Chasing Happy (Texas Desires #1)

by Rylie Roberts

  “Those are all neutral colors,” he said, still studying her new look as he took a place in the back of the line at the cafe.

  “You know your way around makeup. I had to ask them that question myself.”

  “It’s not my first time around a woman,” he said teasingly. She had a way of making him comfortable. Something not even Braden’s family had ever truly accomplished. For the first time in his life, he spoke unguarded. He dropped his hands inside his pockets and studied the tip of his shoe.

  If he were smart, he’d take a mental step back from Lara Hunter. Instinct said she’d be a complication.

  “Two, correct?” He looked up to see the hostess holding two menus and Lara looking at him. He nodded, but didn’t reach out to touch her this time. He needed to regroup. She’d knocked him off balance for the second time today and that would never do. He was the one always in control. He just needed his perspective back.

  ~~~

  An hour and a half later, Lara sat completely relaxed in Reed’s company. The more they talked, the more she decided Kade needed to meet this guy. Reed’s charming and attentive nature made him easy to talk to—exactly Kade’s same qualities. They’d be perfect together. And on a scale of one to ten, they both rocked a twenty on the hotness meter. It wouldn’t be hard to spend time with either one of them.

  When Reed excused himself for a bathroom break, she took her phone from her purse, quickly texted Kade, begging him to stop by the café on his way to work. He’d be in his police uniform and he always looked so dashing. Reed wouldn’t know what hit him.

  Luckily, Kade texted back just as fast, and she’d caught him right before he left for work. He had a ton of questions about her first day on the job, but the only thing that mattered was that he would be there in a few minutes. She placed her phone back inside her purse and mentally began planning Kade’s wedding. She sat there, beside herself with excitement. Hooking up these two would finally pay Kade back for the years of tender loving care he’d given her. And besides, he would then be the one to owe her for the rest of his life for hooking him up with such a man.

  “What’re you grinning about?” Reed asked, sliding in the booth across from her.

  “Nothing really, I just have someone I want you to meet,” she said. She pulled out her wallet and dug her debit card out to pay for lunch. She placed the card on top of the sales slip at the end of the table. Reed immediately reached out, placing a hand on top hers to stop her movement.

  “No way you pay for lunch,” he said. Like before, anytime he touched her, her heart skipped a beat before violently drumming in her chest. This time, his hand lingered. Her gaze darted to his face to see if he could feel the hammering of her pulse.

  His vibrant blue eyes held her in place and she couldn’t move away. She blinked once, maybe twice as her breath caught in her throat and her heart stuttered in her chest. His fingers curled around her hand and one began a slow sensual caress on top of hers.

  Her face flushed with warmth and she started to move out from under his touch. Even knowing he was gay, she wasn’t immune to his charms. Actually quite the opposite. The heightened sense of awareness intensified as he reached down, clasping her hand in both of his, keeping her from leaving his touch. It was a bold move that made no sense at all, but the arousal rocketing through her made it hard to think. Her chest rose and fell in quick, fast breaths as her eyes stayed locked on his.

  What was happening?

  “I’ll pay for the meals we have together,” he said quietly, his tone deeper somehow, more suggestive. The stare between them held. As affected as she was, nothing in his demeanor changed as he started a finger play between them, drawing her hand to the center of the table. A hard tap on the outside glass window broke the energy coursing through her, holding her captive to this moment. She got the break she needed. Thank God for Kade, who waved before pointing toward the front doors. He headed off in that direction.

  “Who’s that?” Reed’s entire demeanor changed, and she was finally able to pull her hand free. She couldn’t answer the question. Couldn’t quite form thought well enough to explain Kade was who she wanted him to meet. If only her heart would stop pounding so violently in her chest.

  What just happened?

  “Hey, princess,” Kade said, coming to stand in front of the table. Lara immediately scooted across the booth seat, giving Kade enough room to sit down. She looked up at him, her face overly bright with a giant smile, trying anything to hide the mass of conflict raging through her aroused body. She had no idea what she’d just experienced, but those things never happened to her. She had no choice but to ignore the last couple of minutes and follow through with her plan. “You look incredible.”

