Acting Happy (Texas Desires #2) (24 page)

Walking past the wall-mounted thermostat in search of nourishment, Ty nudged the lever up. Warmer temperatures would keep the clothing minimal. And by minimal, he meant none at all. The roar of the heater sounded seconds before he heard two feet running along the hardwood floor toward him. The comfort of having Kenzie in this house for another day made him unrealistically happy. With as much chasing as he’d had to do to get to this point, he needed these small moments of her wanting to be wherever he went to help calm his soul.

“It’s cold, Ty,” she said, catching up to him. She’d wrapped a throw around her body.

“We agreed on clothes-free,” he said, looking down, giving her a mock critical eye.

“That was before this freezing weather descended.” She had reached his side, ducking her head under his arm, forcing him to wrap it around her. She looked up at him, lifting on her tiptoes for a kiss. Something major had shifted inside Kenzie. Imagine his surprise to find he liked her even more—who would have ever known that was even possible? She was truly a lovely, remarkable woman.

“You need to eat. You don’t eat very much,” he said, hugging her against his body.

“I’m fine. I eat when I’m hungry,” she said. As they turned the corner into the kitchen, Ty’s attention went to the vibrating phone on the table. He reluctantly released her, going for the cell while Kenzie went for the refrigerator. The phone went dead as he got close enough to see the screen. When he palmed the device, he saw five missed calls. With another slide of the finger, he saw all but one of the calls was from Reed.

“I probably need to go home,” she said, opening the refrigerator door.

“Why? I thought you could just stay here,” he said, looking up at her as he began to dial.

“I don’t have any clothes. Do you have lunchmeat? I don’t think we got anything like that in Gatlinburg, but if you have some, I could make you a sandwich,” she offered as she continued to dig through all the drawers.

“We could go get your things and bring them over here,” he suggested, bringing the phone to his ear while lifting a finger to silence her when she looked over at him. “You there?”

“I have a whole damn day that didn’t include calling you four fucking times,” Reed barked.

“Sorry, man. We were…well, busy.” Ty didn’t think Reed might appreciate him getting so lucky while he had to spend the day working.

“Yeah.” The silence lasted several long seconds. “The case will be dismissed, paperwork filed by tomorrow. If McKenzie—she goes by Kenzie, right? If she hasn’t heard from her attorney by end of day tomorrow, let me know. Now, on a different note—” Reed started, but Ty stopped him in mid-sentence.

“What’d you do?” he asked.

“Pulled strings. Isn’t that what you wanted me to do?” Reed asked condescendingly.

“Thanks, Prescott. That was fast even for you.” Ty said, grinning so big he stopped Kenzie in her tracks. She stood, just staring at him. Then left the refrigerator door open, coming several steps toward him.

“Listen to me. I’ve got calls waiting. I was looking over her background. Lara’s gonna need some help in the foundation. I showed her Kenzie’s background and we’d like to talk to her.”

Ty went over each of those words again in his head making sure they meant what he thought they did. Okay, that was completely unexpected.

“I’ll tell her,” Ty said, watching Kenzie wrap the blanket tighter around her body. He now knew that was more of a holding herself together kind of move than anything else. All the expression drained from her face along with the color. She was turning pale right in front of his eyes.

“I took the liberty to ready my plane to fly to Gatlinburg. If I need to stop that flight, you need to tell me in the next few minutes. If you’d waited any longer to return this call and denied that plane, I’d have been one pissed off guy,” Reed said, dryly.

“You good with flying to Dallas tonight?” he asked Kenzie.

“I can’t…” She started shaking her head no.

“They dismissed the charges. Reed wants to talk to you.” The array of reactions crossing her face would have been hilarious if this were any other time. After a second more of no words coming out of her mouth no matter how many times she opened it to speak, Ty answered for her. “I’m gonna say she’s in.”

