Acting Happy (Texas Desires #2) (13 page)

“No one but you sees that.”

“I can tell when someone puts up a mask. You do it a lot. So do I. I know you don’t want to talk about it, and I’m not pressing. I’m just here if you need me,” he said honestly, not entirely sure why he gave her a break.

“Thank you. That means a lot—more than you know—but it was bad. I was too naïve. My only defense for my stupid decisions was that I truly didn’t understand the world. I believed that everyone on this planet was fundamentally good and supportive. It’s why I chose social work. I thought if I could just be in a position to give people a chance, they would eagerly change their lives for the better.”

“And the guy you married took advantage of that?” he asked, moving back an inch or two to gauge her expression.

“Yeah, I guess. I met him my first year of college. We were floating the river in San Marcus. He was older and so good-looking… My God. That blinded me,” she said. She was staring at him, but he could tell she was lost in thought.

“Where is he now?” That brought the focus back to her face. He saw panic in her eyes.

“Ty, I really don’t want to talk about it,” she said cautiously, not defensive this time.

“I know, and I don’t want to push you, but I got the feeling you were one of those battered women you donate to.” After a few seconds pause, she nodded, still staring at him. His heart broke a little. It was one thing to think something like that happened and another to know for sure. He’d been very young, but he remembered that exact same fear in his mom’s eyes. Ty wrapped his arms tighter around Kenzie and tried to give her a comforting hug.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up, but dammit, if that doesn’t just piss me the hell off. It’s the one thing I can’t ever get past. I hate abuse.”

“I saw you did some public services announcement for the National Domestic Violence Hotline. It’s who I donate too.”

“My father abused my mom pretty badly. My mom finally got the authorities involved. I think it scared him enough that he took off and I haven’t seen him since. I hated that shit as a kid,” Ty said, moving a piece of hair behind one ear. “So y’all didn’t have kids?”

He watched as she swallowed a lump before biting her lip, and he his heart ached a little more for her. Not waiting for an answer, he brought her closer, tucking her tighter in his arms. He had no idea what that lip biting meant, but the sadness on her face meant it couldn’t be good. “Let’s talk about something else. Do you plan to always stick around here or get back out in the world?”

“This is just a pit stop. I’m not happy here. I like being around people my own age.”

“Will you go back to Texas?”

“A lot needs to happen first, but maybe. One day at a time right now. What about you? What’re your plans?” she asked.

“I’m burned out. I get how Garth Brooks just left the industry. My attitude’s shit on set. I’m angry all the time. Before I came here, I backed out of an appearance at the last minute. I’m refusing interviews. They have to think I’m an absolute diva. I hate that, but I’m not really in a good place mentally about my job.”

“So if you leave the show, you’re planning on taking an extended break?” she asked, leaning back now.

“It’s hard to say. In theory, yes. The complication comes in the fact that I hired a staff full of extremely ambitious people. They won’t understand the concepts of downtime and semi-retired,” Ty explained.

“But you’re the boss,” she said, turning in his arms until her back rested against his chest again.

“Yep, you’re right. It just took an act of God to get this time off, and even then, they still wanted to schedule interviews from here. I had to throw a huge fit, threaten to fire them all. I can be a complete bastard,” Ty said with a chuckle, remembering what an ass he’d become the last few weeks.

“I read that you’re not very nice, but I don’t see that at all.”

“That world’s different. You learn to protect yourself, because everyone’s in it just for themselves. Eastwood taught me that years ago and he was right,” Ty said.

Kenzie stayed quiet, just looking out in the night. The arm she had wrapped around his loosened some until she began to untangle from his hold. He didn’t let her go easily. “We should clean up.”

“I can do it tomorrow,” he said, not letting her rise like she wanted to do.

“You aren’t doing my dishes,” she said, working at moving his arms until she just had to break free and stand. “When was the last time you cleaned a kitchen?”

“I had to do all that stuff when I was kid,” he said, wrapping an arm around her waist and tugging her down in his lap.

