Page 54 of Best Kept Secret

“I don’t like where this is going. I wish I’d never said anything.”

“It’s not your fault. I thought about it too.”

Stacy placed her hand over her heart. “I’m glad I’m not the only one.”

“What about Nick?”

“What about him?”

“Have you told him any of this?”

“No. I was even hesitant to tell you because it sounds so far-fetched.”

Was it, though? “Let’s keep this to ourselves for now.”

“Of course, but what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know yet, but I’ll figure something out.”

“What about Hudson? Are you going to keep seeing him?”

Kelsey nodded. “I’m a firm believer in innocent until proven guilty.”

“God, I hope he’s innocent.”

“Me too.”

She refused to believe that he’d been lying to her this whole time. Her life was not a romance novel, and he was nothing like the hero in her book. She would get to the bottom of this and prove everyone wrong—most of all herself.

Sixteen

Annie was babbling nonstop as Hudson carried her up the walkway to Kelsey’s apartment. It was almost like his daughter was as excited to be there as he was. Then he recalled the last time he’d been over, and his face heated. He’d have to be on his best behavior tonight since there’d be a witness. Annie was still babbling happily when Kelsey opened the door.

“Hi,” she said, looking first at Annie and then at him.

She looked beautiful with her hair up in a high ponytail and wearing a T-shirt and white capris. He almost said something about her pants because, as he’d learned, wearing white around babies was inadvisable. She looked so damn good, though, he decided not to.

“Come on in,” she said, swinging the door open wide so he could bring Annie’s car seat in. He’d become used to hefting the thing around and thought it might be strengthening his arm muscles almost as much as going to the gym.

He could tell she was itching to get her hands on Annie, maybe even more than him, but that didn’t bother him at all. He could be patient when he needed to be.

He placed the car seat on the only chair in the room, unhooked the safety belts, lifted Annie out, and handed her to Kelsey. “Here you go.”

She smiled like he’d just handed her a diamond ring. Wait a minute. It’s way too soon to be thinking about that!

“How’s my sweet girl?” Kelsey trilled. She was rewarded with more babbling and a giant spit bubble to go with it.

He pulled out a burp cloth from the diaper bag he’d brought and dabbed her mouth.

“I swear she looks bigger every time I see her,” Kelsey said.

“I know. Pretty soon she’s going to outgrow the clothes you bought her.”

“We’ll just have to go shopping for new ones,” she said happily.

He thought, not for the first time, what a great mom she’d be someday. Even though she’d claimed to be inexperienced, she seemed like a natural at it. Jared, on the other hand, sometimes made Annie cry just by looking at her, which reminded Hudson…

“I have some news.”