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

Seeing those two little girls off was so painful, Robbie imagined it felt like being gutshot.

He hugged Reagan tightly one last time, biting the inside of his cheek as she clung to him. When she wrenched away, Tara handed him a wide-eyed Cassidy, his cousin’s face locked in a forced smile for the girls. He kissed the little girl’s soft forehead, cupping her to his chest. The drool that wet his shirt felt like a badge of honor. “You have a tea party with Miss Rosie. And make Tim put that red bucket on his head and dance like the crab in The Little Mermaid.”

Her little head shot off his chest as she stared at him, her lip wobbling. “No, you do it.”

God, he actually wanted to, just to make her give that little baby laugh of hers. “Tim is funnier. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

He wasn’t sure what she understood exactly, but she wasn’t smiling. He kissed her again before handing her to Tim, who’d finished helping Reagan into her car seat.

Tara picked up Miss Purrfect and pressed her close for a warm embrace. Robbie eyed the cat warily. Since Tara had arrived, the cat hadn’t ruined any of his clothes or hissed at him naked. He’d been glad for the truce.

But when it glanced over at him with its mesmerizing green eyes, he shifted uncomfortably. There was no way he was saying goodbye to a cat. It pawed its collar, making the rhinestones glitter in the sun.

Lily gasped and clutched his arm, leaning close to his ear. “I forgot to mention it, but we put a tracking device in the cat’s collar.”

He drew back in shock. “When?”

“I’ll tell you later,” she said quietly, sending Tara a conspiratorial smile.

His mind started replaying all the times the cat had used its paw to try and pull off its collar. How Reagan had said it was new and nothing to be concerned about. Could the cat have been bothered by the tracker? Tim said they were sensitive, hadn’t he? Oh shit, he couldn’t believe he was going to do this…

“Tara, I know Miss Purrfect has a new collar, but do you mind if we take it off for a minute?”

Her mouth parted before she set the cat down and started unbuckling it. “Sure.”

He took the collar from her and turned his body toward Lily, giving them some privacy. “Let’s remove it, shall we?”

She nodded, and he watched as she extracted a tiny chip wedged inside the pink suede band. Palming it, she handed him back the collar and he returned it to Tara, who thankfully didn’t ask questions as she reattached it around the cat’s neck.

Cassidy gave a delighted gurgle inside the car, making him smile, but he jumped when he felt something touch his ankles. He looked down and watched in total shock as Miss Purrfect made a figure eight around his feet.

“Seems she’s starting to like you,” Tara commented. “I knew she’d come around.”

“Come around?” He stopped himself from giving her a summation of how much shit that cat had dished out against him because the feline settled on his feet for a moment before trotting off and jumping into the Suburban.

Tim poked his head out, his shoulders shaking with repressed laughter. “Has a miracle dost appeared?”

Robbie walked over and closed the door on his brother’s grinning face. “Don’t say anything,” he told both Tara and Lily, who were both silently laughing beside him.

Soon everyone’s laughter faded as the Suburban started. Robbie watched Reagan bravely wave from the passenger window, only to hear Tara audibly sniff. He turned to see her waving frantically back, a bright but slightly forced smile on her face. He couldn’t see if Cassidy was giving her little wave from her car seat and felt a pang in his chest.

Agent Petris honked the horn as they backed out of the driveway. The guy had impressed Robbie with his ability to relate to the girls—he’d been willing to puff like a dragon and had no trouble calling Reagan Princess Pixie. Still…it hurt to watch them go.

Tim gave one final wave from the car as they started down the street, and Robbie caught one last glimpse of Billie, who had his eyes face forward, like he was honing himself for the next challenge.

He wanted to call them back immediately and not let them out of his sight. Be there every moment to assure them everything was going to be okay. Instead, he lifted his hand and waved, forcing his own smile as they disappeared from view. When they were out of sight, he wanted to bend at the waist for a couple of deep breaths to release the pressure cooker inside him, but he didn’t want to upset Tara. God, protecting family was going to kill him.

Brotherly love mixed in with all that other messy emotion inside him, and he felt his Adam’s apple bob up and down in his throat as he tried to swallow it all down. Tara gave another loud sniff. This separation—even for a day—must be killing her if he was feeling like his body had been put in a trash compactor.

Lily put a hand to his back, a quiet reassurance that was still so new…yet so welcome. She knew when he needed a little touch here and there, and when she needed to step in. In a short time, she’d woven her way into his life, and he wanted to wrap her presence all over him. The peace she brought him, the sensation his father had told him to look for, filled his chest.