“I’ll have Margaret send you the flight itinerary. We’ll talk more later. Plan on staying with me tonight. The spare rooms are under remodel for the nursery, but they still have a bed.” The line disconnected. Ty was slower to lower the phone as he went for Kenzie who began to cry.

“Say something, baby.”

“I… How…” Ty took her in his arms and the tears fell in earnest, each one making him more helpless and unsure.

“He said the charges would be dismissed by tomorrow morning. If you haven’t heard from your attorney by tomorrow night, we’re to let him know,” he said, explaining everything Reed had said, holding her closely against his chest while reaching over for the paper towels on the cabinet to give her something to dry her eyes with.

“Oh my God. Oh my God.” She began to cry so hard that she buckled on him.

“Beautiful, are these happy tears?” Ty asked as he caught her and tightened his hold while running a palm over her hair. Besides a couple times with his mother, he’d never really dealt with a crying woman before. He was at a complete loss on how to give her comfort or what all this actually meant. Seconds, maybe up to a minute later, he could feel the paper towel moving against his chest over her face and a little moan of the sob sounded seconds later. “Come sit down, Kenzie. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“I’m scared to believe. It’s been so long without any hope.” Her face lifted to his. Her eyes were red and her nose running. The turmoil in her gaze touched his heart.

“Then let’s take it in steps. Get in touch with your attorney. We’ll go to Dallas, and once we get the formal written dismissal, we can cry then,” he urged.

“How did he do it so quickly?” she asked and scrubbed the towel over her eyes.

“It’s how Prescott lives his life. When I’m dealing with the business side of things, I channel him. He’s just unlike anyone you’ll ever meet,” Ty said, and he smiled when she blew her nose loudly into the paper towel.

“And he needs us in Dallas?” she asked, moving from his hold to go for the trash can first, then the refrigerator, shutting the door.

“He has a potential job opportunity for you. Before Reed ever made a phone call, he checked your story. He must have liked what he saw.” Enough time passed that Kenzie seemed to be trying to pull herself together. She went for the sink, struggling to keep the blanket wrapped around her. Having no choice but to let it drop, she leaned forward to splash water on her face. He reached for a clean hand towel. Her hands were shaking as she dried her eyes.

“I wish I would have been wearing clothes for this,” she said, placing the towel on the counter before reaching for the throw again. Under all the turmoil, there was a calmness settling in on his love, and she looked up at him. “So we’re going to Dallas?”

“A plane’s being sent now. I think I heard a text come through on my phone, which should be the itinerary. He sounded like he expected us tonight, but I can call him and get more time,” Ty offered, dreading the idea of making that call.

“No, if I can really go without being in trouble, I need to thank him. I need to thank you,” she said, coming to stand about a foot in front of him.

“You don’t owe us anything. What happened to you was wrong. I promise things wouldn’t have gone so easy had that not been the truth. Let’s get dressed.”

Ty sighed internally, worried about a bigger issue. He didn’t want the fine line between love and appreciation blurred for even a single second. “We’ll need to stop by your house; tell your parents.”

“They’re not gonna believe any of this. I need to pack. Most of my clothes are in a storage unit in Gatlinburg, but I need to take what I have with me. Eventually I’ll have to buy some new things, everything I have is pretty outdated…” She stopped talking and looked over at him a little apologetic. “I’m rambling.”

“It’s fine. I get it,” he said, going toward her. “We need to get dressed. We’ll eat on the road. Don’t worry about your clothes. Dallas is known for shopping. We’ll get you covered for now.”

“Ty, thank you,” she said, wrapping both her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly against her chest.

“Stop saying that. I’d do anything for you. I meant what I said last night.” Ty dislodged from the hold and smacked her on the rump. It was hard to tell exactly where that might be underneath the throw, but he made the effort and left her to trail after him toward the bedroom.

