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He stood by in a corridor, his gaze gentle as he watched her.
As the little girl approached, a soft smile took form on his face.
Adam felt a little strange, as though he were spying on Amy. The redhead was standing near the back entrance of the arena, happily awaiting Amanda. The little blonde girl was accompanied by a woman he guessed to be her nanny. And then, as the little girl bid the woman goodbye, she turned and ran straight to her mother.
"Mommy!"
Amy knelt down and gathered Mandy into her arms, hugging the child close against her. One of her hands came up to stroke the soft, fine blonde hair, and Adam found it sweet when the redhead planted a hearty kiss on her daughter's cheek. It warmed his heart and reminded him of how much he wanted children of his own someday.
"I missed you!" she said with a chuckle. "How are you, honey?"
"Good, Mommy! I drew you a picture!"
"Oh, I can't wait to see it, do-"
Amy stopped speaking abruptly as she straightened up and turned around to see Adam standing just beyond. Her breath caught in her throat as she realized he'd been silently watching them.
"Hi."
"Hi." The tall blond man smiled, trying not to display his nerves at being found out. He'd meant to be discreet. His grin widened as he knelt down so that he was eye-level with Mandy. "Hey, blondie..." He gave the little girl a wink. She hadn't been around all week due to the fact that the child had been home for school. From what he understood, she would spend the weekdays at home and weekends with Amy and Matt.
Amanda shuffled her feet a little, her gaze on his face. She was shy and silent for a moment but then brightened and spoke.
"You're blond, too!" The girl reached out and grabbed a lock of Adam's long hair, as though to show him that fact.
The tall Canadian chuckled.
"Yup, I am... We rule, don't we?" His green eyes were bright and merry as he joked with the child.
Mandy nodded and laughed.
Amy swallowed hard, her eyes blinking rapidly as she gazed down at the two of them. She didn't know how long she could keep her emotions in check.
Adam straightened up and met the young woman's eyes.
"Of course, your Mommy rules, too," he said softly. "Even if her hair *is* red." His gaze softened as it remained fixed to her hazel eyes.
Amy's heart was hammering in her chest at the intensity of his gaze upon her. She had to mentally forced herself to breathe, lest she start hyperventilating. And a positive awareness struck her. Without a doubt, and despite all the years that had passed between them, she was still in love with Adam. Never in the last five and a half years had she ever felt even remotely as deeply for Matt. These last few years, she'd been living in a haze, pretty much as a shadow of herself ever since separating from the blond man years ago. She'd felt like only half a person not being with Adam. But she had Amanda... Mandy had kept her sane these last few years.
Now, if she could only work up the courage to tell him...
"So, I hear you're the newest addition to the WWE..."
The redhead snapped back to reality. She'd felt in a daze, lost in his deep pools of green.
"Yeah... So, it looks like you'll be seeing a lot more of me." She smiled.
The blond man cocked his head as he continued to gaze intently at her. Despite his initial
reservations when he'd originally heard of her being hired, something ticked inside of him. He
was happy he would be seeing her - and little Mandy, who'd already captured his heart - on a regular
basis.