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The Trustworthy Groom (Texas Titan Romance) Page 3
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Hailey pulled the side of her lower lip between her teeth. William’s insinuations got worse every time she saw him, and she knew he would try to hurt her players if she didn’t give in to him. If she got married, especially to a hunk like Brady Giles, he would have to give up.
“My gut says William wouldn’t be dissuaded by an engagement. He’d look at it as a challenge. For some reason, I think I’m the ultimate challenge to him.” She couldn’t stop the shudder that raced through her body.
“Then we have to take it to the next level.” Garrett glanced at her dad whose craggy face was growing new lines. “Are you prepared to help them fake a marriage?”
Her dad closed his eyes as Hailey’s stomach rolled. She couldn’t help but glance at Brady. Their eyes caught and held. Warmth started in the pit of her stomach and spread. His large, muscular frame seemed to exude protection. At the same time, she’d been hiding from brawny men for six years. Now she was supposed to fake a marriage to this hunk a bunk of studly man? Holy schmolies she was in trouble.
“Hailey?” her dad asked. “Is it bad enough with William to go through with this?”
Hailey winced just thinking about William’s lewd glances, filthy mouth, and octopus hands. She focused on Brady. The bright Texas sun seemed to gleam behind him through the floor to ceiling windows. His handsome face was full of concern for her. The idea of him protecting her from William was like a soothing balm.
“It’s horrible, Daddy. William terrifies me. If I don’t give into him, he’s going to go after our team. I know it. I’m afraid this might be the only way to dissuade him.”
Her dad studied her for a few seconds before saying to Garrett, “Then I think a fake marriage might be the best course of action.” He focused on Brady. “But if there is any indication that your stalker would hurt my girl, I’ll tell the media the farce myself and deal with William Fonnesbeck in my own way.”
“Sounds good, sir.” Brady nodded.
Her dad turned to her. “Hailey? Are you certain you’re okay with all of this?”
“I can handle getting married if it’ll get William to leave me alone.” Yet her stomach was dipping and swirling. She’d dreaded becoming a bride since eighteen when she traded in her little girl fantasies for a taste of the horror marriage could hold. Now she was going to pretend to be a bride with a man she didn’t know? A man who had some psycho chick stalking him?
Her daddy gave her a soft, albeit sad smile. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
“Don’t worry about me, Daddy. You know I’m a tough Texas girl.” No one knew the truth of how wimpy she was inside. No one.
His smile grew. He turned to Brady. “I understand that you’ll have to …” He cleared his throat. “Kiss and hug my girl to make the public, your stalker, and William believe this is real.”
Hailey’s heart was beating so fast and high it felt like it was in her throat. She’d have to fake kiss him?
“But that is all you are allowed to do. If you try to push any marital … advances on my daughter, I will personally end your football career and cut off your male parts.”
Hailey would’ve laughed if this wasn’t so serious and scary.
Brady straightened and nodded solemnly. “I swear to you, sir. I will only touch your daughter in appropriate ways. Nothing beyond kissing and hugging.”
The look he was giving Hailey said he might not mind the kissing and hugging. Holy moley, what was she getting herself into? Yet she was so grateful that he wouldn’t try anything beyond that. The threat from her dad wasn’t idle, and she felt the strength of family and her father’s love wash over her. She loved him so much.
“Hailey?” Her dad turned to her. “Promise me you will let me know if there’s any inappropriate contact.”
Hailey gave them all a saucy grin. “Don’t worry, Daddy. You know I don’t date football players.”
Her dad threw back his head and laughed while Brady’s eyes lit up with a challenge. Her dad nodded to Garrett. “I still don’t love this, but I think it’s our best option at the moment.”
“Okay. I’ll get everything setup.” Garrett sat and started tapping away on his laptop.
Hailey met Brady’s steady gaze. It was interesting to feel safe and overly attracted at the same time. She’d committed to marrying a man she didn’t even know. This was seriously messed up, but she hadn’t been able to come up with any other option in the past six months, and the thought of never having William leer at her again was more than worth going through with the charade.
