“We can if you need to. Nothing’s set in stone except an eight o’clock reservation.” She looked up to Connor who remained focused intently on her.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Is something off?” she finally asked, turning toward him. If he had something in his head, he needed to get it out before they ever left this house.
“No. You’re just different. That dark eyeliner makes your eyes pop. I feel like I have seen you before.”
“You might have seen me. I’m an actress, remember?” she asked, wanting the words to come out to finish the statement. If she manned-up and told him, then she’d know for sure whether he cared.
“I do remember,” he said, moving closer, his hands going to her waist as his lips descended, making her put that thought on the back burner again. She grinned, tilting her head to accept his kiss when a loud bang on the bedroom door ruined the moment, both their heads swung to the left as if they could see the door through the bathroom walls.
“If we aren’t going, you could have filled me in,” Bruno shouted from the hallway.
“We’re coming!” she called out, purposefully moving from Connor’s hold, tossing her purse strap over her shoulder, creating distance as she went for her sweater on the end of the bed. As Connor came for her with that I-want-you expression and his he’d-be-fine-skipping-the-baby-shower attitude, Julia yanked open the bedroom door and came face-to-face with a scowling Bruno wearing a snug black suit—his standard uniform.
“You look nice,” she said, smiling brightly. He just stared at her and took a step backward into the hall to let her out of the room. He never gave an inch where she was concerned. Now with Connor, on the other hand, Bruno had totally changed his tune. They talked endlessly—okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration. They’d probably said a total of four sentences between them, but for each of them that said a lot. It seemed Connor’s ability to make an eighteen-hundred-yard shot with a basic rifle—something like that, she wasn’t entirely certain because hearing about the different guns and scopes and ammunition was like listening to Charlie Brown’s teacher talk. But whatever the deal, the skill impressed Bruno.
“You following?” Connor asked from behind her.
“Yup,” Bruno said.
She rolled her eyes at the front door, pulling it open. Of course, he responded to Connor. She headed straight for the truck, hearing it unlock before she ever got to the passenger door. The skirt didn’t allow for a whole lot of climbing, and she stared at the seat, wondering how she would maneuver. Luckily, Connor came in behind her and hoisted her up into the seat. She scooted to the center. Not the most comfortable spot, but it felt good to be sitting right beside Connor. She liked to tuck her hand around his thigh as he drove.
It wasn’t long before they pulled to the front of the house. Cars—mostly trucks—filled the driveway, and following what she now knew was country etiquette, guests had parked along the yard, side pasture…just about anywhere there was space.
“They must have invited the whole town,” Connor said, parking at an angle on the side of the driveway. Connor stepped down from the cab and turned back to help her out. Instantly, she could hear the loud noise coming from the party in the back, that plus all these vehicles had her nerves on high alert. Her team had worked with Ty’s while coordinating security, but everyone had truly believed this to be a family affair. Other people would compromise her ability to move around so freely if word got out she was in town.
“What?” Connor asked when she got on her feet. She looked up, trying to school her features. She’d let her guard down with Connor, always being one hundred percent herself with the man. It was hard to remember she needed to shield things.
“I didn’t plan on all this,” she finally said as she met his gaze. She watched the confusion her words brought to Connor’s face as Bruno pulled his car right up next to the truck. He’d planned to stay inside the vehicle, keep an eye on the driveway, for the length of the party; Ty’s security planned to handle the house. She watched Bruno lift the gearshift to park and look their way. His brow furrowed and, surprisingly, he got out of the car.
“What’s wrong?”
So much for masking her face from either of them.
“I’m not sure,” Connor answered him while keeping his eyes on her.
“What?” Bruno asked her gruffly again, standing next to Connor, both of them staring at her intently.
“There’re a lot of people here,” she said.
“Ty Bateman’s security estimated about forty people. No pictures allowed. They’re all in the back,” Bruno explained as if he’d said that a million times instead of once on the plane three days ago.
