Mission Happy (A Texas Desires Novel Book 3) (28 page)

Connor unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged it off before tossing it across the desk chair. Once he removed his belt, he sat on the edge of the bed and began working his boots off. His heart required he do whatever it took to make this right and get them happy again.

“I’m sorry I scared you.”

He tossed the boots toward the closet, and rose to finish undressing while watching Julie. He turned off the lights. She wore pajamas so he left his underwear on and climbed in on his side of the bed. He lay there, staring up at the ceiling, having no idea what to do to make this right.

Unexpectedly, Julie gave a sigh and turned to her side, facing him. “I don’t really like guns.”

“Ty just told me that. They’re very much a part of my life. I can’t tell you that I can give that up,” Connor said, turning to face her.

“You saved me tonight,” she said quietly, tucking her hands under her face.

“I don’t know if you mean that in a good way or bad,” Connor said and somewhat mimicked her position to keep from reaching out to touch her. She smiled a small smile and scooted toward him. He easily shifted toward her, closing the gap. His hand went to her waist, and even as he told himself to go slow, he wrapped it around her, moving her fully against his body. Her palm reached out, touching his chest. The move was unreasonably welcomed and eased the worry of what she might be thinking.

“I’m not so strong against gun control since hiring Bruno, but it’s still hard on me.” His palm traveled the length of her body.

“I respect that. Ty’s worried about this getting out,” Connor said honestly.

“Me too. I saw some phones coming out tonight,” Julie said.

“I told my commander tonight. I’ll reinforce the need for privacy tomorrow.”

When she nodded and lifted her hand to cover a yawn, Connor knew she’d been through too much today.

“It would be nice to hear how you feel about me,” she said, lifting to better tuck her pillow under her head.

He grinned, lifting his hand to the back of her head, pulling her forward, kissing her forehead. She wrapped her arms around him, pushing him to his back as her head came to his shoulder. How did something so small mean so much? As her breath ghosted over his skin, he held her tight against him.

“I love you.”

“Still?” she asked, looking up at him as her fingertips skimmed back and forth over his chest.

“Absolutely. I don’t see that ever changing. I’m pretty sure you’re it for me. Now, go to sleep, you’re tired.” His fingers dislodged the ponytail holder until he slid her hair free, running his fingers through the silky strands.

“I love you, too.” Her lips pressed against his chest before she burrowed into him.

She fell asleep pretty quickly, her soft snores making him smile. When he was sure she was sound asleep, he wrapped his arms tighter around her as he turned them to his side, tucking her in the crook of his arm. He honestly didn’t know what he’d said that made her change her mind and come to his side, but since he never wanted to let her go, he guessed it truly didn’t matter.

Julia sat on the sofa, legs crossed underneath her with a laptop in her lap. She was still in her pj’s with her hair piled haphazardly on her head and her teeth barely brushed while her entire team had been on conference call with her since early that morning.

Well, by early, she meant about nine thirty. The local sheriff had just left the house after dropping the bomb that one of the victims’ parents was the police chief in a neighboring town and had already obtained the incident report. They knew Connor, understood his reputation, and had the information that he’d single-handedly brought down the men. They also knew Julia Holly had been at the scene during the incident.

For most of her career, Julia’s entire strategy with the media had been to get the story out first and control it from there. That had always worked in letting her drive the direction of the craziness associated with entertainment news. Now, she had more at stake. She had Connor to consider, and since he didn’t have people or experience, it was up to her to protect him as he had protected her last night.

Luckily, she had gotten permission from the sheriff to allow Connor to leave the state and go back to Hollywood with her. Having him there with her seemed the perfect way to handle anything that might come up. Frustratingly, Connor seemed to want to stay in Texas, at least until his parents arrived home, in order to be the buffer for what they might be walking into.

Damn his integrity and honor.

“Connor, can you come back in here?” she called out.

He’d made his escape as much as thirty minutes ago, claiming he’d make breakfast for everyone. She could tell all the meeting and strategizing wasn’t his deal. While they’d spoken with her team this morning, he’d fallen asleep twice, then again after the sheriff had arrived and lingered.

“If I have to,” he yelled back and didn’t immediately return to the living room.

“We have a plan; I just need you to be okay with it,” she said, waiting to see him in the doorway that separated the two rooms.

“If you’re good, I’m good.”

She couldn’t hold back her laughter as she heard an exaggerated display of pots and pans banging against each other. Based on the lengthy time he’d used to make their brunch, and all that noise, she decided that should be some magnificent, tasty breakfast he’d created.

“Please?” she asked again.

Finally, he appeared from the kitchen doorway, wiping his hands on a dishtowel.

