Page 60 of A Very Un-Shakespeare Romance
Tara only raised her perfectly waxed eyebrows at him, crossing her arms. Even though she was five-four and tiny in comparison to her older cousin, Lily could see her backbone. Tara wasn’t going to make things easy for them.
A patio door slicked open somewhere, and moments later Billie and Sheila appeared. “Hey, we heard— Oh, Jesus!”
Billie lurched forward, scooping his cousin up and twirling her around. “You had us crazy out of our minds, girl.”
Sheila had a smug look on her face, and Lily met her gaze. She shook her head subtly. Her partner knew the code. She was telling Sheila to hold back, that they wouldn’t introduce themselves as FBI right out of the gate. Her partner only batted her eyelashes in response. Lily winced. She knew what that meant too. Fine, but I’m still going to press for information.
“Hey, big boy!” Sheila called, cocking her hip. “Do you want to tell me who you have all scooped up and cozy like? Because I might be getting jealous.”
Billie set Tara down, his mouth falling open, clearly speechless. Tara cocked her own hip in response and glared at Sheila. “I’m his brother’s ex-wife, that’s what,” the woman answered, an edge in her voice. “Which means I’m family.”
Sheila’s mouth pursed like she was a little put off by that answer. “Interesting… I thought Robbie here had the girls for a couple of weeks while you were working.”
Lily fought a wince. Sheila adored pressing their subjects with questions when everyone was off-balance. She insisted it was the best way to shake information loose.
“There was a change in plans,” the woman responded, a bit haughtily. “I’m going inside. Should I wake the girls now or should we catch up first? You know how Cassidy and Reagan get when they see their mommy.”
Tara might as well have lifted her leg and given a little tinkle by how proprietary she sounded. Lily bit her lip, waiting to see how Robbie was going to handle things.
He pinched the bridge of his nose before looking up. “I hate to call it a night, but we should probably hear about Tara’s change of plans. Seeing as how it affects the girls. Right, Billie?”
His brother nodded solemnly before walking over to Sheila, closing his hands on her arms, and bending to meet her gaze. “Sorry to cut our night short, sweetheart. Catch you in the morning?”
She ran her finger slowly down his chest. “Not if I catch you first, handsome.”
As Billie leaned down and kissed her partner sweetly on the mouth, Lily looked over at Robbie. His inner conflict was evident from his locked jaw and creased brow. He strode forward, touching her arm softly. “This wasn’t how I wanted our night to end, but this concerns the girls.”
She could tell he was hoping she’d understand—like they’d discussed. As she traced his jaw, she hopedhewould understand when he found out the truth.
Because this was her last call as Summer Sunshine.
“I totally understand.” She kissed his cheek as her heart wrenched. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Nodding, he strode over to Tara, putting a protective arm around her and leading her inside. Billie lifted his hand before following. Tim did the same after giving them a rueful smile.
Sheila cozied up next to her as the porch light went dark. “Well, it seems our little friend was flushed out after all.”
“Yes,” she replied, chewing her lip. “We’re not going to be able to go with a normal approach here.”
“No, things have gotten pretty personal, and that’s when people’s backs get up.” Sheila glanced over. “How was your date?”
She winced. “Wonderful. Emotional. Complicating.”
Her partner uttered a reluctant laugh before saying, “Mine too. I hate to say this, but Robbie is the key here. We have to persuade him of our next steps.”
“I know.” She rubbed her arms against the sudden chill in the air, dread already rising inside her. “God, it’s gotten cold.”
“Feel your promotion in the air,” Sheila told her, bumping her with a hip. “Tara and her girls are going to be able to go home because of us. We’re going to bring those bad guys down for good. That will warm you up. Come on. We need to strategize and then call Buck.”
Lily let herself take one last look at where Robbie had disappeared.
Right now, she felt like their budding relationship was as wild and unpredictable as one of the waves crashing to shore. Well, she had mastered the way to stand tall and work with the elements she was given. They cared about each other, and she hoped they both could ride that wave once he got over the shock of learning who she really was. But she couldn’t just leave that to fate.
She needed a plan to get Robbie to trust her and cooperate with them to bring the Kellys down, and it had to be flawless.
He’d become too important to her—his family as well, Tara included—for her to lose him.
She was not going to let anyone down, least of all herself.