Which was a good thing, because as he turned to face Tara, she was dabbing at her eyes. The sight cut him straight to the bone. “Tara, it’s going to be—”

“Don’t mind me!” She laughed shakily. “Little mommy meltdown in process, but not too bad. I’m not going to let it screw up my makeup.”

Sheila walked over from the edge of the garage, after giving them some privacy, and smacked his cousin gently on the back. “No worries, Tara. Tyler’s only going to rub it off later.”

Okay, he did not need to be reminded of that. He knew it was important for the agent and Tara to look cozy, but his stomach flopped when he thought about watching the staging.

“Then I’ll stop worrying right now,” Tara said in that same brave voice as Tyler came out of the garage, pocketing his cell phone.

“Good.” Sheila shared a look with Lily. “Hey, Ty, Lily didn’t give you a fake name, so what are we going to call you? Agent Hotstuff won’t work obviously.”

The agent was grave as he glanced toward Sheila, thoughtful and assessing. Robbie was starting to see why Lily thought so highly of him. Agent Darren had empathy. He would connect well with people, especially ones in difficult situations. Not everyone had that ability.

Robbie wasn’t sure he did, but then again, he wasn’t used to bringing his emotions to the job. Lily was different. She didn’t wear her heart on her sleeve so much as she did in her eyes. He thought her way was tougher. The troubles and hurts victims experienced could rip your heart out if you let it.

“I think Tara should pick my cover name,” the agent finally said with a warm smile at his cousin. “If we were dating for real, what would my name be?”

The request made Tara laugh, and Robbie sent the agent an appreciative smile. Okay, distraction worked.

“Yeah, Tara,” Robbie added. “I know all the names of your old boyfriends since I interviewed them all.”

“Grilled, you mean,” she practically scoffed, more sadness slipping from her face.

“Guilty, and I’d do it again.”

Lily’s warm smile eased some of the tension in his chest. “So, we have a list to crib from,” she said with extra humor in her voice. “Are you going with an old classic name or something—”

“A little naughty,” Sheila interrupted with a wink.

Naughty? Robbie wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole. He also wanted to cheer Tara up.

Tara wiped her eyes with new authority, shaking off any lingering sadness, and got that familiar gleam in her eye. “How about Tom? Because Tom Brady is still my favorite fantasy, being a Pats fan, and we’re going to be looking all physical in our videos. Plus, you’ve got those abs. Tyler, they should be illegal.”

“That’s why he became an FBI agent,” Sheila bandied back. “It was part of his plea bargain.”

Lily was fighting laughter, but Tyler only gave a wan smile. “Tom works. No need for a last name since we don’t want anyone looking deeper. Also, I just got off the phone with the Charlotte office. Agents Johnson and Mathers will be here tomorrow, and they’ve rented the house across the street. Told the owner the false story about their little romantic getaway. She’s given them the code to the back door, so we’re all set.”

“Terrific,” Lily answered, flicking her gaze to the blue two-story with a similar architecture to the rest of the houses in the area. “The view isn’t as great as ours on the beach, but it does have nice, big windows for surveillance.”

Yeah, Robbie had noted that as well. Extra backup and additional surveillance were standard, but he really liked that Tyler knew the two undercover agents the Charlotte FBI office was sending down. He’d vouched for them, which had alleviated some of Robbie’s ongoing stress.

Right now, he was floundering a little, treading water in the deep end of an FBI pool. Not his comfort zone. He missed his own partner, Mickey, and the other officers he usually went through doors with. But Lily’s boss was working with Roland and Internal Affairs on the money laundering and the arson case in a joint task force, as they were linked, and they were seeding the story about Robbie laying low protecting his cousin and the girls, hoping the dirty cops would slip up and hang themselves.

Once the videos of Tara and her new boy toy went out tomorrow—which would coincide with another FBI agent driving his cousin to the safe house where they were taking the girls and his brothers today—all hell was supposed to break loose according to Lily’s plan.

They would be ground zero for the bad guys.

He couldn’t wait to get his hands on them. “Make sure the agents change the code on the back door after they arrive.” Maybe he was being extra thorough, but he wanted everything tight. Who knew if the Kellys would think to rent a nearby beach house to watch their house too? And whether they’d interrogate the landlady to obtain the code…

Everyone turned to look at him, and for a moment, he wondered if he’d grown horns.

“That’s standard protocol, Robbie,” Tyler assured him. “No one wants a neighbor to wander in to check on the houseplants.”

Robbie raised his brow, knowing Tyler had supplied that reasoning for Tara. Right. He needed to remember she didn’t have the same longstanding experience with the dark side of crime that the rest of them did. His stupid criminal videos didn’t show any of that. He lifted his chin at the acknowledgment. Their professional rapport was developing. If the other cops in his precinct could only see him now. Liking not just one but three Feds out of the Boston office. “Good to know. So where are we starting today?”