“Short, quick facts. I promise.”

“Let me,” Liz, her publicist, said from the video feed. Julia pressed the volume button higher as Connor reluctantly moved toward her. “We’re going through with the story pretty much as it happened. Julia was with a decorated war hero—”

“I’m not a hero,” Connor said, interrupting her, but Liz just waited for him to finish before she continued with her statement.

“Your record shows something different. You two were robbed at gunpoint. The incident resulted in a loss of life, and for that, we’re deeply sorry—”

“I’m not sorry,” Connor interjected. “They planned to hurt Julie.”

“Connor, just let her finish,” Julia said, resting a hand on his forearm. His words were alarming, yet sweet, and he didn’t seem to understand that ninety-nine percent of the world would never see it the way he did.

“We won’t release your name, but they’ll eventually find you. Until then, we’re explaining you as a friend of Ty Bateman’s. His people are ready. Our hope is, by including Ty, this will keep the focus off you and Julia dating—”

“You don’t want people to know about me?” he asked Julia, turning his concerned eyes directly toward her. The same vulnerability he’d had last night when she’d pulled away to process everything was back on his face right now. She reached for his hand, threading her fingers with his as Liz waited to continue.

“Shh, let her finish,” Julia said.

“At least long enough to get her home and back under the watch of her people,” Liz finished. It appeared Connor hadn’t heard, but they both looked over at Bruno, who’d sat silently, in a side chair across from Julia, all morning.

“You don’t have to leave. I can clearly take care of you,” Connor added quietly.

“Neither of those are the point right now,” Bruno said, giving a disgusted grunt. “This is different than anything you understand, Con. All those photographers will make you wish you were dealing with the robbery at gunpoint again.”

“Bruno! Stop saying those things to him. I want him to live with me. You’ll scare him off,” Julia said, taking a decorative pillow off the sofa and throwing it at Bruno. She’d planned to ease Connor into her world in small baby steps. Let him adjust slowly to all the craziness that followed her around. What she hadn’t anticipated was the complete silence from her staff. Bruno’s concrete, stern face morphed into humor as he stared back at her, since he would be the only one who understood the magnitude of her feelings for Connor because he’d witnessed them firsthand.

The four people that split the screen stopped what they were doing, and all their eyes focused on Julia.

“I guess I haven’t made that clear. He’s leaving the military, and I want him to come to LA with me permanently. I’m not sure I’ve even suggested that to him.”

She could feel the heat staining her cheeks and cast a sideways glance in Connor’s direction as he scooted out of the view of the screen. His expression turned to one of shock in an instant. She narrowed her eyes and looked down at everyone on the screen. Had he never seriously considered their future? No, that wasn’t possible. He was just as into them as she was.

“We’ll keep that on the DL for right now,” Liz said, decisively. Her face morphed into something as she bent away from the camera and then came back. “Yeah, based on the google alert I just got, he’s out in the world. Did you two have dinner out last night? Your pictures are trending on social media… Hang on, let me blow it up… He’s kissing you. Yeah, it’s out.”

Julia glanced over at Connor, all the worry she’d just had faded as she laughed out loud, speaking to her staff. “Connor’s turning pale.”

“Connor, here’s the important part. When you’re asked questions, stay silent or say no comment. Don’t acknowledge them no matter what comes out of their mouths. And for God’s sake, do not say you’re not sorry and don’t hint to how strong your feelings are for Julia,” Liz instructed.

“We’ll see,” Connor muttered while rising off the sofa. She watched him walk away, torn between his statement and the sensational way his ass bounced in those well-worn blue jeans as he strutted away in those cowboy boots.

“The other thing is that I’m going home now,” Julia called out when he disappeared into the kitchen.

He came right back through the doorway. “What? I thought tonight.”

“I need to be at home in case this blows up, and it may if that family goes to the press,” she explained, unreasonably happy he looked upset at the prospect of her leaving sooner. He came back across the room and sat right beside her.

Connor leaned into her, whispering, “I don’t want you to leave yet.”

“I have to,” she leaned closer and whispered back, even though she knew the others could hear.

“I don’t want you to go. I’m not ready,” he said again as if she may not have understood.

The collective sighs from the computer made her smile as she stared at her guy. He was just so unknowingly sweet and romantic.

“Come to LA tomorrow. Tell your family, then come stay with me. I have a small place in back if you aren’t comfortable in my house. You can work from there on everything you and the guys talked about at dinner.” When she could see the reluctance coming into his expression, Julia lowered her voice even further. “It’ll give you time to iron out the details with Reed, see if you’re interested, and we can spend private time together. I won’t be able to move around as freely as I did before.”

