears still had a tinge of red as she tried to focus on the fish instead of whether or not her hair was messy or her shirt was untucked.

After the salmon was done, Kaia quickly plated the dish. Then, she leaned over to check on the pot of vegetable soup that Zac was seasoning. Inhaling the delicious smell, she commented, "Mmm, that smells so good! Do you often cook, Zac?"

Zac briefly glanced down and smiled as he replied, "Thanks. I used to cook more during my college years. I learned a lot of my recipes from my grandmother since she basically raised me since childhood." After a moment of silence, Zac suddenly said, "Before I forget, after looking into 'X,' I think we've found a new lead. I'll brief you on it as soon as I confirm the information."

Kaia's expression hardened slightly at the mention of their investigation of "the man," nicknamed "X." She nodded slightly as she put rice in four bowls and set them on the dining table. As soon as Zac finished with the soup, Kaia hollered for Alexa and Alex to get ready for dinner.