The Trustworthy Groom (Texas Titan Romance) Read online

  “All right.” He pushed his palms flat on the shark’s back and made it to his knees. The shark wobbled, but he felt pretty stable. Slowly, he lifted his leg and planted one foot on the shark’s back. The inflatable toy was shaking as he planted his other foot and stood, arms out wide for balance. He wobbled there for almost a full second before the shark flipped out from under him and he plunged into the water.

  Rising up to the surface, he blinked the water from his eyes and saw X holding onto the shark and grinning. “Sorry, bro, couldn’t let you show me up.”

  “No fair!” Hailey protested. “My husband was rocking the shark, and you cheated.”

  Brady’s chest seemed to swell. My husband. Did Hailey think of him as her husband now? He couldn’t imagine anything making him happier.

  X just kept grinning. Then he inclined his head toward their wives. “Shall we get them?”

  “For sure.” Brady liked the camaraderie he’d built with his brother-in-law over the past few weeks. He didn’t want this marriage to end for any reason. If only Hailey would confide in him when they had a chance to be alone again.

  X swam quickly toward Hailey and Izzy. Brady followed suit. The women were both talking and laughing and noticed too late when X grabbed Izzy’s ankle and tugged her into the pool with a splash.

  Hailey stood quickly, evading Brady’s reach. He grabbed the edge of the concrete and launched himself out of the pool. Hailey turned to run, but Brady rushed her like he would a running back. He wrapped his arms around her and easily plucked her off her feet.

  Her breath came in shallow pants as she looked down at his chest and then back up at him. “In case I forgot to tell you, you rock a swimming suit,” she said.

  Brady chuckled. “I probably already told you, but you’re the most gorgeous swimsuit wearer I’ve ever seen.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck, suspended in the air as he held her. “But you’re still going to throw me in.”

  “No.”

  “No?” She arched an eyebrow.

  Brady loved having her in his arms. He grinned. “We’re going in together.” Then he leapt into the pool.

  Hailey’s laughter was cut off as they plunged under water. They surfaced, and he was still holding her close. He could hear Izzy and X laughing, but he only had eyes for Hailey.

  Hailey laughed too, pushing her hair back out of her face and swiping the water out of her eyes. “Good one. What’s your plan next?”

  He leaned close and whispered, “Get rid of those two and kiss you for a few hours.”

  Hailey wrapped her arms around his neck and winked. “Kiss me right now. I’ve watched them do it enough.”

  Brady didn’t need another invitation. He pressed his lips to hers, and the world lit up with joy and passion. He was pretty sure X and Izzy were protesting loudly, but he ignored them and savored each second with Hailey in his arms.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Hailey was still smiling later that afternoon as she finished showering and getting ready. X and Izzy had left after swimming and sharing their treats, which included homemade ice cream sandwiches from Mama Newton. Izzy needed to make X’s mama give her some cooking lessons.

  The break from serious concerns and playful afternoon had been exactly what she needed. She came out of her room, anxious to find Brady and simply be with him. Unfortunately, she was pretty sure he would want to continue the conversation that had been interrupted. Even though she knew it was time to spill her secrets, it made her chest tighten.

  He was standing across from her bedroom door leaning casually against the hallway wall. Hailey jumped and placed a hand to her heart. “What are you doing?”

  Brady smiled and extended his hand. “Waiting for my beautiful wife.”

  She took his hand, loving the way his large palm engulfed hers. He made her feel so safe, which was insane considering three weeks ago she was terrified of huge football players. He started up the stairs toward his room, and Hailey fell into step with him. It was time to talk to her husband about her past, and though a knot quickly formed in her stomach, she thought she could do this for him, for them.

  Brady settled into the loveseat, and she sat primly next to him. They sat there for a few quiet moments before he said, “Can we try this again? I would really like you to share with me.”

  Her throat went dry. She grasped for time to overcome the fears pounding through her brain. She’d held these secrets so tightly it was like wrenching a cub from his mama to yank them out from their dark recesses. “Share what?”

