A VERY UN-SHAKESPEARE ROMANCE: ‘A Fake Dad Grumpy Sunshine Romantic Comedy’

Robbie’s heat scalded Lily as he met her mouth and pulled her body to him one-handed, kissing her feverishly.

Progress!

Because if he thought she was done with him, he was crazy. The way they’d scraped each other to the bone with their earlier jabs only showed how deeply they cared for each other. She opened her mouth, giving in to the torrent of desire rolling between them. The kiss went wild, tongues tangling, breaths shattering.

He suddenly wrenched his mouth back, staring stupefied at her, his fingers caressing her thigh where their handcuffed hands rested. “What are you doing?”

“Showing you I have feelings for you too.” She thumped his chest to get his attention. “That this is real!”

His mouth worked like he was about to shoot back a comeback, but she was so done with his bullshit. She pinged his ribs again with an angry flick of her finger and watched in delight as his blue eyes fired even hotter.

“Your baby brother is the only O’Connor male I’ve met with any sense. So…you wanted to keep things going too, huh? Well, now you know we can. And I happen to be done listening to you bitch and moan about me being a Fed and duping you while being undercover, especially since you lied through your pretty teeth too. You’re as guilty as I am, bucko.”

“I am not interested in rehashing this shit.” He picked her up with one arm and started hauling her over to the kitchen counter. “We need to find something to pick the lock.”

If he did that—and she doubted he could—he would be gone. No way she was letting that happen, personally or professionally. She climbed onto his body and clamped her legs around his waist. The hard evidence of his desire was as clear as day.

“Aha!” she cried out, delighting in the knowledge he wanted her. Badly.

“Stop that! If you knew how much control I’m having to—”

“I’m not letting go.” She arranged their cuffed hands between their stomachs and then slid the other hand around his nape, locking gazes. “Robbie O’Connor, so help me. You’re going to listen to me and you’re going to listen good. Until last night, we were totally into each other. The truth doesn’t change that. In fact, it makes it more feasible for us to have a future.”

“There is no us,” he ground out like the total blockhead he was. “You can’t start a relationship on a lie. Now unwrap those sexy legs—”

She only squeezed them tighter. “Everything I told you—everything that mattered—was true. You were the same with me.”

He was silent.

“See! We were both real with each other.”

His pulse drummed in the side of his neck as he stared at her. “I opened up to you because I thought you were some sweet therapist who worked with kids—”

“I’m still a professional who’s worked with kids.” She planted another kiss on his mouth, making him groan, before pulling back. “Before the FBI, I was a primary school teacher. I worked with at-risk kids. I have a strong desire to empower young people, but I also have a crazy desire to protect them and make very bad people pay if they hurt them. We have that in common.”

“Summer—Lily—stop this.” He rested his forehead against hers, rubbing them together longingly as if she were torturing him. “It’s not going to work.”

The hopelessness in his voice had her heart tearing. “We don’t know unless we try, and I happen to want to. Now that everything is out in the open, we can. We finish this case. Together. And then we—”

“How am I supposed to trust you after this?” he asked harshly, levering back.

“Do you lie outside the job?” she asked baldly.

“No. But that doesn’t—”

“Neither do I.” She cupped his jaw, her fingers massaging away the tension there. “Come on. Give us a chance. Hear me out. It upset me to keep lying to you, and I was scared about you finding out I was FBI. Because I’ve fallen for you, dammit.”

A muscle leapt in his cheek. “I’d fallen for you too. That’s what makes this so hard.”

She could feel him softening, hear the anger he’d been using to cover up his raw emotion. “Robbie, thinking about not seeing you again is ripping my heart open.”

His face tensed. “Don’t say that.”

Yeah, under all that tough guy routine, he was still human. “It’s true,” she pressed, wrapping her arm around him. “You think this is easy for me? Exposing myself and how I feel to you when you’re acting like a hotheaded idiot?”

He spurted out a reluctant laugh. “You sounded like my mother earlier when you were all like ‘Robbie O’Connor, so help me. You’re going to listen to me and you’re going to listen good.’ It’s what stopped me from taking you here and now, something I’d never want to do in anger.”

“Me either,” she said, running her hand up his back soothingly, “so thanks for reining yourself back.”

Rolling his eyes, he said, “I have some self-control despite feeling like an emotional yo-yo since I walked through your patio door this morning. And if I believed in woo-woo stuff, I would swear my mother was speaking through you from heaven, trying to get through my thick skull. You’re not the first to complain about my hard head.”

