Chapter Four
Hailey rushed back to her bedroom and closed the door, then settled on the bed, pushing her shaky hands in her lap and sandwiched between her legs.
After taking a few deep breaths, she ground her teeth together.
Her thoughts jumbled in her mind and made her anxiety rise.
The nasty habit of biting her nails she’d tried for so long to get over, she inadvertently started again as her fears began to push to the surface.
The waves of emotion she felt with the men stunned her.
She loved her husband. He was the other half of her soul.
She would always love him, but standing in between them, feeling their combined heat, nearly made her feel faint, and had thrown her into a wild thrill of desire so big she knew they had to have seen it.
Her nipples alone would have given her away.
Drew had been home for half an hour, and already she was having problems. Tomorrow or the next day, how did she think she’d deal with it then?
She knew she cared about him. He was her husband’s brother. She had always enjoyed talking with him on their chats when he was able to call them, but the way she felt at that moment was ... more than enjoy, more than adore, and just plain overwhelming her.
Hailey needed to put space between herself and Drew. She knew she could do it. She was always busy with the house and the small business she ran out of the office, illustrating comic books. The only time she would have to see him was during meals.
She took an easy breath. She felt a little better after the brief pep talk and with some time and space to calm down.
Hailey decided to take a shower and let the men talk. Adam knew how to make breakfast if they were hungry. She’d take her time and pamper herself a bit. It might help to calm her nerves.
An hour later, Hailey listened to the men’s voices as she made her way down the stairs and stopped at the bottom, gripping the railing.
She had hoped they’d be outside already.
She thought about going directly into the office but didn’t want to seem rude on the very first day, and she knew her husband would drag her back out, and that would be downright embarrassing.
Both men turned and saw Hailey right outside the kitchen door.
“Leave that alone, sweetheart,” Drew said.
She tugged on the bag Drew had brought into the house and felt all her muscles pull. “I was just going to put it in your room,” she told him, and grunted.
Drew stood from the kitchen chair and walked to her as she continued to try to lift and drag the bag. He reached around her with one arm and effortlessly took it from her grip and held it up out of her reach.
Hailey stood in shock for a moment, then put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “That’s not fair,” she complained. “How the heck are you lifting that with one hand?”
Drew’s mouth quirked up on the side. “I’m sorry, baby.” He smiled at the outrage on her face.
“No, you’re not,” she snapped out.
Drew laughed. His smile grew when Adam stepped up behind her and swatted her jean-covered ass.
Hailey whipped around as she covered her bottom with both of her hands. “Hey, what was that for?”
Adam looked down at his wife. “What did Drew ask you to do?”
Hailey shrugged.
“Answer me, love.”
“He told me to put his bag down.”
“And you didn’t listen, did you?”
“No, but...”
“No buts. I know it’s going to take a while to get used to, but I’m going to ask you to mind Drew as you would me.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Are you saying—”
“Yes,” Adam interrupted her, and crossed his arms. “And there will be consequences if you don’t, just like me.”
Hailey looked over her shoulder. Her breath snagged in her throat, and a shudder raced through her at the heat in Drew’s gaze.
The sexual tension in the room expanded.
The heightened awareness that these two men could crush her so easily should have scared the hell out of her, but she knew in her soul they would do anything to protect her.
She faced her husband, crossed her arms over her chest, and raised her chin. She watched as amazement, then delight crossed Adam’s face before he lifted one of his brows. “Are you saying he can punish me, too?” she grumbled in disbelief.
Adam studied his little wife, nodded slowly, and waited.
“I don’t understand. He’s your brother, my brother-in-law, and you don’t care if he has his hands on ... me?”
Adam shook his head. “No, baby, I don’t. He’s the only person in the world I would let touch you, but make no mistake. If he catches you misbehaving, or putting yourself in danger, I guarantee he’ll have your pants down or your skirt up and redden your ass if he feels it’s necessary.”
Hailey’s arms dropped by her sides, and she sputtered. “Are you kidding me right now?”
Adam lowered his brows and narrowed his eyes. “Do I look like I’m kidding?”
Hailey moved nervously from one foot to the other and pulled at the bottom of her shirt as thoughts and emotions she couldn’t identify swirled through her head.
She was speechless. Never in a million years would she have thought this could happen.
She glanced over her shoulder again and bit her lip at the smoldering emotions in Drew’s eyes.
“And I can tell you something, sweetheart, I’m going to enjoy having my hands on you.” Drew’s voice rumbled.
She gasped and jerked her head back around towards her husband. “Why? Why are you doing this?” she hissed.
He cupped her shoulders. “We’ll talk more later, but please know I’m not doing this to you. I’m doing it for you.”
She shook her head. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“It will. Why don’t you go on and go gather the eggs from the coop? I’ll help Drew settle in.”
“Fine,” she said through gritted teeth.
Hailey took several steps away and turned to see both men watching her steadily. She spun away and willed herself not to run, even though it was her first inclination. She grabbed a basket and slammed out of the back porch.
She grimaced at the smell when she closed the coop door behind her.
She wanted to rush but knew she needed a moment to calm down, so she took her time.
She wanted to rail at her husband for putting her in this predicament.
What in the world could he be thinking? How in the hell was she supposed to deal with not one, but two arrogant men in the house?
A sharp pain brought her back from her thoughts. “You shithead.” She snarled at one of the chickens that had just pecked her. She shook her hand before she looked closely at it. “Dammit.” The damn hen had drawn blood. Now she was in for it.
It always infuriated her husband when she got hurt. She knew this would upset him because injuries like this were prone to becoming infected easily. He would also know she was not wearing the gloves he’d asked her to wear and was distracted.
She slowed a bit more and would try to wait as long as she could .
.. and hope Adam and Drew would head to the barn.
She thought if she had time, she’d clean the wound thoroughly and put cream on it.
By the time he caught it—and he would, he never missed anything—she hoped it looked better than it did at that moment.