"Work release."

"You have a job working for your daddy, Mars. They don't let you out of school for that." He leaned back against the windshield of his Xterra. "So, what brings you here?"

"Don't worry, Logan. I'm not looking for you."

He sat up, his gaze firmly on hers. "Aren't you?"

"Don't flatter yourself."

He slid off the hood and landed on the ground beside her. "Then who are you looking for? Big bad criminal? Truant from school? Runaway puppy?" He took a step closer with every suggestion, closing the distance between them. Veronica stood her ground, her eyes defiant. "Or maybe just looking for a little fun in the sun? You gonna strip down to your little white bikini for me, Mars?"

"Maybe I'll go skinny dipping."

"Yeah. Right." He laughed, the sound low and dangerous. "Maybe you will."

Veronica rolled her eyes and stepped away from Logan, shoving her hands in the pockets of her jeans as she started walking. He fell into step beside her, mimicking her posture as the wind whipped their clothes and hair. She stopped a few feet from the water and sighed, closing her eyes and inhaling the salt-scented air.

"I think about her all the time, you know?"

She turned and looked at him, giving him a slight smile as she nodded. "Yeah."

"Even when I'm not thinking about her, I'll see something or say something and think about her reaction."

"I hear her in my head all the time. 'Wow, Veronica Mars,'" Her voice is uncannily like Lilly's in the wind. "'You're all grown up now, aren't you?'"

"Not completely." He reached over and tugged at her t-shirt, pulling it away from her breasts. "You've got some room to grow."

"Good thing you can't become a bigger ass."

"I don't know," he grinned at her, his eyes dancing. "I bet I could if I tried." He leaned in, his face close to hers, the warmth of his breath and the cold of his nose against hers. "You want me to try?"

Veronica kissed him, her hand around his neck and her mouth swallowing his knowing laugh as he wound his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, his tongue tangling with hers.

They pulled apart, breathless and strange again. "This has to stop happening," she whispered.

"I'll work on being a bigger ass." He assured her, surprised at how breathless he sounded.

Veronica smiled and Lilly was nowhere in site. "That might help."