Mission Happy (A Texas Desires Novel Book 3) (21 page)

“Connor, seriously? You’re not getting in bed with me?”

“No. Not until you fall asleep. So get under the covers,” he said, lifting those back to make room for her long legs. It took a second, but she finally did, and he tucked the blanket around her in the bed. “Is the temperature good? It’s hard here, you never know what the weather’s gonna be like this time of year.”

“I’m fine. I can’t believe you’re not getting into bed with me,” she said, but she burrowed down into the pillows, moving to her side as though she were ready for sleep.

“I’ll get you a glass of water. It gets dry here at night. Go to sleep,” he said, running the pad of his thumb across one eyebrow before lifting to his full height.

“I wish you were here with me,” she said halfheartedly. He tilted his head, staring down at her. He had an insanely happy heart at having her there with him, lying in his bed.

“I will be. Go to sleep. You need it.” Connor bent to kiss her, but moved away when her arms came out from under the covers. “Let me have this. It’s rare that I would have a beautiful naked woman in my bed and not dive in.”

“I bet it’s not that rare. You’re a good man,” she said and gave a jaw-cracking yawn this time.

“Go to sleep. I’ll be back.” He turned to leave the room, flipping the lights off as he went. Connor stood in the hall, just outside the bedroom, and turned toward Chris’s room. There was no sound coming from there and somehow he doubted Bruno had gone straight to bed. Instead of dwelling on where he’d disappeared to, Connor headed toward the kitchen while palming his phone. He wasn’t entirely sure why he did it, but he pulled up his contacts and sent Cole a text message.

“I didn’t tell you that I think I have a girlfriend. I think it’s serious.”

It was late and Cole was an early riser, so it surprised him when he got an immediate text back. Connor grabbed a glass and went to the refrigerator to fill it as he read Cole’s reply.

“
What? I spent seven fucking hours with you and you didn’t say a word? And what the hell does
I think
mean?
”

He grinned and rested his butt against the counter, setting the full glass beside him as he typed back.

“
It’s new, but cool. It’s kind of a bad time for me so I’m taking it day by day.
”
He crossed his arms and waited for Cole to reply.

“Well hell, McDaniel. When do you ever do anything easy?
”

Connor nodded. Cole had a point.

“
She’s here. I’m bringing her to the baby shower.
”

“
She got a name?
”
Cole asked.

“
Yeah, Julie Banks. We’ve met her before. One time with Bateman. She’s a friend of Kenzie’s
.” Connor shot back.

“
I don’t remember a Julie Banks.
”

“
Me either, but I don’t know how we missed her. She’s beautiful.
”

“
How about dinner on Saturday? Maybe we can all go out after the shower?
” Cole suggested.

“
That’s fine. Whatever. Work it out. We’ll go.
”
Connor wasn’t much for texting. He’d never worked out being able to use his thumbs. Instead, he typed with his forefinger, making the whole process stupidly long. Connor pushed away from the counter and reached for the glass when his phone vibrated again. He took the second to palm his cell again, reading Cole’s text.

“
Making plans without asking? I see this relationship’s going to last.
”
He could hear Cole’s sarcastic tone mocking him and he couldn’t resist a reply.

“
You’re a dick.
”
This time he waited for whatever Cole had to say about that.

“
Yep. Spot on as usual. Goodnight, princess.
”

All things considered, that was a tame response for Cole.

“
Goodnight
.” Connor typed and dropped the phone back in his pocket. Suddenly, he jerked his head to look over his shoulder, his body tensing as his eyes shifted toward the back door. Seconds later, it opened. Bruno stepped inside the dark kitchen and it took a second for each to stand down from that initial moment of not expecting the other.

“I didn’t expect you out of the room for a while,” Bruno said, walking past him through the kitchen toward the bedrooms.

“She needs to sleep. She’s exhausted. Did you just do anything I should know about?”

“No,” he said at the doorway without looking back. Connor stared after him. Bruno was going to be a problem. The guy was a dick, hard to take, but needed in Julie’s life. The sentiment on both sides was clear—they barely tolerated one another and nothing Connor did broke through that “I’m an asshole” deal Bruno radiated to the world. When he heard the back bedroom door close, he again picked up the glass and went for his room. Sleep wouldn’t kill him either. It would be hard with her there, but the desire to give her whatever she needed seemed to override everything else.

