“Yep. Wanna give it a try?” he teased. Kenzie wiggled free, took a step backward, and removed the clasp holding her hair in place.
“Can we now?” She was so excited it was contagious.
“Absolutely,” he said, pulling his shirt out of his slacks. Working his tie free of the knot, he went for the door. From the sounds coming just outside, the housekeeper was now in the bedroom, probably carrying their things inside.
“We’ll take care of that when we’re done,” he said and didn’t wait for a response. He shut the door behind him while turning back to see Kenzie pulling her dress over her head. She was wearing about the same style lingerie as last night, thigh-highs, this time minus the panties, and a see-through demicup bra, but tonight she added those spikey high-heeled boots. For dramatic effect, she’d waited until he turned back to reach around and unclasp her bra then drop it to the floor.
“Dang it! I should have worn those shoes from last night that you liked so much,” she exclaimed, frustration crossed her revealing brow as she stomped her foot and completely lost character. He chuckled because she had no idea how incredibly sexy she looked right now, and he liked Kenzie just the way she was.
“You got the desired effect.” He pulled his tie free, working on the buttons at the top of his shirt as he went for her.
Chapter 31
“Is it time to get up?” she mumbled when Ty moved her off his body and climbed from the bed. Her eyes were still closed, but she did turn her head in his direction.
“Not at all. Sleep, beautiful.” Just like always, that particular endearment brought a smile to her lips and she snuggled deeper in the soft pillow. Ty didn’t immediately turn away, instead pulled the blanket up around her, watching her face soften until the even breathing turned into soft snores again. That made him smile.
Venturing to his closet, Ty found all of his clothes hung in the organizational structure his assistant, Anthony, put together for him anywhere he went. The guy never faltered.
Sliding on his athletic shorts, Ty grabbed a T-shirt before quietly walking out of the bedroom.
It took a few minutes of going room to room before he found the kitchen where Anthony sat comfortably at the table, a prepared bite of waffles almost to his mouth. Not really surprised, Ty raked his fingers through his hair, looking around for a coffee pot.
“As your assistant, you’d think you’d tell me when you were coming home early, bringing a new woman with you, and rocking the entire entertainment industry in your wake,” Anthony said, then added the bite of food to his mouth.
“You’ve been with me for the last six years. Why in the hell would you ever think I’d do something like that?” Ty asked and started opening cabinets, looking for a coffee cup.
“Just right of the coffee pot like always,” Anthony said, not missing a beat or another bite. This time he spoke with the food in his mouth. “I’m assuming you haven’t seen the news, opened email, looked online, listened to the radio—”
Ty cut him off while pouring the hot coffee inside the cup. “You’ve been with me for the last six years. Why—”
“Point again for you. So, Malea sent me no less than thirty emails, and Rocco’s headed over now.”
Ty turned and leaned against the counter, taking a long drink of the hot brew. Malea was his pain-in-the-ass publicist. Rocco, his pain-in-the-ass manager. Neither was good news, which meant things must have escalated since yesterday.
“Catch me up?” he finally said, not really wanting to hear whatever else Anthony had to say.
“Well, since you’re clearly cheating on Julia—per the Insider—everyone wants to know who that skank is,” Anthony said the words with exaggerated attitude as he finished clearing his plate, making the perfect last bite.
“Have they found out who she is?” Ty asked.
“Not yet. Rocco tracked her to Tennessee. If it’s the right person, she has a record, but you know that, don’t you?” he asked, wiping his mouth with a napkin before lifting his soda for a drink.
“Yup. It’s dismissed,” Ty said and crossed his arms over his chest. The coffee in his hand was forgotten as he bit at his lower lip.
“Huh. So it’s true. I would have thought you were smarter. She’s pretty though. I’ll give you that.” Anthony couldn’t have done anything better to spark his anger.
“You and the rest of you guys better watch what you say about her. She doesn’t deserve the hate. She’s more than pretty. She’s smart, funny, charming, and here to stay if I have my say about it. You all better get used to her and show her the same respect you show me.”