Connor seemed the one to have more sense. He looked around and her gaze followed. All eyes from the screen and Bruno’s were on them. Connor shoved off the sofa, looking down at Julia. “Finish up and come to the kitchen. We’ll talk.”

He didn’t wait for her answer or give her any clue what he thought about her idea. Looking down at the screen, she itched to go finish the conversation with Connor and abruptly said, “Are we done?”

“I am,” Liz said, and Julia didn’t hesitate in shutting the screen, severing everyone’s connection since she’d been the one to initiate the call.

“I’ll go pack,” Bruno offered. Julia nodded at what amounted to an offer for privacy and went for the kitchen.

~~~

Connor washed his hands in the sink, the brunch he’d prepared completely forgotten as that all too familiar roil in his stomach intensified. He’d never been on this side of things before, he was always the one to ship off, and more than anything, he didn’t want Julie to leave.

He’d dreaded the idea of her leaving ten hours from now. This pushed everything up too fast.

“What did you make?” she asked from behind him. He looked over his shoulder. She stood about two feet away.

“I…” Holding her gaze became too much and he turned away. It intensified the exact reasons he didn’t want her to leave. Her presence balanced him. He thoroughly enjoyed every minute of her company and that spoke volumes for both his head and his heart since he’d been a man who’d spent most of his adult life completely alone.

“Just a little bit of breakfast and some lunch,” he finally said and reached for the hand towel. He worked to school his features, making sure his go-to expressionless look blanketed his face before turning back toward her. She looked worried, biting at her lip as she leaned a hip against the counter. When he leaned back against the sink, she moved, walking toward him, trailing a fingertip along the counter until she stood in front of him. She hesitated before taking the final step between his parted thighs, wrapping her arms around his midsection as she lifted on her tiptoes to kiss his lips.

“I move around freer than Ty, but I don’t have a lot of room when the press targets me,” she said, still on her tiptoes. “I know this could really complicate things between us.”

“We’ve been complicated from the beginning,” he answered, not entirely sure where she was going with this conversation. His heart feared words like ‘too complicated’ and ‘it’s me, not you’ coming from Julie.

“We haven’t talked about you and your future since I arrived, but if you come to my place, we’ll have some privacy and can figure everything out. I can help, Connor. I have access to a lot of resources. And before you say anything, I really want to be involved in your future. I want to
be
your future.”

The relief was strong as he stared down at her upturned face. He loved this woman too deeply, too quickly. The vulnerability left him more on edge than normal, but if she wanted him with her, trying to help, talking about the future, she must be experiencing all these same emotions. For some reason, that helped his heart. His fingers trailed along her cheek as he bent to kiss her lips before he answered.

“You make things better for me.” Honestly, he seemed more steady and stable in everything he did than ever before. Before Julie, the idea of civilian life scared the crap out of him. Now, he was seriously considering running his own business and trying to figure out how to keep this woman in his life. Who would have ever thought?

“I can…” she started. Connor placed a finger on her lips, silencing her.

“No. You already do. I’ve carried worries my whole life. They weigh on me. No matter what anyone sees on the outside, they’re always in my heart. Then I’m with you and you make everything lighter. Those worries fade away. I know I have head issues, but not like what they’re saying.”

“Good, then come to my house. Spend time with me there where we can be alone and really get to know each other,” she encouraged, and there was a pleading in her eyes and her voice.

“Julie, I want to say yes. I do, but this between us is moving very fast,” Connor said.

“Then think of it as a getaway. We’ll take it slow. You can have the pool house out back. It’s private and away from the house. I won’t force you into my bedroom. Let’s just see where this takes us,” she explained. It wasn’t her words that made him chuckle, but the way she said them. She was funny. She smiled brightly as she spoke, nodding, showing him that she thought she’d made a brilliant plan.

Connor truly didn’t see himself as sexist, but he still had a thing for being a man. If nothing else, he needed to be an equal, and he wasn’t when compared to her. On the flip side, staying at her house didn’t mean he was giving up his living space, and he had more than enough leave saved that he could live quite a while as they processed him out of the military. He could use the time to iron out the details of a start-up company. He’d never done anything like that before. He was certain he’d experience a learning curve. He could use some of the clear-headedness that seemed to come when Julie was around. But what if she wanted him to go out in public with her? Oh lord. He couldn’t imagine that.

“What’s the fierce look for. What’re you thinking?”

He untangled from her hold, moving away. He couldn’t think straight with her so close.

“I can’t see that I’ll do well in your world,” he said, placing a pan in the sink to soak.