Chasing Happy (Texas Desires #1)

by Rylie Roberts

  “I know you don’t believe this and it sounds like a line, but she’s different. I’d like to see this work”—he took a deep breath before he finished the sentence—“for long-term.” There, he put it all out on the table and Kade just stared at him. “Which means I must make this right with you.”

  Kade’s tic increased. What did that mean?

  “Tell me about her father.”

  “Have you asked her?”

  Reed stayed patient or at least he tried too.

  “No, but I can. I’m just not certain she knows a lot of this story. Does she?” That broke some of the cocky attitude the guy carried.

  “No, and it better stay that way,” Kade said, a little more quietly.

  “You have my word. I won’t say anything.” Reed watched as Kade unfolded his arms and took a drink. When he lost that hard, jerky edge, he was a decent-looking guy.

  “I’m not sure if that means anything,” Kade shot back, not giving an inch. Reed let the insult go. “Lara’s dad is the town drunk. He keeps trying to move here. Move in with us. I keep him at a distance. He’d suck the life out of her if given the chance. Hell, he already does, and they’re a thousand miles apart. She sends him money every paycheck. He was arrested and imprisoned for his sixth DUI the day she turned seventeen. He ran over a kid. Didn’t kill him, but he’s in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Lara spent that year trying to keep her life together. I’m sure you saw she’s smart. By then, I’d dropped out and was working. It wasn’t enough to keep a roof over her head. That’s why I joined the military. It paid better than anything else I could do.”

  “I figured that. So you provided for her in college?” he asked quickly. He’d gotten Kade talking and didn’t want him to stop.

  “She got full scholarships and her grades got her lots of grants. She worked, I just supplemented.”

  Reed nodded again. That little ache in his heart from before grew as the picture of this man’s life was being painted for him. “Your parents?”

  “Religious homophobes. Kicked out at sixteen.” Kade didn’t add anything more.

  “In an attempt to be honest, you and I have terrible parents in common.” One of the very few times in his life he’d brought up his family voluntarily.

  “It didn’t turn out so bad for you.”

  “Hate can drive a man pretty hard,” Reed said, looking Kade in the eyes. Those were also words he’d never said to anyone before. He hoped that helped in his invasion of Kade’s privacy. “The guys that attacked you, how did they get off so easy?”

  “The sheriff and judge of our little podunk county were brothers. They owned about half the county. Their sons attacked me.” The best Reed could tell, there was no real emotion in Kade’s words.

  “Motherfucker, I assumed something like that,” Reed said disgustedly. He’d watched that happen over and over in the circles he ran. Throw enough money at anything in the United States and you’d absolutely get off. “And that wasn’t the last time, was it?”

  That brought back the tic in Kade’s jaw. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen that much hate in any man’s eyes, including his own, and that said a lot. “You don’t have to answer that.”

  “I got mine. The last time they came looking for me, I whooped their asses. You can guarantee I left them broken…” Kade’s eyes went blank for a minute. “Yeah, I got mine.”

  Reed nodded, not sure what that all meant or if he even wanted to know. Some things were better left unsaid. “Lara doesn’t know that part, does she?”

  “She better not ever find out.” Kade was formidable in that moment. Reed took a deep breath before continuing.

  “You have my word. Look, I’m here to start this over between us. You had me nailed in the beginning. She changed all that very quickly. It’s even shocking to me.” Reed matched Kade’s stance, crossing his arms over his chest. Those words made him insecure, nervous, a little jittery, but he forged on, hoping a lifeline would be tossed his way. “She’s good for me. Not on my work schedule, but, for me, she’s becoming everything. I want her around full-time, for a long time. Perhaps even…forever.”

  His heart pounded in his chest right then. He’d declared his intentions. Fuck, he wanted to vomit. “I want to enhance her life, which means your life. I’m finding I want to jump in and help you keep this all afloat.”

  Kade just stared at him.

  “I know. It’s a lot to take in given the time in which all this has happened.”

