“Ew. No. Please, don’t make me eat them.”
Audrey giggled as they made their way inside. The house was packed with friends, family, and a good part of the Assassins hockey team and their families. Audrey caught a glance of Elli moving among the guests, her face bright with a toddler on her hip, a newborn in the nook of her arm, and a growing belly making a very prominent bump in her beautiful beige-colored dress. What killed Audrey was that Elli also wore four-inch heels, acting as if she wasn’t carrying over fifty pounds of children as she walked through the party. How she did it, Audrey didn’t know, but one thing for sure, Elli Adler did it with class and grace.
As she entered the kitchen, she found Elli still holding Shelli, gushing over the cupcakes with Tate standing beside her. Audrey couldn’t take her eyes off him. His massive hands were holding baby Posey close to his chest as he dusted kisses along the top of her head.
You’ve got to be kidding me, she thought as she forced herself to pay attention to Elli.
“They are fantastic, Audrey! You are a lifesaver!”
She smiled. “I told you, anything for you two. They need to go in the freezer until it’s time to eat.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Elli said. “Can you hold her?”
“Duh!” Audrey quickly took Shelli, kissing her plump little cheeks. Shelli was honestly the prettiest little girl in the world, but then again, Audrey knew she said that about all the little girls she was around. She looked up to see Piper looking at her with a worried look on her face.
“What? She’s okay,” Audrey said, referring to Shelli.
Piper shook her head. “No, it’s not that.”
“What is it?”
“Erik just walked in with Harper and Jakob,” Piper said, nodding toward the three of them. Harper Titov held her precious daughter Allison in her arms while nevertheless looking classy in white dress pants and a bright purple low-cut V-neck blouse. Her hair, in large curls, framed her face perfectly. When Jakob Titov came up behind Harper, wrapping his arm around her waist and placing a hand on Allison’s back, Audrey not only found it hard to breathe but also noticed that Allison was her daddy made over. She had dark hair and dark eyes that matched her daddy’s and Uncle Erik’s more than her own mother’s.
“So what?” Audrey said turning her attention back to Piper. “Harper is Elli’s BFF.”
“Well, I know, but I didn’t know he was gonna be here. I would have actually done my makeup.”
“And combed your hair,” Audrey supplied with a grin.
Piper nodded. “Yeah.”
“You look fine, Piper,” Audrey said. She did. She just looked hungover, that’s all. No big deal.
Piper laughed. “You are such a liar. I’ll be back,” she said over her shoulder as she walked away.
Audrey looked down at Shelli, who was playing with the button of her blouse. “Would have been better if she would have said it like Arnold Schwarzenegger, huh, Shelli?”
Laughter erupted behind her, and Audrey turned to see Tate still holding Posey, laughing so hard his eyes were brimming with happy tears. He cleared his throat, moving Posey up his chest before nuzzling his nose in the curls that covered her sweet little head.
Audrey couldn’t help but let out a little aw, then told him, “You’re good with her.”
What she really wanted to say was, You look fantastic with a baby in your arms. But she was pretty sure that would freak him out so she didn’t.
Tate nodded. “I love babies. They are so cute.”
And she was supposed to stay just friends with this guy?
“Yeah, they are,” she said breathlessly.
This was going to be hard. She needed to stay at arm’s length with Tate. She should have never agreed to this friendship. Because friendship wasn’t the only thing she wanted.