Acting Happy (Texas Desires #2)

by Rylie Roberts

  “When I walked in this morning on your meeting, you were angry. I could see it on your face,” she said, letting the fingertips of one hand glide down his neck and over his collarbone toward his chest until she toyed with one nipple. She wasn’t entirely sure what was driving these questions. There just seemed to be two very different sides to Ty’s personality. This morning, the look he held when she opened the door seemed to match the annoyed as hell guy who’d greeted her outside the restaurant the other night in Dallas. Yet, he’d always been so kind and considerate to her. He still was actually. Those bad moods were never directed toward her.

  “I was mad this morning because they were here. I have to beg to get a few weeks of vacation a year and they just showed up. They didn’t need to be here. They know what should be done,” he tried to explain, taking another long drink from his glass.

  “You truly only get a few weeks off every year?” she asked then leaned forward, kissing the space right behind his ear when she lost his attention. He looked away, moving the glass farther away on the side of the pool.

  “I told you I work a lot. Even before I met you I wanted to find ways to cut that back some. I’m getting tired of it all, baby,” Ty said, looking back at her. He searched her face, his gaze conveying something important that she couldn’t fully read.

  “Hmmm. And you want me to stay here permanently with you?” she asked again, staring him straight in the eyes. She had so much uncertainty of how she fit into his life, especially after coming here. In the beginning, she knew there would be a learning curve, but now she could see his life was like living on another planet. She wasn’t sure she could learn enough to ever properly fit.

  “Yes. There’s absolutely no question about that. I want you here,” he said very plainly, letting that sit between them. Ty turned to the side, wrapping an arm around her waist. In the adjustment, she was able to keep one arm around his shoulders. She gazed over his handsome face and lifted a hand, letting her fingers move those longer on top pieces of hair off his forehead and out of his eyes. “I’ve told you that I know it’s fast, but I’m stuck behind all these walls. I know it’s asking a lot. I’m trying to make it easier on you.”

  “It’s not a problem being here with you, Ty. It’s actually like a fairy tale. Look around,” she said, spreading her arm out over the backyard.

  “It’ll get boring being so restricted, but it shouldn’t take long for people to realize you’re here to stay,” he said, reaching for the glass, draining the rest of the margarita. “And you’re planning to be here to stay, right?”

  That was new. He’d never asked that before. Maybe he needed that last little bit in the glass for some liquid courage which she found odd. The Ty she had always known was strong, bold, and always went after what he wanted. Nothing stood in his way.

  “It’s hard to see how I fit here, but I’m willing to try and figure it all out,” she answered honestly.

  “Good, that’s what I want,” he said, wrapping a hand around the nape of her neck, drawing her head down to lightly kiss his lips.

  “So tell me about an average day in your life. This stomach’s all muscled up, but I haven’t seen you work out except that morning with Kade,” she said, reaching low to let her fingernails tickle up his stomach. He giggled at the unexpected move and grabbed her hand in his. She’d have to remember he was ticklish.

  “Titan’s Fall starts filming soon, and I’ll have to start working out every day again.”

  After a second, he used that brute strength he had to scoop her off the side and place her in his lap, back in the water. This time she was almost chest to chest with him, her legs spread far apart, her knees scrapping against the side of the pool. He held her there with both his hands gripping her bottom. “I like this better. You can come to the set with me every day if you want. It’s long hours, but I have a trailer and a dressing room you can work in or you can stay here, or both, whatever you want to do. I’ll be home most nights. That schedule only holds for about ten weeks, then I’m seriously scaling back.”

  “Is it too much for you that I’m here, Ty? Will I be a burden? Be honest with me.”

  “No, not at all. You make it bearable. I wasn’t sure I was able to be happy. You showed me I was. It’s your turn to be honest, why are you asking all this?” he asked, those amber eyes growing intense as he stared intently at her.