“I thought the problem you always had was that we didn’t show you enough respect. Regardless, I told that to Rocco. You looked weirdly happy in those pictures. He couldn’t see it, but I thought your frown wasn’t quite so severe,” Anthony said, unperturbed by his threat. Anthony dumped the dishes in the sink as the doorbell rang. The aggression coursing through Ty made him abandon the mug in his hand and push from the cabinet, going for the door, but Anthony ran around him to put both hands to his chest, holding him back.
“Dude, seriously. You don’t wanna get that door. It’s really that bad. They tracked you all the way here last night. They haven’t gotten a clear shot of her except those ones from that kid’s social media account.” Anthony pushed at his chest, shoving him away from the entry. When he stayed put, Anthony kept an eye on him as he turned and opened the door before the housekeeper was able to make it down the front staircase.
From his vantage point off to the side, Ty could see Malea standing on the front porch in her severely tailored business suit, and he caught a glimpse of Rocco pulling up the drive. To have them all here this early in the morning, when he was technically still on his vacation, spoke volumes. The anger fled as dread took its place.
Ty turned to the housekeeper and pointed in the direction of the master bedroom. “When that woman wakes, please get her some fresh coffee and guide her to my office.”
“Yes, sir,” she muttered.
Ty then turned to Anthony. “I do have an office, correct?”
“Yep. I’ll show you when slowpoke gets inside,” Anthony answered. Rocco was jogging up the porch steps, clearly in work mode too. Dressed in a suit and tie, as if ready to hit the press junket.
“Ty, why didn’t you contact me before ever showing yourself with her?” Malea started as he passed by her.
“Not another word until we’re behind closed doors.” He wasn’t going to give an inch. This absolutely would play out like he wanted it to; they just needed to get on board. Not seconds after the office door closed, Rocco jumped straight in his shit.
“What the hell, Bateman? You clearly staged that departure yesterday. Couldn’t think to send us a heads up?” his voice boomed.
“Get off me, man. Everything was done on the fly, and you’ve had more than twenty-four hours to work this. I wanna know what you two got planned, and don’t say ‘nothing yet,’ because I know that’s a damn lie,” Ty countered, strolling across the room more casually than he felt then taking a seat on the sofa directly across from them.
“We aren’t entirely sure what’s going on, Ty,” Malea started. She didn’t sit, but came to stand in front of him, her arms crossed, her toe tapping. “Sometimes I think you make our jobs purposefully complicated as some sort of test.”
He mentally counted to ten, reminding himself that they just didn’t get it. They didn’t understand why anyone would intentionally look for a quieter life. “You work for me. I pay you both very well. No part of that agreement requires that I run things past you before I do them.”
Malea’s face turned disgusted as she cast her gaze to the carpet, a deep sigh escaping.
Rocco spun around, throwing his arms in the air. “Fuck, Bateman. Is that seriously your answer? Then let me tell you what’s happened. The entire world has painted you a cheater. Every post on TMZ has you hurting the sweet victim, Julia. Her camp’s ready to put out a statement, but w
e have no fucking clue who this woman is that’s with you. Is she here to stay? Is she a family friend? We have no fucking idea, so we call and we call and we fucking call again and guess what? You don’t answer your motherfucking phone.”
“You know she has a record,” Malea shot out defensively when Rocco took a break. Now both those people were peering down at him with intensely accusing gazes.
Ty did what he did best, he ignored them completely. Yes, he probably should have prepared them, and yes, he did consider her past would eventually come up, but hell, he thought he had some time to get their story straight before anyone cared.
“Her case has been dismissed, and if I can convince her to be with me, she’s here to stay. You guys don’t need me to do your jobs. You need to get this under control, put your bullshit spin on it and get it taken care of. I’m trying to talk a good, decent woman into taking a chance on me, and I don’t need all this sleazy manufactured shit getting in my way.”