Sheila rubbed her hands together. “Lily, do you want to kick things off with the boating trip?”

“Maybe a little fun and speed will help everyone fall into character,” Tyler agreed.

“That sounds good,” Lily broke in. “Tara? What do you think? We can start there and then maybe take a few videos of you getting some sun with Tyler on the beach before we head into town for cocktails and dinner.”

They had to stage a story of Tara meeting a new guy on social media, starting with posts dropping the moment Tara left tomorrow morning. Lily wasn’t going to chance the Kellys coming straightaway while she was still on-site.

Lily had accounted for a few possible means of travel by the Kellys’ guys. She’d ruled out the possibility of them taking a private plane since no one had ever known them to fork out that kind of money. If they went by car, it would take twelve-plus hours, but they could shorten that by flying into a local airport and renting a car. If they went that route, however, they wouldn’t be able to bring their weapons and would have to either buy local or rely on a local network. They wouldn’t want traceable weapons for what they planned.

That fact kept him focused.

Not only for Tara’s sake, but for everyone else around him, Lily most of all. He’d been a cop for nearly twenty years but caring about her had him worrying more about something going wrong.

“I’m good with starting on the water and getting some sun.” Tara cupped her arms as if chilled. “I’ll just change into my new bikini.”

“Let’s keep the diamond earrings on,” Lily said thoughtfully, putting her finger to her lips as she studied his cousin. “I want you to show off as much of the bling as possible.”

Tara flicked her ears, the diamond drop earrings winking in the sunlight. “Trust me. These babies are going to sparkle. I still can’t believe you have an agreement with jewelry stores for cases like this.”

“We have to make the stage believable,” Lily told her. “Cars, houses, clothes, jewelry. You name it. We bring it.”

“Don’t forget the yachts.” Sheila gave a gusty sigh. “That yacht party the Colombian drug lord threw two years ago would have been pretty spectacular if I hadn’t needed to spend the whole thing evading that CI’s tongue. He took our undercover a little too seriously.”

Robbie was a ball of tension. He hadn’t thought about these women having to pretend to be some scumbag’s girlfriend. He turned to Lily, who only raised a brow in his direction. Right. Better not to ask. Put it in the box labeled the job and don’t act like a jealous boyfriend.

Boyfriend.

Jesus, he supposed that’s what he was now. Was he too old to be someone’s boyfriend? He shook himself. “I’ll let you change while I check in with the office.” Focusing on the job was going to get him through this. Plus, it helped him feel more in control.

He touched Lily’s elbow before heading inside, Tara on his heels.

“Don’t go all older cousin routine with me, please.” She sped up and planted herself in front of him. “I’m working extra hard to put steel into my backbone.”

Wanting to curse, he clenched his eyes shut for a moment. “I know, and I’m sorry.”

“Just saying, especially since I know you’re worrying about your new lady friend as much as me.” She touched his arm, her face a combination of motherly softness and Southie toughness. “Robbie O’Connor, I love you with all my heart, so I’m going to speak plainly even though it might piss you off. If you don’t put a ring on that woman’s finger, I’m going to have a mass said for you and your love life. Publicly.”

He cringed. They both knew what that meant. He’d have every busybody mother and desperate single woman in Southie on his ass, thinking he wanted to settle down. Women would be ringing his doorbell with pies and cakes and stalking him at the grocery store in high heels, full makeup, wafting extra hair spray. “Come on. It’s early yet, Tara.”

“We’re Irish.” She gave a comic jig. “We know when something is strong and true. And if you bring Scotty up right now, I will belt you.”

Yeah, they hadn’t talked about her at-large, soon-to-be ex-husband. There’d been no sightings of Scotty and his side piece, and no one knew if they were even still together. Of course, that made divorcing him more complicated.

“I’d never do that.” Robbie gave a jerky nod. “Fine. I’ll admit this, but only to you. I can see Lily and me together. Forever. Even with kids, maybe. Not that I know whether she wants any.” Although she clearly was terrific with Reagan and Cassidy. God, he was already missing them.

“So you talk about it.” She tapped his nose like he was her kid. “I see you two together. Hard. Your family is going to go bananas. The minute I can, I’m calling your sister and telling her she needs to come back to the old neighborhood to meet your new girl.”

“Tara!”

Running off in heels, she laughed all the way to the stairs.

Someone cleared their throat behind him.

Tyler held up his hands. “Sorry. I came in to change as well. I didn’t mean to overhear anything.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’d appreciate you not saying anything. Everything is new, and the stakes are high.”

“My lips are sealed.” Tyler slapped him on the back as he walked by. “I meant to tell you. I’ve been to your brother’s bar in Southie a time or two. It’s one of the best Irish pubs I’ve been in outside of Dublin.”