  “You get angry about this world. I see it, and I keep telling myself it’s a reasonable anger. It’s not directed toward me. I know it’s my hang-up. It just makes me go back to those years with Jason. I can’t help it,” she confessed and bit at her lip.

  “I’m not like him, Kenzie. You can’t think I am… Do you?” he asked, and his grip moved to her thighs and grew tighter. When she didn’t answer right away, something else crossed his face—something unknown—and he started to speak again. “I’m angry because the result of my work over the last decade has me so isolated I can’t leave my house without people following me and creating lies about everything I do, and those lies feed a growing frenzy. For some reason, it never stops with me. They never get off my back or get enough. I honestly don’t know why. I’m appreciative for what I have, but I hate the intense gossip and extreme loneliness. I don’t have friends here because it’s asking too much to put anyone through this, and then I met you. I can’t seem to let you go. Now, I’m afraid that’ll be directed toward you until we show them we’re together permanently. It also makes me angry to already be having to say words like permanently and forever to you—but that’s my fucked up life. You have to see this as weird.”

  She laughed right in his serious face.

  “You think this is weird? I was worried about prison time up until a few days ago, now I’m sitting in a swimming pool with the world’s sexiest man alive talking about wanting to be with me forever. I’m just hanging on for the ride, Ty,” she said, smiling so big that he eventually grinned back.

  “See, you’re like magic. You make me feel instantly better,” he said. In all her seriousness, she’d totally missed that roaming hand pulling at the string of the bathing suit top until it came free and hung around her neck.

  “Ty!” she exclaimed, bringing her hands up to cover her breasts.

  “I really wanna make love to you in this pool,” he said suggestively, yanking at her hands to free her breasts.

  “You have people in the house,” she exclaimed. His octopus arms had one hand sliding inside the back of her bikini. She swatted at that hand.

  “So if I give them the night off, you’ll do me in this pool?” he asked until she finally abandoned the need to cover herself and grabbed both his arms. His countermove was to lift his palms to cover her breasts himself.

  “You’re a mess.” Kenzie reached out to tie the straps back, ignoring the sensual way he caressed each swell while toying with her nipples.

  “I’m in love,” Ty said. He lifted a foot to the side of the pool and hoisted them both out of the water, keeping her tucked around his body. He never struggled with her body weight. “I promise, I’m gonna do what it takes to make you happy.”

  Kenzie wrapped both arms around his neck, pressing her upper body against his chest, thrilled every time he pulled these kinds of possessive moves. “I think we need to work on making you happy.”

  Ty headed straight for the master bedroom, using one hand to push the door open. “That’s the difference between you and every other person in my life. Nobody else cares if I’m happy.”

  “Then I’m glad I’m here.”

  “Me too.”

  Chapter 33

  Ten days later

  Being sequestered in the house with Kenzie wasn’t a hardship. Ty learned early on to give the housekeepers and lawn staff a three-hour window in the morning to complete their jobs and get out the door before Kenzie woke for the day. She didn’t do well adapting to the life of wealth and tended to either want to help the team in completing their tasks or stay hidden until they left for the day. Once gon
e, Kenzie would open up and blossom like he’d never seen her do before.

  Each day that passed solidified his decision to keep Kenzie around. No question, she was his perfect match, everything he ever wanted in a woman, and for the first time in his life, he understood the power of appreciation because he thanked his lucky stars for putting this woman in his path.

  All the obstacles that could destroy this good vibe were still there. He discreetly stayed updated on the media frenzy relating to her. She’d been identified, and her criminal past made public to the world. Luckily, the dismissal papers had been processed. Reed must have been monitoring the situation because that was a fast turnaround for such a cumbersome court system.

  The tabloids painted Kenzie as a deceptive gold digger, and the adoring public wanted to protect him from such a monster. Funny how attitudes shifted. For the last two years, he’d been portrayed as a cold, unfeeling, angry man. Today those same people wanted to guard his fragile heart.