Chapter Three
Brady took the letters and bills out of his mailbox. Sorting through them, he recognized the mailing labels the stalker always used. He had a box in his home office where he stored all of them. The police came by for the letters once every few weeks and nobody seemed overly concerned about them. They’d initially checked into anyone close to him and found no leads. Plus, the investigators assured him that someone close to him would take personal items or leave presents or mementos where he could find them, not simply mail a letter every day. It was a little reassurance, at least the stalker was purely an annoyance and wasn’t coming into his home.
Brady had given up reading the letters but knew the words would be something along the lines of “You’re the love of my life. I’ll love you forever. You’re the most handsome man in the world.” Then she would go into describing all of his desirable attributes or something cheesy and lame like that.
He hurried up his wide porch steps and out of the Texas sun and heat. Closing the door behind him, he savored the luxury of air conditioning. Growing up in Massachusetts he’d never really appreciated how hot and humid the air could be. The Texas air seeped into every pore, and he could taste it. He’d grown up humbly, learning how to survive on very little and working his tail off. Now, he had more money than he knew what to do with, and he’d been able to remodel and expand his parents’ home in Massachusetts and buy them an air-conditioned condo in Mesa, Arizona for the winter. All of his six siblings were doing a lot better than any of them could’ve envisioned from their youth because of Brady’s financial help, fame, and connections.
He dialed his agent’s phone number as he sauntered into his office, dropping the sack with the notes and his other mail on the desk. He knew very few people in Texas besides some teammates from college, camps, or workouts. His agent was based out of Austin and had been with him since he signed fresh out of college. She was young and confident, a tough woman making her way in a man’s world. He was glad he had signed with her as she’d been a powerful ally and had succeeded in getting him the top of the salary cap and lots of lucrative advertising deals, though he’d had to draw the relationship boundaries a few times. He supposed Claire was beautiful, but she was too hardened for him, and he’d never been interested in anything beyond a professional relationship.
Still, he wanted some more friendly faces at the wedding. His parents had agreed to fly in, but he hadn’t even told his siblings. They were busy with their own lives and would get the details from his parents.
“Hey there,” Claire said.
“Hi, Claire. Can you attend an event for me?”
“You know that’s my favorite kind of event.”
Brady rolled his eyes at her sultry tone but then he smiled. She’d be changing her tune soon. “You and Hazel?”
“As long as there’s food and she hasn’t had the baby yet.” Claire joked.
Brady smiled. His agent’s sister was a couple months away from having her first baby. Her husband was a pilot and traveled a lot for work, so she was with Claire quite often. She’d been a great buffer between them for Brady at first, but as he’d spent more time with the two of them, Hazel had truly become a friend of his. He always tried to include her when he invited Claire anywhere.
“There’ll be great food,” Brady said. He’d have to check with Hailey on that. Her mama had taken over the event immediately. Brady was told he just needed to show up in his tux. Easy enough. If onl
y he could spend five minutes alone with his future bride. They’d been texting back and forth over the past few days since they’d committed to the engagement. He liked her spunky, happy personality, but the fact of the matter was he was marrying a stranger in less than a week.
“What day is the event?”
“June twelfth. Two p.m.”
“That’s soon. Hmm.” Claire paused then said, “I’ll check if Hazel’s available that afternoon, but it might just be you and me.” She let out a throaty laugh. Brady could just imagine her winking at him. He had to remind himself what a fabulous job she did as his agent and that soon he’d be married and she wouldn’t dare throw out any more suggestions. “Did you say what the event is for?”
Brady gripped his phone tighter and sank into his office chair, staring out the two-story window at the thick trees the original owner had planted for privacy and shade. “My wedding,” he said finally.
He heard a clunk. Then Claire came back on. “Sorry, did you say your wedding?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Brady had picked up the habit as the youngest of seven and living in the South had brought it back.
