The Trustworthy Groom (Texas Titan Romance) Page 10

  She turned to face him and marveled at the defined muscles in his quads and calves as he squatted down and up. His form was good, so she didn’t need to correct him. She joined him in the squats to get her own legs warm and wished his form wasn’t so perfect so she could touch him and correct it.

  Brady finished the warm-up squats and easily hefted the bar she’d prepared for him onto his shoulders. Hailey spotted him as he sank into a deep squat, loving the feel of his trim waist under her fingertips. He completed twenty reps, pushed the bar off, and dropped it to the ground. “Your turn.” He smirked at her.

  Hailey rolled her eyes. “I wish I could do that much weight.”

  “I don’t. Then you’d be some scary bodybuilder I’d have to call Helga.” He winked.

  Hailey bit at her lip. She put three forty-fives on each side of another bar. Brady stared at her. “Whoa. I’m serious. I don’t want Helga for a wife.”

  Why did he always tease about her being his wife? This isn’t real, she wanted to shout at him. If it was real, she would forget the killer workouts and just kiss him all the day long.

  She squatted down and grasped the bar, quickly powering it over her head and onto her shoulders. Sheesh, it was heavy. Brady hurried around behind her and grasped her waist, making sure she kept her back in alignment as she squatted down deep then straightened. After twenty reps, her legs were quivering. She pushed the weight over her head. Brady grabbed the bar from her grasp and set it on the ground.

  Hailey whirled on him. “I can do it myself,” she yelled at him.

  Brady’s eyebrows arched up. “You okay?”

  Hailey spun away and grabbed some thirty-five pound dumbbells. “Dead lifts next.”

  Brady didn’t say anything, pulling a set of eighties off the weight shelf. Hailey felt like a piece of dung as she kept her back and legs straight and lowered her upper body, feeling the strain in her hamstrings. He didn’t deserve this. She was grumpy and confused and wanted with everything in her to kiss him. Brady didn’t need her anger or her kiss. He deserved a wife who wasn’t a mess. Maybe when they got William and his stalker cleared up and their marriage annulled, he could find a sweetheart who would be good for him. The thought of Brady with any other woman made her want to spit fire.

  She shelved the weights. “Box jumps.”

  Brady’s forehead wrinkled, and his lips thinned, but he didn’t say anything about how ornery she was being. They leapt side by side on and off the platforms. Brady’s was a foot higher than hers, but he was a foot taller than her, so she didn’t feel too badly.

  Next, they did weighted calf raises and then jumping lunges. After that, they started back with the weighted squats. She made him go through the rotation five more times. Hailey’s legs were quivering, and sweat was trailing down her back as they finished the last set of lunges, but she was still angry—at herself, at the thought of Brady being with someone else, at Gage for ruining her every dream of what a marital relationship could be like, at William for being such a jerk, at Brady’s stalker for not backing off like they’d hoped.

  “Stairs,” she muttered to Brady.

  He nodded, and they exited the workout room and ran twenty flights of his stairs and then did jump squats up all three flights of stairs five times. Brady didn’t say anything, but they were both panting for air as they finished.

  “Let’s go outside,” she said.

  They went into the backyard, and even though Hailey’s legs were wobbly, she decided to get creative and really push him. They crossed the huge lawn doing elbow to instep lunges, crab walks forward and backward, inchworms, sprints, and then bear crawls. It was miserable with the heat and humidity, but Hailey reveled in pushing herself and Brady hard and the fact that they both were dripping sweat. Stinky from the workout, maybe she wouldn’t be quite as tempted to tackle him and kiss him to ease this growing tension.

  When she finally knew she couldn’t keep going any longer, she forced him to do one more round of each exercise across the lawn then excused herself to go shower. Grabbing a water bottle from the fridge, she scurried to her room.