  A few days into his last week of vacation, Ty sat at the kitchen table, drinking from his third cup of coffee. Since he’d had his internet connection turned off in the house, he was using his phone to stay caught up on how effectively his staff was handling all these attacks on Kenzie. Based on what he’d read, their attempts to lead gossip in another direction seemed futile, and that was interesting, because that was where they shined. It was past time that something should have happened to turn the attention away from him and Kenzie.

  His phone went nuts in his hands at the same time Kenzie came through the kitchen looking sleepy-eyed and sexy as hell wearing his T-shirt. Her internal clock had become remarkable at knowing exactly when to wake right as the staff ended their day.

  “Good morning,” he said as she rubbed her eyes. She came toward him, leaned down for a soft kiss then went for a cup of coffee. He loved being first before coffee.

  The second incoming text had him looking down to see the message was from Julia. Regardless of how close everyone in the world thought they were, they didn’t talk that often. Ty ran a finger over the phone and pulled up the message.

  “Hey, it’s Julia, you doing okay?” was the first message bubble.

  “I put out a second statement wishing you two the best, but nothing seems to be helping. If you need me to do anything else, let me know. I’m sorry about this, Ty. You deserve better.”

  Kenzie came back toward the table, and he quickly pushed the side button on the phone to darken the screen as he shoved back in his chair, reaching for her hips to guide her to his lap. She hooked one arm around his neck in a move he adored and smiled. Once settled, she sipped from the mug, testing the temperature.

  “You didn’t sleep very long,” she said after taking another bigger drink while brushing a hand over his messy hair.

  “I had some things on my mind,” Ty answered, sliding his hands around her hips to keep her right there with him.

  “Like what?” Her pretty face turned concerned.

  “Hmm, let’s see, a blonde vixen who seems to have robbed me of any thought outside of her, including all my sleep. I’m battling some serious insomnia,” he explained, his eyes scanning her face. He seemed to do that a lot, just wanting to memorize every part of her.

  “You’re too charming, Ty Bateman. Is the Internet working yet?” she asked, before taking another drink. She always dodged discussion of emotional states, so her quick change of subject didn’t surprise him. He wasn’t sure what her avoidance meant or what was going on with her, but he decided her actions spoke louder, and based on those, she was still just as into him as he was her.

  “Not yet. I can make us breakfast,” he said, breaking eye contact. Above anything, he hated lying to her.

  “I could go for some scrambled eggs,” Kenzie said, her face turning hopeful.

  “Scrambled eggs it is then,” he said and regretfully put her back on her feet. When he rose, she took the chair he’d been sitting in. “What are we doing today?”

  “I thought we were gonna watch the older movies you were in.”

  “Ugh!” he said, digging for the bacon and eggs in the refrigerator. “I was hoping you’d forget that idea.”

  “No way! Old movies in the movie room. I’m in!” she said excitedly.

  “Which ones did you want to see?” he asked, putting the food on the counter and reaching down to find a skillet.

  “I don’t know. I need to look. I’m not sure what you’ve been in.”

  He stopped, looked up over the counter directly at her. She was trying hard to hide her smile, the foot of her crossed leg bouncing in her amusement.

  “The blows keep coming!” he teased and ducked down again to find what he was looking for. “How can I wow you with my movie star celebrity if you don’t know who I am?”

  “Well, I know you were in Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” she said, and he laughed, pulling out two skillets, placing them both on the stove, looking at her over his shoulder.

  “Ha. Ha. That was Brad Pitt.”

  “Oh, well, you were in The Notebook.” She sounded very thoughtful when she spoke, and he again stopped what he was doing to stare at her. She had jokes this morning.

  “Not funny again. That was Ryan Gosling.”

  “Hmm… Let me think.” Kenzie lifted her eyes, looking away in deep thought as she tapped a finger on the side of her face. She was absolutely adorable trying to hide her smile. Laughter erupted in the form of a giggle as her gaze connected with his. “You make it hard to think when you’re looking at me.”