From flying in a luxurious private jet to being chauffeured in a Bentley by a personal driver, Kenzie was so far outside the realm of normal behavior she was having a hard time processing everything. Her unbelievable knight in shining armor stood beside her in his scruffy beard, flannel shirt, and blue jeans. Even looking like a mountain man, he still seemed to fit better in this world than the one she grew up in. But as her lifeline, Kenzie gripped Ty’s hand a little tighter and stared up at the lighted floor indicator as the elevator doors shut.

“The traffic was terrible,” she said quietly.

“It’s Dallas,” he responded, casually.

“It’s my first time here,” she explained, looking over at him.

“It’s Dallas,” he said again. This time there was no doubt at his confusion of her statement. Apparently, he wasn’t experiencing any of the same wow factor. For her, all the years of television had her envisioning Dallas as a place of big business, beautiful women, and lots and lots of money.

“Small town girl,” she finally said, trying to explain.

“Then wait until you see LA,” he teased, caressing a thumb over her hand. It didn’t help. The elevator ride was long and the doors opened to an office suite. It was after hours, the space dark, and now they followed their escort around a corner and down another long hall with a single door at the end. He knocked, and a few seconds later, Reed pulled the door open with a telephone stuck to his ear. He barked at whoever was on the other end. Dressed in slacks, a dress shirt, and tie, his hair was styled in about the same front swoosh thing that she’d seen Ty wear. There was only a vague resemblance to the man she’d recently met.

In contrast to his tone, he grinned at Ty, lifting a finger to his lips and then extended that same hand into the foyer, inviting them inside.

There was a quietly muttered goodnight as the escort turned away.

“I’ve told you what I’m willing to pay. It’s not open for negotiations. Stop trying to talk me out of more money,” Reed said into the phone before lowering his hand and ending the call.

“I thought you were always open to negotiations?” Ty asked, beaming at Reed, all his focus on his friend as he absently moved Kenzie forward with a hand at the small of her back. Even though he didn’t seem to be paying her any attention, she stayed right there beside him.

Much like the first day she’d met Ty and all his buddies, there was an innate comfortableness between Ty and Reed, but this time, it didn’t seem to ease her. Ty’s genuine smile touched his lips as he looked past Reed into the apartment and guided her farther inside the highly decorated condo.

“He doesn’t need to know that. Welcome,” Reed said. A beautiful, very pregnant woman was walking toward them. Another man stood at the dining room table across the room, looking their way.

“You must be Lara,” Ty said, leaving Kenzie standing there as he went toward her. The woman smiled brightly, and Ty reached out, giving her a giant hug that she accepted, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

“You must be Ty. I thought I’d know you no matter what Reed kept telling me, but you hide yourself very well,” she said, smiling up at the ceiling, patting him on the back.

“I’m the jealous kind,” Reed said loudly still standing beside Kenzie. She felt his hand at the base of her back pressing to move her forward. “Come in and get your man off my fiancée.”

That seemed to tickle Ty, making Kenzie laugh too. “Bray set me up to do that. I was supposed to hug her tight.”

“I’m sure he did. Meet Kade,” Reed said, nodding toward the other man. “He’s Lara’s family.” Reed moved around them to the kitchen bar to place the telephone back at its base. The layout of the house was really just one very large room that held the foyer, living room, dining room, and kitchen. Ty went toward Kade, extending a hand while Lara headed in her direction.

“You must be Kenzie. It’s so nice to meet you,” Lara said, reaching out to give her a warm hug. “You have to be exhausted.”

“It’s very nice to meet you. I’m not dressed appropriately,” she said, looking down at the hoodie and jeans she wore compared to this beautifully put-together woman who managed to elegantly pull off a tight dress, snugly wrapped over a very pronounced baby bump.

“You’re fine. Very beautiful in fact, but I’d already been told that. I want you to meet Kade. He’s my roommate and best friend,” Lara explained and started walking her toward the dining area.

“Roommate? So that’s true?” Ty asked, looking over at Reed. He was standing close to Kade, who was obviously a bodybuilder and most definitely held his own in a room full of very handsome men.