  Brady’s dark eyes searched her face, tender as any caress. “Anything you’re willing to share.”

  Hailey nodded. It took her a few tries before she could form the words. Where to start? She supposed she had to share with him the story she’d never told anyone. The trust she was giving him was huge, but this was Brady, and she thought maybe she could do it. Anything was worth the chance to be with him, to be his wife for real.

  His fingers tenderly traced along her shoulder. Hailey pulled in a shaky breath and took the plunge. “I always knew I wanted to be an athletic trainer. Luckily, I had an in with my daddy.”

  Brady smiled encouragingly at her. “You do an amazing job, Hailey.”

  “Thanks. As soon as I graduated from high school, I begged my dad to let me apprentice with the team and be involved with off-season workouts before I started college. I met Gage there.” She swallowed hard and looked down. It still tasted as bitter as grapefruit slices without sugar to spit out his name.

  “Gage?”

  “Tantrum.”

  “Oh. I forgot he played for the Titans for a couple of years.”

  Hailey nodded, meeting his gaze. “So you know him?”

  “Yeah. I’ve played against him since college.”

  Hailey could see the wheels spinning in Brady’s head. She wondered if he’d put it together earlier, who the Gage was she screamed at in her nightmares. She could also see that he was confused. Gage had a great persona with the media. She’d never met a player who didn’t like him. He was a fullback and was known for delivering consistent yardage but also for just being a hilarious, laidback guy. Hailey had heard from numerous players the funny one-liners he said to opposing teams. Fortunately, he’d been traded to Pittsburgh while Hailey was away at college, so she only had to see him from the sidelines when the Titans played them.

  “You … dated him?” Brady’s eyes were soft and understanding.

  “Yeah. He was fresh out of college, and I thought he was everything I’d ever wanted. I knew my daddy would freak out about me dating an older guy and one of his players. I’m still sick that I went behind his back when he’s always been so good to me, but for some reason, I couldn’t resist Gage. We snuck around that whole summer. I thought I loved him. I was so dumb and immature.”

  Brady’s hand tightened around her shoulder. “Hey, most of us were at eighteen.”

  She smiled her thanks and then focused on the sunny day and the treetops outside of the huge windows of his suite. Brady’s touch and the sunshine beaming through the windows helped dispel a little of the darkness, but she was still semi-shocked she’d started this story. No one knew it. Izzy had shut herself away from the family, and she and Hailey hadn’t been close until recently. All of her high school friends had gone their separate ways with college and humanitarian or mission trips shortly after graduation, and Hailey had been so involved with Gage that summer she hadn’t needed or wanted anyone else. She hadn’t wanted to tell her mama or daddy and see the disappointment in their eyes that she hadn’t honored the values they’d taught her of being morally clean. They’d given her everything, and she’d gone behind their backs like a stupid, selfish teenager.

  As time passed, it got easier to just keep the secret locked away and stay really smart where men were concerned.

  “I’ve never told anyone this,” she said, gnawing at her cheek.

  Brady turned her toward him and used his free hand to tilt
her chin up. The sincerity in his dark eyes washed over her, calming her like soaking in a lavender-scented bath. “I want to help you, Hailey, but if it’s too hard, you don’t have to tell me.”

  Hailey didn’t want to tell him, but at the same time, she did. She wanted to cast this secret out of her. Maybe if she did, she could finally find some closure and trust herself to a man, not just any man, her husband. Brady being so calm and understanding helped her continue.

  “Thank you.” She cleared her throat and clasped her hands together. “The night before I left for college …” Emotion clogged her throat, and she had to swallow before continuing. “Gage told me he loved me and wanted to marry me. We started kissing, and he convinced me that we shouldn’t wait since we were going to get married anyway.” She blew out a breath. “Sorry, this is awkward.”

