Acting Happy (Texas Desires #2) (30 page)

All he could think was the million different ways this could go wrong. His original plan had included him there with them. He wasn’t entirely sure when things had changed, but now all of a sudden, he was staying behind, letting Kenzie go out with the vultures all by herself. What the hell was he thinking?

“Handle anything that comes up,” Ty called out to Julia.

“Of course. Does she know to let that happen?” Julia asked, rising off the sofa to walk toward him.

“I’ll make sure she does,” he confirmed. Ty kept his head bent, lifting his eyes to watch her walk toward him. “She doesn’t know what she’s doing out there. I should go,” Ty started before Julia stopped him.

“It’s a better idea to have the two of us out alone. Hush, and let me handle this.” There was silence as Ty stared at her several long moments.

“Okay. I’ll give her some money, but anything she wants…” Ty started, and Julia cut him off again.

“Ty, stop. You’ve been very good to me. Let me do this for you, please, and trust me. I’ll get us seen and then get us out there, I promise.”

Lara’s high heels clicking on the titled floor drew both their attention to the hall. Ty’s eyes narrowed as Kenzie came into view. The jeans she wore were low-rise and loose, rolled just enough at the bottom to show the dark tan she’d developed over the last couple of weeks in California. Her white tank top exposed a bit of her suntanned belly when she moved. The sandals matched the dangle bracelets on her wrists that matched the purse on her shoulder, and her hair was clipped back at the nape, sunglasses in place.

“I’m not so much into this scarf. It feels off to me,” she said first to Lara, then turned her gaze to Malea.

“But very stylish,” Malea instructed, coming into the foyer. “Stop touching it. Let me show you how it works.”

Just like every time he didn’t want to do something, Malea took the scarf and artfully added it around her neck. She threw her hands out like she was magic, making it perfect and forgetting any previous complaint. “You don’t have to wear jewelry on your neck now. And this one is very light. It should be comfortable.”

He couldn’t gauge Kenzie’s response, the dark glasses covered her eyes, but when she went to the entryway mirror, he decided she might be okay with the insistence and didn’t get involved.

“Are we ready?” Julia asked.

“I think so. I’m nervous,” Kenzie said, her gaze bypassing his as she focused on Julia.

“Don’t be. I have a driver who’s also my bodyguard taking us just in case we need a fast getaway,” Julia said, going for her purse on the entryway table. He didn’t add that his team would silently follow behind at a distance. “You look great. Makes me want to go home and change.”

“Oh yeah, right.” Kenzie breathed a sigh of relief, making him feel a little better about the possibility of throwing his love to the wolves this way.

Ty finally spoke, moving closer to Kenzie to lift an envelope off the table, letting the contents fall to his open palm. “Here’s an American Express in your name. Buy whatever you want, there’s no cap on this card. Got it?” he asked, but it wasn’t really a question. He picked that up and handed it to Kenzie.

“I don’t need that, Ty. You’ve already spent too much on me,” Kenzie said, rejecting the card with a lift of her hands.

“Stop. Just take it,” he said, shoving the card in the purse hanging from her shoulder. He went for the cash paper-clipped together and counted that out. “And here’s some cash.”

“Why do I need cash if I have the card?” This time she moved her purse out of the way as she spoke.

“Kenzie, take it. You might have to buy some coffee or something.” He handed the bills to Malea who stood behind Kenzie. She shoved them in her purse when Kenzie kept her focus on Ty. Lastly, he reached inside his pocket, pulling out a new iPhone. He lifted her hand, placing the device in her palm.

“It’s a new phone, new number. It has all the numbers to all my people for anything you need. The passcode is the address to your parents’ store. Feel free to change it, I just wanted it setup for you, so if you need anything today, you can call me immediately.”

“I have a phone,” she started.

“It’s an antique. You need a better one that will have reception anywhere you are,” he explained. After a second, she took the phone, not fighting him on this one. Ty guessed she may have agreed on that.

“Fifteen, fifteen?” she asked, saying the address of Stanton Station Depot.

“Yep. It was the first place I ever saw you,” he said and that earned him the brightest smile he’d seen from her all day.

“You look more like that man that came in the store that first day,” she said sweetly, taking a step toward him. He liked that move a lot.

“Oh God,” Julia said from behind him, and Malea busted out laughing.

“Ignore them.” Ty closed the small distance they had between them and placed both hands on her hips. “Kiss me before you go and promise you’ll do everything Julia says and you’ll watch yourself since I can’t be there. You have to know how bad I hate that.”

“I do and I promise,” she said, pushing up on her toes to kiss him lightly on the lips. Ty accepted the kiss, then when Kenzie started to lower, so did he, kissing her lightly again.

“Lara, you have nothing to say about all this saccharine we’re witnessing?” Malea asked.

“No, not yet. Reed and I are still like that. Everyone makes fun of us, too.”