With a deep breath, she decided that didn’t sound so bad. Connor lifted his brow in question and stared back and forth between them. She wasn’t as free as Connor to just go where she wanted to go. That was what she needed to explain. But that conversation wasn’t for right now. More than anything, Julia loved the normalcy she and Connor shared. She didn’t want that to ever end.
“Okay. I’m leaving my purse,” she finally said with a deep sigh and reached into the cab of the truck to toss her purse inside. He stepped back and took her hand as Bruno shut the door. Connor’s concerned, confused gaze stayed trained on her until she started for the front porch. As they took the steps up and came to the door, Connor didn’t immediately knock.
“Whatever just happened, tell me when you’re uncomfortable, and we can just go. We don’t have to stay,” Connor said and lifted the key fob. The honk sounded as he pushed the button to lock the truck doors.
“I don’t want you to leave your friends. If I need to go, Bruno can take me,” she tried to explain, knowing her words were cryptic at best.
“No, I’ll take you. I invited you here,” he said, tucking his keys inside his front pocket.
His sweetness made her smile, and she let it pass that, technically, she had invited him to be her date, but he totally didn’t get her concern. Connor’s entire demeanor showed his desperation to identify whatever problem had set her off, but he just couldn’t figure it out.
She suddenly realized she had to bite the bullet and explain her fame before they entered the house. Julia took a deep breath and turned to him, but before she could open her mouth, Connor reached up to knock on the front door. Seconds later, the door opened to a plump, middle-aged woman with a dishtowel in her hands.
“Connor!” She looked over her shoulder, back into the house. “Honey, Connor’s finally here. Come in!” She didn’t let him get more than a foot inside the front door before she wrapped him in her arms. The scene made Julia smile and relaxed her nervousness. The woman was short, her arms barely circling Connor’s waist, forcing him to bend to accept her hug. These people obviously loved her guy.
“Let him in, Linda,” an older man said as he came up behind her. Linda did let go, and Connor stepped past her to shake the man’s hand.
“And you brought a date! I had no idea you were doing that, you stinker.” For the first time since she’d entered the house, Linda’s eyes focused on her. No mistaking the instant recognition that lit her gaze.
“Yes, ma’am. This is Julie. Julie meet Linda and Jerry Bryant. She’s a friend of Kenzie’s and had an invitation already, so I didn’t think it mattered,” Connor said, explaining his lapse in manners. Under normal circumstances, she would have thought that was so sweet—watching this big burly man explain why his etiquette was still intact—but Linda Bryant’s look made the nerves spike again.
Linda’s smile grew brighter, and she stood straighter and sucked in her belly. Julia knew the signs of a star-struck fan. She cut her gaze to Connor, and her heart sank. Damn, he’d seen Linda’s change too.
“Of course it doesn’t matter, and I know exactly who she is.”
Julia extended a hand, but Linda reached up to pull her down into a warm hug.
“Jerry, you see who we have in our house?”
“I do,” he said, giving her
that gentle handshake that older men seemed to give women. Dread coiled in her stomach. Connor reached down, took her hand in his, and smiled warmly at her. Julia had her fake, big giant smile in place as she looked at him then both the Bryants.
“Reed’s in so much trouble. Ty, too. They didn’t tell me you two were seeing each other. You are seeing each other?” Linda asked. She had started to move away to give them room to pass but stopped in the middle of the entranceway to turn back and wait for an answer.
“We are,” Connor said, then chuckled at the older woman’s obvious excitement. Linda acknowledged the answer with a sharp nod, then turned away to walk through the living room toward a screen door that led out back. Before she ever made it outside, Julia could hear Linda scolding both Reed and Ty for keeping her in the dark.
“You two are in so much trouble! You have news like that and don’t share with your mother? You should be ashamed!” The screen door slammed shut in her wake.
“She doesn’t like to be the last to know things,” Jerry said, walking with them through the living room toward the back porch. Jerry held the door open for them. Linda had the full attention of the occupants on the patio. Reed’s loud voice boomed over everyone’s as he tried to understand why Linda was mad at him.
Connor moved aside, letting her go through first. Their hands never broke contact as he followed her out the door. Not more than two steps outside, Julia stopped, Connor coming in right behind her, his hand circling her waist.
