Page 49 of Return to McCall

“Yeah, good luck with that. She’s beyond perceptive. That girl watches everything.” Sam walked Alex to the door and handed her a small canvas sack she’d hung on the doorknob.

“Is this what I think it is?” Alex peered inside and instantly laughed. “Oh, damn. You’re not kidding about this undercover thing. You’ve got all my bases covered.”

“Yes, sir. It’s a soft pack to wear in your boxer briefs on Tuesday.” Sam took it out of the pack and held it up. “If Travis has any inkling that you’re not a dude at some point, the first thing he’s going to do is look at your crotch, and this might get us back on track.”

“Jesus Christ. I live with Lily. What am I supposed to say if she sees this somehow?”

“I’d say to leave it here, but trust me, this thing takes a little getting used to. You need to at least wear it around for a while to get used to how it…lies.”

“Fantastic.” Alex rolled her eyes and opened the door. “That’ll be easy to explain.”

Alex drove to her cabin at Lake Haven and dropped off Sam’s bag of equipment before she headed back to town to pick up a few things for dinner. When she finally had everything she needed, she parked at the marina and walked down the dock, smiling at the sound of Lily and Sara’s mingled laughter drifting down from the upper deck of the boat. The breeze held the warmth of the late afternoon sun and riffled through Alex’s hair as she took off her shoes and climbed aboard.

“Are you two decent up there?”

They both told her to “come on up” in giggling, singsong unison. Alex climbed the ladder and reached for the camera on her phone when she saw the scene she’d walked into. Sara had definitely brought the party; there were nineties pop ballads on a beach speaker in the corner, colorful beach towels laid out in a giant square on the AstroTurf, as well as a mostly empty pitcher of margarita

s and several lidless cans of spray cheese with every cracker known to man strewn across a party platter.

“Alex!” Lily said, holding up one of the cans. “How have I lived this long without spray cheese?”

“Oh, I love that stuff. Especially the bacon flavor.” Alex plunked down on the towel blanket, grabbed a handful of crackers, and reached out for the spray cheese. “Gimme it.”

“See, I told you everyone secretly adores spray cheese.” Sara piled a Ritz cracker dangerously high with aerosol cheese and gazed at it adoringly. “I have no idea why Sam is the exception to the rule. I’ve been trying to get her to see the light for five years now.”

“How did your visit with Sam go?” Lily said, licking her thumb and reaching for another cracker.

Alex wasn’t prepared for that question and stumbled over her words. “It was good. I think we got everything…”

Her voice trailed off, and Sara jumped in with a pointed glance in her direction. “Done?”

Alex nodded and shoved a cracker in her mouth. “Yeah. Exactly.” She hated not being able to talk to Lily about what was going on, but she was even more uncomfortable with lying. Lily was someone she could see building a future with, which was a dizzying first for her. She’d had a few girlfriends through the years, but they were usually in a rush to get married, and Alex wanted to focus on getting through grad school and building her career, so eventually, they’d fizzled out.

Something about Lily was different, though. Alex knew she didn’t want to mess this one up. From the first night at the whiskey bar—in fact, the second she’d seen Lily open those ice-blue eyes when she’d finished her whiskey—she was hooked. And now she had no choice but to lie to the girl who noticed everything. Fantastic.

“Well,” Sara said, dusting herself off, crumbs flying everywhere as she gathered the pitcher and speaker. “I’ll leave you two to clean all this up and head home. Sam doesn’t know it yet, but she’s taking me and Moxie to the diner for cheeseburgers tonight.”

Alex looked up, shading her eyes from the glare of the sun reflecting over the smooth lake water. “Because you need more cheese?”

“Alex.” Sara sniffed, bag looped over her arm as she slipped her flip-flops back on. “I’m offended that’s even a question. It’s like you don’t know me at all.” She winked as she waved good-bye and disappeared down the stairs.

Alex hooked a finger under one thin bikini strap and pulled Lily to her. “Two things.” She smiled, tracing Lily’s bottom lip with her thumb before she kissed her. “First of all, I missed the hell out of you.”

Lily opened her eyes and smiled. “What’s the second thing?”

“I hope you know how to drive a boat because I thought we’d find a cove out there somewhere and sleep under the stars.”

“You’re kidding me.” Lily narrowed her eyes, clearly trying to figure out whether Alex was kidding or not. “You don’t know how to drive this thing? Because there’s no way I’m even—”

Alex kissed her again, this time pulling Lily’s body underneath hers. “I know a few more things than you think, Ms. Larimar.”

After they’d cleaned up and started the boat, they coasted out to the far side of Payette Lake, where the sun was just starting to sink into a deep, hovering gold over the million-dollar lake homes.

Alex pulled Lily over in front of her to hold the captain’s wheel and whispered into her ear as she steered. “I’m trying to pay attention to where this thing is going, but I refuse to be responsible if you insist on wearing just this tiny blue bikini.” Alex dropped one strap from her shoulder and traced the line of Lily’s ear lightly with her tongue.

Lily reached back and held the back of Alex’s neck, fingertips light and warm on her skin. Alex kissed down her shoulder as she slid one hand under the strap and into her bikini top, brushing Lily’s nipple lightly with her fingertips.

Lily turned to look at Alex and ran her tongue slowly over her bottom lip. “God, I’m instantly wet when you do that.”

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