Page 85 of Enemy Ex's Secret Baby

“Maybe later,” she says, mouth twitching into a smile. “Can we dance now instead?”

I frown and start to respond until I hear a familiar song playing.

“Those fingers in my hair…that sly come-hither stare…”

My jaw falls ajar.

“All three of us, please,” Stella says, grabbing for one of Axel’s hands.

Both of us are dumbfounded as she pulls us out onto the dance floor, but the second our eyes meet, we start to laugh.

“That strips my conscience bare, it’s witchcraft…”

“How are we going to do this, Stella, huh?” Axel asks as we stand in a circle, our hands linked together.

Stella looks between us as if that will answer the question.

“And I’ve got no defense for it.”

“I’ve got an idea,” Axel says, eyeing me.

“The heat is too intense for it.”

Without warning, he lifts Stella off the ground and puts her on his hip. She laughs. “Is this okay?”

Our little girl nods. With one arm wrapped around Axel’s shoulder, she reaches out to me.

And so does he. Together, they pull me close into our strange little dance. It’s not so strange, though. It’s perfect. Because I have the most beautiful pairs of green eyes looking back at me as we sway around the floor.

I’m transported back in time to that summer when everything changed. I was finishing up pastry school and Axel was overworked by his father. We started unwinding together after our long days. Wine, music. And suddenly, we were spending every night together.

Until finally that Frank Sinatra song put a spell over us, and we fell into each other’s arms.

Now, here we are again.

“Cause it’s witchcraft…wicked witchcraft…”

Yes, it really is some sort of witchcraft. Here Axel and I are, with our daughter between us. I Never thought I’d have this.

“Are those happy tears, Mommy?” Stella asks, touching my face.

I smile and nod. God, all you do is cry, Gillian? Can’t you stop that for just one second? “Very happy.”

Stella turns to look at Axel. “Kiss her, would you?”

Axel grins. “Gladly.” He kisses my cheek tenderly, his nose lingering against my skin.

“On the lips, silly!”

Axel and I both laugh. “You heard the woman! Lips it is,” Axel replies and then kisses me again.

I wrap my arms tighter around both of them, lost in his lips while Stella giddily squeals. The song swells around us, carrying us across the floor, into the next step of this adventure.

I never thought my love story would look like this. After Axel, I never thought I’d even get one.

But now that it’s happening, I can’t imagine a story more perfect than this.

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