  Brady nodded his understanding. His jaw was clamped tight, and there was a muscle working furiously in his jaw. He didn’t say anything, and Hailey wished she could stop telling her story, wished she’d never started, but it was spilling out now. “We didn’t stop, and it was awful. He was really violent with me, and it hurt.” Hurt was putting it mildly.

  Brady’s breathing was ragged, and his grip on her arm slackened. “Hailey,” he sort of groaned like she’d caused him physical pain telling him this.

  She couldn’t meet his gaze as she finished. “When he was done, he told me that there was something wrong with me. He said it shouldn’t have hurt and he didn’t want a little girl anyway.” Tears were tracing down her face. She brushed them away. “I hated myself almost as much as I hated him. I couldn’t stop crying when I got home that night. My parents took me to college the next morning. They thought I was crying so hard because I didn’t want to leave home.” She gave him a watery smile. “But I was crying because I’d given away something precious and I couldn’t ever get it back.”

  Her innocence and trust had both disappeared that night. She’d lost not only her virtue, but also, what she’d believed would be a special experience had been awful. Then after it was over, she’d been discarded by the man she’d fallen in love with.

  Her family assumed she dated so many men throughout college and after because she was just flighty and fun, but she’d done it to protect herself from ever getting serious and trusting her body and her heart to another man, especially a strong man … until Brady.

  Brady shook his head, his lips pressed in a thin line. “I can’t believe Gage would treat you like that.”

  Hailey felt like he’d just slugged her in the gut. She’d never shared her story with anyone, and now, the man she’d fallen in love with and chosen to trust didn’t believe her. She shrank back and murmured, “You don’t believe me?”

  “Oh, Hailey, no!” Brady pulled her close, and she could feel him shaking his head against her hair. “I believe you. Of course I do. I meant I can’t believe Gage could treat any woman like that, especially you. You’re an angel, Hailey, and deserve to be treated like one.”

  Hailey sniffed against him. Then the tears rushed out hard. Brady easily lifted her onto his lap and cradled her in his strong embrace. She wrapped her arms around his waist and clung to him as her shoulders shook and sobs clogged her throat. The release of telling her sordid story and Brady being here for her ripped emotion from her that she’d stored for far too many years.

  Brady kissed her forehead and then her tear-stained cheeks. Time passed as she cried and cried. When she finally calmed down, he asked, “Is that why you don’t date football players?”

  Hailey managed a weak nod. “I don’t date anybody who’s big and muscly. I don’t want to be hurt like that ever again.”

  Brady shook his head and hugged her tight. “Hailey, I promise you I would never hurt you like that. Gage was a selfish monster. Loving someone should never be like that.”

  Hailey wanted to ask him how he knew, but she didn’t really want to know.

  “It makes so much sense now,” he said.

  “What’s that?”

  “Why you’ve seemed almost scared of me at times. Even on our wedding day, I felt such peace when I touched you, but there was fear in your eyes.”

  She nodded. “At the same time, I somehow knew I could trust you.”

  “I’m glad.” His eyes swept over her. “Are you glad you married me?”

  Hailey smiled at him. “I am.”

  “Do you …” He paused and finally muttered, “Want to have a marital relationship someday?”

  Hailey felt the familiar fear trickle in, but she found courage looking into Brady’s kind eyes. “Can we take it slow?”

  Brady nodded, his face solemn. “I don’t care if it takes years before you’re ready, Hailey. I want to be with you, all of you.”

  Years? Hailey laid her head against his chest and enjoyed being close to him. Would Brady really wait years for her? He was all man, and that seemed to be asking too much of him. Could she ever be whole and have a marriage like her parents, like X and Izzy? Somehow, she doubted it, but Brady’s sincerity and patience were like a balm of antibiotic cream over wounds that had never healed.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Brady grabbed the mail, anxious to get back inside to Hailey. She was making them tuna fish sandwiches with fresh cut veggies for a late lunch. It was so normal, yet exciting to be with her. He was loving every minute. He hadn’t loved hearing her story, but he recognized the amount of trust she’d placed in him by sharing it. His hand clenched into a fist. He wanted to hunt down Gage Tantrum and thump him. Next time they played Pittsburgh would not be a good experience for Gage. How could the man act so happy and friendly with everyone, yet exploit a woman like that, especially sweet Hailey? She was sunshine and a peaceful brook rolled into one for Brady. Oh yeah, the next chance Brady had, he would put such a hit on Gage Tantrum that William Fonnesbeck and the League would have plenty of reason to suspend him.