“No one answer that,” Reed said, extending a Heineken to Ty, then one to Kade. When he offered Kenzie one, she wrinkled her nose, rejecting the beer, making him smile.

“Oh, even better,” Ty teased, taking the beer and twisting the bottle cap off.

“Kade Michaels,” he said while reaching out to take her hand. Ty was next and extended a hand toward the man, still smiling good-naturedly.

“So what’s the roommate story?” Ty asked.

“Don’t be annoying, grizzly,” Reed said. He’d taken a seat at the dining room table.

“You can’t tell at all that you’re Ty Bateman,” Kade said, effectively changing the subject.

“That’s what I said too. It’s just the beard that makes him look so different,” Kenzie added, relaxing some in the effortless comradery they shared.

“Yeah, it grows quickly,” he added, lifting a hand to scratch an itch. Funny how that always happened when the mention of his beard came up.

“Have you seen him without it?” Lara asked.

“One night, he shaved for me. It’s a remarkable change,” Kenzie confirmed, smiling up at Ty. He grinned back, bending to kiss her upturned lips.

“I’m going to change clothes. Lara’s ordered in dinner for everyone. It should be here soon and she needs to sit down,” Reed said, rising from the table and walking toward a hall behind the kitchen.

The doorbell rang, and Kade took off to answer, stopping Lara in her tracks. He pointed to the chair, giving her the eye. “You aren’t supposed to be on your feet like this, and the doctor doesn’t even know about those shoes.”

Lara changed her direction. While looking over at Kenzie, she rolled her eyes, but did walk to the living room to take a seat.

“Kenzie, come sit by me. When Kade gets back, we’ll make him get you something to drink,” she said, kicking off her pretty high heel shoes before lifting her feet to a nearby ottoman.

“I don’t need anything. I’m fine,” she said, taking the seat closest to Lara.

“Oh no. You need something to drink several times while we’re having dinner. I’ve learned it’s better to keep them busy, otherwise they fret all over me. I mean suffocatingly so,” she explained. There was nothing more to do than relax around these people. As a whole, they were genuine, fun, and easy to be around. Maybe Ty was on to something when he kept insisting they were all about the same kind of people, just in different circumstances.

The condo was definitely beyond anything she’d ever seen, except for maybe in some high-end decorating magazines, but these people were incredibly open, adding a warmth that made them a family.

“It’s their bags,” Kade said at the door, slinging one over his shoulder as he went to take the two other suitcases.

“They’re staying in the guest bedroom,” Lara called out and placed both hands on the side of the chair like she was starting to rise.

“No, you stay seated. I’ll help,” Ty offered, lifting a hand to stop Lara. He placed the beer bottle on the table and went directly to Kade, taking one of the suitcases.