“Oh!” She hadn’t been prepared for that move and landed hard in his lap as she lost her balance. The misplaced elbow in the gut had him giving a sharp exhale as it lost some of the fun of keeping a hold of her. Kenzie pushed against his chest, rising again as she reached for one plate, placing it on top of the other before reaching for the wineglasses. He watched as she started to walk away. No women he knew would fight to do the dishes. “Bring the silverware when you come.”

Against Ty’s constant grumbling, Kenzie finished off the dinner dishes. As much as Ty had tried to participate in preparing the meal, she didn’t really see him as a budding vegetarian since his entire freezer was full of every kind of meat known to man. Her meat knowledge had grown pretty extensively due to the butcher at the store. And Ty had it all just waiting for him, and him alone, to eat.

“I can’t get over how different you look without any facial hair,” she said, wiping off the last of the counter space with the dishrag.

“I wasn’t gonna shave while I was here, but I hoped it might give me an advantage tonight.” About five minutes ago, he had finally given up any pretense of cleaning. Now, he rested back against the counter with his arms and legs crossed, watching her every move.

Kenzie rinsed out the dishrag while looking back over her shoulder. “Advantage to what?”

“You’re harder to get to know than any woman I’ve ever met,” he said.

Kenzie looked back at the sink and turned off the faucet. While reaching for the hand towel to dry her hands, she contemplated those words. Perhaps disagreeing a little bit. They had just spent the last two hours outside talking after spending all day together yesterday. She’d opened up more to him than she had to anyone in many years.

“What’d you mean? Because I might disagree with that,” she finally replied, facing him while running the dish towel over her hands. She started to lean back against the counter opposite of him, but she was close enough that he widened his stance and drew her between his now parted thighs.

“You’re different than anyone I’ve known.” At this angle, she was too close to avoid eye contact. When she tried, he lifted her face by the chin until their gazes met. All the kindness she’d seen over and over again was still there. When combined with all those extraordinary good looks all focused on just her, he was a heady mix. He made it hard to think straight as he lifted her arms, draping them around his neck. “I think about you all the time. I couldn’t wait for you to get here tonight, but I’m not entirely sure you’re in this with me.”

The expectant look in those amber eyes made it clear he was waiting for an answer. “I’m here,” she answered quietly. Today, she had reasoned that it seemed Ty wanted a girlfriend for the length of the time he was in town. She just didn’t know if she could turn it on and off like that.

“You know I mean more than that,” he said, not giving her any breaks this time, and he was right. Her feelings were growing deeper by the second. Of course that would make her nervous, before she even factored in everything going wrong in her life. He was a major motion picture star for God’s sake, down there slumming it with a hillbilly. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the absurdity of the situation and try to step away, but he held to her tight against his chest. “I didn’t expect to find you here, Kenzie.”

The frozen parts of her heart leapt at those sweetly muttered words. Only self-preservation of her fragile heart had her saying, “We agreed no commitments.”

“I’m not asking for one right now. I’d just like you to maybe not keep me at a distance. I like spending time with you. I liked sitting out on that deck, talking with you, learning about your life,” Ty said, lifting a finger to tap her under her chin to keep her face turned up toward his.

“You have to admit this is weird,” she said honestly, and it was weird. She couldn’t quite let that very clear fact go.

“Not from where I’m standing.” His palm stroked up her back, using pressure to hold her snugly against his chest. She dropped her arms, letting her hands splay across his chest. She knew that look in his eyes and her breath caught in her throat. For whatever reason, this man wanted her, and she couldn’t find it in her heart to turn him away. Words didn’t need to be spoken as Ty stared down at her with that insanely patient gaze.

“You’re too nice-looking; you make it hard to think,” she confessed in a whisper.

