Brady had never had so much fun. They raced from ride to ride, stopping to eat churros or iced lemonades and sign almost as many autographs as the Disney characters. A lot of people recognized them, probably from all the exposure of their wedding that was just yesterday. It seemed like more time had passed than that. Brady was always friendly to fans, especially children, so they got slowed down a lot, but it was still a ton of fun.

He loved soaring through California on the California Soarin’ ride—smelling the citrusy scents, seeing Napa Valley, and taking in all the great California sights. Being part of Star Wars on Star Tours was fun and made him a little sick to his stomach. He and his brothers had loved Star Wars growing up. They would all be so jealous of him. He made a mental note to send all of them and their families on a Disneyland trip. Wouldn’t it be fun if Hailey would go with him and his family on a reunion at Disneyland?

He thought Disney outdid themselves with the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It was dark, dank, and creepy, perfect with Jack Sparrow’s voice accompanying them. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was probably his favorite of the roller coasters, followed closely by the Matterhorn. Space Mountain was awesome, but it scared him a lot. He would never admit that out loud, especially when Hailey teased him about screaming. What kind of crazy person designed a roller coaster in the dark?

The crowds got really bad around one o’clock, and they might have been able to hit more rides with Fast Passes, but being stopped all the time for autographs and pictures made it hard. Brady knew this was exactly why they’d come here, to get the exposure. The thought of William Fonnesbeck and his stalker seeing him beaming next to his beautiful bride made him happy, but when Hailey suggested they head back to the beach at about two o’clock, he was ready.

The driver picked them up, and they chatted excitedly about different rides on the way to the house. A spread of chicken and steak fajita salads was waiting on the counter for them. Brady shook his head. “How do they know to do this?”

“I was starving from no breakfast, so I texted them.”

He shook his head. “You’re pretty spoiled. You realize that, right?”

Hailey gasped. Then her beautiful and impish smile came out. “We choose to call it well-loved.”

Brady couldn’t help but roll his eyes, though he didn’t think it would be hard to love Hailey really well. He couldn’t blame her parents for spoiling her. Not at all.

Hailey made herself a salad, and Brady followed suit. They sat down, and she offered a brief prayer before digging in. She stared out over the ocean and said abruptly, “You know James Knight isn’t my birth father, right?”

Brady paused with his fork on the way to his mouth. “No. I had no clue.” He set his fork down and focused on her.

“Oh.” She put a small bite of salad in her mouth and chewed before saying, “My real father deserted us when I was three. My daddy adopted me when I was nine. He’s been the best father anyone could ask for.” She looked down and cleared her throat. “It’s a really long story, but Izzy hated Daddy until recently, so the only daughter he could spoil was me.” She shrugged, but still wouldn’t look at him. “Sorry that was more info than you needed, but I didn’t want you to think I was a brat. I’m very grateful for all my daddy has done for me. I let him do it because I know how much joy it brings him to take good care of me, or spoil me like you said.”

Brady set his fork down and scooted his chair closer to hers. Hailey finally glanced up at him, her eyes kind of afraid, as if he would make fun of her, or was there something else she was afraid of? “The term I prefer is well-loved,” he said.

“Well, I like your term.” Hailey rewarded him with a tremulous smile then rubbed her fingers along the countertop. “Thank you. I’ve never talked to anyone about that. Even as a kid, I would lie to my classmates that James Knight was my real dad, which made things kind of awkward for him as he would’ve had to cheat on his first wife to have been my real father. We recently found out that partly because of my lies Izzy had thought he was my real father and hated him for years because she thought he cheated on her mom when she was dying.” She blew out a breath. “But as a kid, you don’t think about repercussions like that, you know?”

Brady couldn’t resist brushing his fingers across her knuckles. She gazed up at him, her eyes filled with warmth. “Well, I’m your husband, so you can tell me anything.”

Hailey arched an eyebrow. “Eat quick, my husband, so I can show you how to ride the waves.”

“You got it.” Brady shoveled a bite in. He loved her calling him “my husband” so much that he had to remind himself to slow down and chew.

* * *

When Hailey and her daddy had decided on the beach house and Disneyland, it had been more about exposure to media to help accomplish the purpose of her rushed wedding and keeping the alone time with Brady to a minimum. Both ideas suited her perfectly.

She’d had no clue that Brady would be so excited about Disneyland and so much fun to be with. Her parents were great, but every other time she’d been at Disneyland, she’d pretty much dragged them from ride to ride. They’d put up with it, but it had been obvious they were only doing it for her. One time, when she was fourteen, she’d asked to bring a friend along on the trip. Izzy had refused to go anywhere with their family, as usual, and Hailey was sick of not having someone to run with. The pained expressions on both of her parents’ faces, as if she’d tried to replace Izzy, had told her all she’d needed to know. She’d rescinded the question before they could answer her and never asked again.