  Brady was confused and exhausted. Hailey did a great job pushing him physically, but today had been absolute misery. She wasn’t herself, and it was his fault. He wished he could hit rewind and not have stayed in her room last night. She was obviously upset at him about it, and he didn’t know how to find the carefree, happy Hailey again. He cursed and followed her into the house. She grabbed a water bottle and hightailed it up the stairs. Brady watched her go, wishing they were really together like the public thought they were and he could chase after her.

  He drained his own water bottle then downed a protein shake as he walked to his suite. Showering off the sweat, he toweled off, brushed his teeth to get the taste of the protein shake out of his mouth, and put his swimming suit on. He was going to swim and sit in the hot tub to try to ease some of the tension in his legs or he would be really sore tomorrow. Swimming often helped him recuperate, and with as grumpy as Hailey was, he didn’t think she would want to be around him.

  Coming down the stairs, he almost bumped into Hailey as she exited her suite. Her long, blonde hair looked like gold as it trailed down her back all wet from the shower. She had no makeup on, and she looked fresh and beautiful in a red t-shirt and white shorts.

  Her eyes met his, and they flickered with a fire that had him stuttering back a step. She glanced over his chest before meeting his gaze again. “What are you doing?” she demanded.

  “Um … I was going to swim so I hopefully won’t be as sore tomorrow. That workout was tough.” He smiled, but it fell away when she didn’t return it. Man, he had messed everything up. How was he going to fix it?

  She swallowed and looked away. “Okay.”

  Brady stepped toward her and inhaled her coconut scent. He still wished he could whisk her away to Jamaica for a week and thought of it every time he smelled her. “Hailey?” he said. “I’m sorry about last night.”

  Hailey’s eyes darted up to meet his, and she shook her head. “Are you kidding me right now?” She practically yelled at him.

  He straightened, praying he could come up with the right response to fix things between them. “I didn’t mean to upset you by staying in your room all night. I just want to be there for you.”

  Hailey stepped toward him and shoved at his chest. “Why?” She demanded.

  Brady backed up a step, lifting his palms up. “Why?” He was so confused. Why wouldn’t he want to be there for her? He loved her, and before today, being around her had been the happiest time of his life.

  She kept coming toward him, and even though physically he was so much stronger than her, he kept backing away because he didn’t know how to deal with the fire in her eyes or her question. Did she want to know his intentions, or was she questioning why he couldn’t stay away from her? He’d hoped she would someday return his feelings, but at this moment he was seriously doubting it.

  She planted her hands on his chest and pushed him against the wall. “Why do you have to be so perfect?”

  Brady had never been so confused in his life. If he was perfect, why was she so upset with him? “I’m … not sure what you want from me here, Hailey.”

  She shook her head at him. “I want you, Brady.” She poked him hard in the chest.

  His stomach lurched and then pooled with a delicious warmth as her words sunk in. Her hands on his chest were giving him good tingles, and even though she was obviously still upset, she was looking at him like she did want him.

  “And that’s not a good thing?” He shouldn’t have said that, but he was still baffled by the signals she was sending him.

  Hailey stepped even closer, and her hands worked their way up his chest across his shoulders and around his neck. Brady couldn’t stop the low groan that came out. He wanted her so much it hurt.

  “No, it’s not a good thing.” Her voice was low and sad. “You’re the kindest man I’ve ever known, and you hold me when I screa
m in the night without ever asking for more. Then you give me these looks that I know mean you want me like I want you, but I can’t do this, do you understand?”

  Brady couldn’t resist sliding his hands around her lower back and pulling her flush against him which elicited the cutest gasp from her. It was all he could do to not kiss her. “No. I don’t understand anything you’re telling me. I’ve fallen completely for you, Hailey. I’d do anything you want … anything.”

  “Then why don’t you kiss me?” The words seemed to rip from her, and as soon as she said them, she tried to back away from him.

  Brady was done playing these games. Instead of letting her go like he usually would, he held her close and bent down to her. “You seem afraid of physical affection, Hailey. I haven’t kissed you because I’ve been trying to show you that I care for you, not just for your body, and that I can wait until you’re ready.”