  “Thank you, I’ve had a morning.” She tightly, almost abusively, clasped her hands together in her lap. That had her calming down. Surely she’d misinterpreted the handhold. Reason finally returned. Kade did things like that all the time with her. Perhaps, Reed just felt comfortable around her. She had absolutely no judgment toward his lifestyle and that was hard to find in the Deep South. Surely, he had to have picked that up. Now, she needed to rein in her wayward thoughts before she ruined everything. She’d make him uneasy if she continued to be this attracted to the man she planned for Kade to spend the rest of his life with.

  “You’ve had such a big morning that you left the house as Lara Hunter entry level employee and came back the next big supermodel?” Kade nudged her shoulder, making her smile turn genuine. He was good at things like that. They were like brother and sister, actually closer if that were even possible. If he didn’t like this new look they had almost forced on her, then he’d have said so no matter who was around. His arm reached back on top of the booth, wrapping around her shoulder. “A bunch of clothes arrived at the apartment a little while ago. This explains it. So what gives?”

  She only kept her eyes on Kade to give her body the time it needed to settle down. She prayed she’d managed to calm herself enough not to embarrass either of them any further.

  “From the minute I left the house this morning, everything went wrong until I met Mr. Prescott—Reed. I’ll give you all the sordid details tonight, but I wanted you to meet a new friend of mine. I thought you two might have a lot in common.” Feeling somewhat on level ground, she finally stole a glance across the table. She steeled her spine and looked at Reed for the first time since that weird handholding thing. His expression had changed. He looked almost angry. The flashes of his early morning mood were back on his face. While she sat staring at Reed, he stared an almost angry hole through Kade. And they were in another awkward silence where none of this made any sense. Was he upset that she’d figured him out?

  Reed lifted his chin, doing that silent guy nod to Kade before he choked out a brief, “Good to meet you.”

  More interestingly, Kade made about the same move back. What in the world was going on? Kade had a friendly smile for every person he met. Reed stuck his hand out across the table, and Kade actually paused before he took the offering for a sharp, quick shake.

  Neither said another word to the other. All she understood was that her pleasant midday tour and lunch had just ended in a sea of confusion and what appeared to be pissed off men. How were they ever going to live happily ever after with all this attitude flying across the table toward one another?

  “Thank you for allowing me to make this morning up to you.” Reed pulled his wallet out and dropped three twenty-dollar bills on the table without ever looking at the total on the check. He rose, his eyes focused only on Lara. She saw a momentary softening in his expression before he just turned and left them sitting there. He never looked back.

  “It was a pleasure meeting you. I’m sorry for taking so much of your time,” Kade called out after Reed was several feet away. Lara slapped him in the arm, hoping Reed was out of earshot.

  “Stop that! He’s been really nice to me.” Kade kept his eyes on Reed’s retreating back.

  “What a tool. Jea
lous much?” Lara elbowed him in the gut, then reached across the table to retrieve her debit card. “I brought you over here to meet him. He’d be perfect for you and you blew it. You’re usually so charming. How can you meet Prince Charming if you’re so surly?” She opened her wallet, tucking the card in its spot, still wondering what had gone wrong and how she could fix this for them.

  “Yeah, and you’re clueless. He’s not into me. He’s into you,” Kade said, finally looking back at her.

  “No, he’s not. I don’t date guys like that. You do and he’s totally gay.” Kade ignored her and changed the subject.

  “So what’s going on with these clothes? What happened?”

  “Kade, focus. We need to fix this with him. He’s really very nice and has a great sense of humor. You need to see him like that. This whole lunch I’ve been sitting here listening to him talk and thinking how perfect you two would be together,” Lara said, turning in the booth to face Kade. She was so certain he and Reed would make a great couple. She wanted him to see that too, help her fix what just happened.

