Secretly Hers (Sterling Canyon)(14)
“Surprise!” the group shouted, despite the fact that Fee had spoiled their plans.
“Wow, you got me.” Kelsey grabbed Fee up onto her hip. “No costumes for my birthday?”
Fee shook her head. “But Prince Charming came.”
Kelsey rolled her eyes and tried to ignore Trip’s smug smile.
“Prince Charming?” Avery asked.
“Yep. Him!” Fee pointed at Trip. “He’s going to marry Aunt Kelsey when pigs fly, and I get to be the flower girl on a unicorn.”
Stifled laughter and stunned faces made Fee scowl in confusion. Trip’s self-satisfied smile briefly faltered as Grey and Andy mocked him, but then he played along with a princely bow. “Fee’s wish is my command.”
Kelsey set Fee down when Maura approached with a glass of champagne, mumbling, “You probably need this right now.”
“Yes, very much.” Kelsey shot her sister a stern “we’re going to talk about this later” look before glancing at everyone and raising her glass toward the group. “Thanks for coming. Bottoms up!”
“Hear, hear.” Trip’s velvety voice rose above the crowd. She immediately regretted making eye contact with him. His cocked brow clearly proved he’d intended to draw attention to the double meaning of her last words. As if she hadn’t caught it, or felt it flutter low in her stomach.
Not that she’d let him know it. As she drew near him, she muttered, “In your dreams.”
She brushed past him, the brief contact sparking like static electricity. To distract herself, she hugged her parents and observed the feast of home-cooked favorites Maura and her mom had prepared. The dining room table displayed quite the buffet: barbequed chicken and vegetables, corn on the cob, loaded baked potato salad, Caesar salad, homemade buttermilk biscuits, and pitchers of extra-sweet lemonade.
She scanned the comfort foods dripping in butter and oil, sighing. No wonder she and her sister always had a bit of meat on their bones. Of course, Kelsey also opted to keep drinking the champagne, which probably added to her waistline.
Inadvertently, she smoothed her hand over her stomach. Oh, screw it. She grabbed a corn muffin and slathered it in honey butter.
“You’ve got a real nice family, princess,” Trip said over her shoulder. “I see where you get your big ideas about love and happiness.”
She turned in surprise. “Thanks, I think.” Somehow his compliment sounded a bit backhanded. “Your tone suggests that your family life was less than perfect.”
A mix of uncertain emotions raced across his face within the span of two seconds. “My early childhood was great, but then things took a surprising turn.” His brows gathered together and his gaze grew distant.
Curiosity urged her to pry into this story, but intuition warned her not to press for details. She laid her hand on his forearm. “I’m sorry, Trip.”
He patted her hand, his cool green eyes warming. “No need to turn your birthday into a pity party. I love my life now.”
“Hey!” Fee appeared from nowhere and clasped his long leg like a koala in a eucalyptus tree. “You said you’d play with Lolly and me.”
In a swift move, he hoisted her up onto his hip and tweaked her nose. “I did, and I never break my promises. Where’s Lolly?”
Fee pointed to the living room sofa, where her baby doll lay near a toy cradle. Trip smiled at Kelsey before wandering away. “Excuse us for a bit.”
Kelsey watched Trip sprawl out on the floor with Fee, who taught him how to change, swaddle, and bottle-feed Lolly. Fee then crawled onto his lap with an Olivia book, which he proceeded to read to her while she snuggled Lolly and sucked her thumb.
A ribbon of warmth traveled from Kelsey’s heart through her limbs while she spied on them. This was the second time she’d observed Trip with Fee, the second time he’d displayed wonderful instincts with a child. Who could believe Trip had a heart? Did this also mean he might even be able to love someone other than himself? That he could be a good father some day?
Everything in Kelsey screamed to reject the idea, because she could not afford to think of him as anything other than a calculating man-whore. She twirled on her heel and dashed off to find the nearest glass of champagne before anyone caught her staring at Trip Lexington—most especially Trip Lexington.
By the end of the evening, Kelsey surveyed the damage: the ravaged buffet table, the half-eaten birthday cake, Maura and Bill struggling to settle their hyper kids. She wistfully acknowledged that these happy family gatherings sometimes made her yearn harder for her own home and husband and kids.