He seemed calmer, his muscles loosening from their locked position. She felt safe enough to nestle into him, laying her head on his shoulder. His hand came under her butt to support her better against him, a good sign, she thought. His pulse wasn’t pounding against her now, the anger draining out of him. But his arousal was still there, hot and persistent, and that made her smile weakly against his shirt since she knew he hadn’t let his desire get out of control.

Him dialing it back was only another indication of how deeply he cared for her, and knowing that made her feel raw and happy and a whole host of other crazy things that all led to one conclusion: she felt good with him, really good, more cared for than she ever had. She was almost scared to say anything, not wanting to shatter this moment. They still had a ways to go. So she went with it, embracing him warmly and letting her guard down all the way.

“I didn’t have a chance, did I?” he whispered, tucking his face against the curve of her neck. “I knew it on the beach the other day. I was all keyed up, and then I saw you, and all the stress and strain seemed to just disappear. My dad likes to say that’s the kind of woman you scoop up and never let go of.”

She found her voice, raising her head and tracing his jaw. “Well, you have me scooped. Maybe you shouldn’t let go.”

He pulled her tighter against him. “I don’t want to. If we do this, everything changes.”

Clenching her legs around his waist, she gave a soft smile. “We both knew that last night.”

His breath was a harsh rasp. “Yes, we did, because I don’t just up and tell people the reason I became a cop.”

“Me either,” she whispered, her throat catching.

“I can’t believe I’m about to do this.”

His mouth tightened, and she braced herself for what he was about to say next. “What now?”

His sexy smile started slowly before spreading across his face, lighting up the last shadows in her heart. “I’m about to tell you that you can share your plan with me later. Assuming we don’t have somewhere to be right now.”

“Really?” Relief and a shaft of happiness shot through her. “You’ll listen? But why later?”

“Answer the question.”

His gruff command made her pulse skip. “No, I don’t have anything scheduled immediately. I was waiting for your compliance before I initiated the next steps.”

“That’s good.” His finger traced one slow line down her neck, making her burn. “That’s really good because right now, I want to make love to you. How do you feel about that?”

She softened the opening of her legs, brushing his hardness. He sucked in his breath in response. “I’m going to agree we can take some time for each other. Because, Robbie, I really want your hands on me.”

He lowered his head after giving another heart-turning smile, taking her mouth in a slow, seeking kiss. There was no rush anymore, no impatience. Only the first foray…his lips telling hers this moment was the first in a long sensual adventure. Thank God. Her mouth opened when his tongue quested, and they danced, their breaths matching.

“This one-handed crap is going to drive me nuts,” he whispered in a masculine rumble against her neck as his lips cruised down. “You don’t happen to know where the second set of keys is?”

“No, and I doubt Sheila would have left them here.” She bit the line of his rugged jaw. “She’s thorough.”

He jangled the cuffs resting between their bodies. “So I see. I still can’t believe Tim came up with this idea. He’s…never been like this before.”

“You mean he’s always been your good baby brother,” she finished, nipping his earlobe. “These kinds of situations have a way of showing us what’s inside us. I happen to adore him.”

“You would, given your propensity for wands and tinfoil crowns.” He tipped her neck to the side as his mouth slid down the line of it, making her fight a low moan. “Enough talk of my brother. Any thoughts on how we’re going to do this, handcuffed together? Because I cannot contemplate the ragging we’d get if we go over now and ask to be uncuffed, only to come back here for some personal time.”

“Sheila would have us for lunch.”

“So would my brothers, and then there’s Tara.” His face shadowed. “I’m going to tell myself she’ll have some time with the girls while we’re over here, so I won’t feel guilty.”

“I prefer a guilt-free zone too.” She laughed to cover up her own nerves, tickling the back of his neck with her fingertips. “You might start for the stairs. My bedroom is the last at the end of the hall. I figure we’re both smart people. We’ll manage with the cuffs.”

He hoisted her more securely and started walking. “I want to do more than manage. I want to make you call out my name.”

“Oh, goodie,” she breathed out, holding on and enjoying the rub of his generous length as he ascended the stairs.

“Hell, I want to destroy every ounce of control inside you.” He met her gaze, his ocean blue eyes pure challenge now. “How about that?”

She laughed low in her throat. “Are we going to have a little competition here too? Think you can keep up, Grandpa?”

He gave a wolfish smile. “Wanna bet who cries out first?”

“Maybe not our first time, huh?” She nudged her lower body against his hardness. “Crying out is part of the fun, and I expect to be crying out often from the way you make me feel inside.”

“How do I make you feel?” he asked, stopping at the doorway to her bedroom.