“I’m glad you think so. You’re really nice-looking too. One of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met,” he said, lowering until he was able to capture her lips with his own. He didn’t linger too long. He broke free and kissed the tip of her nose. “Come on, gorgeous. Let’s go to the living room. I haven’t ever sat on that sofa. We can break it in with a little make-out session.” Ty didn’t wait for her answer. He just kept her in the circle of his arm and walked with her to the living room.

~~~

Slow your roll!
Ty mentally lectured himself as he moved toward the sofa with Kenzie in his arms. No matter how hard he’d tried to make her comfortable, that last bit of conversation proved she still had many doubts about the sincerity of his actions. In theory, he got it. It had to be hard to reconcile all the different factors at play in his life, but actions always spoke louder than words, and his very hard, rigidly solid, irritatingly demanding dick needed to… Slow. It’s. Roll.

“You’ve truly never sat in here?” Kenzie asked, leaving his arm to walk around the sofa, taking a seat in the center.

“Nope. Something about the landscape of the place always draws me outside. I spend most of my time on that back deck.” Ty followed her and sat down beside her, reaching an arm behind her shoulders.

“It is pretty here. When I was young, the quiet would get to me,” she said, crossing one leg over the other, tucking her hands between her thighs. “I’d turn my music up as far as it would go just to drown out the quiet. I was a little rebellious, I think.”

Ty only laughed at that. Anyone who became a social worker in order to be in a position to help people wasn’t all that unruly of a person. “I can’t really see you being defiant,” he said, turning more to the side to better face her profile.

“I kept it more in my head. I was terrible inside here,” she said, tapping a finger right above her temple. Ty reached out, grabbing that hand, laughing at the idea of her being anything but as sweet as he found her to be. He lifted her palm, placing a simple kiss in the middle.

“I’m gonna be honest with you, and I don’t want you to be mad, but I’m not really buying it. I see you as someone who has integrity and honor. I see you as more the wholesome, all-American girl type. Consistently, you get your point across in actions of kindness. You might not have wanted to live your life tucked away in the mountains, but you aren’t a burn-your-bra, go-against-the-man rebel either,” he said, letting go of her hand to run his palm across her thigh, tucking his hand between her crossed legs. The hand behind her back began picking up the strands of her hair, running his fingers through them as he stared down at her lovely face.

She turned her face toward him, lifting her gaze to his, and she remained quiet. He held that gaze several long seconds. When she didn’t answer, he suspected their talking might be done. Probably the only invitation he was likely to get to move things along.

Ty leaned forward and kissed her lips. She participated, kissing him lightly back and continued to just stare up at him. A comfortable silence remained. They were never awkward together. He moved the hand between her legs to her hip and used the hand behind her head to gently nudge her forward. Meeting Ty halfway, she opened before he ever got his mouth to hers. Much like last night, magic filled the kiss, removing any doubt where this was headed. She caressed his cheek with her fingers as she tilted into him, and he trailed his hand from her hip up the thin, cotton of her shirt, cupping her breast. That was all it took.

Kenzie deepened the kiss as she turned so they were chest to chest. Never breaking from the kiss, she lifted on her knees, moving to better reach him. Her tongue delved deep inside his mouth, taking anything he had to offer as his hands found the hem of her shirt, sliding inside to the bare skin of her back. She gave a little moan at the contact while wrapping her arms around his neck. In the next move, she pulled him forward, drawing him down on top of her body as her leg stretched out between him and the sofa. Thank God for an oversized sofa that fit them comfortably together and for this woman who hadn’t played coy in what she wanted.

Only briefly did he pull away from the kiss, pushing back on his knee. She had tangled their legs together. He moved enough to spread her thighs open before he leaned forward, pushed a decorative pillow underneath her head and cradled his body on top of hers.

“Am I too heavy,” he asked, positioning himself where he could easily get to her lips.

“No. It feels good,” she said, lifting her head to place a soft kiss on his lips. Another invitation, he was certain, but he purposefully kept it light.

Moving his hand to her face, Ty brushed away the hair. All the signs were there that she wanted what he did, but she’d said last night that she needed time. “I wanna make love to you, Kenzie. I’d normally just work in that direction, but you’re too important to me. I need you to want that too before we go there.”

“It’s been a long time for me,” she confessed in little more than a whisper. “And the last time wasn’t a good experience. I’m not sure I’m very good at sex.”

Ty just smiled down at her and spoke from his heart. “After watching you last night, I promise you’re good at sex.”

“I’m not sure that counts. You’re always sweet to me. I’m not sure you’d tell me if I’m not,” she said, lifting again to kiss his lips. This kiss seemed more of an appreciative peck, and he eyed her closely when she dropped her head back to the pillow.

“I’ll always be honest with you,” he said, pushing a hand underneath her head, tilting her as he lowered. He sank his tongue inside her mouth, kissing her like he had every right to be there. He probed deep with an all-consuming tenderness he didn’t know he even possessed, but this woman always seemed to bring out in him.

Driven by pent-up desire and passion, she surprised him. Kenzie had no hesitation. She opened wide while snuggling against his chest, wrapping him in her arms. She stroked her palms up and down his back, extending her hands as far as they could reach before tugging at his shirt until her fingertips tentatively caressed across his lower back. That small skin-to-skin contact couldn’t have been more effective at driving his arousal wild had she swallowed his dick to the root.

He tore free of the kiss, shoving backward toward his heels, lifting off her. He reached behind his head, tugging at the material of his T-shirt to pull it over his head and toss it carelessly aside. Shockingly, as Kenzie watched him, she did the same, rising enough to take the bottom of her shirt up. Ty was mesmerized, letting his eyes take their fill as he reached forward, yanking her arms up to pull the cotton over her head. He tossed her shirt in the same direction as his own.

Never would he have thought he could be any more aroused, but his dick kicked up a notch, turning painful in his jeans as she lowered to her elbows exposing a white lace, somewhat see-through, demicup bra barely covering the darkened nipples of her breasts. He was so transfixed, he missed her unhooking the back clasp until the material slipped free, exposing those two flawless mounds. Oh hell, he was in so much trouble. His hands reached out as he bent his head forward, his mouth fastening on one perfectly made pink nipple.

