Mission Happy (A Texas Desires Novel Book 3) (20 page)

He wet a washcloth and wrung it out to wipe down his stomach. The buzz of the orgasm had him mellow enough that his thoughts didn’t totally ruin all his good vibes. He turned off the faucet and tossed the rag in the sink before going back to the bedroom. His gaze focused on her gorgeous face. She was in bed, her sleepy eyes fighting to stay open and losing the battle.

“I liked that,” she said when she saw him on the screen. Then a yawn slipped free.

“Me too,” he said and went for Cole’s power cord lying on the desk. He plugged in the laptop and came back to bed to find Julie sound asleep with both her hands tucked under her cheek. Connor quietly got in bed, pulling the blankets around him, and positioned the computer on the nightstand so he could keep an eye on her.

She was so beautiful. If there had been any chance that he’d be able to keep his head where she was concerned, all that fell away. He was in love. The realization wasn’t the earth-shattering moment he’d thought it would be. No. This was subtle, but complete, and came with fear. How would he take care of her? How did he even begin to compete with the life she had? Would she even share these feelings?

Instead of letting his worries build steam and add stress to his life like he normally did, he just stared at the computer screen and watched her sleep.

Well past midnight, Connor pulled down the long driveway of his parents’ home, checking the rearview mirror as the headlights of Bruno’s rental crossed the front dash of the truck cab. His beauty sat right next to him with her head on his shoulder, mouth open wide, and drool wetting his sleeve. Julie had been exhausted when he’d met her at the airport, and while she’d fought sleep for the first hour of their trip back to his house, the second hour had been a different story. She hadn’t moved a muscle since she’d fallen asleep.

When he came to a stop in front of his parents’ house, Connor put the truck in park and debated whether he should try to remove her without waking her. She didn’t budge when he opened the door and the overhead light lit the cab. He grinned, thinking he might actually have a chance, but then Bruno leaned in the open door.

“This is better than I’d hoped.” The bodyguard’s gruff, booming voice dashed his hope of not waking Julie.

“We’re pretty secluded out here,” he said with a purposeful whisper, lifting a finger to his lips as he looked over to see her stirring.
Too little, too late.
Julie raised her head and shifted to a sitting position. She blinked her sleepy eyes and lifted the back of her hand to wipe the drool from her parted lips. Those tired eyes looked over at his shirt. When she zeroed in on the wet spot, she reached to wipe at that.

“Sorry.”

“Not a problem. We’re home,” Connor said, grinning down at her while he watched her sleep-hazed mind try to catch up. He lifted his thumb to gently remove a smudge of her lipstick from the corner of her mouth.

“I’m sorry I fell asleep,” she said, ending her statement with a giant yawn. She lifted the heels of her palms, digging in her eyes, smudging her limited makeup.

“You’re exhausted. You need sleep,” Connor said, scooting out the open door.

“I needed to see you more,” she answered sweetly, reaching for her purse and computer bag. Connor wasn’t entirely sure what to say to that. No matter what she claimed about treating Bruno as if he weren’t there, Connor couldn’t miss the guy’s presence still just a few feet away, and when he stepped toward the truck bed to grab her suitcase, he caught the hint of a smile on the bodyguard’s face as he took a step or two back and waited in the darkness.

She climbed out his side of the truck, shutting the door behind her. Connor had her suitcase in one hand and the other slung over his shoulder. He reached for the laptop case she carried. When she started to object, he gave a quick jerk, surprising her. Like he planned, he got control of the case and slung that over his arm too. When he walked past her disgruntled stance, he gave her a quick kiss on her lips before he said, “I carry your bags.”

“You can’t carry all my bags,” she said, somewhat indignantly, following behind him. “I travel heavy.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when the time comes,” he said as he took the porch steps up and unlocked the front door. Twisting the doorknob, Connor paused and looked over his shoulder at Julie, then behind her to Bruno. “I warn you. This is the house I grew up in. Not much has changed.”

“We don’t care about that stuff, right?” Julie said, including Bruno, who just looked at her. When he didn’t answer, Julie turned back to Connor and gave one exaggerated head nod. “Right. See? We’re not supposed to worry or even include him.”

Connor pushed open the door. Tonight, he’d left a lamp on. He held the door until Bruno got through, then closed it behind them. The house had always been tiny, but the space seemed smaller with the three of them standing in the entryway slash living room.