She tightened her hips around him, the motion making him groan audibly. “Hot. Happy. Needy. I know it’s going to be good with you.”

His mouth swooped in for another soul-claiming kiss, heating up the rising fire in her belly. “Yeah, no doubt about that. Summer—Lily—”

She tensed at the use of both names, watching the struggle on his face. Holding her breath, she waited for him to come to terms with whatever he was about to say.

“I don’t do this lightly,” he finally managed in a low voice. “Making love to you means I’ve decided that I want you in my life. That I’m prepared to trust you.”

A hard ball of emotion stuck in her throat. So here they were, both on the precipice of committing to things that weren’t easy for either of them. “I’m glad you told me. It’s the same for me.”

“Good,” he rasped out, resting her against the doorjamb. “Now, maybe we can figure out how we’re going to manage getting you out of your clothes because I don’t think I can wait another minute to touch you.”

She unwrapped her legs slowly, and with his help, she lowered herself to the floor. Looking down at where they were cuffed, she studied their situation. “Well, how do you feel about your shirt?”

“Why?” he asked, cupping her hip with a large, hot hand.

“I always carry a pair of seamstress scissors with me on the job. They’re invaluable and a seemingly innocent weapon if needed.”

His mouth kicked up to the right. “I like a box cutter myself, but your approach is more understated. You know…it’s going to take a little bit to get used to you being FBI. As I said, I haven’t had great experiences—”

“I get that. If we’re being honest, not all my interactions with the police have been terrific. But I’m hoping we can have a clean slate with each other.”

He nodded. “Done, seeing as how we both catch bad guys and probably drink the same bad coffee.”

She sighed in relief, appreciating him trying to make a joke. “Are you willing to talk it out later? Our jobs.”

“Yeah.” He gave a haphazard chuckle. “You know, I’ve talked more in the last few days than I have in the last three years. I’m looking for a little more balance in my life. I miss the action.”

“Well, come this way,” she said, leading him to her bedside drawer, pulling it open for the scissors. And condoms, she realized. Right.

She held up a foil packet, and he nodded, taking it from her and putting it beside the pillow.

“You’re a Glock girl,” he said, pointing to the gun in the drawer. “That explains everything.”

She shot him a look. “What is your preferred weapon? Besides the obvious…”

He gestured to his erection before lifting his shoulder. “We have three department-issued Glock choices, but personally I like a Benelli M3.”

“Twelve gauge,” she said, grabbing her scissors and closing the drawer. “Predictable. Now, tug your shirt down at the hem and be still. It’s not easy to do this one-handed.”

She opened the scissors and started cutting upward. She caught sight of ripped abs and then hard pecs as she cut the front open. My goodness, this was now all hers.

He jangled where they were cuffed. “We still have the sleeves—”

“I know.” She slid the remnants of his shirt to the left where they weren’t cuffed. “Just shrug out of it, and then I’ll cut the shoulder off the other arm.”

Oh, my, my. Her insides tightened as his bare chest appeared. Biting her lip, she had to look away to concentrate on her task. With one last snip, his shirt fell to the floor like discarded rags. He was taking the scissors from her hand before she could look up.

“Let’s see if I can cut you out of this yoga top,” he said, his brows clenching together. “Don’t distract me.”

She pursed her lip to keep from laughing. Not distract him? They were about to have sex handcuffed together. “I didn’t imagine our first time would involve cutting each other out of our clothing. Kinky.”

“Behave, because I don’t want my hand to slip when I start seeing all that soft, gorgeous skin of yours.” He gave a strong, powerful exhale. “Maybe a story will distract me. You should know I wasn’t lying. I really do hate being handcuffed. When I was a hotshot rookie, I solved the case of a ranking officer. I thought he’d thank me. He handcuffed me to his cousin’s garbage truck for about four blocks. I had no choice but to ride along as he cruised beside me, explaining to me respect for rank and police hierarchy.”

She didn’t dare laugh. “Law enforcement ‘teasing’ was a bit of a shock to me when I landed at Quantico. Teachers aren’t so brutal.”

“I imagine,” he agreed, cutting in one clean, focused line. “You’re the girl next door. Not your typical hard jaw, tight-assed Fed.”

She didn’t bite the hook since most police officers felt that way about the FBI. “When I arrived for training, they thought I was there to fix the Xerox machine,” she told him, remembering how mortified she’d been after she realized the mix-up. “They laughed at me and shared a look that screamed she won’t last.”

“I bet you ran them into the ground like you did me, right?” he asked, snipping the straps to her yoga top.

