Page 40 of A Very Un-Shakespeare Romance
Her friend’s smiling face changed to a look of concern, making Billie glance over his shoulder. “Everything okay in there? My brother didn’t growl at you, did he? I told him to be nice tonight.”
She had to think about how to respond so she wouldn’t cause a problem. “Of course not. I just wanted to come out and try one of Clarice’s famous margaritas.”
“Well, they’re mostly melted.” Sheila stood and walked over to her, taking her by the elbow. “Oops.”
“That’s okay,” she made herself say. “Better for me since I’m a lightweight.”
Sheila jiggled her arm as if to bring her back to herself. “Come on, Sunshine, we’ll grab you some more ice from our place.”
“We have some inside, ladies.” Billie stood and put Cassidy over his shoulders, making her squeal and hang on to his bald head. “I’ll go with you. In case someoneisstill huffing and puffing.”
Robbie had his head buried in the fridge when they came back in. He swung around with the hamburger platter in his hands. “Billie, grab the dogs and the buns. You’re just in time to help me BBQ.”
He walked past Lily swiftly, every muscle locked. His T-shirt and shorts might as well be made of armor. Her partner had warned her that first day about thinking of him as a knight. But there was one thing she hadn’t realized.
Knights could repel people with their armor too.
CHAPTERELEVEN
The cat hadit in for him.
Robbie scooped up the T-shirt Miss Purrfect had managed to steal for her litter box and balled it up, wincing at the putrid smell emerging from whatever that hideous furball had done. To one of his favorite running shirts!
Wasn’t he nice to the girls? Didn’t he bend over backward to play whatever they wanted? Answer their every crazy little question? Didn’t he check his computer every morning at the crack of dawn, praying for an update from his partner? When he’d come down to the kitchen this morning, he’d found yet another empty space in his account where a message would be…and then the ruined shirt.
The “bad guy” currently plaguing his life was a furball. If it were up to Robbie, he’d cuff that cat and put it in jail. Twenty years to life would be good for it.
“I see your battle with Miss Purrfect continues,” Tim commented as he strolled into the kitchen in an old Pats T-shirt and boxers.
Robbie stormed into the adjoining laundry room and threw the shirt in the makeshift diaper pail before returning, setting his weight as he regarded his brother. “What is that cat’s beef with me anyway? It doesn’t mess with anything you or Billie own.”
Tim turned and started making coffee, the dark aroma a godsend. “Maybe you should talk more sweetly to it like I suggested. Billie changed tacks.”
Be nice to a furball?
“When hell freezes over,” he spat, grabbing two mugs.
“Language,” Tim called out, setting the coffee to brew.
“The girls aren’t up, and I’m going to explode if I don’t—”
“Take care of your raging attraction to our neighbor?” Tim supplied, leveling him with a knowing look. “You always do this to yourself. Fight against what you know is true and then get all grouchy because of it, affecting everyone around you. You were rude last night, and you know it.”
“I was rude so I wouldn’t do anything stupid.”
He’d purposely avoided being near or alone with Summer for the rest of the night, a task which had proven both difficult and frustrating. Wasn’t it just his luck that he’d met a really hot woman who also seemed to be a decent human being, and he couldn’t do anything about it?
“Why would it be stupid?” Tim pulled out the sugar bowl and grabbed two spoons. “Look, I know I agreed that we should stay focused on our reason for being here and not spend time flirting with women. But I mostly said that for Billie, of course. You compartmentalize things all the time. Why can’t you have an innocent romance with Summer on vacation? The girls will be all right. We’ve got them squared away.”
He straightened, fisting his hands. “Because this isn’t a real vacation. I can’t leave the girls and go on a date. Or sleep over anywhere but here. Especially since it will give Billie the green light he’s looking for. And trust me, bro, he sees green already.”
Tim’s mouth curled, a rare sight. “You don’t want to leave me alone with the girls. Dammit, you don’t think I’m tough enough to look out for them.”
Shit. He ran a hand through his hair. “I brought you both along for numbers as much as your caretaking side, because I didn’t thinkIcould handle the girls alone or stand up to what might come after us.”
“I buy the caretaking part, sure.” Tim stepped closer, anger in his expression. “But the rest is crap. You brought me along because you didn’t want me in Boston in case the Kellys decided to pay me a call.”
Terrific. Now the nicest O’Connor was picking a fight with him. “Tim, I brought you because my emotional intelligence when it comes to love and nurturing is zilch. That’s your specialty, and you’re damn good at it. My contribution is protecting the kids. I’m not the guy who knows what to do when they go to pieces missing their mom.”
