Chasing Happy (Texas Desires #1)

by Rylie Roberts

  Fuck, he was so screwed. He shut down his computer and then reached across his desk to turn one lamp off as his telephone rang. He looked straight at the small clock on his desk—much later than he thought. On the third ring, he answered, praying whoever called on his office line wasn’t going to completely piss him off.

  “Prescott,” he said the one word greeting.

  “Why haven’t you answered your damn cell phone tonight?” Braden’s voice came through on the other end. He could hear loud music playing in the background. His buddy was a player, every bit as much as Reed, possibly even more. The only difference, Braden liked his toys to come with a cock.

  “I’m sorry, I can’t hear you,” Reed shot back, giving Braden a little shit because that was just what they did. Braden made him smile, probably the first one to cross his lips since his lunch with Lara. Actually, brooding seemed to have become his personal best friend every minute he wasn’t with Lara. That revelation formed a solid frown.

  “Fuck you. Mom’s trying to call you. She’s been trying to reach you all night. Call her,” Braden yelled above the music.

  “It’s past midnight. I’ll wake her up,” Reed countered and started patting the papers on his desk to find his cell phone.

  “She’s awake. They’re always awake. I swear to God, they never sleep.”

  “What’s she want?” Reed asked, opening a drawer to see if his phone was inside.

  “Candace told everyone you were coming to the reunion. She’s excited,” Braden said with clear amusement in his voice. Reed stopped digging for his cell and looked down at the office phone like it had grown three legs.

  “Fuckin’ shit, man. Now I have to go. Thanks a fucking lot. You could’ve said I was fucking busy, man.” Reed grimaced. He should have anticipated Candace putting this final nail in his coffin and acted sooner to head her off.

  “You got time to back out, but she’s excited. Why haven’t you answered your phone?” Reed patted his pockets and couldn’t find the thing anywhere.

  “It’s not on me,” he finally answered.

  “Only you, brother. Everybody uses their phone as a lifeline, you resist the access. Gotta go, busy night. Call her.”

  “I will.” Braden disconnected the call before he even got his words out. The damper on his already overly taxed schedule was going to be carving out three days to attend the family reunion.

  The other, much larger complication was that although the Bryants considered him a son, he’d never been comfortable with their hospitality. They’d taken him in more times in his life than he could count until his mother finally gave up custody and they adopted him. They were the only family he ever had, but he never let himself forget he was an outsider no matter what they tried to say.

  Reed rummaged through his office, looking for his cell. He found the thing in his suit jacket front pocket and looked at the screen seeing twelve missed calls from Linda, Candace, and then Braden himself. Linda Bryant was a worrier. He had no doubt she’d enlist both her children to help find him when he didn’t answer her call.

  He turned everything off in his office and left as he dialed. He prayed Braden was right about the hour and he wasn’t waking them up. She answered on the first ring. “Well there, finally. I’ve been tryin’ to get a hold of you all night, young man.”

  That had him smiling. She used the tone that meant she loved him enough to be aggravated. Being friends with Jerry Bryant was the only thing he could see that his own father had ever done right in his very short life.

  “I’m sorry, I misplaced my phone,” he said, walking toward the front door of his apartment. “Then I was afraid I’d wake you.”

  “Reed, you make me worry. When we can’t get a hold of you, I get nervous. I can’t sleep. Please do better at keepin’ up with your phone, even if it’s to tell me you’re okay.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, entering the passcode.

  “You know I hate that,” she said on a deeper sigh. She’d always hated the word ma’am. When every other educator, mother, and family made their kids use the respectful greeting, she would get so frustrated because it made her feel old.

  “I do. How are you?”

  “I’m better now. I’m hearin’ you’ve promised to make an appearance at the reunion this year. Before you back out, I want you to know I couldn’t be more pleased. Everyone’s gonna be excited to see what a fine man you’ve turned out to be.”

  Reed stayed quiet, thinking about how she’d quickly and effectively destroyed any excuse he could muster. Damn.

