The girls left with the guys, going back to their apartments even though they’d spent the entire afternoon screwing on the yacht.

I was jealous.

Hunt handed the keys over to his crew, and they took care of docking the ship and putting it back in the slip. We didn’t clean up the mess we made, so I assumed that was being handled too.

We were alone again, and I knew exactly what conversation we were going to have.

Hunt came to my side, and like he had every right in the world, he grabbed my hand. His muscular hand overwhelmed mine, and he led me to the car he left in the parking lot. He stared me down like he dared me to object.

After my little performance on the boat, I didn’t have the confidence to do anything.

He opened the passenger door to his red Lamborghini and got in the driver’s seat. He didn’t ask me if I wanted to be taken home before he started to drive, heading to his penthouse, I was certain.

We didn’t speak on the drive.

I was still in my soaked bottoms and dress. My hair was a mess from the wind, and my nose was a little red despite all the sunscreen I’d put on. It was nighttime now, so my sunglasses were stowed away in my bag.

Hunt pulled into the parking garage of his building then killed the engine.

“Your car is beautiful.” I broke the tension with a simple compliment, knowing the best way into a man’s brain was through his toys.

“Thank you.” He got out and took me by the hand again.

I felt like a couple going home after a long double date.

I didn’t like that feeling.

We rode the elevator directly into his penthouse, the doors opening to a perfectly designed living space with classical music playing in the background. It must come on automatically as soon the doors opened.

“Something to drink?”

“Water, please.”

He grabbed two glasses from the kitchen and handed me one.

I took a long drink, dehydrated from all the wine, whiskey, and hormones I’d indulged in all day.

He drank his water as he watched me, his masculine throat shifting as he consumed the entire glass effortlessly. He set the glass on the coffee table.

I did the same.

I assumed he wanted to get off since he did all the pleasing that afternoon. Getting rid of his blue balls sounded appetizing to me, not selfish on his part at all. He was one of the few men I would gladly get on my knees for and suck his enormous cock—even if it made me gag.

Instead of taking me into the bedroom, he continued to stand there in front of me, his eyes two smoking guns. He suffocated me naturally with his firmness, the authority he always exerted over me anytime we were in the same room together.

I felt like I was looking at a different version of myself. “Did you bring me here to stare?”

“Among other things.” He stepped closer to me, his gaze cold and warm at the same time. “We’ll get to the good stuff in a second. But first, we’re going to continue our conversation.”

“What conversation?”

“The only conversation we’ve been having since we met.”

I brushed it off, wanting to avoid the truth as much as possible. “I’m not selling my company.”

“We’ll get to that at another time.”

“Really?” I cocked my head to the side, challenging his assurance.

He stood in front of me, the smell of cologne and sunscreen wafting into my nose. “Let’s agree on one thing. We’re gonna keep crossing paths, and every time we do, we’re gonna end up in bed together.”

Despite my previous mistakes, I wouldn’t allow that to continue. I’d already crossed too many lines as it was.

“Every time I pursue you, we’re just making it more obvious to the people around us that we’re screwing. I don’t want that, and neither do you. So let’s come up with an arrangement.”

“There’s no arrangement that could work for us.”

“I disagree.”

He would always disagree until he got his way. I crossed my arms over my chest, blocking him with an invisible rope. “Tonight is the last night this is going to happen. I say we enjoy it before we forget about it.”

He cocked his head to the side, downplaying my words without making a single argument. “How many times have you said that now?”

Asshole. “I only let you have me again because I thought that would be enough for you to forget about me.”

“Forget about you?” he questioned. “Actually, you have the opposite effect on me. Now that I’ve had some of you, I want all of you. I haven’t even fucked that pretty little mouth of yours yet. And don’t get me started on that ass.”

The blood drained from my face because it was headed in one direction—south. No man had ever spoken to me that way—and pulled it off.

“You’re hiding something from me.”

A lot of things, actually.

“You want me. I know you do. I made you come by dry-humping you. So let’s not pretend otherwise.”

I wasn’t.

“And I want you too. There’s no reason why we can’t keep doing this—until one of us gets bored.”

The more he pursued me, the more I wanted to be honest about my intentions. The more I wanted to come clean about the monster I was. But I would put my entire career on a platter in front of him—and a butcher knife in his hand. “Hunt, there’s a lot more to me than meets the eye. I enjoy things that you don’t understand. I have a life that resembles the underworld. There are things about me that I could never share. You want us to keep doing this, but honestly, I don’t. If we stayed together, I’d want to make a lot of changes. And trust me when I say you wouldn’t be into them.”

His eyes were glued to my face. “How will you know unless you try?”

“Because I don’t trust you, Hunt.”

“You should.”

“Why? You’re my competitor and a stranger.”

“But I’m also a man, the kind of man who would respect the wishes of his partner no matter what. Above all else, I believe in honesty and loyalty. If you ask for my loyalty, all I ask is you give me yours too.”

My eyes shifted back and forth between his, sizing him up.

“Titan.” The bite of his tone faded when he said my name. “Tell me exactly what you want. If you’re right and it’s something I’m not willing to do, then we’ll forget the whole thing. But you shouldn’t throw this away because you think you know me. You say I’m a stranger. If that’s the case, then you have no idea what my opinions are. I won’t make assumptions about you if you do the same for me.”

Somehow, he softened my hard edges, making me smooth underneath. I didn’t see him as a threat anymore, even somewhat of a friend. He did it so easily, said it with such pretty words. I felt like I could trust a man I didn’t know.

How did he do that?

“Titan.” He stepped forward, completely invading my personal space. His face was just inches from mine, the smell of his body soap still noticeable under the sunscreen. “Trust me.”

Trust was the most prized word in my dictionary. I was lucky enough to have a few people whom I trusted with my darkest secrets, but that kind of comfort didn’t come easily. It took years, decades, to earn that kind of loyalty.

But he was already asking for it.

There was nothing I adored more than being with someone I trusted completely, to have the kind of relationship that was beautiful because it was unknown to the rest of the world. It allowed me to be me—in all my true colors. But loyal men were hard to find. “I’ll think about it.”

Hunt held his breath as he looked at me, approval in his dark gaze. That was the most cooperation he would get out of me, and there was no point in pushing it. I’d given him something I hadn’t given to anyone else. Every person I’d been with had been thoroughly investigated before I’d bothered.

But I was going into this blind.