Page 54 of A Very Un-Shakespeare Romance
“Always a plus,” she said dryly.
“Word. He was in the sales side with other countries. Spoke four languages. Smart. Posing as his girlfriend not only involved a lot of public PDA but sleeping in the same bed on his boss’ yacht for three days and pretending we were having sex at night. Because the boss was paranoid, the room was bugged and videoed, and if we hadn’t fooled around—”
“Your cover would have been blown,” Lily finished, crossing her arms from the tension she imagined Sheila must have felt in that situation.
“That made it part of the job. So we fooled around, and it got very intense. No full-on penetration but lots of mutual stuff happened. I told myself, how could it not? He was very skilled, and we had chemistry. But when we finished the op, I felt guilty. So every time I did, I looked at the photo of the drug lord I’d helped bring down. Then the guilt would go away. Because if I hadn’t gotten onto that yacht and done what I did, I wouldn’t have secured the hard evidence we needed to bring him down. It ain’t pretty, but it’s the job.”
Lily tipped her head back and studied the ceiling. “I want to have sex with Robbie.”
“I know.” Her partner lightly punched her in the arm. “And I want to have sex with Billie.”
“But you’ve got the whole bloody massacre going on,” Lily said, gesturing to the loose-fitting purple dress Sheila had chosen.
“Sunshine, don’t look so forlorn. Maybe you and Robbie will have sex in the future once the truth is out. I know the status of your love life back in Boston—not that mine is any better. You two certainly seem to fit.”
Wincing, she turned away to run a brush through the ends of her hair. “Maybe don’t say that now. I’m trying to keep focused on the case.”
“Good.” Sheila strode to the door, pointing to her wristwatch. “Because it’s showtime.”
Lily took one last look at herself and followed her partner down to the kitchen. The men were a minute early with Billie leading the way, decked out in a tight-fitting black T-shirt with freshly washed jeans free of travel wrinkles. His cheeks looked recently kissed by a razor, and when Lily let them in, she scented citrus aftershave when he kissed her sweetly on the cheek, a little surprising, and told her she looked gorgeous. Then he was striding purposefully toward her partner, who gave some kind of shriek. Lily noted Billie had dipped her and was kissing her neck playfully.
When she turned back, Robbie stood silently before her, hands fisted at his sides. She jerked a moment, seeing him in the same white button-down shirt and slacks he’d been wearing when they’d first spotted him at the Beacon Hill gym. Then she reasoned it was probably the nicest clothing he had with him and found her ability to smile at him. He’d wanted to look nice for her.
His mouth took some persuading too, his smile slow to reach his ocean blue eyes. “My brother’s right. You do look gorgeous, but I hope you’re okay with me not dipping you like that moron.”
She suddenly felt unsure of herself and finally remembered to let him inside. “No dipping needed. I wouldn’t want you to drop me.”
He stopped close to her, inches away, his heat and musky male scent making her head swim. “I would never drop you, Summer.”
The truth was in his gaze, throwing her insides into turmoil. Her heart started its telltale rat-a-tat-tat in her chest. A fuzzy sensation filled her head. And goodness, her skin tingled with an electricity it had never experienced before. But it was the warmth spreading through her, giving her a kind of floating feeling, that had her the most worried.
Feeling like this about a guy was a rarity for her. Being with a good guy like Robbie would be a gift. She knew it down to her toes.Oh, please, Robbie, let’s not screw this up because I think you’re feeling the same way even though we’re both lying to each other.
“Do you want a drink?” she asked, stepping back to give herself space to breathe. “Sheila didn’t make margaritas, but I noticed the beer you drank last night and made sure we had it stocked.”
“That was nice of you.” He cupped her arm as she started for the fridge, a gesture so shocking she jerked a moment before laughing at herself. “What are you drinking?” he asked.
Lily glanced over at Sheila and Billie. The other O’Connor brother had Sheila nicely caged between his body and the end of the kitchen island, where he was whispering something in her ear that had her partner’s shoulders shaking with laughter. “I could do white wine. Clarice?”
Her partner tipped her head back from Billie. “It seems we’re taking a short drive.”
Lily pursed her lips. That wasn’t something Billie had mentioned when he’d asked for a date, but then again, he’d said he was going to surprise her. But she knew Sheila could handle it.
“I thought you two might enjoy a drink alone since Robbie wants to stay close to home,” Billie told her with a wink. “We won’t be long.”
“Take as long as you’d like,” Lily said with a smile as they left holding hands and grinning at each other.
“No, he won’t,” Robbie said when they were alone. “We had an agreement about keeping you guys out too late. You both had a huge day helping Reagan learn how to surf and playing with the girls.”
So he was setting boundaries. Of course he was. He was a man who didn’t allow himself much freedom.
Feeling on firmer ground, she opened the fridge for Robbie’s beer and the wine bottle. “That’s understanding of you.” She handed him the beer and went to the cabinet for a wineglass.
The sound of him popping the beer reached her as she poured herself some wine. Extending her glass, she said, “I usually work with kids, so a little teaching doesn’t faze me. Reagan and Cassidy must have been tired though. And then there’s you…the self-proclaimed grandpa who complained to me about our pace this morning.”
Any struggle he’d been having with himself disappeared, and he flashed her that hot, challenging grin she couldn’t get enough of. “Grandpa’s got plenty of energy in him, don’t you worry. Especially when he’s watching you in that dress. What is that color?”
She laid her elbows on the counter after strategically positioning herself across from him at the kitchen island. “Celery.”