  He sorted through the small stack of bills and ads as he walked up to his porch. There was a postcard from the stalker. He didn’t open the letters anymore, just left them in a stack for the police to look over, but he noticed the postcard was addressed to Hailey not him. He flipped it over, and cold dread washed over him.

  You don’t deserve Brady. Keep your hands off him, or I will cut those pretty fingers off.

  Brady hurried into the house and to his office. He pulled out his cell phone to call the officer assigned to his case as he yanked yesterday’s letter off the top of the stack and ripped it open. It was filled with professions of love for him and threats against Hailey.

  “Cardon here.”

  “Officer Cardon, Brady Giles.” Brady’s hand shook as he tore open the letter from two days ago and scanned it. More threats against Hailey. Ugly, terrifying threats and explanations of why she wasn’t good enough for Brady. “My stalker has changed her tune. She’s threatening my wife, and we need to do something about it.”

  “Okay, sir, was it in a letter?”

  “A postcard today, but I’m looking through the letters we haven’t opened from the past few days. They’re full of threats against Hailey.”

  “We’ll be right there.”

  “Thank you.”

  Brady sank into his office chair and opened another letter. A pit of horror filled his stomach. Before today, he’d wanted to be done with the stalker because it was annoying and creepy. Now, this person was taking it to the next level, and he wanted to heave. He would see what the police had to say, but they’d never been able to track the letters. He was going to hire a private security company. Nobody was going to hurt Hailey. Nobody.

  She walked into his office. “Hey there, handsome.” Her beautiful smile slipped when she saw his face. “You okay?”

  “No.” He passed a hand over his face, stood and opened his arms. “Can I please just hold you?”

  “Sure.” She crossed the distance and wrapped her arms around his back.

  Brady tucked her into his chest and savored her coconut scent and how she fit per
fectly against him. Protectiveness for his wife surged through him.

  She leaned back and asked, “What is it? Can I help?”

  Brady shook his head. “The stalker has changed her game plan.” He gestured to the notes.

  Hailey tried to move out of his arms and read one. He stopped her, pulling her in closer. “No. Don’t read them.”

  “What? Why?”

  “She’s threatening you now, love.”

  Hailey glanced up at him. “She’s never threatened anyone before.”

  “No.”

  “But you have no clue who she is. She’s never tried to contact you besides the letters. I’m sure she’s not going to do anything to me.”

  Brady hoped that was true, but he had no clue. “I’m going to keep you safe, Hailey.”

  She looked at him with such trust and love. “I know you will.”

  He couldn’t resist tenderly kissing her.

  There was a quick rap on the office door. They both looked over at Nissa, who was dragging a vacuum behind her.

  “Excuse me,” she said. “We’re almost finished cleaning the rest of the house, and I wondered if you wanted me to dust and vacuum in here today.”

  Brady arched an eyebrow and glanced down at Hailey. “No, it’s fine. Thanks, Nissa. We’ll see you in a few days.”

  She gave him a wide smile. “Okay. Have a great afternoon.” She waved and strode away.

  Brady focused back on his wife. “The police are on their way over.”

  “Do you want to eat first?”

  He shook his head. “I couldn’t eat right now. I just want to keep you close.”

  She stood up on tiptoes and framed his face with her hands. “You can always keep me close, Brady Giles.” She kissed him.

  Brady clung to her. “What about when I have to play football?” He sounded like a scared little boy.

  She grinned. “Lucky for you, I’ll be right on the sidelines.”

  He laughed. “Okay, you’re right. Are you trying to tell me to relax?”