Daniel was going to propose? Hayden’s hands flew up to cover her thrilled smile.

“Six months ago? I’d have told you to seek medical attention immediately because you’ve received a concussion.”

“Exactly. I haven’t had a lot of time to work myself up for this. I never thought…” He trailed off. “I never let myself think this could happen for me.”

A deep sigh from Brent. “You’re really going to make me say this Oprah bullshit out loud, aren’t you?” She couldn’t make out Daniel’s muffled reply. “Listen. Story is going to say yes. Why? Because no one in this world loves her more, or knows her better than you. And she knows it. It’s all over her face when she looks at you. She found her soul mate.”

At the unexpected sincerity from Brent, Hayden’s throat constricted. Her eyes filled with moisture. She could practically see both men shifting uncomfortably in the next room and it only touched her more.

“I hope you’re happy. Now I have nothing left for my best man toast at the wedding.”

Daniel cleared his throat. “I haven’t asked you to be my best man.”

“You will.”

“Yeah. I know.” She heard some shuffled steps, then Brent’s hotel room door opening. “Thanks, man. See you at dinner.”

“I’m so going to order the manliest f**king steak on the menu to make up for this.”

The door closed on Daniel’s laughter. Hayden stayed very still with her ear pressed to the door, absorbing what she’d just heard. It was more than just a profound moment between two friends. She’d already been sliding down her mountain of judgment concerning Brent. First when he’d apologized at the dinner party for not preventing an encounter between her and Stuart. Then again this afternoon, seeing him with his nieces. Learning about his daily sacrifice to support his family. For months, she’d thought of him as nothing more than an irreverent jackass. She’d clearly been wrong. But it was too late to matter.

Before the depressing thought could fully form, the adjoining door opened and she tumbled forward into Brent’s room. He caught her just before she could face-plant at his feet.

“Eavesdropping, duchess?” His laughter died in his throat when he saw she wore only a strapless bra and panties. His entire demeanor changed from playful to sexually charged in an instant. Muscles tensed, his cheekbones flared red. Swiftly, her body responded to his, sensing the one who could satisfy it. How could she resist this when her brain had so little control?

She must. Her feelings toward Brent were rapidly transforming into something she hadn’t anticipated. Being intimate with him would only muddle her brain further. She wouldn’t be able to sleep with this fiercely passionate man and then marry someone who paled in comparison. It would make performing her duty to her family unbearable. It would wreck her.

Grasping her tenuous resolve like a lifeline, she tried to skirt past him toward her room. She’d made it to the door when one large hand appeared above her and pushed it closed with a click. Tension-filled seconds ticked by. Hayden stood frozen, except for the increasingly fast rise and fall of her chest. When she felt Brent move closer, his muscular chest brushing her back, she bit her lip to hold in a whimper. More than anything, she wanted to press back into him, move her naked skin against his clothes. Entice him with a twist of her hips on his lap. Instead, she squeezed her eyes closed and remained still. Even knowing Brent would let her, she couldn’t make herself open the door and return to her room. She simply didn’t have that kind of willpower.

“Did I get you all revved up on the ride here?”

Her breath escaped in a rush when Brent’s hand skimmed over her hip and came to a rest on her belly, brushing the skin with work-roughened fingertips. Every inch of her body had become so painfully aware of him that she couldn’t draw air into her lungs.

“Are you here to make me pay for the bad words I said to you?”

A sound fled her lips, arousal and surprise mixed together. She hated that he knew exactly what to say. Exactly how to make himself irresistible to her. She also craved it. No one had ever understood so thoroughly what she needed. All without an ounce of judgment.

Suddenly, as if something snapped inside him, he lifted her high against the door, levering her there with his hips pressed snugly into her bottom. He worked his bulging erection between her thighs and pushed up hard. Hayden’s tiptoes barely skimmed the ground. She had no choice but to brace her palms against the door and relish the unleashed power behind her. All the while knowing he’d hand over control if she simply asked for it. “I have a few more bad words for you. Would you like to hear them?”

“Yes.” The whispered word broke free before she could suppress it. Brent rewarded her by slowly grinding his hips into her, growling against her neck as she panted.

He brushed her hair aside with one hand and scraped his teeth down the side of her neck. “You made this f**king sound, Hayden. The first time you spread your legs to take my cock. I hear it everywhere I go. This goddamn…moan? Sob? I don’t know. All I know is if I don’t f**k that sound out of you again soon, I’m going to completely lose my mind.”

Every muscle in her body weakened, went languid. She pressed her forehead against the door in an attempt to anchor herself. Her body screamed at her to take this man inside her. Her reasons for staying away were fast beginning to dissipate from her mind.

She opened her mouth to tell him to let her go. “Is there more?” came out instead.

Brent’s pained laugh rumbled in his chest, sending goose bumps down along her arms. “Woman, I could go all day.”

He worked himself against her, his jeans creating such incredible friction as they slid along her silk panties that Hayden couldn’t control the spreading dampness, the insistent pulsing that grew more demanding by the minute.

“You loved it, didn’t you? Cuffing me? Riding me?” He waited for her shaky nod. “Good. You can tie me up and f**k me within an inch of my life, and I’ll just beg for more. But so help me God”—he thrust against her so hard her feet inched off the floor—“I’m going to have you just like this someday. I’ll surrender to you, over and over, but you’ll goddamn surrender to me when I ask. I want to be clear about that.”

Her stomach muscles tightened, her chest shuddered as she sucked in a breath. “I guess we’ll see about that,” Hayden said, fully aware she was playing a dangerous game, but too drugged with arousal to care. She tossed her head back onto his shoulder. As if anticipating her move, his mouth met hers in an all-out battle of lips and tongue. He groaned into her mouth as they fought for control. She circled her bottom on his erection, his hands gripping and guiding her. Setting the pace.

One big hand traveled over her hip to slip down the front of her panties. Adept fingers found her clitoris and massaged, drawing on her dampness to make her slippery.

“Let’s end this game now.” He shoved two big fingers inside her, crooked and rotated them until she cried out. “You need my c**k here. Twice a day.” He kissed her hard, thrusting his tongue deep. “I’m a big man, Hayden, and I f**k twice as long, and twice as hard. You’ll get used to it. And then you won’t be able to stand in the same room as me without wanting a ride.”