“I can’t see Reed Prescott being that sweet,” Julia said and immediately tossed out a heartfelt, “No offense. Please don’t take that wrong.”

“He does this same thing all the time. It’s kind of a problem because everyone’s totally shocked and they just stare at us,” she explained. Ty finally looked over at the other women when he lost Kenzie’s attention to them.

“Okay, let’s get going. We have some media to trick,” Julia said, lifting a hand to playfully push Ty away from Kenzie.

“Text me and keep me posted,” Ty instructed, walking them out the front door, all the way to the waiting car where the driver jumped out to open the door. Ty eyed the guy closely. He was beefed up and had a couple of inches on Ty. Now if only there were a team of this guy, it might relieve him some.

“Stay with them,” he said when he got to the car door.

“It’s why I’m here, sir,” he said, his voice deep and gravelly. Once both women were seated, Ty bent down, sticking his head inside.

“Get out of there if anything goes down,” he said sternly, looking at Julia.

“We will, Ty. I promise. Now step away so we can go,” she added just as sternly.

“Listen to her, babe. Do what she says. I’m gonna hate not being there,” he said much more softly to Kenzie. He wished he could read those eyes behind the dark sunglasses to see what she was thinking. Right when he began to raise his hand in order to lift the frames off her face, Julia’s voice interrupted.

“Defeats the purpose. Walk away. Now,” Julia said even more sternly, pointing a finger at him. Instead of moving the sunglasses, his fingers grazed her soft cheek before he took that step back for the guy to shut the door. He stayed right there until they drove far enough down the drive that he could hear the gates opening. Kenzie hadn’t spoken since she got inside the car and that just occurred to him.

He patted his shorts pockets, feeling for his phone. She was scared. They’d ambushed her with all this out of the clear blue. “Fuck, where’s my phone?”

“Come on, Ty. This is a solid plan. Let it happen. I can fix us some lunch and then we can call Reed. I promise that’ll be fun,” Lara said.

“I’m headed back to the office. I’ll stay in touch,” Malea called out, all business again as she ducked her head inside her car.

“Come on. Let’s get food. I promised Kenzie I’d keep you occupied,” Lara said, draping an arm around his waist.

“Kenzie’s not comfortable with the staff around,” he said for no real reason except his heart had just driven away to do something risky, and he hadn’t had to be without her for weeks now.

“Yeah, I’m not either, but she’ll learn it’s not a terrible thing to not have to clean the bathroom anymore,” Lara said, guiding him up the steps until Ty wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“Thank you for coming. She doesn’t have a lot of friends right now.”

“Neither do I, but I like her a lot. I know how overwhelming it can all be. Concentrate on the food. I’m always thinking about food. It’s a great diversion. Let’s go see what we can find.” He let her get them all the way inside with the door shut before he went in search of his cell phone.

After about thirty minutes of slowly walking down the sidewalk, Kenzie was pretty sure they’d failed. No one seemed to pay any attention to the fact Julia Holly was out in the world. On the upside, after getting past being star struck, Kenzie was pretty sure Julia might be one of the most down to earth people she’d ever met. There was no awkwardness to her. She was comfortable in her own skin and incredibly kind.

“Now, how did you two meet?” Julia asked, her gaze scanning all the trinkets in one window as they moved slowly past several shops.

“In the mountains in Tennessee,” Kenzie said as she stared inside the window.

“That sounds like Ty. He always talks about being a wilderness man.”

“I think he likes it there a lot. He complains about being back here,” she said, moving a step or two ahead to the next window, looking at the paintings on display. The artist was amazing, and she found herself coming to a stop to look over everything hanging within view. Kenzie moved in closer when she spotted a small miniature on a shelf inside the building. Her eyes narrowed, trying to get a better look. Malea had told her not to remove the glasses for any reason, but they were too dark to really tell what she was looking at. “Can we go inside?”

“Of course. You see something you like?” she asked, heading toward the front door.

“Maybe. It’s hard to believe it would be here.” They opened the door, the bells rattling, alerting the shop that someone entered. Kenzie watched all heads turn, their eyes moving past her straight to Julia. As the people went a little nuts, Kenzie went for the back wall where a small, not much bigger than a postcard, miniature painting was on display. Shockingly, as she got closer, she was certain it had to be from the Smoky Mountains. Her guess was a shot of sunset atop Mount Le Conte.

She reached out to pick up the landscape and someone behind her placed a hand on her arm, stopping her. “I’m sorry. We don’t allow the art to be handled. Are you interested in the piece?”

“Is it the Smoky Mountains?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at the woman. It confused Kenzie to see the startled expression on the clerk’s face and then watch her go utterly unreadable.

“Let’s ask—” she started to say and her voice broke. The clerk quickly cleared her throat and started again. “Let’s ask my husband. He’s the artist for most of these.” Her eyes never left Kenzie’s face as she carefully reached for the piece then turned, heading to the group still focused on Julia. “Steven, look who else we have here.”