The thought of the rest of his family rooted him in place. He wondered how they were all doing, especially his dad in Ireland. “Good to know.”

Tyler lifted a hand as he strode off. Robbie thought about going upstairs like he’d said and sending in another report to Roland Thomas, but he’d already informed his contact at Internal Affairs of their every move. He was overcompensating, and he knew it.

Besides, now Lily’s boss had made contact, sending a memorandum about the cooperation between the police and the Feds on this bust, which he’d read three times over until his eyes crossed. The Feds knew their paperwork, all right, which meant everything was official now. He was going to get some flak for working with Internal Affairs and the Feds, but he would take it. No one would argue he’d been in an untenable situation. Of course, he’d get even more shit from the guys for dating a Fed, one he’d met while she was undercover, working on him. Thank God that hadn’t made it into the internal MOU. But he could take that and more if it meant he got to be with Lily.

“How you doing there, Lieutenant?”

He was still getting used to Lily calling him that, something she did both playfully as well as to focus him back on their case.

“Fine.” He rolled his tense shoulders. “Ready to get this done.”

She strolled over, looking casual but professional in her cotton pants and shirt. “Then let the fun begin.”

What he witnessed over the course of the rest of the day wasn’t anything that qualified as fun. Tara videoed herself and her “new boyfriend, Tom,” with a beauty-pageant smile on her face as the man drove the sporting boat they’d rented with the ease of a natural sailor. Both of them were naturals, and Tyler had a knack for setting up memorable shots.

To the naked eye, they looked like a couple totally in sync and hot for each other. Even Robbie was impressed by the façade.

Later, when they were lying beside each other on the beach, Tara became a little stiff while she was videoing Agent Darren putting sunscreen on her legs, so he tickled her instep, making her kick him in the chest. He’d fallen backward playfully, laughing as she’d sought her revenge, the phone soon forgotten.

As Robbie watched from his position beside Lily and Sheila, he sometimes had to remind himself they were acting. Lily watched the “show” passively while Sheila would poke Robbie in the ribs or give Tara a thumbs-up to keep everything light. One time she even fanned herself, which Tara mimicked in another video as Agent Darren rolled onto his stomach in his black swim trunks, showing off the outcome of years of strength training.

“Tara’s friends are going to be so jealous of that one,” Sheila said softly as Tara finished that particular video.

Robbie grimaced. “It’s fake, Sheila,” he responded in the same hushed voice.

She blinked repeatedly at him, making him wonder if she’d gotten sand in her eye before saying, “Honey, you clearly do not understand what I’m talking about right now.”

He gave up and went inside to hammer off a brief update about their status before returning to find another wardrobe change had occurred.

As the sun went down, the couple walked on the beach, taking a selfie, the vibrant orange sun sinking into the dark blue waves behind them. They were gazing into each other’s eyes as Tyler put his arm around Tara. The photo screamed they’d fallen for each other. More fodder for the Kellys, he told himself.

After that moment, they dressed for cocktails and dinner. Lily had chosen a popular restaurant at Nag’s Head. Since it was the couple’s first foray into a public area, Lily, Sheila, and Robbie had agreed to cover them from a distance. While Lily and Robbie watched from their post at another table, Sheila watched from the bar. Lily had instructed Tara to ask the waiter to take a photo of them, and when she did, Tyler made sure to include a portion of the menu under his hand.

Clues were essential to letting the Kellys track them, but they didn’t want to be too obvious.

The final play in Lily’s plan was the video Tara took of her new sports car, which Tyler had driven down. Robbie had to admit it was a honey. Not that Billie had so much as blinked an eye at it—a serious indication of his brother’s predicament. Because when did Billie not go apeshit about a hot car? And this car was hot, smoking hot, Tara said, touching the orange body of the McLaren in the video as Agent Darren flashed his killer smile and then opened the door for her after giving her a serious kiss.

Robbie winced at that one.

So far, the guy hadn’t given Tara more than a few pecks and some light touches. PG movie grade. But this raised his blood pressure. Especially when Tara made a humming sound in her throat.

“Breathe,” Lily whispered beside him as Sheila silently applauded the couple on her other side. “It’s all for show.”

“I know it is, dammit.” He bit the inside of his cheek and told himself to suck it up and be a professional. “I’m not cut out for this kind of undercover shit.”

“Language,” Lily said merrily, making him choke on a shaft of laughter that crept up his throat.

When Tara clicked her video off and lowered her phone, Lily gave them a quick salute. “That’s a wrap, folks.”

He sure as hell hoped so.

The stress of this case was going to make him go completely gray.