  “I know you’re still there, and I’m not lettin’ you back out this year. You can come down for a day. It’s not gonna kill you. I tried to book you a cabin, but they’re all full. I had Candace and Braden sharing one, but I’ll just have Candace stay with us now. You can share one with Braden.” That made him smile. Candace would absolutely hate that; served her right for setting this whole thing in motion.

  “That’s fine. I’ll bunk with Bray. Thank you for taking care of that,” he added.

  “I’ve also paid your portion on the food and signed you up for the tournament with Jerry. I haven’t shared that with Braden, but Jerry really wants to win this year and Bray isn’t much of a sportsman.”

  Reed laughed, loosening his tie before reaching inside his oven for the dinner left there to warm by housekeeping. He opened the container and moved the contents around. It was a dry rib eye, but still edible, and he reached for a fork and knife. “All right, I’ll pair up with him. But if I do this, I expect to win,” he said, digging for the steak sauce in his refrigerator.

  “Jerry, Reed’s agreed! And he says he plays to win,” Linda called out, but she hadn’t moved away from the earpiece. He got the full force of her yell.

  “Good, I’ll send him an email of the list of the activities so he can start practicin’,” Jerry tossed out in the background. Reed laughed as he anchored the phone on his shoulder, stood at the kitchen counter, and cut a big chunk of his meat.

  “Tell him, okay, but he needs to lay off the ice cream at night and start moving. I don’t want to have to pull him along in a potato sack race.” Linda thought that was hilarious, probably because it was true. Again, she yelled out what he said directly in the earpiece. He’d been a little more prepared that time and yanked the phone from his ear. “Can you send the information to Margaret in the morning so she can schedule this in?”

  “Will do, son. We love you. I’m glad you’re safe and you made us happy by agreein’ to come this year.”

  “Love you, too. Tell Jerry bye,” he said, pulling a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

  “Jerry, Reed says bye.” There was a brief pause where he could hear everything said in the background. “Honey, he says bye back to you.”

  “Goodnight.” Reed pressed the off key and lowered his phone to the counter. They made him feel almost normal. Lara seemed to have the same effect on him. Actually, it was more that they made him feel anything. It didn’t go unnoticed that, in two days, Lara had been placed on the same level as his adopted family. That angry inner voice sounded off at the thought. She hadn’t, she was sex. But the voice getting stronger and stronger called that a lie. He chose to listen to the smaller voice’s words. He took his plate, fork, and knife and went for the living room. He’d eat, watch the news and sleep. No more thoughts of amber-eyed beauties tonight.

  Chapter 9

  Lara sat in her office, nibbling between the cupcake Jonathon had brought her for her birthday and some popcorn she’d brought from home for lunch. She was about halfway through the notes on the Asian project. With brand new earbuds in her ears, she listened to a birthday playlist Kade made especially for her. They were lying on the counter for her this morning when she woke. Each song he picked had a meaning to their lives—he always did things like that and the earphones looked very much like jewelry, blending into her overall look.

  Kade knew her so well. She loved her music and found she thought with a little more c
larity with some constant background noise.

  Cooper had been right in their first meeting: the Asian project was a mess. From what she could tell in her limited life experience, the overall components were there. The purchase had been a good company move and Press International outbid many competitors to acquire the essential components of this business. It just seemed the Chinese market and perhaps their government were resentful as hell and making Press International’s visibility there a complete nightmare.

  Lists of global injunctions and financial reprimands had already been filed against the company, and the best she could tell, every one of the accusations had been unfounded. They were spending company money like crazy to defend themselves. What she couldn’t figure out was why. That was the missing piece, and until she found those answers, she’d have her hands full with this account.

  Deep in thought, she missed the first round of knocks on her office door. She actually hadn’t missed them, she just thought they were for the meeting being held next door. After another loud rap, she looked up, unhooking the bud from her ear. Jenny from the front desk had her hands full of packages for her.