“You bet I did. Set a Quantico record, even.”

He smoothed the material against her skin, making no move to remove it from her as he opened the drawer and set the scissors inside before closing it firmly.

“Good girl,” he said, tipping up her chin. “I’m sorry I insulted you earlier. I was totally out of line.”

She met his gaze. “I appreciate you saying that. So are we through with all that now?”

He slid his free hand around her waist and pulled her close to him, his hard chest teasing the edges of her yoga top open where he’d cut it. “Yes. Maybe this is a good time to start over. Hi, I’m Robbie O’Connor.”

“Lily Meadows.” A whisper of a smile flirted with her lips. “Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, it really is,” he said in a dark, low rumble. “Meeting you was exactly what I needed, despite everything else going on. And just to be clear…I don’t want you to go easy on me. About anything. Running me down on the beach—”

“Or making you flop face down after we have sex?” she asked, playfully waggling her brows.

He lowered his head slowly, his hand already tugging away her mangled yoga top and throwing it aside, bringing them skin-to-delicious-skin at last. “Let’s see if I can surprise you.”

With that, she rose up to meet his descending mouth and gave a purrlike sound as he sucked on her bottom lip. Tangling her fingers in his thick black hair, she pressed their mouths more firmly together, punching up the smoldering heat between them. A needy feeling rose within her, and turning, she pressed him back on the bed, straddling his lap, maintaining their connection. He groaned, opening his mouth, inviting her tongue to dance with his own. God, yes, was all she thought.

His hand ran up and down the length of her back, igniting fires along her sensitized skin. She was fighting for air as she continued to kiss him, unwilling to give up that hot, all-consuming connection. Feeling her heart pounding in her chest, she changed the angle of their kiss, taking it deeper. He gripped her hip in response, rocking into her. Their anguished moans rolled out. That was the only sign she needed to push off his lap, press him down on the bed, and tug on his pants.

“Now who’s in a hurry?” he asked, baring his teeth as he helped her with his zipper.

“You know I excel at speed,” she shot back with a playful smirk. “Besides, why wait for what I want?”

He lifted his hips to help her, given they were both effectively one-handed. She slid his pants down, and before she could blink, she was flat on her back beside him. He rose up off the bed, stripped the rest of his clothes off, and then tugged her leg so her hips ended up at the edge of the bed.

“I can handle your impatience,” he said, falling to his knees and arranging their cuffed hands beside her knee, tickling the underside of it. “But you’re going to have to let me play a little.”

His free hand slid up the inside of her thigh, shattering her already rapid breathing. “I’m totally fine with that. Play away.”

“Oh, I plan to, don’t worry.” He tugged down her yoga pants, and she lifted her hips to aid him, wanting to feel his heat, his mouth, his body on her.

“Promises, promises,” she breathed as he slicked the pants off her ankles, leaving her completely bare before him.

His hot gaze slowly traveled the length of her body, that telltale pulse of desire beating fiercely in his neck. “God, you are so ridiculously beautiful. Later…I don’t know when…I’m going to want you to put one of your bikinis on and sit on my lap.” He fitted his shoulders between her legs, spreading her wide. “But until then, let me show you what I can do without my hands.”

She was already arching up as his mouth touched her core, making her cry out harshly. Electric shock waves shot through her pelvis. Her eyelids drifted shut as he used his mouth and tongue to bring her to the brink. She was panting hard as the first wave hit, the force bending her back onto the bed. “Yes, oh, yes, oh yes!”

“I should have known you’d be loud—even though you look so sweet.”

Her breath was heaving after her orgasm, so she had to suck in more air before she could answer him. “Are you complaining?” She cracked her eyes open. “Because I’d think you’d be pleased I was so vocal about your performance, Grandpa.”

“No way you cried out like that for a senior citizen,” he said with a hearty laugh, playfully kissing his way up her belly, before turning his attention to her breasts, putting his mouth on first one and then the other.

She arched into him. “Yeah, you’re right about that. Oh, Robbie—”

“Talk to me,” he urged, his voice low and harsh and filled with heat as he made her moan again. He used his mouth with the same kind of focused intensity he did everything, until she was pulling his head to her breast, urging him to use more tongue and teeth. He did, and they both groaned audibly, fingers tensing on each other’s skin.

“I need—”

“So do I.”

His response was harsh and urgent, and she gripped his shoulder, pulling him up. Their eyes locked, his gaze wild and determined. She touched his jaw. “Are you finished playing?”