  “She deserves the best, Prescott. She’s been treated like shit her whole life, and she can’t see that’s not normal. In six months, or two years, or five years, or whenever you’ve had enough, she won’t be able to see your faults. She’ll blame herself for whatever happens and stand by you to her own detriment.” Kade had angled himself toward the table as he spoke. He used his hands now, trying to make him understand his words a little more clearly.

  “There’s no way for you to see that I take commitment very seriously. It’s why I haven’t ever committed before. I’ll never allow someone I love to be in a life like you or I had. I’d let her go before I allowed that,” he tried to explain.

  “You’ll have to prove that,” Kade said, throwing him the first bone of the conversation.

  “Fair enough. Until then, you need to be a part of this. We need to start from square one.” He moved them in the direction of his primary goal—Kade’s acceptance.

  “I’m not sure I like you at all,” Kade said honestly, and Reed barked out a laugh.

  “I haven’t given you anything to like. I’ll work on that,” Reed countered. Kade was a tough one to convince. He wasn’t sure he had to work this hard in his last buyout.

  Kade sat there, silent again, intently staring at Reed.

  “I shouldn’t have rifled through your past like I did,” Reed added apologetically. He hated people digging through his history. Especially the part he had no control over.

  “I started it and you told me you were gonna dig. I didn’t doubt it.” Kade effectively dismissed his concerns.

  “In an effort to move this forward, let’s have dinner tonight,” Reed suggested, taking another sip of the ice water.

  “I could do that. It’ll make Lara happy,” Kade said after a moment’s pause. Kade reached for his wallet, thumbing through his bills. Reed thought better of insisting he pay the waitress this time. Kade was a prideful, self-sufficient man who had managed to take care of himself and Lara all these years. He was pretty sure Kade needed to pay to get it out there that he didn’t take handouts. He placed ten dollars on the table.

  “I’ll get dinner then,” Reed said, standing.

  “We’ll see. Are you telling her about the report?” Kade asked, standing.

  “I don’t know. I intended to, but she’ll want to see it and I can’t remove the information about you.” Kade nodded his agreement, walking in front of Reed through the restaurant.

  “Thank you,” Kade finally said at the front door. Reed extended his hand and Kade shook it. A tentative cease-fire.

  “Call when you’re up and around. This should please Lara. I’ll let her know about our meeting. I’ll tell her I called you down. I don’t want to lie to her, but I get that you need to keep some things to yourself. I shouldn’t have pried,” Reed said again, and he meant it.

  Kade only nodded this time. They walked through the front doors of the restaurant and stood out on the street. Kade kept going, but Reed was slower to turn away. At least this would make things better. He hopefully took this worry off the guy’s shoulders. Reed sighed and went back upstairs. Lara and her best friend were such better people than those on the path he’d dedicated his own life to. It really spoke volumes to the hate that drove him every single day. He lifted his eyes to the heavens and mouthed, “I’m hearing you.”

  Chapter 22

  She couldn’t quite shake the feeling of just being violated. Of course Lara had had a GYN exam before… Once. Warmth flooded her face as she lifted a hand to
hail a taxi, wondering how in the world in this day and age some brilliant scientist hadn’t found a better way to do a Pap smear? Stirrups, cold probing instruments, and men on stools were just not fun at all.

  “I’m going to the Press, Inc. building,” she said as she climbed into the backseat of the cab. She immediately started digging for her cellphone. The appointment had ended quicker than she’d thought it would. Candace hooked her up and they hadn’t made her wait. Her stomach rumbled loudly to make sure she knew the time. Working her phone, she dialed Reed, hoping he hadn’t already made lunch plans. When he answered, she blurted out, “I just got done.”

  “That didn’t take long,” Reed said, distracted.

  “I’m not pregnant,” she teased. There was no sound on the other end of the line for several long seconds.

  “Wait. What? Did you think you were?” She’d gotten all of Reed’s attention with that comment.