“This was just like I imagined when Ty would talk about his life here. Very Texas,” she said, walking farther into the house. Her face beamed as she turned a full circle. He suspected Julie didn’t see things the way other people did. She was comfortable wherever she was, which reminded him of Ty. He’d never really thought about what a fine quality that was, but again, he could easily see her being good friends with Kenzie. They were both incredibly genuine, basic people.

“I think you mean very outdated.”

“Very homey,” she corrected, turning toward him, arching a brow, daring him to contradict her. He laughed at her stern look and started for the hall with her bags.

“Come this way. Be careful of this chair’s legs.” He pointed to the side chair that had been in that random location his entire life. “They’ll get your toes every time you walk through,” he said. He’d tripped on the damn thing both last night and this morning.

“My mom had a chair like that,” Julie said, but instead of heading down the hall, she went for the chair and patted the top of the back cushion.

“Like that?” he asked doubtingly, turning back to the ugly, evil torture device.

“This. She had it weirdly positioned close to the door and the hall. We always ran into it when we were sneaking in or out. Tina figured out Mom’s strategy way before I did.”

Connor immediately dropped his gaze, reassessing the chair before his head popped up at the new information. How had he never figured that out? Damn his mother. “That never occurred to me. She put it there on purpose. Not just because she’s a bad decorator.”

Bruno, who had placed himself close to the opening of the hall, busted out laughing, but Connor didn’t see the humor. He’d almost gone to battle with the damn chair that morning. His mother had always been a ninja in her way of knowing when he hadn’t followed her rules. Connor’s eyes narrowed as he looked around the house with a whole new perspective. He wondered how many more traps she had set that he’d never suspected.

The longer he stood there, the more laughter he heard until Julie came to him, wrapping an arm around his waist and kissing his cheek. “I can’t imagine you ever did too much bad.”

“Huh,” he said and forced himself to let it go for now. That ugly chair’s days were numbered.

He repositioned his hold on the luggage to wrap an arm around her and started toward the bedroom.

“This is my room. I thought Bruno could take my brother’s room. We share a bathroom,” he said, dropping her things on his bed before walking toward the bathroom door.

He walked through, leading them to his brother’s room. Chris had spent more time at home over the years, so he’d decorated his room somewhat more to fit a man. Once inside, Connor looked back at Bruno with Julie standing quietly in the bathroom doorway.

“What do you think? Close enough to her?”

“It’s fine,” Bruno said, stepping around them and laying his one suitcase on the bed. He said nothing more as he began pulling his things from the case. Julie seemed oblivious to Bruno’s unfriendly nature, but Connor cast a quick glance inside the suitcase. Since they had flown private, Bruno had loaded up and Connor was certain Rambo had nothing on the guy. Weapons and ammunition filled his case, leaving little room for clothing. When Connor shifted his gaze back to Bruno, he caught the guy’s direct stare. He already knew Bruno didn’t play, but either the threat was worse than Julie had let on or he had an ego the size of this state and liked to play G.I. Joe. Neither set well in Connor’s belly.

“If you’re hungry, help yourself to anything. I stocked up this morning.” He spoke directly to Bruno. When he got closer, he put a hand on Julie’s back, moving her toward his bedroom as she lifted a hand to hide a yawn. Of course, Bruno never responded.

Once in his room with all the doors closed, Julie looked around, turned a full circle before going to a line of trophies on a back wall. “Football, basketball, baseball, FFA. You did it all in high school… Wait, does that trophy say you won first place as a sharpshooter? What does that mean?”

“I’m good with a gun,” he said, coming in behind her. He didn’t touch her, just stood behind her, leaning in to discreetly breathe in her scent. He loved her smell. Closing his eyes, he let it work its magic, smoothing all his rough edges like nothing ever had before.

“Does that say first place for trick shots? What’s that mean?” she asked, lifting a hand to move the trophies aside to read the small gold panels on the front of each one.

“It’s everything. I don’t usually miss,” he said, helping her by shifting the one she wanted to the front of the others.

“Is it a natural talent?” she asked, after a second of looking that trophy over. Her expectant gaze turned toward him. She didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around his waist, stepping fully into him with her pretty face upturned while she waited for his answer.

