Page 48 of A Very Un-Shakespeare Romance
A puff of laughter erupted from her. “Your mother sounds like she had her hands full.” Lily fisted her hands behind her back and arched her chest, telling herself to walk the line. Like the professional she was. Summer Sunshine didn’t know that he’d lost his mother when he was fifteen.
Then she caught Robbie’s eyes lingering on her and felt another bolt of white-hot heat explode in her midsection. Oh shit. “No one could say my mother had it easy with eight kids, seven of us boys. After spending time with the girls, I don’t know how she did it. They never stop. Even when they’re sleeping, they make me think about them. Reagan mumbles and tosses and turns while Cassidy is splayed out, making baby snores. I have renewed respect for mothers—”
He broke off, his face scrunching with distaste. She wondered if he’d felt he was sharing too much.
She started jogging, Robbie matching her speed. “And their mother?”
His mouth tightened. “I’ve always had respect for her. Never as much as I do now though. All right, let’s go.”
With that, he punched up his speed, stopping all conversation. She easily matched him, feeling the tug between guilt and a genuine desire to know more about him. Instead, she fell into her body and focused on her pace along with the nature around them. The seagulls were out screaming as they hunted in the ocean and soaring overhead. A few early swimmers were in the water, some with children, but the beach was mostly theirs, and theirs alone.
Robbie said nothing more, clearly focusing his strength on keeping up with her. She wasn’t breathing hard, but he was. Since it was near impossible to have a conversation this way, and she had questions, she cut back her speed.
His head whipped toward her, and his glare had her heart skipping a beat. “Don’t you dare go easy on me.”
There was a warning there, so she heeded it. He didn’t slow, so she increased her pace again. Sweat broke out across his arms and face. The hot humid air enveloped her like a steam room, but the ocean breeze and the sound of the waves made her happy as her body did its thing. She rarely got out to enjoy the beach in the Boston area, this being her first summer there. People raved about Cape Anne and Cape Cod, but she’d only gotten away once, only to be pulled back into the office over the weekend because their case had gotten hot. Running like this had always helped her feel like she could do anything.
“You have the nerve to smile like an angel while I’m puffing like a freight train?” He grunted, every muscle locked in his personal battle with himself.
Grumpy looked hot on him. Then again, she’d be hard-pressed to think of anything that didn’t look hot on him.
“Youwere the one who wanted to keep running at this pace. I was all for throttling back so we could have a pleasant conversation.”
“Running isn’t for chitchat.” He swiped an arm across the sweat on his forehead. “It’s to test yourself. To push yourself. To go past your limits. But dammit, Summer, you push me hard.”
She didn’t know what to say and looked off into the waves crashing on the beach beside them. His hand grazed her arm. She glanced over, uncomfortable moments with other men rising up in her mind. Her ability to outrun them had changed the way they’d interacted with her. Surely…
“I like it.” His sexy grin made her practically giddy. “Push me some more.”
Her internal temperature skyrocketed with those words, and the images that swam up in her mind weren’t fit for her undercover report. Ones that involved two sweat-slicked bodies falling to the sand. Locked around each other. Mouth to mouth. Skin to skin.
Sexy visions dancing in her head, she did as he’d demanded, pumping her arms more quickly as she increased her pace. The sand under her gave a little more with her speed. He was breathing hard, every muscle working, as he matched her. They raced up the sweep of the beach that fanned out to the left, and then he was throttling back.
“Okay, I’m going to have a heart attack if I keep that pace up,” he said in a raspy breath. “I’m almost forty, you know. Jesus!”
She bit her lip, trying not to laugh. “That old, huh? Well, I’m glad you told me, Grandpa. Like I said yesterday, I’m trained in CPR. But you should probably run with a phone on you if you’re worried about collapsing. Or maybe you forgot your medical call alert bracelet back home?”
He had this sexy way of bunching his mouth when he didn’t want to be amused. She wanted to trace every inch of those chiseled lips. And then jump in his lap as she kissed that look off him.
Lily Meadows, remember your promotion.
“Why do you think I brought my home nurse along?” he bandied back after sucking in more oxygen.
Her laugh was as easy as the tide. God, he was so fun to be with. Why couldn’t she have met him in a normal setting? Would he have still been interested if he’d met her as Lily Meadows, FBI agent? Once he found out the truth, would he be able to see past the subterfuge and understand?
He’s lying about who he is too, she reminded herself, a thought that made her immediately feel better. They were both lying to each other as part of their respective jobs, so she could stop feeling guilty.
Why hadn’t this realization dawned on her earlier?
“What in the world are you laughing about?” he practically spat as he bent over at the waist, still breathing harshly.
“You!”
She studied him as his brow quirked in response, feeling a pull, same as always. He was the most compelling man she’d ever met.Couldthey start over as just themselves once this case was behind them? Because Lily Meadows knew the direction her heart was heading, and she very much wanted to keep whatever this thing was going…
“Given your medical status and all that huffing,” she said, now grinning from ear to ear, “we should stop and take your pulse.”
Her body felt rejuvenated from the run and the realization, and she was feeling lighter than air as she reached for his wrist. He slanted her an amused look but let her take his pulse.