“Never,” he ground out before laying his forehead against hers and rubbing it deliciously. “You make me want everything—all at once. God, Lily. I never saw this coming, but I am so glad you’re here.”

“Me too,” she whispered, feeling tenderness as well as desire as he angled back to gaze at her face.

His erection nudged her core, and they both froze for a moment, anguished groans pouring from their chests. “That felt like an electric shock all the way to my—”

“Yeah,” she said. “Condom. Now.”

“Bossy.” His head whipped up, the tense angles of his face clenched with need as he gave a tight smile. “I like it. We’ll do slow later.”

“I’m going to want to lap you up,” she panted as she watched him tear open the packet with his teeth.

“Later.” He looked down at her under him before studying the condom. “Jesus, we’re going to have to work together to get this on me.”

“I excel at cross-departmental cooperation,” she told him, levering herself up so she could help him fit the condom over his very sizeable length. “God, you are so pretty.”

He shot her a wicked look. “You’re going to have to do better than that, sweet girl, but right now, I don’t care what you call it. God, I’m about ready to explode. Lie back and hold still.”

She choked out a laugh. “Oh, you are so hot when you’re dispensing orders. What else do you want me to do, Captain?”

“It’s Lieutenant, and I want you to shut up, so I don’t buck into you like a bronco right out of the gate.” He eased into her, making her cry out. “Please don’t tighten up around me yet.”

“Oh, I got a please,” she said hotly, bringing her hips up as he shifted deeper. “God, yes, that makes everything better.”

He thrust into her core and then froze, groaning loudly. Lifting his head, he sought her gaze, his heart in his eyes. “Lily.”

The use of her real name was important. Epic. She felt her throat catch right before he started thrusting, first deep and searching before their mingled cries sent the pace faster, urgency driving them on. He brought their cuffed hands to the side of her head, tangling his fingertips with hers as the wave built. Levering her hips to meet him, she pushed him on, feeling the hot rush start in her belly.

Their gazes locked as it swept over them, and she watched as blind shock crested over his face. Then he froze and threw his head back, crying out loudly. Pulsing, heart beating wildly in her chest, she wrapped her free arm around him as he levered onto her, holding up his full weight by an elbow. His lips cruised into her neck, his hot breath panting madly against her skin.

“God,” he rasped out. “God, Lily.”

She turned her head, needing to see him. His eyes were clenched together, desire still raging through him, making the line of his jaw and brows tense with passion. She felt the pulse, the way their hearts pounded in unison, and knew she’d just experienced a connection greater than anything she’d ever had before. “Robbie,” she whispered.

His eyes opened immediately, a bright blue filled with tenderness and something she wasn’t ready to name yet, not until he did. Then he smiled, a smile so warm her heart somersaulted in her chest. They gazed at each other, neither moving as they breathed shallowly, and Lily welcomed the moment of stillness, knowing it was precious. Her heart settled down inside her chest, filled with a new warmth and contentment.

“Well, Lily,” he said unevenly, his exhale harsh and charged from their mutual lack of oxygen. “I don’t think you can call me grandpa now.”

Sliding her hand into his hair, she tugged him closer so she could lay a kiss on his gorgeous mouth. He slid them both onto their sides, kissing her softly until she pressed back, a totally happy smile stretching across her face. “No, probably not. I’m actually pretty relieved.”

His reluctant laugh brought a black lock of hair onto his forehead, making him look boyish. “Me too. Now…as we lie here together, it’s getting harder and harder for me to ignore that the handcuffs are as sweaty as the rest of me and that we still need to get them off.”

She worried her lip, already wincing with embarrassment at how much ragging Sheila was going to give her when she caught sight of her after this. “We’re also going to have to get dressed again. Somehow. Before I beg Sheila for the key.”

He cursed. “Right. I didn’t think that one through. I probably should have left my shirt on.”

“No way.” She ran a slow finger down the center of his chest. “I wanted all of you. I’ve had fantasies about this chest.”

He closed his eyes, a satisfied smile coasting over his face. “Good to know. We probably need to start thinking practically. In a minute or so. Before we face the music together.”

Liking that he was as reluctant to rejoin the real world as she was, she cuddled into him as best she could, arranging their handcuffed hands on his hard stomach. “Despite how much I wish it were otherwise, we should. How about we hop in the shower, wash each other’s backs, figure out our wardrobe, and then find our jailers?”

“Because you have your brilliant plan to unveil,” he said, kissing her sweetly on the mouth. “I’m all ears now, in case you didn’t know.”

She traced his face, savoring this final moment with him before they had to return to the job. “Good. Because it’s a bit unconventional.”