“We lost. I heard.” That was the best that could come out of my mouth as he stood there—the man of my every thought since that night. “What is this about?”

My brother had been less than impressed that we lost, but I had taken it upon myself not to inform him of my time being bent over a desk when I should’ve been working my ass off to cultivate the crowd that had gathered around my setup. The setup I left there like a double bone head. He knew something was up alright, and now that his head bounced back and forth between me and Mitch, I was pretty sure he knew exactly what.

“Originally, we called the name of another brewer, yes. I’m guessing that’s when you left.”

I nodded, my cheeks burning as I willed the vision of him all sweaty after having knotted me to go away.

“So you missed the part when the crowd got so intensely pissed off that they won.”

“What?” My brother stood there just as perplexed as I was. Whatever he’d been doing while he was away had him blissfully not pissed off at me for the loss, even if he hadn’t been able to hide his disappointment. But now that Mitch was there, hope filled his eyes. Mine were filled with the yummy goodness that was Mitch.

He was just a one night stand, I lied to myself. In truth, that might be all it ever amounted to, but he would always be more to me than that. Sometimes you just connected with someone, and that night, I connected with Mitch on some plane I didn’t even know existed. He was now burned into my being.

I blamed his damn scent.

“The crowd went ballistic. Demanded a recount. Turned out that the brewery that won cheated. We still don’t know how, but my brother is working on that.”

“I should have stayed. My things are still there. I feel like such a sore loser,” I mumbled. I wasn’t one to botch things up a little. No, when I botched things up, I went for it one hundred percent.

“I have your things in the car. Walk out with me.” And just like that, he held out his hand.

I chanced a glance at my brother to see him staring at the entire scene unfolding before him with his jaw dropped open. He didn’t give me a hint of what I should do, so I chose the route I wanted—I needed. I stepped forward and took Mitch’s offered hand, the warmth of his touch and the comfort of his scent surrounding me instantly and becoming...everything.

“Thanks.” I finally spoke as we walked out into the cool air and out of earshot of my brother, who I was sure had more questions than I had answers to.

“I had nothing to do with you winning,” he reassured.

“You came over to my booth when no one was there,” I countered as our steps slowed. I allowed myself to live in the fantasy that he was slowing down to allow us more time together. A guy can dream.

“And once they tasted the beer, I dragged you away and gave you my knot instead of garnering you votes.” He spun me around and pressed me against what I assumed was his car. “There’s that delicious blush.”

“You cheated.”

“How so?” he asked close to my ear—cheating once again.

“You mentioned your knot and got me all thinking about it.”

He exhaled into my ear, making a tingle shoot down my spine. “Good. Because I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.” With his teeth grazing my earlobe, I immediately found myself pressing against him, needing to feel the pressure of him against my rock hard erection. It wasn’t the location, the beer, or even the excitement of the evening. It had been him, and if he’d asked me to bend over the hood of his car the way he had me over his desk, I’d have thought nothing of doing so.

“You can’t talk like that. My brother—”

“Your brother knew the second I walked in there that anything I said was a rouse, and I was there just to see you, to scent you, to taste you.”

Before I could counter, his lips grazed mine.

It wasn’t enough, and I found my arms wrapping around his neck and pulling him closer. That was all it took for him to deepen his kiss…or was it me who deepened the kiss? It didn’t matter because that graze of our lips turned into a sensual dance of all lips, tongues, and teeth. The intensity of our attraction somehow grew stronger than it was just the other night. When we finally broke apart, I was out of breath, my cock was painfully pressed against my zipper, and all I wanted to do was drive off with him to wherever he was willing to take me so we could be alone.

In other words, I was a hot and horny mess.

“Better than I remembered,” he said as he pushed back from the car. “But we better bring this in before your brother decides to come out.”

And kick his ass.

That went unspoken. Not that I thought Ike would, but he’d always been exceptionally protective of me in the alpha department, so it wouldn’t have surprised me.

“Umm, okay.” I adjusted myself, trying to get some relief. “Let’s bring this in.” I sighed.

“Don’t sound disappointed, Kaden.” He tapped my nose playfully. “What time are you done with work?”

“I was only dropping off some tax stuff to my brother. I’m not working—I mean, I only kinda work here.” Great. I sounded like a dead beat with no real job who lived on the scraps his brother gave him.

“I thought you were partners like my brother and me.” He opened the car trunk and handed me the display board. It wasn’t lost on me that he left the heavy stuff for himself. He might not look like the most traditional gentleman, but he was one.

“No, I work in insurance and help my brother with his books.” Because he had no clue how money worked when it came to recording expenditures and such. He always had the money to pay the bills, but I wasn’t sure if he’d know whether he made a profit or not if it weren’t for me.

“Are you on lunch?”

“I was dropping this off before grabbing lunch. Do you want to come?” Or come. I was game for either. Shit, I wanted both.

“I would love that.” He leaned in and kissed my cheek before grabbing the box in his car and pressing some fancy button that had it auto closing. “Let’s get these inside and then get something to eat. And afterward—maybe dessert?”

Heck to the yeah on that one.