  Hailey blinked up at him, stood on tiptoes, and gently kissed his cheek. Her warm lips and the feel of her in his arms was driving him insane.

  “I’ll never be ready,” Hailey whispered. She looked down and then met his gaze. “But I still want to kiss you. I think about it nonstop.”

  Brady felt a cold chill trace up his spine even as the thought of kissing her heated him through. Why would she never be ready? If she wasn’t ready, he wouldn’t kiss her, even if she wanted it. But Hailey’s hands slid from his neck to grasp his face, and she pulled him toward her.

  “You said you’d wait until I asked,” Hailey murmured. “I’m not above begging, Brady.” Her voice was deep and throaty as she whispered, “Please, please kiss me.”

  Brady pulled in a ragged breath. He knew he should slow down and talk this all through, figure out why she thought she’d never be ready for physical affection, but he couldn’t resist her, especially when she’d asked him to kiss her.

  Their lips met and tenderly held for a few unassuming, perfect seconds. Hailey sighed sweetly. Then she framed his face with her hands and kissed him with all the passion he’d known this vivacious, amazing woman had inside of her. Brady tried to not just devour her, but it was hard to rein in his emotions. Hailey was meant to be his. If only he could convince her of that. He’d waited a long time to find a woman he could truly give himself to. Was it possible to heal whatever wounds she was still smarting from? It was like she’d covered them up with Band-Aids, and instead of recovering, the wounds had festered.

  He felt her tremble under his touch, and his love for her ratcheted up a notch. She was so tender and innocent. He’d do everything in his power to be the man she needed.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Hailey kissed Brady with a hunger she hadn’t known she possessed. He returned it with an urgency she loved, even though it semi-terrified her. She knew she should pull away. Heck, she never should have even started this, but the only way she was stopping was if a tornado ripped the house apart.

  Brady lifted her off her feet and spun around, pressing her up into the wall and deepening the kiss. Hailey felt a jolt of fear but excitement as well. This was Brady, and if she couldn’t trust him, she really would never be ready to love anyone. Instead of giving into her fears, she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his broad shoulders and enjoyed every second of the kiss and every movement of his hands. She was hot from head to toe. She kept trying to grasp rational thoughts, but they were gone. All she knew was she had to keep kissing Brady and touching him.

  Brady trailed kisses down her neck and then came back up to capture her mouth again. Hailey trembled from the sheer pleasure of it all, but there was more there, much more. Brady didn’t want to consume her. He wanted to savor her.

  He broke from the kiss and stared at her. “Hailey. Please. I need you. I love you. I need to understand why you keep shutting me out. What you’re scared of.”

  Her breath came in fast pants. Hailey buried her face in the warm skin of his chest and clung to him. Brady pushed away from the wall and carried her easily up the stairs to his suite. Her heart thudded out of control. She wanted to break from his embrace and run away. She had to keep reminding herself this was Brady. He was gentle and kind, and he cared about her. His kisses in the hallway hadn’t been gentle though. They’d been urgent and full of passion that could consume and hurt her.

  He set her on the couch in his sitting area and said, “I’ll be right back.” Then he disappeared into his closet.

  Hailey’s heart was racing out of control, partially from the excitement and thrill of his kiss, but growing stronger and stronger were her ever-present fears.

  She stood, needing to run. Why had she begged him to kiss her and responded the way she had and then let him carry her up here? She knew the mixed signals she was giving him weren’t fair, but she wasn’t ready for intimacy, and she was terrified. Hurrying toward the bedroom door, she stopped short when he came out of his closet wearing a t-shirt and golf shorts.

  Hailey stared at him. If he wanted to get her into bed, wouldn’t he have undressed rather than dressed? She felt her heart and breathing calm as he approached her. “You okay?”

  Releasing a ragged breath, she could only nod. He extended his hand, and she placed hers in it. Squeezing her hand, he led her back to the love seat. They sank down as one, and Brady asked quietly, “Can you talk to me about … everything?”

