Page 26 of The Dom's Sinful Desires
Hailey blew out a breath and sat back in the water.She stared at the wall as thought after thought bombarded her.
“Now I understand all the teasing you’ve given me over the years we’ve been married.Like about double the help around the house, double the affection, double the ...love.That was your way of preparing me for when he came home.”
Adam nodded slowly as he sat on the rim of the bathtub.“That was part of it,” he admitted.
She turned and scowled at him as her fury clashed with disbelief inside of her.
“Don’t you find that a bit deceitful?If you knew you wanted to share a wife with Drew, why didn’t you tell me this before we got married, so I had a choice?”
“Because I didn’t want you to have a choice.The thought of not having you...”He hissed and shot to his feet and turned his back on her.After a moment, he turned back.
Hailey cringed when she saw the distinct emotions he was trying to control.Anger, worry, impatience, but most of all, desperation.She didn’t like to see him with any of them.
“I’m sorry.I knew it was deceiving.Drew had even told me that.But one way or another, I had to have you.”
A flare of temper ignited inside her, so fiery it caught her off guard.“Why in the world did you even imagine I would go for it?”she shouted.
Adam knelt down again.She could tell he was racking his brain to try to find the words he needed.“Dammit.I knew you had enough love for both of us, and because of your childhood, I thought you deserved double the love.You’ve told me from the beginning that I was the first one to care about you, right?”
She nodded.
“God, I have to tell you the first time I saw you ...it felt like I got kicked in the chest.You were perfect for us in every way.You still are.”
Hailey pushed the tender emotions from her brain for that moment.
“You just decided for me?”she jeered.“So, tell me something—you’ve been planning this all along, haven’t you?That’s what all the video chats that you always included me in were about.You wanted to get me used to him, the only way you could, with him being a thousand miles away.”
“Yes.Besides the fact that he needed to see and talk to you.Couldn’t you tell when the two of you talked, he got calmer and smiled?He didn’t do that with me.With me, I got a thousand questions about you if you weren’t there.It was hard to see him worry about you, uneasy with the thought he wasn’t here for you, and know he couldn’t do anything about it until he got home.”
Hailey took a long moment to soak that information in.“So, tell me, what’s your guys’ next move?”
He glowered at her in frustration.“You make it sound like a game,” he growled.“And it isn’t to us.”
Hailey shrugged.She looked directly into his eyes.“How in the hell did you think it was going to play out?What if we couldn’t stand each other or we found each other repulsive?”
“If we couldn’t work through it, we would have given up on the idea.”
“Or, you could find a woman you both wanted.”
He narrowed his eyes in silent threat.“We already did.You!”he spat out.“Drew knew the first time he talked to you, he wanted you, and it’s just grown deeper and stronger over time.”
“What about what I want?”she cried out.
Adam relaxed a bit and smiled for the first time.“And you want him,” he stated with conviction.
Hailey’s eyes flared as she shook her head.“You don’t know that.”
He chuckled.“Yeah, I do.I see the way you react to him.”
Hailey dropped her mouth as an element of shock raced through her.“Like how?”she burst out.
“Like you could eat him up,” Adam drawled.
“It doesn’t bother you at all?”
“No, because he’s my brother.If you ever looked at another man like that, I’d swat your ass until it was bright red.But when I see the look on your face or how your body responds to him, it makes me crazy with love and hunger.”
Hailey stared at him.She knew everything he was saying was true about her reactions, but she hadn’t wanted to dissect her emotions when it came to Drew.In her mind, she’d put him in the role of a brother, but emotionally ...she’d been having a lot of conflicting feelings.“I don’t know what you think you’ve seen, but I can assure you...”
