And landed hard against Brent.
“Whoa. Easy.” He steadied her on her feet, then bent down to pick up her phone. “I know I’m tough to resist but save the fun stuff for later. We’re in public, woman.”
She glared up at him, still thrown off by his sudden appearance. “How about announcing yourself? You can’t just go around grabbing women’s arms on dark streets.”
“I’m pretty damn easy to see coming if your face isn’t buried in your phone.”
“I was calling you.”
“What for? I’m right on time.”
“I see that.” She bit her bottom lip, noticing for the first time how well he wore the suit. Never having seen him dressed in anything besides street clothes or his uniform, she had to admit he cleaned up well. Really well. His powerful chest and shoulders filled out the black jacket perfectly, the snug white shirt beneath tapering down into his matching dress pants. He looked every inch the gentleman. Too bad she knew better.
“See something you like?” His voice dropped low. “I’d be happy to skip this little shindig and let this suit spend the night on your bedroom floor.”
“That’s not happening.” Her body’s reaction didn’t match her words, however. Toes curled inside her high heels, belly heated, skin prickled. “This thing between us ends now. In fact, I was calling you to cancel. I think avoiding each other for a while might be a good idea.”
He came closer, backing her toward the building. “If you think you can get me into Manhattan on my day off in this fancy getup, then send me home before I’ve had a chance to make an impression, you’re crazier than I thought. This is happening, duchess. I didn’t shave twice in one day for nothing.” The doormen held open the glass double doors as he walked her backward into the lobby and straight into an elevator. She looked at the doorman indignantly, but he merely cast an eye at Brent and shrugged as though to say, “As if I could stop him?”
When the elevator doors rolled shut, she reached over to punch the button for the twenty-third floor, but he caught her hand. “Let go of me.”
Ignoring her command, he tugged her closer. Against her will, she breathed in his fresh-from-the-shower scent. He braced his hands above her, trapping her against him and the wall. “Are you wearing that garter belt? Show me before we go in. I need a little motivation.”
Hayden laughed in disbelief. “Motivation for what, exactly? I just told you that this”—she gestured back and forth between them—“isn’t going to happen. Even you can agree it’s a bad idea. If for no other reason, we need to knock it off for Daniel and Story’s sake. It’s bad enough we can’t stand each other. If we add sex to the equation, it’ll make things twice as messy.”
“Our friends have nothing to do with this and you know it.” He leaned in and sniffed—sniffed!—her neck. “Why don’t you admit the real problem? You don’t think you can make it through the night without jumping my bones.”
When his tongue flicked out to taste the sensitive skin of her neck, she involuntarily tipped her head to the side to grant him access, which he immediately took advantage of, kissing and rubbing his lips over her damp flesh. “N-no. You can rest easy. I want no part of your bones. I’m just not so sure any more about embarrassing my parents.”
Brent stilled his mouth’s movements. “That embarrassment being me, right?”
“That’s not—” Hayden cut herself off, reminding herself she didn’t owe him apologies or explanations. “That’s right. Color me shocked that you managed to show up looking halfway decent. I thought you might ditch the suit and show up in a bolo tie.”
“I’d thought about wearing my Spider-Man costume, but it’s at the cleaners.”
With a snort, Hayden pulled away to search her phone for the private security code Stuart had texted her earlier, then punched it into the elevator’s keypad. Brent stayed silent until the doors opened to reveal the foyer of Stuart’s palatial penthouse, soft music and candlelight drifting toward them. Farther inside, she heard laughter and the clinking of glasses. The appetizing scent of a surely delicious dinner greeted them.
She would have rather been anywhere else at that moment.
Hayden started a little when Brent took her hand. He smiled tightly and led her out of the elevator. “Let the fireworks begin.”
“Brent—”
“Hayden, is that you?” Her mother’s voice rang out from the living room. “Dear, you’re right on time to hear Stuart talk about his new investor for the com—” Her mother broke off as she and Brent rounded the corner, her eyes going wide as silver dollars. Hayden tried not to fidget as six other pairs of eyes, including her father’s and Stuart’s, landed on them. As always, her mother recovered quickly. “Well, well. Who is this?”