  Placing both hands on the counter separating them, he held the glare as his body began that familiar stir that happened anytime she was a round for longer than a few minutes. He’d had more sex in the last few weeks than he’d had in the last year and it still wasn’t enough. Within seconds, his cock went unyieldingly rigid, jutting out because of those sparkling blue eyes. “I’ll agree to the movies if you promise to make out with me like we were teenagers.”

  “Done. Besides, isn’t that about all we do anyway?”

  She had a point. He abandoned the breakfast and adjusted the tent he had going on inside his shorts as he moved around the counter toward her. She barely got her coffee mug out of her hands and on the table before he pulled her into his arms. He lifted the T-shirt she wore, his hands skimming her skin until he cupped each of her ass cheeks and tugged her closer.

  He drew her firmly against his chest, lowering to whisper next to her ear. “I’m turned on.” He ground his hard dick into her stomach to prove the point.

  “Another perplexing statement. Hmmm…aren’t you always?” she teased, wrapping her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly to her. Ty’s brow snapped together when her breath ghosted across his shirt-covered nipple. Had she done that on purpose?

  “I am with you, that’s for sure.” He bent and gave a small groan as he tossed her over his shoulder, ignoring her loud yelp while making fast time to the bedroom.

  Chapter 34

  Several boxes arrived, making today almost like Christmas as Kenzie sat in Ty’s office unpacking each one. She pulled out a new laptop, printer, something called a docking station, and about a ton of different cords and instruction manuals. When she had everything unwrapped and all the shiny new equipment spread across the table, she picked up her cell phone to call Lara.

  “Hey, you,” Lara said when she answered the phone.

  “How you feeling?” she asked, anchoring the phone on her shoulder as she put all the padding back inside the boxes.

  “I feel fine, and she’s doing good per the doctor’s visit this morning. How’s the Internet coming?” Since arriving in California, Kenzie had talked to Lara every single day, solidifying the friendship they’d started in Dallas.

  “Are you talking to me?” Ty asked, sticking his head in the office door.

  “No, I called Lara. I have a question for you, though. What’s going on with the Internet? Are we getting it soon?” she asked, looking up at Ty as she worked.

  “
I’ll call and check the status. I forgot,” he said, coming toward her, his brows waggling on the next comment. “I think it’s all that good lovin’ that’s got my memory in the toilet.”

  “Ty! I’m on the phone,” she exclaimed, feeling heat rushing to her cheeks. Quickly she said to Lara, “I hope you didn’t hear that.”

  “It’s okay. You’ll see when we start working together that Reed has rules for everyone regarding PDAs and sexual harassment in the workplace, except for himself. He’s not very good at keeping his hands to himself.” Lara gave the briefest of pauses, laughing a little to help validate that point. “I was wondering if you were up for company? I was just talking to Reed about a quick trip to LA. Your stuff’s due to arrive today, and I was thinking if I came out there, we could do a crash course in foundation work. I know you’re not supposed to officially start yet, but it seems like a good time for me to come out. I see my doctor putting the brakes on traveling soon.”

  “I’d love to see you. When were you thinking?” When Ty looked interested, she quickly explained, catching him up before Lara answered.

  “I thought maybe I could come tomorrow. It might help divert your attention, but you honestly sound wonderful. I’m proud of you for not letting all that bother you,” Lara said, and Kenzie’s brows snapped together.

  “What bother me?” she asked, completely confused. The silence that came back had her eyeing Ty more closely. His face had just gone way too passive. “No, really, Lara. What would bother me? I think Ty’s been keeping secrets from me.”

  “That’s why the Internet’s out,” Lara said quietly.

  “I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” Kenzie said. Ty rolled his eyes and started to turn away, but she caught the back of his T-shirt, keeping him from leaving as she walked in front of him, putting a hand on his chest and raising one critical brow. “What’s she talking about, Ty?”