  “No, but you know we weren’t really safe in the beginning,” she said quietly, covering the mouthpiece with her hand, not wanting the driver to hear. “Hang on.” She tilted the phone away from her face. “Pull to the front there. I’ll hop out.” Pressing the cell between her ear and shoulder, she dug inside her purse with one hand to find the cash to pay the driver. “Keep the change. Okay, I’m back.”

  They were in a delivery loading zone, parked illegally. She scooted across the backseat and opened the door as fast as possible. The cab was gone before the back door closed fully. “Did you take a cab? My driver’s here. Why didn’t you use him?”

  “I can’t just use your driver. What if you need him?” She walked briskly down the sidewalk toward the front doors. A beep sounded in the earpiece and she looked down to see Kade was calling. “Hang on. I’m sorry. I missed Kade’s call earlier.”

  She switched over. “Hey, you.”

  “Wanna have lunch before I go in?” Kade asked.

  “I’m just walking into my building. Where are you?” She kept moving as fast as her heels would carry her to the front doors.

  “I’m at the corner. Turn to the right.” She turned to hear his laughter through the phone. “No, your other right.”

  She spotted Kade across the street. His smile was big and he waved. He was in uniform and that stopped her. No matter how many times she saw him that way, he always made such an impressive sight.

  “Can you have lunch?” he asked, waiting for the light to cross.

  “Yep. I have Reed on the other line. Can we include him?” she asked carefully. The two of them honestly freaked her out a little with the male bonding thing they’d dropped on her from out of nowhere. Neither was being too forthcoming with the whys or hows, and she didn’t force the answer. Choosing, instead, to be thankful everything worked out and praying it continued.

  “Sure. I’m on my way.”

  She switched over to Reed while standing there watching Kade cross the street toward her. “I’m sorry. Kade called for lunch.”

  “It’s fine. I love waiting in idle while thinking over the possibility of my girlfriend being pregnant,” Reed said dryly. She laughed at his tone. Ninety percent of the time he seemed like a really considerate normal guy. The other ten percent of the time he came across as a man accustomed to getting exactly what he wanted, whenever he wanted, because he owned the world. Which was technically the truth.

  “Why would you do that? I said I wasn’t…that.” Kade strolled up, kissing her on the cheek, and she didn’t want to say the pregnant word in front of him.

  “Hey, princess,” Kade said, placing his hands on her shoulders and turning her toward the front doors.

  “We’re having lunch downstairs in the café. Right, Kade?” she asked. He nodded as he gave her a small shove from the back to get her moving. “Can you join us?”

  “Sure, let me change a couple of things. Order for me?” he asked, distracted again.

  “The turkey, avocado penne?” she asked, following Kade to the order line.

  “That’s fine.” She’d lost all his focus again.

  “See you when you come down.” He’d already hung up.

  They made it to the front of the line and Kade ordered. She did too and then moved to the next station.

  “Big last day with Plano PD. Are they having going-away cake?” She bumped Kade in the shoulder. Of course that was her first thought—cake. No, her first thought was to ask him to bring her some, but she thought she should acknowledge the day to help butter him up.

  “I asked for a vegetable tray,” he said, moving to the checkout line. She was so shocked that she didn’t even notice he was buying their lunch until it was too late to stop him.

  “You did not!” She looked at him, horrified. She couldn’t even walk from where they stood at the outrage of such a request. Who asked for vegetables at a going-away party? “I’ve taught you better than that.”

  “Come on, princess. You can have cake here.” Kade laughed and gave her another solid shove from behind to get her walking. She finally did, shaking her head in a show of shame as she followed him to a table. Good thing he got their table marker at checkout; she’d lost all thought over his lack of a going-away cake. Poor guy.

  “Where were you coming from?” he asked, trying to change the subject. She took a seat across from him and decided she’d bake him a cake. Have one at the apartment when he got home tonight.

  “I went to the doctor.” Lara felt the blush on her cheeks. That worked to get her mind off his unnatural aversion to sweet foods.

