Page 56 of Enemy Ex's Secret Baby

Gillian flushes. “Of course I have.”

What am I supposed to do with myself when she’s so fucking adorable?

Her excitement fades. “How does that make you money? It’s just a park.”

It hurts, but it’s fair. I’ve never given Gillian any reason to believe I care about anything but money and the bottom line. Mostly because up until very recently that was all I cared about. She doesn’t know something is shifting deep inside me. Something I just don’t know how to say aloud yet. “It doesn’t,” I say. “I’d need donors. But it’s the right thing to do.”

Gillian smiles at me. Not a forced smile. Not because she’s laughing at a joke. A real, “I’m giving you a smile” smile.

The only way I want it to fade is if I kiss her.

Stella barrels over before I can do anything so foolish. “Food time!”

“First, hand sanitizer time!” Gillian announces, pulling out a bottle of sanitizer from her purse.

Gillian has packed an amazing spread in her picnic basket. There are pigs in a blanket for Stella and freshly made falafel, hummus, and veggie slices for us. Not to mention potato salad and chips, plus loads of fresh fruit. Even though it’s mostly vegan, I’m in heaven. Ought to stop giving her shit for that.

“You want some ants on a log?” Stella asks me.

“Don’t you need peanut butter for that?”

“We can do it with hummus!” she announces, taking a stalk of celery and scooping some hummus onto it. “Hmm. No raisins. Grapes!”

I grimace. “Grapes, hummus, and celery. Sounds…delightful.”

Gillian giggles. “I’ll be your taste tester if you’re nervous.”

“My hero,” I reply.

She smiles, holding her chin in the air.

Stella finishes her concoction and holds it up for Gillian to take a bite. “It’s good! I promise.”

“You haven’t even tasted it,” Gillian says back.

The little girl giggles. Seeing them face to face is like seeing both sides of a mirror. They’re alike in all ways except for their eyes. Stella guides the celery up to Gillian’s mouth. She’s braver than I am as she munches on the Frankenstein treat. “Mm,” Gillian says with a nod. “Not bad, actually.”

“Are you pretending?” I ask.

“No, not at all. You should try it.”

I notice there’s a splotch of hummus on the corner of Gillian’s mouth. “You’ve got a…” I gesture to my mouth.

She blushes. “Oh.” She touches the other side of her mouth. “Hummus?”

“No, here, let me–” I reach out and swipe the hummus away from her lips, my fingers naturally resting against her jaw.

I freeze when our eyes meet. Dear god, it would be so easy to kiss her right now.

And Gillian’s not drawing away from me. She feels it too. I’m almost sure of it. It would be wrong to kiss her here, right in front of her daughter and in front of all her friends when we’ve made it very clear to one another that this is just a friendship.

However, now, more than ever, it’s clear to me that I can’t handle just a friendship with Gillian. I want more. Need more.

I need all of her.

“Napkin!” Stella shouts out, interrupting our moment.

I jerk away from Gillian and take the napkin from Stella. “Thank you, Stella.”

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