Page 32 of The Billionaire's Instant Triplets

Tristan imagined Ria sitting on her bed with her phone, laughing and chatting with her younger sister. “You’re a good sister.”

“I try to be.” Ria sipped her water. “I don’t think we did a great job with these. Half the filling from my sloppy joe is on my plate.”

“Mine too. Want a fork?”

“Yes, please.”

Tristan got up to fetch the silverware. As he passed the radio, he turned the volume up slightly as a new song came on. It was a love song, and it sounded familiar, though he wasn’t sure where he’d heard it before.

“This is my favorite song,” Ria said. She got to her feet, rinsed her hands, and did a quick twirl around the kitchen. Tristan took his seat again, setting one fork beside her plate and another beside his own.

“You dance a lot.”And you look beautiful when you do.

“I do. I love it. And you should join me.” She held out a hand. “Come on, Tristan.”

“Ha. No way.”

“Come on.” She grinned, swaying back and forth with her hand outstretched. Her eyes crinkled. “It’ll be fun.”

“It won’t, I promise. I’m a terrible dancer.”

“LikeI’many good. Trust me.” Ria grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. She took his free hand with her other and swung their hands back and forth between them. It was the same move he’d seen her do with the triplets during their spontaneous dance parties.

“All right, all right.” Tristan chuckled. “If we’re going to do this, let’s do it right.” He released her hand and placed his palm on her hip. He guided her free hand to his shoulder and led her in a simple box step around the kitchen.

“I thought you couldn’t dance!” Ria looked up at him, her eyes shining and her lips curved into a smile.

“I’m not good at dancing, but I do know the basics.” He spun her beneath his arm and brought her back into the starting position, a little closer this time. “It’s hard to grow up in a wealthy family without mastering the basics of ballroom dancing.”

Ria’s hand fanned against his shoulder. “What other skills did you learn?”

“I had piano lessons.” Tristan swayed her from side to side, savoring her nearness. “I played tennis. And my parents taught me about business from grade school on.”

“You must have had quite the lemonade stand.” Ria grinned.

“No, I always liked technology more than anything else, so I did some coding work when I was little.”

“Coding?”

“Yeah. My parents put me in a coding camp the summer I was twelve, so I did some coding after that. I even got paid a few times.”

Ria whistled under her breath. “See, as much as you said earlier that your success is thanks to your parents’ support — and it is, at least somewhat — you clearly worked hard to be where you are, too. You should be proud.”

Tristan twirled her again and watched her hair whirl out around her head. Then the song slowed, and he pulled her close again.

“Ria—” He wasn’t sure what he was going to say. Part of him wanted to admit that he had feelings for her, but a stronger part knew that would be a mistake, even now. Just because Ria was kind to him, just because she helped him, just because he saw her eyes sparkle when he held her close, that didn’t mean she was interested in the same things he was. If he pushed, he could lose her. And he still wasn’t quite sure what she meant to him or exactly what he wanted to do about it.

Perhaps, then, it was for the best that the sound of crying came over the baby monitor at just that moment. Ria quickly stepped back, blushing.

“I’ll go see what’s up.” She disappeared, leaving Tristan alone in the kitchen, the love song still playing over the radio. With one hand, he shut it off, then leaned back against the counter. It was the second time they’d come close to… something. Tristan wasn’t sure if he’d been about to lean in to kiss her or if he’d simply wanted to share how he was feeling. Either way, it was better that they’d been interrupted.

Ria came downstairs a few minutes later.

“Everything’s fine — Jamie just needed a little water. I gave him a drink and he fell right back asleep.” She looked up at him. “I should… well, I should go sleep, too.”

“Of course.” It was barely nine o’clock, but Tristan understood. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Then, in a puff of warm vanilla scent and a flash of bright curls, Ria was gone.

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