“You’re the woman all over the tabloids right now,” he said, his smile growing broad. He was an older man, wearing trendy linen capris and a paint-splattered, oversized dress shirt. “You two together. How can that be? Julia’s the scorned lover tossed aside and you’re the con man, gold digger criminal who’s taking poor Ty Bateman’s millions.”

Okay, that took a second to digest. She hadn’t heard it said so plainly. Thank God Julia’s laughter saved her from answering.

“Oh my, is that what they’re saying?” she asked, convincingly. Kenzie turned to Julia totally believing she hadn’t ever heard that said before.

“Actually they’re using a lot more words than that,” someone else added.

“Isn’t that hilarious, Kenz?” Julia asked, smiling so bright that she found her lips automatically curving into a smile.

“Yeah, it is.” Except she didn’t think there was anything funny about it at all.

“The truth is she and I are great friends. It just doesn’t seem to matter how many times I’ve said I haven’t dated Ty, people don’t wanna believe me.”

“I think it’s the fairy tale. You two look so pretty together,” the woman who helped Kenzie added a little dreamily as she moved behind the counter. Once she realized her unguarded words, the clerk’s horror showed on her face. She immediately turned to Kenzie and began to apologize. “Please, no offense. I don’t think that at all. It’s what everyone else is saying,” she stammered until she turned to the artist. “Steven, she has a question about the small mountain landscape.”

Kenzie was slower to respond. The backhanded insults were flying freely and took a second more to digest. Thankfully, this time Steven spoke up, keeping her from having to respond. “This is something I painted years ago. It’s the Smoky Mountains. Are you familiar with the area?”

“Yes, I am. How much is this?”

“I’ve turned down many people over the years. I wanted a good home for this particular one. It’s where I met my wife,” Steven said, his gaze cast down toward the painting.

“It’s where I met Ty,” she added quietly, no idea if he were telling the truth or trying to get more information out of her. She looked over at Julia who just smiled at her. What did that mean? Deciding he was probably being genuine, she continued, “I’m not sure if I can afford it, but would you consider selling it to me?”

He blinked at her several long seconds. So long that she wasn’t sure if he was going to answer.

“I’ll help, Kenzie. How much?” Julia said, her voice a little harder now.

“You want this as a gift for Ty Bateman, and you’re not sure if you have enough money?” the man asked in surprise.

“Yes, I think I need a stand, too. I’m not sure if he has one,” she said.

“Then this painting is my gift to you. I can’t think of a better home for this little jewel,” he said excitedly.

“Oh no! Sir, I have some money—” Kenzie started to object, but he cut her off.

“No, I insist. This one’s special. But when you’re in need of some original art, you know where to come.”

She was shaking her head no as he nodded yes.

“Should I take this from him?” Kenzie asked Julia. She couldn’t ever remember anyone just giving her something like this before. It didn’t seem right.

“Of course,” Julia said brightly, nodding at her like she was crazy. Julia reached for her arm, pulling her close to whisper in her ear. “He’s gonna be paid big for this lead. Let it happen.”

When she looked up, confused at those words, Julia leaned in again and continued, “The clerk texted someone, and now he’s got your painting in the back when there’s a wrapping station right there on the counter. He’s probably just trying to keep us here long enough to get his shop in the pictures.”

“No, I don’t think so,” Kenzie said, shaking her head. “He seemed sincere. Especially about his wife.”

“Not around here. Everyone’s an actor,” she whispered bitterly. Kenzie looked around. The picture and the man were gone, and the clerk was just coming to the counter from a back door. When had they even left the room? Julia spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. “Perhaps we should go get some coffee and I can send someone back when it’s ready.”

“Hang on. Let me check. It won’t take him long. He just wants to keep it safe,” the artist’s wife said, pivoting on her heels, heading back behind a curtain. About five minutes later, Kenzie and Julia were leaving the art studio, picture tucked securely in her purse and the crowd on the sidewalk had at least tripled in size, but it wasn’t like in Dallas. No one was standing ready to take their picture. There was nothing obvious about all these people.

“How about that coffee,” Julia said rather loudly, hooking her arm through Kenzie’s. She hadn’t actually agree to the coffee, but Julia picked up her stride, forcing Kenzie to fall into step. “What a wonderful surprise for Ty. He’ll love that gift so much.” Okay, that was definitely louder than any conversation they’d had up until this point. “He’s lucky to have you. I’m glad he knows that.”

“He’s very special,” she answered, looking down, rearranging her purse on her arm.

“I’m sorry, what?” Julia asked.

“Ty’s a very special guy,” she said a louder, looking over at Julia a little puzzled. Had she missed a hearing problem?

Julia left her side, reaching out to catch the shop’s door. “Here we are.”

