There will probably be someone to chime in with articles saying you can etc but to be blunt and simple, no. You're referring to bulking in a different manner than what those of us are doing. We are eating more to build new muscle. Your goals seem to align with those of wanting to shred the fat and enhance what you have. If you're new to lifting you'll experience newbie gains, of course but those taper off and you can't build new muscle in a deficit. You do however want to maintain what muscle you have now and lifting is key. So start lifting now, eat in a conservative deficit and continue to work but don't focus on the scale. Your mirror and clothes are better indicators. It's a slow process that is worth it, trust me.

yep...what she said. You need a calorie deficit to actually lose fat. You need a calorie surplus to actually add new muscle mass.

i was thinking i could lose a few pounds during this bulk, but i'm so darned hungry and loving the lifting, that i dont care if i gain a few pounds, i can lose them easily during a planned cut . i'm about 15 pounds heavier than i wanted to be before starting this, but i was at a plateau for months and months and needed to do something different besides just eating at a deficit and waiting.

If you are still in a deficit, you should definately be doing strength training to preserve the muscle you already have, and you can work on your form and core strength and get yourself physically ready for lifitng heavy. I spent about 9 months on form and getting my body into shape for this. It makes a big difference if you go into builking with your form and basic strength already set up. You might not bulk, but you will definatley tone and shape and get strong.