  “You’re honestly not very bright to be so smart,” he said, tugging on the end of her hair. It was a move he’d done to her his entire life. “Can you leave or are you working?”

  “They moved my start date back to the morning,” she answered, not wanting to give up this line of conversation, but he’d just shut her down. She’d have to bring it up later, get him on board with her plans. He could be so hardheaded sometimes.

  “Do you need change?” the waitress asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

  “No, I don’t think so. Does it cover lunch?” she asked.

  “More than, thank you.” She tucked the money in her apron and left as quickly as she came.

  “Okay, so tell me why you look so different. You always need to dress just like this.” She hip-bumped his leg, trying to scoot them out of the seat. When he finally rose, she did too.

  “Come on. I’ll fill you in. You’re never going to believe what I did.”

  Chapter 6

  The tension wouldn’t give.

  Reed ignored the pain in his shoulders and neck while using his forefingers to rub his temple. He had to do something to relieve the pressure. He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of Advil. He dry-swallowed two tablets and laid his head back against his comfortable leather chair, looking out over the downtown Dallas skyline. The city was quiet tonight.

  A deep sigh released followed by a rare moment of vulnerability. He was too young for this much adversity. But, shit if that wasn’t the story of his whole fucked up life. His entire existence led him to be exactly this man—one who took giant risks, made and lost more money than most people saw in their lifetimes, and had complete control over everything he touched or wanted. He lived for the adrenaline coursing through his body.

  He just wished it didn’t hurt so damn bad.

  Reed swiveled his head slightly to the left and ran a finger across the screen of his iPhone to check the time. A quarter past eleven. Where had the day gone? He knew the answer to that question. Why had he spent hours in the middle of a very important day trying to seduce a young, beautiful woman into his bed? Women were a dime a dozen and rarely required much to get between their legs. His wallet generally held the power of seduction for him to get whatever he wanted.

  His huge lapse in judgment and potential human resources nightmare this afternoon had to do with a pristine angel appearing from out of nowhere, right into his waiting hands. If he hadn’t tried to get to know her, he would have been a fool. That was something Reed Prescott was not. The other side of that same coin, women like her were always taken by the do-gooders in the world. Case in point, the cop who effectively ruined the sexual buzz Reed had created the few minutes before.

  Why had he let that stop him? He’d abandoned his plan and stormed off like a child unwilling to share his toys. He would have been more than happy to share. He didn’t need to own her; he just wanted to fuck her. The problem? He didn’t see the cop as the sharing type.

  An unanswered text message caught his attention. Damn, he’d forgotten to take the phone off silent again. This phone was his personal, very private number. Only eight people in the world had this number. His lifelong best friends as well as his adoptive family and Margaret. No one else. They were the closest people in the world to him, and that being said, they knew absolutely nothing about the real him. He wasn’t certain they’d stick around if they knew the beast always tugging at his ethics or the internal battle he waged every single day to keep from being the bastard he was destined to become. Genetics didn’t lie and motherfuckers ran deep throughout his lengthy DNA.

  Reed shoved away from his desk and turned off the lamps in his office. He’d wait to check the text message. He passed by the mounted flat screen and reached up to turn off the muted television he’d had on earlier to watch the stock report.

  The chestnut beauty came back to mind. She hadn’t been far from his thoughts all day, nor was the upheaval she’d created in his life. Dammit though, he never denied himself something he wanted. He was a passionate man, and he’d wanted to tap that woman more than any other he’d met in a very long time. He should have just banged her right there in the office and been done with it. She technically couldn’t sue him for sexual harassment if she hadn’t even signed her new hire paperwork yet. Right? Certainly, for the next several days, he’d regret not making that decision as he made up all the meetings he’d missed from their shared morning and early afternoon.

  Eventually, she’d become a permanent fixture in his life due to his continued involvement in the Asia project. He groaned as his headache made itself known again at the thought of his attraction to her. No question, she’d be a complication. Actually the cop would be the complication. Pissed off husbands weren’t easy to shake loose.