  “I didn’t know it was your birthday,” she said, dropping two large gift bags on her desk. Lara quickly removed the other earbud and jumped up, trying to help with the garment bag draped over Jenny’s arm.

  “I didn’t really tell anyone,” she said, her focus on the two oversized bags. They were huge, taking up a large portion of her desk.

  “As much as I want to see what’s in there, I gotta get back to the phones,” she said, tossing out a simple “happy birthday” as she left the office. Lara looked around for a card, but suspected she knew the sender without one. Despite what Kade thought about Reed, he was being so nice to her she couldn’t find it in her heart to be anything but be impressed. She was so going to love proving Kade wrong on this one.

  When she couldn’t find an enclosure card, she just dug in. She pulled out several numbered, wrapped boxes until she got to one that had a note attached telling her to start with that one. Before opening the first one, she did a quick count. There were ten boxes in all. She’d never had so many gifts in her life.

  Lara reached over to shut her office door before pulling up a chair from the front of her desk. She opened the first box to find all sorts of makeup inside with a handwritten note from the buyer she’d met the other day on how to apply the colors for tonight. The next box was much smaller and labeled number two. It had a jeweled hair clip inside, again with a handwritten note of the best way to pull her hair back yet leave it loose and long. The third box was a state-of-the-art flat-iron with the proper instructions on curling her hair. The fourth box was a pair of Jimmy Choos said to match her dress perfectly.

  She stopped at this gift for a minute and pulled the high heels out of the box. They were more of a crystal design. They looked very romantic and definitely not to be worn except on the most special of occasions. She toed off the shoes she wore and placed one of the new ones on her foot. A perfect fit. She stood and admired the design. Thoughts of Cinderella and her glass slipper came to mind, causing her to smile even bigger.

  The next box was the smallest of all. She unwrapped this one to find a note on top with the words Happy Birthday, R scribbled on the outside of the box in a man’s handwriting. She popped open the lid to see a very simple, yet incredibly elegant diamond necklace, earrings, and bracelet, all matching.

  She almost dropped the box.

  They were the loveliest design, something she would have picked for herself, and she ran a finger over the delicate jewels at the end of the necklace. Dear God, it was beautiful. Holding the box open, she went for the garment bag and slid the zipper down about three quarters of the way. A large note was in the center of the dress. She plucked that off and opened both sides of the bag. The dress looked long, flowing, and low-cut for lack of a better word. The necklace and earrings complemented the dress perfectly.

  A quick scan of the note revealed the proper way to wear the dress and how to keep everything covered that needed to be covered. She was instructed to look in the bottom of the garment bag. There she found everything she needed to wear underneath—thigh-high nude panty hose and nothing else. Per the note, her breasts were firm and high, she didn’t need any help there and underwear would leave lines—all very practical and well stated. She didn’t know why she was blushing, but her face grew warm.

  Looking down at the jewelry, she immediately shut the lid. Regret surfaced. She couldn’t accept any of this. The office dresses were one thing, she truly believed she could pay those back, but there was no way to even put a price tag on the items scattered around her office right now. Reaching for her phone, she called the number Margaret had given her the first day they met.

  “Reed Prescott’s office,” Margaret’s strict tone came through.

  “Hi, Margaret, how are you?” Lara asked.

  “I’m fine. Happy birthday,” she said, her tone turning softer like the day they first met.

  “Did you do all this for me? I think you spent too much money this time.” She looked around at the open and unopened boxes littering her office.

  “Do what?” she asked, still very kind, but confused.

  “I’m looking at an office full of gifts,” she explained.

  “Well, that’s what he’s been up too. I wondered. I can honestly tell you I played no part in anything you have in front of you. Our guy did whatever you’re looking at on his own. I hope he did well. Last Christmas I got a George Foreman grill,” she stated dryly, which made Lara laugh.

  “He did really well. Not a grill in sight.” That made Margaret laugh.

  “I’ve been told to put you straight through if you called. Hold on a minute. He’s on a call,” she said.