~~~

Nothing in the world compared to this man bending over her. He was sculpted like she’d never seen anyone before. Every muscle in his chest, all the way from his shoulders to his six-pack, was carved and well-defined. He wasn’t lean, but he also wasn’t bulky, instead just nearly perfect as anything she’d ever seen before.

Ty’s eyes were riveted to her breasts from the second she’d removed her shirt. His face had actually flushed before he took her nipple straight into his mouth. Her gaze locked on Ty’s lips as he laved the small tip with his tongue and his hand squeezed the swell, lifting the underside until his mouth opened to take more inside.

Pleasure shot through her body, arching her back, making her toes curl. On a deep throaty moan, she lifted a hand to his head, threading her fingers through his thick strands as her eyes stayed glued to his mouth.

His free hand began skillfully plumping and kneading her waiting breast as he continued to work furiously at his sensual assault. Seconds later, Ty reared his head back, the gentle suction extending her breast until the tightened tip popped free. Kenzie arched her chest toward him again. The stimulation he induced spiked, landing squarely between her thighs. He stared down at her. She’d never quite seen that look in anyone’s eyes before, especially not directed toward her. He smiled proudly. Her nipple was tight and protruding, sticking straight out toward him.

Ty never hesitated; his gaze drifted to her other breast, and he started all over again, not stopping until he rose above her to inspect his work, his palms mashing both sides together.

“You’re exactly like I hoped you’d be.” He said the pleasing words as he lifted his gaze to hers for the briefest of seconds before lowering his head again. He went to the bottom of her left breast, right where the skin began to curve, and started sucking. The sweet sting would no doubt leave a mark. Again, she reached for his hair, her fingers threading through the thick strands.

Ty pushed back to his heels, unbuttoning her jeans then sliding the zipper down. As he worked with one hand, he slid the other between her parted thighs, pressing firmly into her hot core. “I want you to be as wet as you were last night. Are you?”

Speaking, let alone coherent thought, seemed almost impossible. Pulsing with passion, she rolled her hips against his hand as her fingers rose to the nipples he’d just made hard. What was happening to her? Kenzie closed her eyes, giving a deep, throaty moan when he increased the pressure between her legs.