“See?” she said, smiling broadly, waggling her eyebrows at Kenzie. “They fret, but sometimes I can get a foot massage out of it. Those are the best nights.” Lara wiggled her toes and grinned happily, making Kenzie laugh. Lara was wonderful.

~~~

With too much on his mind, Ty lay curled around a sleeping Kenzie. It hadn’t occurred to him until last night that they’d truly left their mountain hideaway and entered the real world as a couple. As much as he hated the prospect, he decided it was probably time to start acclimating Kenzie into his life. If he took it slow and played the game properly, surely they could ease her in with minimal collateral damage. Then, strategizing the million different ways things could go wrong, he hugged Kenzie tighter to his chest.

While sitting on the sofa last night, absently listening to everyone talk, he’d stupidly opened email on his phone. The messages were piling up in his inbox. His supposedly vacationing staff was getting antsy. Even then, he still refused to open the individual messages, and instead skimmed through the subject lines. They weren’t pretty. He’d given everyone but his assistant the same amount of time off as he had taken. Apparently his team wasn’t into R and R. They were vultures, wanting desperately to fill his schedule to capacity even though he’d been clear he needed some serious time off in the future.

With his head full of their turmoil, he decided the best course of action was to slowly navigate Kenzie through the sharks of his life. That needed to start now while he still had some control. Ty reluctantly rolled from bed and padded across the room toward the bathroom. He’d put his shaving gear in there last night. It took some time, but he got his face cleaned up. Surveying the job, he leaned in closer to the mirror, checking for anything he might have missed when the vibration of his cell caught his attention. He picked it up when he saw Reed’s name on the message.

“Come over to my office when you wake. It’s right around the corner,”
Reed texted.

“I’m up. Cleaning myself up some,”
Ty wrote back.

“Well, that’s gonna be a task. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

“Har har,”
he typed back.

Honestly, it hadn’t taken near as long as Ty had thought. Now the bigger problem might be his hair. He ran his fingers through the top pieces. There wasn’t much to be done about that though. Maybe Reed could hook him up with his hairstylist today. Quietly, he entered the bedroom. Kenzie was still sleeping, but this time lying on her back. The bedroom was warm, and she’d shoved the blankets down around her waist, exposing her delicious body to him. It had taken some time last night to talk her out of her night clothes. Now, all he wanted was to crawl back in that bed and explore every inch of her soft flesh. He fought that urge and his hardening dick. He forced himself to turn away and pick up the clothes he’d worn yesterday. He wouldn’t even let himself glance back as he left the room to dress. Kenzie was too tempting; he wouldn’t stand strong if he dared looked back.

Foregoing the shoes, Ty went through the condo in search of coffee. The Keurig sat powered on and ready, with a mug already in place. He pushed the button and waited the minute for the cup to fill. Ty anchored his butt against the counter, looking out over the home. He was impressed with Reed’s surroundings, but not for the normal reasons. Reed had actually downgraded his living quarters when he’d bought this building.

Out of all of his buddies, Reed always had the most to prove—well, at least to himself. After watching that whole dynamic last night, Ty decided that the chip on Reed’s shoulder was being chiseled away by his sweet, pretty fiancée. Lara was truly a surprise and exactly what Reed needed. She was one of the most genuine people Ty had ever met, and although he covered it with a feigned coughing fit when Reed sat down to rub her feet, the image spoke volumes.

Ty crossed his arms over his chest and bent his head, praying he’d have that same kind of relationship with Kenzie. A woman who made him want to do anything in his power to please her, and in return, she’d do that very same thing for him. It had to feel extraordinary.

“Good morning.” The unexpected voice startled Ty. He looked over to see a housekeeper coming inside the kitchen.

“Good morning,” he replied and saw the exact moment she recognized him. An unexpected spike in the coil of his gut sent his brow plummeting. Her eyes shot to the floor and she said nothing more as she went around the corner and down the hall. Ty reached for his coffee as the resignation of the moment settled. That one encounter was all it took to remind him that he couldn’t just blend in any longer. He was back to being the celebrity he’d worked so hard to become.

Instead of allowing that thought to linger and most certainly bring with it the worry and fear of isolation that his life had become, he forced himself to focus on the good. He’d luckily found Kenzie. Hopefully that meant no more lonely nights spent locked away behind windowless walls.

Ty left the apartment, going back down the hall toward the elevator. Much like when they’d arrived, the offices were quiet and dark, except for a single lit room which guided him toward Reed’s open office door. He rapped his knuckles on the wood, drawing Reed’s attention his way.

“Come in,” he said, his fingers typing away on his laptop. “Hang on.”

Ty walked to the small table in front of Reed’s desk until he saw the view from the huge floor to ceiling windows along the back wall. He went directly to them, looking out at the early morning sky. Downtown Dallas was just coming to life. As he took a long drink of the coffee, he remembered as a kid what a treat it had been to come to Dallas for the weekend. His mom would bring him to town, and they’d always have so much fun together.