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 only 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.