“My dad says it is. I’m not so sure. He had me shooting as a little boy. Too little really. I had to practice every day my whole childhood. He put me in camps; he saw it as a gift. I was pretty excited when he finally let me play Little League. He wanted me to focus on ROTC, stuff like that,” he said, wrapping his arms around her, bending to kiss her lips. “I was right. You don’t fit here very well.”

Her brow shot down, her pretty features marring with the alarm creasing her face. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never really looked at life this way, but I thought about it at my place, then when I came here, I thought about it again. It’s not nice enough for you. You’re more…fresh—if that’s even a way to describe it.” He tried to explain, but stopped talking when Julie pulled out of his arms.

She left him standing there as she went toward the bed. Julie unzipped her suitcase, pulled out several clothes hangers, then two dresses. She began working the hanger through her dress as he watched her and came closer. Her jerky movements and the concern still etching her face made a clear picture. She was angry; he just wasn’t sure why.

“I didn’t mean it as an insult, the opposite actually.”

“I know,” she said with a bit of a bite to her tone. She never looked away from her task. When he came in right beside her, putting a hand on hers, stopping the flow of her yanking clothes from the case, she wrenched her hands away from him, giving him more of her back as her shoulders slumped.

“What then?” Carefully, he placed both hands on her shoulders, slowly turning her toward him. She kept her head bent defiantly. Any other time he’d have laughed at his always eager, positive Julie refusing to look at him, but he held that off. He didn’t want to upset her more. Connor used his forefinger to lift her chin. “Explain. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I know.” She gave a deep sigh, her troubled gaze lifting to his.

“Tell me. I don’t wanna make that mistake again,” he spoke honestly. She brought too much joy to his life; he never wanted to be the one to bring that look into her eyes.

“It’s hard to explain….” She started, but stopped and tried to lower her head. He kept his knuckle under her chin.

“Try,” he encouraged. “It’s important to me.”

“I’m just a normal person. I’m not what’s thought about me. I like normal things. A normal life. I like being right here. I feel comfortable here. There’s no pretense, just real living. I like that,” she explained in a rush of desperate words.

Connor nodded, letting those words sink in. “I think I know that about you, otherwise you wouldn’t be here with me.”

“Any woman on this planet would be lucky to spend time with you,” she said defensively, her tone insistent, making him smile. That was his Julie. Her anger forgotten, all focus now directed toward him, making sure she stroked his ego.

Finally, he laughed at the sincere concern on her face. “You have had it hard if you think that crazy thought.”

“I like you so much, Connor. I never ditch work, but I wanted to come see you. I’m lucky to know you,” she said, her body sagging into his. Her face morphed into something else as she tried to hide another yawn.

“You’re tired. Let’s get this stuff put away and go to bed,” he said, leaving her standing there as he reached for the clothes. Most of the items in the suitcase had hangers, so he took them to the closet. “Can we unpack the rest in the morning?”

“Sure. I’m not that tired though,” she said and sat on the side of the bed.

“You are that tired,” he shot back, shutting the closet door. “Have you eaten?”

“Yes. They served a full dinner on the flight.” She reached for the small pile of clothes she had removed and put them back inside the suitcase. Connor placed it on the floor close to his closet. As she followed with her other bags, laying them all together, he suspected Julie might be a little like his mom: a constant organizer. Her stuff needed to stay together and picked up.

“Good, then let’s go to bed,” he said, advancing on her. Her smile turned bright, and she reached for the hem of her blouse, pulling it over her head. He helped, unbuttoning her pink cotton pants. He pushed those and her panties down, bending at the knee to remove her shoes, then the clothes. When he looked up, the vision before him tested his resolve. She had removed her bra, her nude body on full display.

He had to look away in order to maintain control. She needed a good night’s sleep and Connor needed to wait until tomorrow to sample what she seemed so willing to give. When he rose, she started to reach for his shirt but he stopped her. With his hands on her waist, he pushed her back several feet toward the bed.

“You need to sleep,” he said, reaching around her to tug the bedspread down.

“I’ll sleep when we’re done,” she said, pulling his shirttails from his jeans.

“No, you won’t. We’ll stay up for hours,” he said, framing her face with his palms. “You sleep.” He kissed her, keeping it light as he lowered her to the bed. When her arms snaked around his neck, he gripped her forearms and pulled them away as he rose. “Lie down.”