But Brady was incredibly fun. They’d laughed and even screamed through the rides. He’d held her hand quite a few times, and on many of the rides, they’d had no choice but to be pressed close. She’d never enjoyed being close to a man quite like this. She dated all the time, several dates a day sometimes, but she didn’t let herself get close to anyone. She knew she was emotionally injured from what had happened to her at eighteen, but she was a Knight, and stronger than that, so she didn’t let herself go there. If she’d ever told her parents, they would’ve hired her the best therapists, but she was okay. At least that is what she told herself. In reality, she would never give her parents the stress of knowing how broken she was. She’d talked to the Lord about it many a time, and He was helping her. Yet she’d still never made that leap with a man to doing more than holding hands, hugging, and an occasional quick kiss good night, and she still had nightmares far too often.

Brady had the potential to blow all of her reticence out of the water. Sitting in the log on Splash Mountain where he had his arms wrapped around her abdomen and she was pressed against his chest, she felt stirrings she’d never experienced. It was delicious and tender and terrifying.

That afternoon, she walked out of her bedroom in her favorite Nani swimsuit—navy blue and white floral bottoms and a dusty blue top that showed off just a hint of abdomen. Brady was standing at the railing by the pool looking out over the ocean in only a pair of teal swim trunks. His broad back was covered with succulent muscle and smooth, tanned skin. He looked like a Ken Barbie doll the way his broad shoulders tapered down to a taut waistline. The thought of his muscular arms surrounding her made her mouth go dry.

Hailey sucked in a breath. “You’re a professional,” she muttered to herself. Seriously, she worked with perfectly built athletes all day, every day. Why was this one affecting her when she’d promised herself she would never date a football player again?

Hailey pushed out the glass patio doors, and Brady turned with a grin on his face.

“You ready to conquer the waves?” she asked.

“Let’s do this.” He grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the stairs leading down to the beach.

Hailey laughed and realized she could do this. Have fun with Brady and pretend to be married. It didn’t have to get serious or physical. He’d been a complete gentleman so far, only teasing her a little bit. She could stay safe and keep her promise to herself. Now, if she could just remind herself not to tingle when he held her hand in his or gave her one of his devastating smiles.

They plunged into the soft, hot sand of the beach. It slowed their run down considerably, stinging her bare feet. It was late in the afternoon, and this stretch of beach was lined with multi-million dollar homes. There wasn’t a public parking area or access close by, so it was basically deserted.

They made it through the loose sand to where the waves had packed the sand firm, and it was cooler on her feet. Hailey ran full tilt toward the water, but Brady stopped when a wave rolled in and came toward his toes.

“Isn’t it going to be cold?” he asked.

The weather was considerably cooler by the water with an ocean breeze, and they were both used to the sweltering heat of Texas.

Hailey turned back to him. The wave rolled up over her ankles, and she jumped. It was chilly. “Of course, it’s cold. It’s the Pacific Ocean. It’s only warm in Hawaii.” She didn’t really know which places the Pacific was warm, but Hawaii was the only one where she’d experienced it. California water was never warm like the Caribbean, even in the summer. “Stop being such a wimp.”

“Wimp?” He laughed, and before Hailey could react, he charged at her, swept her off her feet, and carried her toward the next wave.

Hailey laughed, surprised and loving his spontaneity. She clung to his muscular shoulders, thinking she could definitely get used to touching him. She made the mistake of letting her eyes dip to his defined chest and abdomen. Her breath became ragged, and she had to hold on tighter.

Brady plunged through the water until they were waist deep. Then a large wave came, and as it crested, he jumped into it with her. Hailey gasped as the chilly water surrounded her. They both got rolled under the crest of the wave, and she was flung away from him. Hailey came up sputtering, pushing her hair out of her face and blinking salt water out of her eyes.

“You okay?” Brady asked, standing up a foot away from her.

“Of course.” She struggled to her feet. “But I can see I have lots to teach you about body surfing the waves.”

Brady chuckled and swiped his hand through his hair. Hailey’s heart beat quicker as she watched his arm flex with the motion. She’d forced herself for years not to let fit bodies affect her, but she was just now realizing it was like being denied chocolate and Diet Coke for life. She wanted nothing more than to look at, touch, and feel Brady’s body. A wave slammed into her, pushing her off her feet and slapping water in her face.

Brady reached out to steady her. Another wave made her lose her footing again, and she stumbled, knocking into his chest. He was so solid, even the ocean didn’t push him around. His arms clamped around her waist, and she lost the ability to breathe. She looked up, and their breath mingled. He was focused completely on her, and she’d never been so tempted to ask someone to kiss her.

The waves kept hitting them then receding, but they couldn’t move Hailey while she was in Brady’s strong embrace. His lips were so kissable, and if the look in his eyes was any indication, he would welcome her kiss wholeheartedly.

Hailey swallowed hard and forced herself to pull away. She needed to keep this light or she would ask him to kiss her and mess up everything. Grabbing Brady’s hand, she tugged him deeper into the ocean. “Okay, follow me. I’ll show you the best waves to body surf. Then we’ll go grab some boogie boards and hit even bigger waves.”

He winked and grinned. “I would follow you anywhere, my beautiful wife.”

Hailey drew in a quick breath and focused on diving under the next wave. She was getting afraid that all this honeymoon was going to accomplish was her forgetting every promise she’d made to herself and flinging herself into the succulent arms of the most handsome football player she’d ever met.