All three faces jerked his way. None said one word.
“What?” Ty asked after several stunned silent seconds.
“Anthony, I need my laptop,” Rocco said, still staring at Ty.
“Not a problem.” Anthony turned immediately and left the room.
Malea went to Ty, sitting down right beside him on the sofa, her legs tightly together, her hands linked in her lap with a very concerned look on her face.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing? You can’t have known her long,” she said quietly.
“Did you know her when you lived in Texas? Is that it? An old flame? Malea, that could work,” Rocco added.
He considered lying, but decided against that. Many people believed in love at first sight, it wasn’t anything to be ashamed of.
“I didn’t know her,” he admitted quietly.
“I’ve seen this a few times in young actors who hit so big. I get you need to have your feet on the ground, but that doesn’t mean you move them in,” she said equally as quiet.
“I’m waiting for enough time to pass in order to put a ring on her finger. Does that clue you in to what’s going on? She’s hesitant. So I need you to deflect the shit off us so it gives me a fighting chance.” He watched the momentary sincerity slip from her expression, and she became calculating before his very eyes. He liked this better. That other thing, where she acted like she truly cared was something he’d never seen before and it honestly scared him a little.
“Okay, Rocco, that could work. Let me get with Julia’s people. We’ll spin this. Get a lot of information out there, leading everyone on a merry chase,” she said, snapping her fingers as she reached for her purse and pulled out her cell phone.
Anthony darted back in the room, tossing Rocco his laptop case. Rocco took a seat at the small two-seater table and pulled out his computer. “What’s going on with that criminal case? Are you certain it’s been dismissed?”
Ty’s brows snapped together as he stared at the three of them. Malea was typing frantically on her phone, Anthony worked on his computer behind the desk, and Rocco was already typing away on the laptop. The “sinister three” were hard at it, ready to spin their tales.
“It’s dismissed. I’m certain.” Ty sat in the quiet just watching them until he decided to lose some of the bravado and be honest. “Look, guys, do what you do, but I need this contained. I can keep her busy, but once filming starts, she’s gonna have hours alone.”
There was a light knock on the door that had everyone looking up. Anthony shot up, going toward the door when Ty, irritated from being interrupted, barked, “Come in!”
The door opened with Kenzie sticking her pretty face inside. Her hair was piled on top of her head. She was wearing a pair of dark purple yoga pants and a small, tight-fitting T-shirt with no bra based on the way those nipples were poking out, and a coffee cup in her hands.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bother,” she said when she looked around at the room full of people and began immediately retreating.
“Come in, babe,” Ty said, quickly rising to his feet.
“I don’t wanna interrupt,” she tried again, stepping back, closing the door. Ty reached out just in time to keep the door from shutting completely. He opened it wide, throwing her a little off balance. Her coffee sloshed in her cup, and she focused on not spilling its contents. To Ty, she looked mouthwatering with her pretty, clean face and bright eyes. He ignored the coffee, drawing her forward against his chest.
“I don’t wanna spill,” she said, holding her mug out from his body.
“How did you sleep? You looked beautiful in bed. I hated the idea of waking you.” A warm flush tinted her cheeks, and he followed her gaze as she looked around him, back inside the office. They were standing in the open doorframe with every eye trained their way. Malea’s phone slipped from her hand, tumbling to the floor.
“Kenzie, this is part of my team. Anthony’s to the right. You’ll see him a lot; he’s my assistant. Your mom might’ve talked to him when he was setting up housekeeping. Rocco over there’s my manager,” Ty said, nodding to the other man. “Malea’s my publicist.”
None of them spoke. They just kept staring. Deciding Anthony was his best bet to get over the shock value of what they were seeing, he turned back to him first. “Kenzie’s mom coordinates all the housekeeping in the area. They put together the house for you. Everything was exactly like you would have made it, even to the coffee filters.”
