Page 58 of Enemy Ex's Secret Baby

It makes my heart plummet into my stomach.

We drive back in relative quiet, except for the radio, which Axel tunes to a top forty station. Stella sings along to all the songs, even though most of the lyrics are wrong (and given how raunchy things can be on the radio, I’m grateful).

When we arrive at the bakery, the closed sign is already flipped, and I can see Lola inside mopping.

“Well, Stella, what do you say?” I ask.

“Oh, thank you!” Stella cries out, poking her head between the front seats. “Thank you for coming.”

Axel grins. “You’re welcome.”

“Did you have fun?” she asks.

“Oh, loads.”

Stella looks at me, her nose in the air. “See, Mommy? I knew he’d have a good time.”

I smile. “Guess you were right.”

“I usually am,” she remarks and then jumps out of the car, rushing inside the bakery to greet Lola.

This leaves us in a tremendous vacuum of silence I wish I could escape.

And yet…at the same time, I never want to leave.

Being alone with Axel feels good for the first time in a long time.

“Thanks for letting me tag along, Gillian.”

I half-laugh, “Don’t thank me. You’re the one who walked right into what could have been your demise. It was impressive.”

Axel shakes his head and looks off through the dashboard with a soft smile.

“Did you mean what you were saying about the park?” I ask carefully.

He bites on his lower lip and I prepare to be disappointed. Of course he didn’t mean it. He was just trying to make everybody feel better since he had tagged along to an event he was never supposed to be at in a million years. Surely, he would have no way of changing everything just to make a measly little park instead of –

“It’ll take some work, but it’s the right thing to do,” he replies and then casts a look my way.

Don’t look at me. I might just have to kiss you.

“I mean, you know my dad, it might take a while but–”

“As long as you meant it. Even if it doesn’t pan out, I just needed to know you meant it.”

Our eyes lock. I want to kiss him so bad. But Lola is literally just inside. It was one thing to have an affair when she was overseas. Now, though, it would be cruel to betray her when she’s merely twenty feet away.

“I meant it, Gill,” he says in a voice so tender I know it’s only meant for my ears.

Fuck. Get out of here. “Well, thanks again. For the ride,” I mutter and then push open my door.

“Any time,” he calls after me.

I close the door and scurry inside before he can say anything else. I don’t dare look back at him either. Just seeing him staring at me out his window would have me running right back to him. “Hey! How was the afternoon here?” I cry out as I walk into the bakery.

“Good! Just finished with the mopping and bagging up the extras. We’ll drop them off at the shelter on our way to dinner,” Lola explains as she throws a couple croissants into a brown paper bag.

I totally forgot that Lola and Stella are supposed to have dinner tonight together. Lola is Stella’s godmother, and she takes the role extremely seriously. They have dates every month where Stella is allowed to say whatever she wants about whomever she wants because “children need to have an outlet” (that’s Lola’s excuse). What’s worse is their dates are in a bubble of silence, meaning I never hear anything about it. I fear that Stella is ranting and raving about my parenting skills while Lola pours her another glass of wine and says, “Tell me more.”

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