  A workout before bed wouldn’t be a bad thing. Release some of this stress so he could get a small amount of sleep tonight. Reed locked his office door and wound his way through the area to turn off the main lights to this part of the floor. He turned the corner to his apartment and used the keypad to enter the security code and open the door.

  The motion detectors flashed the lights on as he walked through the condo. The normal silence felt eerie tonight, not the usual solitude he enjoyed. He dropped his keys on the dresser and went straight for his closet, shedding his clothing as he went. His suit jacket was tossed across a stray chair, his slacks left on the floor where they dropped. He peeled away his dress shirt and discarded it over the built-in set of drawers. He grabbed his running shorts and an old University of Texas T-shirt and barely got them on before he lifted one foot, then the other to add ankle-cut socks. He grabbed his tennis shoes and left the apartment.

  Since he hadn’t brought his access card, he used a hidden number pad to open the elevator and get the thing moving. He slid his running shoes on and did a quick tie to each one. Probably not the best idea to go running outside this late, but if he stayed on the well-lit streets, he should be fine. Besides, he was spoiling for a fight. Maybe someone down there might be stupid enough to jump him. He rolled his shoulders and stretched his long body with anticipation.

  He hit the quiet lobby and nodded at the night security clerk. As he stepped outside, he let the brisk air energize him. The downtown noise filled his soul, and he took a deep breath, calming his nerves. The effects were immediate. He did another quick stretch before he took off. He built speed and decided to round the block. He could run the square a few times, perhaps more than that, until he loosened himself up enough to sleep. The great thing about this city—bar and eating joints were everywhere. The path was well-lit and the people comfortable as he passed by.

  About fifteen minutes into the run, he rounded the full block, prepared to go another lap when two men caught his eye. Something was different about them compared to the other club-goers he’d run past, something made them stand out.

  They were huddled together outside the
coffee shop across the street from his building. Perhaps it was the light jacket one wore in the warm night air that drew his attention to the men. After a second more, Reed realized one of the guys reminded him of Braden. He kept his pace, running straight for the men, and tried not to stare too closely as one leaned forward to kiss the other. Again, a total Braden move, and he was surprised to find he was jealous of their intimacy. How long had it been since he was content to stand with someone and just kiss them?

  Each step he took drew him closer to the pair and his gaze became riveted. They were talking quietly to one another, neither seemed to notice the world going on around them. Maybe they’d just had sex and this personal thing they shared was all that afterglow of released endorphins. Funny, that seemed to make him even more envious.

  The minute Reed decided to cross the street at the light and take the wide way around so as not to interrupt, one turned in his direction. His foot faltered as his eyes landed on Kade—Lara’s guy. Their gazes connected for one step, then two. He saw the moment Kade registered who he was as he turned fully toward him, speculation on his face. The look came with such an impact, Reed ran completely off course, getting a solid, loud honk by a passing car as he ran into the intersection.

  It startled the shit out of him to see Lara’s significant other kissing another man. In public! Wait… man? Reed corrected his stride, turned away, and ran around the block again. Could Kade be bisexual? Or a better question? Was Lara in an open relationship? That kick-started him into a faster stride. She certainly didn’t seem the type. She’d been innocent and wide-eyed. Surprisingly gorgeous inside and out. No, he didn’t see her in an open relationship. Then Kade must be a full-blown douche bag.

  When he rounded the corner again, he didn’t see Kade outside any longer. He slowed, jogging in place as he looked around, then back to the spot the two had been huddled up together. He stared at Grinders Express Coffee Shop. He’d been in there before. It was an all-night coffee, pastry, whatever kind of place. He saw two men inside, and although he didn’t get a great look at the one with Kade, he suspected one of the two was that guy. He stopped running altogether and stood there, panting for breath. He should be stretching, but instead, he made a beeline toward his suite. He needed money and information, most likely in that order.