Page 10 of Cinderella's Secret Baby

“Neither do I. That’s why we’re leaving. Do you need that?” He pointed at the diaper bag on the seat.

“Yes, but—” She didn’t want to be railroaded.

She didn’t want to become an online meme, either.

“Here’s Denis.” Hunter retrieved her bag and slammed the car door, then he opened her driver door, pressed the lock button and slammed that, too.

An SUV stopped behind her car and a wiry, middle-aged man leaped out, leaving it running as he efficiently installed the car seat with a click and a smile.

Conflicted, Amelia climbed into a deliciously cool and roomy back seat. She buckled Peyton in, tucked her blankie around her, then clicked her own belt, blowing a stray tendril of hair from her eyes.

It will be okay, she assured herself, even though her stomach was churning with misgiving.

Maybe she could have believed it if Hunter hadn’t looked so remote and menacing. Rather than take the passenger seat up front, he took the spot on the far side of Peyton. His tanned face was like carved and polished maple. Smooth, but hard.

“Where to, sir?” Denis asked as he wound his way out through the parking lot toward the exit.

“Goderich,” Amelia said while Hunter spoke over her.

“The apartment.” Hunter frowned at her. “It’s in Toronto. Closer.”

“It’s kidnapping,” she pointed out.

“Only if I ask for a ransom.” He was texting as he spoke. “What kind of security do you have in Goderich?”

A dead bolt and venetian blinds.

“Why? Those people won’t bother me in my own home, will they?” She twisted to look out the back window. A car was following them.

“In my experience, those sorts of people will climb on a trash can and photograph you on the toilet if they think they can earn a buck for it.”

“Then why did you invite them to your wedding?”

“I didn’t. This wasn’t the easiest place to secure.Yougot in.”

Ouch. But... “Is this some of the ‘everything’ you can give Peyton?” she asked with facetious bite. “You’re right. I should have told you sooner.”

“This will go more smoothly if we stick to what needs to happen rather than what has already happened. Yes, I’m here.” He gave his attention to whoever he had just called.

He was talking to a group, Amelia realized as he began listing out assignments.

“Zudora, I need a paternity test. Have a nurse meet us at the apartment. Kimi, get everything a two-month-old needs. Leave it in one of the guest rooms. Who has the number for the wedding planner? Let her know that Denis will come back for Amelia’s father and will arrange for his car to follow, but find him a hotel room if he prefers to stay the night. Carina, let me hear what you’ve got so far. No, don’t say that.”

“Say what?” Amelia prompted. She would really love to know what the heck was going on. Had his wedding been called off or merely postponed?

She didn’t ask, not sure she was ready for the answer.

“No. Call it a brief relationship that ended before I met Eden. I want it to be clear I wasn’t involved with her at any time while I was dating Eden.”

Amelia’s breath was punched out of her by that. She blocked out the rest and turned her face to the window.

She had no reason to be surprised or offended, she reminded herself. He had warned her not to come to his room if she expected it to go beyond that night.

“Tonight is enough,” she had said, believing it in the moment. She had believed a lot of silly things that evening—that he respected her as a person, rather than seeing her as an object of entertainment. That he was rich, but grounded. That they had a connection that went beyond physical.

All of that delusion had been on her side. Worse, the infuriating awareness of him was still tingling and alive within her, making her feel his presence like a force that both pushed and pulled against her. Magnetism? Was that what it was?

It was agonizing and juvenile, and it was what had made her agree when Cheryl had said with excitement, “Table Fourteen invited us for drinks after we cash out.”

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