“Good,” Anthony answered, still staring at Kenzie until his gaze turned to Ty. When the silence got awkward, and he could feel Kenzie stiffening, he spoke directly to her. “They’re a little overwhelmed, I think. They haven’t ever been in this particular situation with me.”
“Get back to your meeting. I’ll go…do something.” Kenzie started stepping away, breaking the hold he had on her.
“Wait, no,” Anthony started, throwing up a hand to stop Kenzie. “I think you should stay. He was just barking out orders and then you come in and he’s all happy.” Anthony closed in on Kenzie with a hand extended.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said, moving her coffee mug from one hand to another in order to shake his hand.
“It’s great to meet you. You should sit in on all our meetings,” he said, nodding in affirmation as though it were the greatest idea of all time.
“Ha. Ha. Now he has jokes,” Ty said.
“I’ve always got jokes,” Anthony said, looking offended.
“No kidding,” Malea said, her hand extended to Kenzie. “It’s a pleasure.” Malea even placed a warm smile on her face as she shook Kenzie’s hand.
“We’re still on vacation. I’ll see you guys later,” Ty said and lifted a hand. Rocco automatically raised his hand.
“It was a pleasure, Kenzie.”
She lifted a hand as he turned her away from the door.
“You hungry? I can see what we can drum up in the kitchen. I’m not sure they’ve been told about your eating habits.” He turned his head back toward the office and said, “Anthony, she’s a vegetarian.”
“Ten-four, boss,” he called out.
“Are you hungry?” he asked again, circling his arm around her back as they walked toward the kitchen.
“I could eat something. How did you sleep?” she asked, her body loosening some. When he didn’t hear the door shut behind him, he looked over his shoulder and scowled at the three people standing outside his office door, watching him and Kenzie walk away.
“I told you he looked happy,” Anthony said.
Rocco’s booming laugh followed them all the way to the kitchen.
Chapter 32
Kenzie ducked her head under the warm water before swimming the few strokes she needed to be back in Ty’s waiting arms. She shoved up as he guided her in and anchored an arm around his neck, straddling his lap. He sat on a ledge that surrounded the inner part of the shallow end where he and his endless margarita had been for most of the last hour.
“You’re sexy wet,” Ty said, lo
wering his nose to nuzzle her neck. Ty’s lips on her skin were addicting. She lifted her hands behind her back, trying to swat away his as he went for the straps of her bikini—the same bikini that had magically appeared in the house a couple of hours ago.
“Come on, beautiful. No one’s gonna see,” he said, adjusting his head to the other side of her neck while trailing his fingers along the straps, moving from back to front, until he could slide his hands under the thin material covering each breast. Of course, he dislodged the top, shoving the fabric up. “Uh-oh.”
“You’re shocking,” she teased, again swatting his hands away, pulling the cups back in place before scooting out of his arms and swimming back out into the pool. This was a game they’d played over and over. This time Ty didn’t even try to draw her back. Probably because he was certain she’d be back for more in just a few minutes.
“You’re hot.” Ty drained his glass. He had to be feeling the effects of the alcohol.
“You’re the hot one,” she called out, letting her hands skim the top of the water while standing in the shallow end. He gave a very small smile and reached over to the nearby pitcher to refill his glass. He took another drink as they just stared at one another for several seconds. Kenzie finally moved closer.
“Come back, baby.”
“I think you need to eat something,” she said and changed her course. Instead, she took the steps out of the pool to the lounger, reaching for her towel. She dried her hair with the terry cloth while walking over to him. His eyes stayed on her as long as they could until she sat directly behind him, letting her legs dangle over the edge as he positioned himself securely between her spread thighs. She draped both arms around his neck, letting her fingertips caress the skin on his chest. “Are you happy here?”
“I’m happy here with you,” he immediately responded, lifting his face to where she could see him puckering up. She obliged with a kiss, letting it linger while moving her fingers to his face. She pulled back and stared him in the eyes.
Acting Happy (Texas Desires #2) Page 28