It wasn’t until they were fully inside and waiting for their order that Julia leaned in and whispered, “They’re recording everything out there. I wanted them to hear you say that.”

When Kenzie went to turn her head and look outside, Julie said abruptly, “No! I don’t think they know that we know. That’ll change everything. Right now, they think they’re being secretive to catch us unguarded. Our car’s trailing behind us. He’ll be parked outside. We’ll get the coffee and go, but right now, turn a big smile toward me.”

Kenzie did just that.

“Very good!” Julia exclaimed and smiled back at her until she started to laugh.

“Your coffee,” the clerk said. Julia reached for Kenzie’s, handing it over and then took her own.

“Now, keep that smile on your face. Bruno’s waiting by the car door. Walk out and slide inside the backseat. I’ll follow.”

“Is that his name?” she asked and waited to turn to the front of the coffee shop until Julia did.

“No! I nicknamed him. He goes everywhere with me now. No one gets close when he’s on the job.” Julia opened the door, letting Kenzie walk through about the time her driver opened the back car door. Julia was absolutely right. When it looked like they were leaving the area, the pretense ended and all the hidden cameras began to click. Only four steps and she was scooting across the backseat. Julia followed, the door shut, and the driver got behind the wheel. Julia extended a hand for a high five as they pulled onto the highway. “I think we did it. That artist should be interviewed about a hundred times by five o’clock.”

~~~

Lara was such a breath of fresh air. Ty smiled as she sat him strategically on the sofa then placed the laptop on the coffee table in front of him and used her cell phone’s hot spot to sync the television with her computer. When he’d figured out that she planned to distract him with the phone call to Reed, he’d had his doubts, but the plan totally worked.

“I can turn on the Internet,” Ty offered.

“It works? Like it’s worked this whole time?”

“Of course. We’re in Beverly Hills. Things like Internet outages are few and far between,” Ty said, and rose, heading for his office. He quickly plugged in the modem, and by the time he got back, Lara was already in the process of changing the network setting.

“What’s the password?” she asked, her fingers on the keyboard, waiting for him.

“Password.”

“Right, what’s the passcode?” she said, her pretty face turned up to his.

“The passcode is password,” he said, taking the seat next to hers.

“Oh, okay! Got it. Hang on.” Lara put the laptop on what little lap she had left and began to type until the television screen lit up with the Google icon. A phone started ringing and Lara increased the volume. Seconds later, Reed was on the television screen, his always present scowl fading away when he saw Lara.

“Hi, baby, everything good?”

“Yes, we’re doing great,” Lara said and rubbed her belly. “Say hi to Ty.”

“Hi.”

“Hey, man. Thanks for sending your woman here to check on us. Means a lot.” Reed’s gaze slid to Ty, turning irritated.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what happened,” Reed said sarcastically, making Ty laugh. “When are you gonna be home? Thomas said he hadn’t heard from you yet.”

“That’s the reason I’m calling,” Lara started, and that scowl Ty had known for all of his adult life wrinkled Reed’s forehead as his brows snapped together. Ty chuckled and Lara elbowed him in the ribs.

“Lara, I don’t want you to stay the night. We didn’t agree to that,” Reed started.

“Reed, you do it all the time,” Lara countered.

“That’s work, and I don’t do it all the time. I try to be home every single night,” he said, not letting that excuse hold any weight.

“This is work too and Kenzie needs me. She’s out right now with Julia. They hit the streets together. Isn’t that great?” she asked in a complete diversionary tactic.

“If she has Julia, why does she need you?” Reed’s one-track mind caused Ty to laugh again. He had a good point.

“It was a covert operation, buddy. Something we came up with this morning. I’ll keep an eye on Lara. We’ve been stuck in the house since we got here. It’ll be good to have her here. I’ll make sure she gets to the airport safely in the morning,” Ty said, proud of the argument he created in Lara’s little game.

Reed just cut his eyes back to Ty and stared with a very clear fuck-you glare before turning a tender gaze toward Lara. He lowered his voice, his face getting large in the screen as he moved closer to the camera. “I don’t sleep good without you here.”

Dear God, that was the most pathetic sounding voice he’d ever heard, and he laughed straight out loud that time. Luckily his phone saved him. The thing started going nuts in his pocket. Ty palmed it, drawing Lara’s eyes to his hands. He opened the screen, and it was filled with alerts that his name had been used on the Internet. Pulling the first one up, he saw a picture of Julia and his beautiful Kenzie strolling arm in arm toward the coffee shop. He opened the next picture to see Kenzie smiling brightly at Julia who returned the smile while inside the shop. The caption read “Ty Bateman’s Women Comparing Notes. Probably Not a Good Thing For The Guy
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”

Ty used his thumb to scroll his newsfeed to see about the same kind of pictures and article headlines all the way down the screen.