Page 33 of Enemy Ex's Secret Baby

“Not at all! Come on back, Hunter!”

“Dad!” Amy hisses.

Dad holds his hands up innocently.

Hunter is Amy’s nemesis, but I’m not sure she’s his. Ever since he moved in, his schedule and habits seem to get in the way of her creative process. His only saving grace in her eyes is–

“Jessica!” Amy yelps at the sight of Hunter leading his little girl into the yard by the hand.

Jessica is three years old, desperately shy, cute as a button with long dark hair just like her dad, fringed at the forehead, and dimples when she smiles. Somehow, Amy makes her come out of her shell.

That doesn’t surprise me, though. Amy has always been good with children.

“I, uh, have a gift for Harley and…”

“Tana!” Jessica squeaks to her father.

“Tana, right. Sorry,” Hunter says with an awkward smile. It’s almost comical when he’s unsure of what to say. The man is tall, dark, and handsome, almost like Jason Momoa but even better somehow. If he were my type, I would have snatched him up ages ago, but alas. I go for the more anemic doltish types ala Axel Hitchins, apparently.

Harley smiles. “Oh, Hunter, you didn’t have to do that.”

“It’s nothing much,” he says humbly and then crouches down to Jessica’s height. “Here, you want to give it to her?”

Jessica nods and takes the long box from her father. She toddles over toward Harley and holds it up over her head.

“Wow, thank you for carrying it all the way over here,” Harley says. “I can tell Tana already loves it.”

Dad takes the box and puts it on the table for Harley to open.

“Uh, Amy, could I speak with you for just a moment?” Hunter asks casually, nodding his head away from the table.

We all look at Amy. Oooh…you’re in trouble.

She nervously looks around at us, brushing her long brown curls off of her face. “Um. Yeah. Sure.”

She leaps out of her chair and joins him over by the pool. I can tell she’s nervous because she’s clasping and unclasping her hands repeatedly.

“What’s that about?” I ask.

Dana shrugs and shakes her head.

“He’s been finding reasons to talk to her more often lately,” Kira says matter-of-factly.

“Oh, would you look at this!” Harley exclaims. “Matching pajamas! For me and for Tana?”

Jessica nods heavily, looking at her dad and Amy over her shoulder.

“Thank you so much,” Harley smiles.

Jessica looks down at her feet, swaying her body left and right, blushing heavily.

I lean over and whisper in Stella’s ear. “Hey, could you–”

“Jessica, do you want to play on the teeter totter?” Stella cries out, leaping out of her seat. That kid. Too smart for her own good sometimes. She knew what I was going to say before I even said it.

Stella grabs Jessica’s hand and the two little ones race over to the teeter totter.

“Thank god, I thought I was going to make her burst into tears,” Harley says with a sigh of relief.

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