Free Hearts at Play (Love in Bloom: The Bradens, Book 6) Contemporary Romance by Melissa Foster

He thought about his oldest brother, Treat, and wondered what he would do in the same situation. Treat was the epitome of a gentleman, and Hugh looked up to him for that and for many other reasons. He nodded in the silent car and made his decision.
    Brianna snuggled against him as he carried her down the hall to the first-floor master bedroom, where he laid her on the king-sized bed, removed her boots, and covered her with a blanket. She rolled onto her stomach, and her dark hair fanned out from her head. Hugh had seen many women in his bed, but never had he stood above the bed and looked down upon any of them without a sexual thought in his head, as he was now. He felt a type of respect for Brianna that he had never realized was missing with other women he’d dated.
    He switched on the fireplace in the corner of the bedroom, kicked off his shoes, and settled into the recliner by the window. When he took in her beautiful face against his pillow and thought of how fiercely she protected her daughter, he wondered who was protecting her. In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to be that person.

    Chapter Ten
    BRIANNA AWOKE TO her cell phone ringing. She rolled over and blinked away the fog of sleep. Something smelled delicious. She reached her arm straight up and tilted her head. Why does the ceiling look so far away? She wondered why her pillow felt insanely soft and why the room wasn’t cold, as it usually was in the mornings. She shifted her eyes to the right, taking in a wall of windows. Holy shit . She bolted upright in the strange bed and then looked under the sheets. Thank God . She scrambled from the bed fully dressed, found her boots, and quickly put them on as the prior evening came back piece by piece and assembled into the lovely evening that she’d had with Hugh—the evening that never ended. Crap .
    She saw her purse on a cherry nightstand, and beyond that, a large dresser with a family photo, Hugh’s cologne, and a stack of books. She picked up the photo and scanned the incredibly gorgeous faces of the people who could only be his brothers, sister, and father. The likeness was profound. All tall and dark—except for the girl, who had auburn hair and lighter eyes than the men—and stunningly handsome. They weren’t looking at the camera. They were looking at each other, laughing, as if the picture had been candid, not posed, and she wondered when people had time for such frivolity. A pang of jealousy speared her. Oh, how she longed for a little time to laugh like that. She’d had such a good time the evening before that she felt as if she’d had a taste of what it must be like to go out and enjoy an evening without real life pressing in on her. Brianna set the frame down. Time for real life .
    She grabbed her phone from her purse and went into the enormous master bathroom, locking the door behind her. She stared at herself in the mirror. What am I doing? She washed her face, used some of Hugh’s toothpaste on her finger, and brushed her teeth as best she could, then leaned against the counter, arms crossed, heart racing. Who goes from not dating to sleeping at a guy’s house? She cringed at the thought. She didn’t remember pulling up to the house. She had no idea where they even were. The last thing she remembered after the most intense, earth-shattering, knee-quaking kiss she’d ever experienced—a kiss so exquisite she couldn’t imagine ever kissing anyone else. As quickly as she allowed herself that one taste of sensuous joy, it had been stolen away. She could never be close to a man whose life revolved around heavy travel and a job that could take his life in an instant. She could never do that to Layla. And, Brianna realized, she could never put herself in a position to compete with the plethora of female groupies that came with such a job. Hugh had been a fantasy. She supposed she should consider herself lucky. How many women get to have a romantic evening with a gorgeous man, completely