  “Why were you at the doctor?” The concern was touching, but yeah…

  “It was the girl doctor,” she said quietly, leaning toward him. There was a moment of confusion on his face, then his cheeks turned red. She bet they matched hers.

  “Don’t tell me any more.” He flipped a dramatic hand in her face. She laughed solidly at his look of outrage.

  “I let you talk about your sex life. You should let me.” Finally getting a chance to give him a hard time was worth any embarrassment it caused. She pounced right on the taboo subject. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth as though she were going to tell him about the appointment.

  “No, stop. I’m not kidding. Stop.” He plugged his ears with his fingers.

  “Okay!” Lara said, still laughing.

  “Hey, the management called and said there are some rowdy customers in here,” Reed said, taking a seat next to Lara. As he sat, Reed reached a hand over the table to shake Kade’s. Lara eyed that exchange, much like she had this whole scenario since the truce suddenly began last weekend. She didn’t hide her surprise now or at last Sunday’s dinner, including the extended afterward patio event where they sat at a local Mexican restaurant and had margaritas as the two men got to know one another. Then on Monday morning, Reed gave Kade a pass to his gym, and they worked out together. Kade giving Reed some tips on strength training. Surreal didn’t begin to cover the situation.

  When she’d asked Reed what happened, he only gave vague answers. Kade was even less forthcoming about the subject. His only response was that she was nosey and needed to stop stirring the pot—whatever that meant.

  “When do you start with Dallas?” Reed asked Kade, taking Lara’s hand in his.

  “Monday after next.” A waitress delivered their drinks. Reed took a hearty gulp of the iced tea she ordered for him and gave a terrible look at the taste.

  “What’re you doing with your week off?” Reed asked, taking Lara’s glass of water, trading their glasses before taking a long drink. She couldn’t help but laugh.

  “No plans. Just hanging out. These were use-them days. They’re forcing me to take ’em. Something about policy.”

  “I have a place in downtown Austin, but I also have one in Laguna Beach. Both are open to you,” Reed offered. That caught Lara totally off guard. Lara just stared at him before turning, almost gaping at Kade.

  “Laguna Beach? You’ve always wanted to go there,” she declared. What a great opportunity.

  “I
don’t know.” He hesitated, probably worried about money. She wanted so badly to tell him she was being paid this week, he needed to go. She could cover more than her share of the bills.

  “All you have to do’s get there. Hell, I’ll get you there. It’s been years since I’ve been to the place. Someone needs to check the grounds, make sure it’s being taken care of.” Reed just sweetened the deal and Kade looked truly interested.

  “You should go, Kade. I owe you so much. I’ll cover rent this month,” she finally offered. She didn’t know how else to say those words without just putting them out there.

  “I could probably swing it if I drive. I could even leave tomorrow. What’ll you do while I’m gone?” he asked Lara.

  “She can stay with me,” Reed offered. Lara sat there, a little shocked that she had been one hundred percent ignored for the answer to that question. She was a grown adult; what would she do while he was away? What she did every day. That made no sense.

  “Are you sure you don’t mind?” Kade asked Reed.

  “No, it’s helping me out. Stay as long as you want. It’s not far from Crystal Cove.”

  “Have you run that course?” Kade asked. Okay, they’d made it full circle, back to talking about exercise, causing Lara to stifle her yawn.

  “No, it’s a little much for me. You’ll have to tell me if I could handle it,” Reed said, leaning back as their food came to the table.

  “Great. If you’re sure, I’ll get the details and take off in the morning.” Kade reached across the table for a quick knuckle bump with Lara, beaming at her. She obliged, glancing at Reed, who just winked at her. Whatever happened between them, she was incredibly grateful. She hadn’t seen Kade smile like that in a long time.

  Chapter 23

  Three weeks later

  Suitcases of various sizes were scattered across Lara’s bed. More clothing than she had owned in her entire life lay on top, covering every inch. Lara came out of her closet with another pair of shoes, laying them on top of one dress, then moving them to another.