Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100873 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100873 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Right now it told everyone to back the hell off.
For her.
Catie struggled with how she felt about his protectiveness. She was well used to defending and taking care of herself. Then again, she wasn’t usually near a group just itching to stampede. So she held on tight to Danny and let him play protector. Just this one time.
The bouncer welcomed them through without a single question, his grin broad as he took in Danny and ignored Catie. Rugby fan.
“Wicked boots!” a female voice called out as Catie disappeared in the door.
Glancing over her shoulder, Catie saw genuine admiration on the face of a tall Indian woman with blunt-cut bangs. “They’re not boots!” she yelled back, figuring it was the low light that had led to the mix-up. “Prosthetic legs!”
The woman’s mouth fell open. “No shit! Oh, oh, you’re the runner!” Up came her phone.
In a good mood, Catie tugged out a grumpy Danny and pasted herself against him for a shot before he grumbled and tugged her back inside. “You’re going to freeze. That coat barely covers more than your dress.” He was rubbing the dip of her back.
Catie almost snapped back that most of her legs were metal, so cold wasn’t an issue. But—and though it made her want to squirm—she realized that she liked the fact he was worried about her staying warm. Sailor was that way with Ísa, and her brother-in-law definitely didn’t treat her sister as anything but a powerhouse.
She’d keep up her antennae of suspicion, but it was possible Danny could be trusted with the protective stuff without taking it too far. Then they were in the club, and it was jumping. The only reason they found the private room was that it literally had a neon sign that flashed the words VIP Room.
Inside, the party was raucous.
Jerri was holding court near the door and gave Catie a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for the invite, Cat. This party is wild!” All curly black hair and dark brown skin, she was a stunner—the modeling world called her plus-size, but to Catie, she was simply and unquestionably a bombshell.
“Thanks for the shout-out!” she managed before Jerri was asked to dance by an admirer.
Happy the other woman was enjoying herself, she looked around for Leon—and saw he was well on the way to getting drunk. He was a very happy drunk, and when he asked Catie for a dance, she agreed. Only to be bowed to before he took her hand and placed his arm around her as if for a formal waltz.
Of course, his balance was totally off, but it was adorable how he tried to act sober and as if he weren’t stepping all over her feet.
Danny rescued her a few minutes later—after laughing his head off for the first half. Then she was in his arms and the music was booming and they danced.
15
COOKIES AND VENGEANCE
It had been the best night of his life.
After jumping quickly into the shower to wash off the sweat from dancing, Danny pulled on a pair of boxer shorts before he crashed into bed. He usually slept in his birthday suit but didn’t want to be caught butt naked if Catie had to come into the room for some reason.
Images from the night played out against the wall of his mind. He’d danced with Catie most of the evening, and she hadn’t seemed to mind. Hell, at one point, she’d been leaning hip to hip with him as they chatted to friends. It had—
Crash!
Snapping out of bed at the loud sound from the living area, he ran out the bedroom door. “Catie?”
A chill wind had him jerking his attention to the open balcony doors. And there she was, on the floor a foot inside the apartment, her legs splayed out just wrong and one hand pressed against the sideboard that had held a vase of smoky blue glass. That vase now lay shattered on the plush gray carpet.
The amount of noise it had made as it fell told him it must’ve hit either the wall or the sideboard on the way down—or maybe the noise had been caused by the sideboard itself slamming into the wall, but he didn’t care about either of the stupid things. He cared about Catie.
Crossing the distance between them in a heartbeat, he went to kneel down, do what he could to help, but she snapped, “Don’t! Go away!”
Frustration burned in his veins, but he didn’t snap back. He’d caught the hint of wetness in her eyes, knew he had to deal with this right or it would hurt her. So he got up and, after closing the balcony doors, picked up one of the heavy dining table chairs and brought it over to set it on her other side. “Here, princess. I’ll grab the dustpan to collect the big shards; then we can vacuum up the rest.”