  “I can call him back,” Lara started, but Margaret cut her off.

  “No, no. He said to interrupt him. Hold on, dear.” Lara waited as the on-hold music started. Not more than a minute passed before he answered.

  “Happy birthday.” His voice was deep and rich. She wasn’t sure she’d noticed that before. She was usually too preoccupied with his looks she supposed, but she liked the sound nonetheless.

  “Thank you. I can’t accept all this,” she said instantly.

  “Of course you can. And I arranged to let you have the afternoon off to get ready for tonight—if you’d like.”

  “Reed, I can’t accept these things. I get that you might not want a frump with you tonight, but the MAC makeup, the Jimmy Choos, the jewelry that looks very real? It’s too much. I can’t accept it,” she explained, her eyes going to the one Jimmy Choo shoe she still wore.

  “Of course you can. It’s a gift. You can’t send back gifts. That’s not right,” he teased. She didn’t want to seem ungrateful, she truly didn’t. “Take the afternoon off and do some pampering. I’ll pick you up about five thirty. We’ll be out late tonight. Do I need to arrange for you to have the morning off tomorrow?” he asked.

  “No, I’ll be fine. Reed, this is just too much money. I can’t in my right mind…” Lara began again.

  “It’s not too much money, and you’re right, I need you to look your best tonight. I don’t often take dates to foundation events. This is designed to impress.” Those words eased her. It wasn’t so much for her, but he needed her to look the part. She could send the majority of this back to the store tomorrow.

  “Do you need my address?” she asked after a full minute’s pause.

  “No, I’ve got it.”

  “If you’ll call, I can come down and meet you in the lobby.”

  “I’ll come up and get you, no problem,” Reed said.

  “All right. Well, thank you. And thank you for these things. I’m torn. I’m not sure how I can accept them, but I don’t want to look out of place tonight.” She moved her fingernail back to her mouth as she considered her options.

  “Good, then you’re keeping them. Thank you for calling. I need to get back to this call. I’ll
see you soon. Enjoy your afternoon, Lara.” His voice took on a different tone this time. Something soft and sinful, erasing her objections to the gifts and having her heart pick up a beat in anticipation.

  “Thank you.” Her voice was quiet and foreign, even to her.

  “Wear your hair down.”

  “I will. They sent a jewel-encrusted clasp,” she rambled.

  “Good, I like it down,” he said, his smooth voice growing gravelly. “I’ve got to hang up now. I don’t want to, but I must. I’ll see you soon.”

  “Goodbye. Thank you!” she called out, hoping he hadn’t hung up.

  There was a brief pause before he said, “You’re welcome. Bye,” and then the call ended. Lara was slower to hang up the phone as she stared at everything she’d gotten. She replayed their conversation in her mind and that spurred her on. If he needed her to look her best, she had lots of work ahead of her. She’d need every free minute she had.

  She gathered her things, dumping them back inside the gift bags, being extra careful with the Jimmy Choos. Those were wrapped individually and placed carefully back inside their box. She worked her shoes back on then quickly cleaned up the wrapping paper and turned off her computer. She had three and a half hours. Not near enough time to become beautiful. She reached for her purse, phone, and new earbuds, and knocked the drawer closed with her foot. She tossed the strap over her arm. The garment bag was next, then the two heavy large gift bags. She left the office without saying a word to anyone.

  ~~~

  Reed stood at Lara’s front door and rapped another series of quick knocks before looking down at his Rolex and then up at the numbers above the apartment door. Maybe he had the wrong address. He palmed his phone and scrolled through the limited number of contacts.

  “I’m coming, I’m coming,” he heard faintly from the other side. He barely had time to place his phone back in his front pocket before the door was yanked open. Lara stood there, slightly leaned over, her leg lifted and knee bent, sliding her foot inside a high heel shoe. The angle gave a nice, enticing view of one full breast that caused his dick to plump. Besides that, she looked like the angel he knew she would. The dress selection had been perfect.