Page 36 of Danger

I don’t know.

All I do know is her father is staring at me. So I smile, and tip my head in his direction.

He raises a glass. “A toast to my only daughter, Monterey and her boyfriend, Danger. They’re recently engaged.”

And then the cameras, who come out of nowhere, flash on us and we smile as we give a little wave. Monterey is blushing as she thanks her dad.

And all I can think in this moment is I better not fuck it up.

Thad stares at me from across the room, many questions on the tip of his tongue. I’m sure he’s wondering how on earth I landed a woman quite like Monterey. Because well, let’s face it, she’s way outta my league.

But fuck him.

She’s way outta his league, too.

I haven’t even proposed yet, and already everyone’s asking me how I did it. They want to see the ring she’s not wearing, and I just smile and don’t say a word for fear of saying the wrong thing. Monterey yields their questions like a champ, talking about ring sizing and candlelight dinner last night where I got down on one knee.

I just keep smiling, pretending this is all real.

And a small part of me wishes it kind of was. Only problem is I wish I could havereallyfake proposed to her last night.

* * *

The dinner ended hours ago,and I’ve got Monterey tucked into my side, one arm slung over her shoulders as we walk toward the bar of our hotel.

“You shouldn’t have let me drink as much as I did,” she slurs.

I deposit her onto a bar stool. “Two waters.” I signal the bartender. “Everyone wanted to celebrate with you over the engagement,” I say to her. “And I couldn’t say no to free drinks.”

She laughs. “Well you should have cut me off hours ago. Because now I’m not sure if I’ll be able to keep my hands to myself.” She slams a hand down onto my thigh.

And it’s like my whole body has turned to liquid lava, running straight through me. Her touch makes my breath hitch. “Monterey,” I say, grabbing the glass of water from the bartender, half-tempted to throw it over my head to cool off. “You can’t be going and laying your hands on me.”

“Why not? You seem to love to put your hands on me,” she purrs.

This is going to be a longhardnight. No pun intended. Fighting off Monterey because I respect her way too much to let myself touch her when she’s drunk. It’ll most likely be one of the hardest things I do in my whole life. And I do mean...hard.

“Take a drink.” I hand her the glass of water, helping her get the straw lined up to her mouth.

She fights me at every turn, pushing the drink away. “I only want you,Danger.” The way she exaggerates my name tells me she needs to be put to bed.

I throw a few bills for the bartender for her time, and lug Monterey with me to the elevators.

“Here’s to the happy couple,” Thad says from behind us.

I spin around with Monterey still plugged away at my side. “Thanks,Thad.”Now it’s my turn to exaggerate names. “But as you can see, I need to get my girl to bed.”

“Ah, a little too much champagne, huh?” He studies Monterey like he’s inspecting a turbo inlet on a new Indy car. “She never could hold her alcohol.”

“Yeah.” I pound the button for the elevator a few more times as Monterey grows heavy in my arms.

The elevator opens, and I hope to fucking god Thad doesn’t follow us inside. I step with Monterey, and he doesn’t follow us through.

“She’s a sloppy fuck when she’s drunk,” Thad says right as the doors slam shut.

I lurch forward, and if it hadn’t been for the doors, I’d have pummeled his face right in. Every bone in my body buzzes with the need to punch something.

The monster comes alive.

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