  Hailey blinked up at him. “See, this is what I’m talking about.”

  Brady shook his head, his brow wrinkling. “This?”

  “I thought you carried me up to your suite to …” She swallowed hard. “Why didn’t you just keep kissing me and try to do more?” Had she really just asked him that?

  Brady reclined into the couch and stared at her. “Hailey.” He pushed a hand through his short hair. “Of course, I want more. I mean, if you could see yourself, see how I see you …” His voice trailed off. “But you’re not ready for that. I know you’re not. What kind of a man would I be if I forced myself on you?”

  Hailey just stared at him. He wanted her, but he wouldn’t force her. He was the best kind of man. Hot tears slid from her eyes and down her cheeks. Brady gently brushed at her left cheek. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

  “You’re the best man I’ve ever met.” She sputtered, the tears in her throat making it hard to speak. She didn’t know it was possible to find a man as good as her daddy, but she was pretty sure she had with Brady.

  “No, I’m not.” He shook his head. “But I am a man who loves you and wants what’s best for you.”

  Hailey leaned into him. He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her close. “Thank you.” For the first time in her life, she wanted to share what had happened to her, share it with this man who cared so much. She wished she could tell Brady how much she loved him first, but it was too fast, and after she told him about her sordid past, he might want nothing to do with her. Even super heroes had their limits. It would hurt too much if he realized how broken she was and backed slowly away from her. She couldn’t share both her story and her love with him.

  The doorbell rang. Hailey jolted in surprise. Brady frowned. “Let’s just ignore them. They’ll go away.”

  Hailey was tempted to agree, though she was also relieved that she might have a little longer before she had to dump her dirty laundry in Brady’s lap.

  The doorbell came again. Brady stood with a sigh and went to a screen by his bed that showed different camera angles. “It’s X and Izzy,” he said. Hailey couldn’t tell if he was happy about that or not.

  She hurried out of his room and down the two flights of stairs, flinging the front door open. X held a cooler and a blow-up shark that was almost as big as him. Izzy had towels and a beach bag.

  “What are you two doing?” She half-laughed. Brady arrived in the foyer, and she glanced up at him. His jaw was tight as he lifted a hand in greeting. She had a feeling the conversation that had been interrupted would be restarted as soon as X and Izzy left.

  X rolled his eyes, but he was g
rinning. “Izzy thinks you two need a break from the stress. Since we knew you didn’t want to leave the house, we brought the party to you.”

  “What’s the party?” Hailey asked. Brady’s arm came around her waist, and she sucked in a breath. She loved when he touched her.

  “Go get your suits on,” Izzy insisted. “We’re going to see which of us can stay on the shark the longest, eat treats, and basically act like we’re a bunch of ten-year olds.” Izzy’s dark eyes flashed with excitement. Hailey loved how happy her sister was and how X brought out the fun in her.

  “Sounds great.” Brady’s voice wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as his words, but Hailey decided Izzy was right. They did need a break, and Izzy didn’t even know about the real stress that was consuming them.

  Hailey turned and sprinted for the stairs. “Meet you at the pool,” she called back to them.

  Brady’s chuckle followed her up the stairs.

  “How do you keep up with her?” She heard X ask.

  Hailey paused by her bedroom door, straining to listen. “I don’t,” Brady said. “I just hope she never leaves me behind for good.”

  Hailey slipped into her room, her heart aching. She didn’t want to leave Brady, ever. Yet was it fair to tie down the most amazing man she knew to a woman who might never get over her fears and issues?

  Brady climbed onto the inflatable shark and straddled it. This was easy.

  “You have to stand up,” Hailey said.

  He glanced over at his wife, and his breath caught. She sat next to Izzy on the edge of the pool, her blonde hair darker with water and trailing over her shapely shoulder. She looked incredible in a one-piece floral swimsuit. He just wanted to get her alone again, talk through everything she was willing to share with him, reassure her of his love and devotion, and then kiss her for the rest of the day.