Oh no. This was worse than she’d thought. Her stomach roiled as she thought of all the times she should have told Connor about her celebrity status. Everyone on the patio had turned, and their shocked faces stared at her, then shifted to Connor, then back again. The moment of quiet surprise transformed into chaos when Cole darted across the patio and headed straight to Connor.
Confusion ensued as Cole took Connor, breaking his handhold with Julia, and pushed him several feet to the side. Cole got right in his face.
“Oh my fucking God! Are you kidding me, McDaniel? You’re dating someone? Are you fucking serious?” Cole pushed at Connor’s chest, bumping him back another foot and into Jerry Bryant, before Cole went for a huge bro-hug with a hard whack on the back. “Good job, man. I didn’t know you had it in you!”
Kenzie came to Julia’s side, giving her an excited smile and a hug as Connor looked at her, over Cole’s shoulder, in utter confusion.
“What’s going on?” Lara asked, coming outside from a side door. Julia didn’t care about anyone or anything except Connor. Her fear grew with each passing second, and she needed to get him alone to explain. Cole released Connor and turned to Julia.
“I was just staring at your beautiful face, thinking I needed to get Kenzie to make an introduction,” Cole said, extending a hand toward her while using his other arm to teasingly shove Connor back a step. “Cole Willis. Connor’s very best friend, but don’t let that stop you from getting to know me better. I know we made a connection all those years ago.”
Cole’s hand then swept toward the wrought-iron patio table where her face graced the cover of the most current People magazine. She hadn’t even known it was out yet. Oh God, no. This was the worst possible scenario. Her alarmed gaze darted to Ty coming to his feet. The acute concern on his face was clear. He got that Connor had no real idea, but she didn’t have time to worry about that. Panicked at such an in-his-face revelation of her notoriety, she went for Connor as he moved forward to reach for the magazine.
“Connor, what’re you thinking, man?” Ty asked, coming around the table. She paid Ty no attention as she reached for the magazine, trying to pull it from Connor’s hands. She’d truly talked herself into believing this moment wouldn’t matter; how big a movie star she was didn’t change anything between them. Connor knew the real person under the façade—the person almost no one else in the world really knew—but based on the look on his handsome face, she’d been very wrong. Ty moved toward Connor, taking the magazine from his hands when his grip had tightened on it, but Connor ignored him, only looking toward her as if he’d never seen her before.
The intensity of his gaze took the dread in her gut to an all-time high and caused her heart to stutter then pound in her chest. He had it all figured out and wasn’t happy. Instead of saying a word, Connor turned abruptly, heading for the side door that Lara had just come through. Julia immediately took off after him.
“Connor, stop!” Julia called out, entering the kitchen. He jerked around, looking formidable in his anger, stopping her in her tracks. He seethed at her. His hands fisted at his side as he whipped back around and took two steps to another outside door. He yanked it open, letting it fly wide. The door slammed against the wall, bouncing back as he stepped outside, then he pivoted around and came back through the threshold to face off with her.
“Why?”
She had never heard that tone of voice from him, but it was the look on his face that slowed her down, stopping her halfway through the kitchen. The anger had given way to hurt. She didn’t want him hurt.
“Connor, please. Talk to me,” she said, taking slower steps toward him.
“Julie Banks? Really?” he accused, taking two more steps toward her.
“That’s my name. That’s my real name. You’ve known the real me,” she said and tried to reach out to him. He wanted no part of that. Connor jumped backward as if her hands would scald him.
“It is, son. That’s the truth.” They both turned to see Mrs. Bryant and another woman standing at the sink, facing them. Mrs. Bryant lifted a hand that held a wooden spoon toward the other woman. “This is Kenzie’s mother. She’s been dying to meet you, Julia. She thinks they’ve seen every movie you’ve been in.”
Kenzie’s mother smiled warmly, and helplessness took over as Julia quickly turned back to Connor whose anger levels had just risen again if the look on his face counted. He flipped around, stalked out of the house, slamming the door behind him. She bolted after him. Connor had made it around the side of the house before she got down the steps of the wrap-around porch.