“I didn’t know … who are you marrying? Do I know her?”
“You might.” He blew out a breath. “Hailey Knight.”
“James Knight’s daughter?” Claire’s voice squeaked.
“That’s the one.”
“You can’t marry the owner’s daughter. How do you even know her? Well I guess you’d know her as the team’s trainer, but you can’t truly know her, know her. What in the world are you thinking?”
Brady had expected a reaction, but not this vehement of one. He chose to only answer her last question. “I’m thinking that I fell in love with Hailey and now we’re getting married.” He hoped his tone would stop any more protests. In love? What did he know about love? He’d had a lot of women pursue him, but most of them were the cleat chasers who just wanted an athlete, any athlete, for the status or the money. Hailey obviously didn’t care about either. He didn’t know her very well, but he really liked what he’d seen so far.
“Wow, um, congrats. She seems like a … pretty girl.”
“She’s so much more than pretty.” Fun, beautiful, witty, Hailey seemed perfect, but who knew what was below the surface?
“Was it a quick engagement?” Claire’s voice was tight. Brady had expected her to be a little jealous as it was obvious she liked to flirt with him and wouldn’t have minded more, but she seemed more upset than he’d bargained for.
“You could say that, but when you know it’s right you have to go for it.”
“I guess so. Are you sure about this, Brady?”
Brady couldn’t let the questioning continue. They’d promised in Knight’s office that only the four of them, Brady’s parents, Hailey’s mom, and her sister and Xavier Newton would know the truth. If they were going to pull it off, they couldn’t leak it. Brady trusted Claire and loved that he had an agent he could trust, but Claire didn’t need the burden of knowing this secret and Brady would stick by what he promised James and Hailey Knight. Soon to be Hailey Giles. His breath caught as he envisioned her bright blue eyes, flirtatious smile, and spunky attitude. If he had to do a rushed, fake wedding, he was extremely lucky with his choice of a bride.
“Yes. I love her, and I’m marrying her.” He hoped his voice sounded convincing and Claire didn’t catch the slight tremor.
“Well, okay. I live to support you.”
The sarcasm in her voice was pretty thick, but Claire really did go above and beyond to support him in his career and help him succeed.
“I really appreciate your support,” he said.
“I know you do.” She pushed out a breathy sigh. “All right then. I’ll see you on June twelfth.”
“Thanks.” Brady hung up the phone and stared out the windows. One week and his life was going to change drastically. It would be worth it to get the stalker to give up on him and keep William Fonnesbeck away from Hailey. Brady lived a pretty quiet life. Was he ready for a vivacious wife? Who knew? But he had to admit he was excited to see what his new future had to offer.
Chapter Four
Izzy fluttered around Hailey like a butterfly hyped up on caffeine. She fluffed her veil before applying more lip-gloss to Hailey’s already shiny lips. Surveying Hailey with bright eyes, Izzy proceeded to hug her and hug her and hug her. Hailey could hardly catch a breath with Izzy squeezing her so tight.
They were waiting in their parents’ master suite. The caterers had just pulled Mama aside for a few questions. Hailey had thought maybe she could relax for a minute, but Izzy was acting crazier than Mama.
“Calm down, sis. It’s only my wedding day.” Hailey wished her stomach would obey her demands to be calm. Her insides seemed to be moving crazier than Izzy. Wedding day. This was more insane than old Aunt Betsy who baked crickets into her pecan pie for extra protein and thought Ronald Reagan was still the president. Hailey was marrying a huge football player and trusting that he wouldn’t hurt her because of her daddy’s threats? She swallowed hard, grateful she hadn’t been able to eat anything today. If she had, it would all be coming back up.
Her dad’s lawyer had quickly taken the wedding plans to the next level and beyond. First, he announced her and Brady’s engagement to the world. Then with her mama’s help, he planned a wedding in less than a week. Select media had been invited to the wedding, and it was a huge event for all the locals. Hailey couldn’t stomach doing a fake wedding in the church she’d attended her entire life, so they were holding the event outside in Mama and Daddy’s sprawling yard. It was going to be sweltering, but Mama had arranged for UV-blocking tents and portable air-conditioning units.