Connor set the glass of water on the nightstand beside her and quietly undressed. Once in bed, he even managed to carefully wrap himself around her. She responded, instinctively turning into him, draping her body across his. She never woke. Her perfume made it hard to fall asleep, but eventually he did. Proud of himself for letting her get some rest.

~~~

Julia rolled to her back and blinked her eyes open. A slow smile touched her lips as she stared at the camo-colored ceiling fan rotating above her. She looked over at the other side of the bed. There wasn’t really one. Julia was sprawled across the middle. She lifted a head, looked around, and confirmed what she suspected from all the quiet—she was the only one in the room.

When she saw the glass of water, she reached for it, lifting enough to take a long drink. Only then did she see the alarm clock. It was eleven forty-five in the morning. She bolted up, jostling the water. She had slept almost twelve hours; she never did that!

Julia wiped at the water droplets then scrambled out of bed and went for her suitcase. She quickly rummaged through her clothes, pulling on a pair of jean shorts, a T-shirt, and a sweatshirt before grabbing her cosmetics case. She barely remembered to give a slight knock before opening the bathroom door. No way did she want to catch Bruno in a compromising situation. She’d never be able to scrub that image from her mind.

At the sink, she brushed her teeth and then hurried to yank the brush through her hair. It didn’t help much, and she quickly pulled it back in a low ponytail. Digging around her makeup bag, she found her mascara remover, hurriedly eliminating the dark smudges under her eyes.

She stepped back, and surveyed her entire appearance.

She shook her head. Yeah, Connor might like the way her breasts looked unencumbered, but she didn’t. She lifted her shirts and went back for a bra. When everything was in place, she opened the bedroom door and stepped into the hallway. She followed the sounds coming from the kitchen and found Bruno sitting on one of two barstools at a small center island. Connor manned the stove, frying what looked to be hamburgers in a pan. He had quite a spread laid out on the cabinet, much like the one he’d prepared for her when she’d gone to his house last Sunday.

Bruno and Connor didn’t speak, but she didn’t see either of them as big talkers so it wasn’t abnormal. The fact they were in that same room spoke volumes to a possible balance Bruno must have achieved where Connor was concerned.

“Good Morning,” she said as she walked inside the kitchen. Bruno had seen her from the moment she’d turned the corner from the hall. He’d positioned his stool so he could see everything going on inside the house.

Connor turned, his smile inviting her to his side. Oh man, she had it so bad for him. His T-shirt tightened over his chest when he extended an arm toward her, accentuating his thick shoulders and biceps. He cocked his head, nodding at her to come his way. She did, and he puckered, bending for a simple kiss.

“Did you sleep well?” His whole attention was on her as he scanned her entire face, deciding that answer for himself.

“I think too well. I can’t remember ever sleeping this long. I feel like I missed half the day with you,” she said, nuzzling up against him.

Bruno cleared his throat, and Julia wrinkled her brow and looked over at him. He only ever got involved when something was wrong, and whatever he had to say would certainly zap her relaxed mood. He made a point of looking down at his wristwatch then up at her. “It’s noon. You did miss half the day.”

She stood there stunned, staring at Bruno. “Did you just make a joke?”

“Bruno and I made a breakthrough. And by the way, his real name is Rex, which I think might fit him better than Bruno,” Connor said, moving the hamburger patties to a plate.

“Your name’s Rex? Are you serious?” she asked, moving to a barstool. Bruno ignored that, reached for a patty before Connor ever got the plate of hamburgers on the counter, and began building his burger.

“We also took a group vote while you were sleeping and decided to check out the shooting range his father built,” Bruno said, slathering mustard on his bun. She looked between them. Privately they both spoke like reasonable human beings, but not in public, especially Bruno. He was almost a mute. All these words between them were kind of blowing her mind.

“I did say my vote might change if you didn’t want to do that,” Connor added, opening the refrigerator door. “Want something to drink? I have water, sweet tea, soda, and a pot of coffee I kept fresh over there.”

“Coffee,” she said, climbing off the chair and going directly for the pot.

“The cups are in the cabinet right above.” When she’d made her cup and turned back, Connor was standing opposite of Bruno, making two plates. He extended one, placing it in front of her barstool.

“Are these the beans we had last time?” she asked excitedly, her stomach letting out a loud growl as she lifted back on the seat.

“I made a batch when it looked like breakfast wasn’t gonna happen,” Connor said, taking the seat across from her.

“He can cook,” she said to Bruno who just nodded with his mouth full. Julia wasn’t quite sure coffee and the lunch he’d prepared complimented one another, so she sat back to drink her hot coffee before digging in. “So we’re going to the shooting range? I’m not really a big fan of guns. Are there people there?”

“No. It’s on the back part of our land. I’ve gotta go out there anyway to feed,” Connor said before taking a big bite.

“Feed what? Like animals?” she asked, taking another long drink.

Connor nodded. He finished his bite and swiped a napkin across his mouth before saying, “My parents have some cattle, a couple of pigs, chickens, a horse, and a pack of dogs. I told my uncle I’d feed while my parents were gone. I waited to see if you wanted to go with me.”

“So we’ll do that before we go shoot?” Actually, after seeing all Connor’s trophies praising his ability to shoot a gun, she’d known that would probably be a problem for their relationship. Thank God, she’d relaxed her stance on gun control since Bruno had come into her life.

“Yep.”

“He has a bunch of trophies for shooting things,” she said, looking over at Bruno. She finally gave in to her desire to taste those beans and put her coffee cup aside to dig into the plate of food in front of her. Her gaze lifted to Connor’s as she gave a delighted moan. They were delicious, just like the last time he’d made them for her.

“I bet.”

“What’s that mean?” Julia asked, looking between the two of them.

“Nothing. We talked about what I do,” Connor said, taking a drink from a glass of water.

“What do you do?” Julia asked, stopping in mid-motion of taking another bite.

“I shoot. I told you that last night,” Connor said, taking a big bite of his hamburger. She thought she was missing something, but couldn’t put her finger on what, and Connor changed the subject before she could question him further. “We’re supposed to have a cool front coming through this afternoon, but it’s not really gonna drop temperatures. It may or may not bring rain. You never know around here.”

“I brought some warm things, did you?” she asked Bruno.

“Yeah.”

She smiled when he answered gruffly, between bites, his head down, focused on his food. He was so weird.

“Oh, and Cole invited us to dinner Saturday. He was gonna coordinate with Bateman and Prescott. Does he need to include you, Bruno? I need to tell him before he makes the reservation,” Connor asked. She turned her grin toward him, loving how he tried to include Bruno.

“No.”

Connor suppressed a grin, winking at her before taking another bite.

“You know, it’s surprising he’s doing this right now. He’s really rigid with the rules and boundaries he places between us,” Julia said, patting Bruno on the shoulder.

“We were talking about your safety. It broke the ice,” Connor informed her. Bruno just grunted with a full mouth, causing them both to laugh.