Hiking her skirt up, Julia ran to catch up with him.
“Connor, stop! Please, I can’t keep up. Stop!” She saw Bruno getting out of the rental. Julia quickly threw out a hand in his direction to stop him from interfering as she ran through the pasture along the driveway, following Connor to his truck. “Connor, please.”
At the cab of his truck, he whirled around, stopping her in her tracks. Her breath was heaving, and she reached out, steadying herself on the hood of the truck parked right beside Connor’s.
He pointed his finger toward her, and in a voice strained with anger, he said, “Were you playing me? And so help me, if you lie to me anymore…”
“No, of course I wasn’t playing you! No!” She started toward him again, stopping, even taking a step backward as he stalked toward her.
“Then what is this?” he yelled, throwing his arms out wide, glaring at her while waiting for an answer. His question wasn’t clear to her, but since she suspected nothing she said would be believed, she furrowed her brow as she frantically tried to find a soothing response.
“You didn’t remember me—” she started, and he immediately cut her off.
“So you lie?” Those words were yelled as he threw his arms in the air, then brought his hands to his hips, still glowering at her.
“No! No. I didn’t lie. You didn’t remember me, and it seemed like you liked me for me.” She mimicked every one of his actions, becoming frustrated herself. This man knew her on every level. He had to know she wasn’t the kind of person to play him.
“Of course, I liked you for you. What the hell does that even mean?” He pivoted on his heels, stalking toward his truck, his disgust more than clear. Did he truly plan to leave her? She took several steps forward and paused when he stopped and placed both hands on the hood, his shoulders slumped forward, and he ducked his head. She hated she’d caused him more grief. The need to give him comfort drove her forward, b
ut she stopped within inches of him, trying not to crowd him.
“When we first met, you wouldn’t look at me twice. I know that because I watched you all night. I never forgot you. I was…overly interested. I’ve told you that. Then when I saw you at the club, I thought what the hell? You’d already completely shot me down. Then you didn’t shoot me down again, and I liked it—and you—even more.”
Connor turned toward her, his hands going to his virtually non-existent hair as he bent his head, staring down at his boots. “You lied to me.”
“I didn’t lie one time. That’s unfair to say,” she said, stepping in.
His gaze lifted, boring into hers. The anguish had her heart breaking in two. His eyes said what he hadn’t yet: she’d hurt him, cut him to the core, and he wasn’t going to get past it. Integrity was everything to Connor. She’d been such a fool.
“You let me walk in there with everything going on with me and be blindsided,” he said dejectedly.
“I’m sorry, Connor. That wasn’t my intention.” She went for him, but he threw out a hand, stopping her as he backed away.
“Don’t crowd me.” The venom in his voice couldn’t be denied. Instinctively, without taking her eyes off Connor, she shot out a hand toward Bruno, stopping him from coming forward. The tone Connor had used would have drawn Bruno closer to her.
A tension-filled silence hummed between them until he dug a hand inside his front pocket for his keys and again started for his truck door. “I’m leaving.”
“Connor, stop! I love you! I’m sorry. I liked being liked for me. It’s the first time in my life I knew someone liked me for me, not what I could do for them.” She tried to explain, following him as he rounded his truck toward the driver’s side. He never stopped eating up the gravel as he opened his truck door and climbed inside. Julia forced herself to stop, even took two steps backward as tears stung her eyes.
As much as she wanted this relationship, if he freaked out over this, then he’d never hold up in her world. Her heart shattered into pieces when the truck engine roared to life. She could feel the tears slipping from her eyes. She’d thought Connor was the real deal. They’d fit together so well. He grounded her, gave her purpose and hope. She watched him move the gearshift and the truck gave a slight shift backward. He was leaving. She’d ruined Lara’s shower and drove the best thing that ever happened to her away. Her tears flowed freely as her thoughts turned frantic. She couldn’t believe Connor was leaving her.
Mission Happy (A Texas Desires Novel Book 3) Page 21