It had been decided a couple of days ago that their vows weren’t going to be fake. They didn’t want anyone but immediate family and Garrett to know the truth, or the whole farce wouldn’t accomplish what they needed—getting two stalkers to leave them alone. So they would be joined as husband and wife for real, and hopefully, William Fonnesbeck and Brady’s stalker would give up when they saw pictures of them happily married. They could get it annulled within the year. Garrett was all over the paperwork and legal forms.
Hailey’s stomach pitched again. Married for real. She squeezed her eyes shut and said another prayer for strength, peace, and Brady to be a man of his word. At this rate, the good Lord was going to answer her pleas for help just to get her to stop bugging Him.
“You’re absolutely breathtaking,” Izzy said. Her smile was sad, but her dark eyes convincing.
“And you are breaking my heart.” Hailey hugged her tight. “It’s okay, sis. I’ll get through this, and someday soon, I’ll find a love like you and X have.” She didn’t really believe a love like that was possible for someone as scarred as her, but maybe saying it would comfort Izzy.
Izzy held on. “I know you’ve always said no football players, but X is the greatest husband in the world. Maybe you could give Brady a chance.”
Hailey pulled back and eyed her sternly. “This is all fake, Iz, very fake. I hardly know the guy.” Though she’d enjoyed texting him nonstop over the past week and her research on him was promising. He was a champion on the field and off. He raised and donated money to charities, didn’t sleep around, and had never shown any inclination of violent behavior. It didn’t hurt that he was extremely easy on the eyes, but Hailey would stay true to her vow to not date football players. She’d dated enough perfectly handsome men to realize their good looks disappeared quickly sometimes. Take William for example. She’d rather marry someone with a wrinkled and beat-up looking face, like her daddy, who had a heart of gold.
Mama was suddenly back and clutching Hailey to her large bosom. “Oh, my sweet honey child. I didn’t think your wedding day would be like this.”
“It’s okay, Mama. It’s okay.” Hailey soothed her, though inside she agreed. She adored her parent’s happy marriage as well as Izzy and Xavier’s. It hurt deep inside to think of mocking that s
acred institution. Shaking her head, she knew she couldn’t think of it like that. She’d get through the next few months and get William off her and her team’s back and help Brady shake his stalker. By the time regular season started, she’d be back to her real life. She’d done drama in high school. She had to think of this as just another dramatic performance. It didn’t matter that Brady Giles had a smile that could heat her up from the inside and she was completely terrified to be alone with him tonight. She had to keep reminding herself that her daddy had threatened his career and his man parts if he tried anything. She had nothing to worry about, right? Brady would remember he had promised he wouldn’t touch her inappropriately. But how did she know she could trust his promise? Oh man, maybe she needed more time to worry and come up with a plan to protect herself.
“It’s time.” Her father’s voice was gruff. Hailey jerked back from her mama’s arms, sweat breaking out on her forehead.
“Oh, sweetheart, you’re a vision.” His voice softened, and he opened his arms.
Hailey hurried to him and savored his peppermint and coffee scent. It always gave her comfort. Forcing herself to be strong, she teased him. “You ready to give me away, Daddy-o?”
“No.” He hugged her tight. “Are you sure you want to do this, sweetheart? We can get a restraining order against William. I’ll take the fight with the commissioner’s office. I can handle whatever consequences they throw at my team.”
Hailey knew he would do all of that for her, but the Titans had a huge target on their back. Nobody had been competition for them last year, and every team would enjoy seeing them involved in a scandal and losing players to suspensions. “I know you could Daddy, but they’re my team too, and crazily enough, this feels right.”
He nodded shortly, drinking in her face for a few seconds before turning to Mama and Izzy. “Dolly, love, you’d better get to your seat. We’ll follow you, sweetheart.” He nodded to Izzy.