Ducking his head, he was glad she’d pulled back and couldn’t see his face. Because that face was hot. He raised his head back up just in time to see Catie step out. And almost swallowed his tongue. “Jesus, princess. You’re going to give some poor guy a heart attack.”

Laughing, she swiveled around to show him the back of her teeny tiny dress of glittering gold. It dipped sharply to the curve of her lower back, after which the designer had reluctantly permitted a measly few inches of glittery fabric that just covered her butt and hovered at the top edge of her thighs.

Thighs covered in creamy skin that made him want to loosen his nonexistent collar.

And the torture didn’t end there. The dress had spaghetti straps along with a slightly loose-on-purpose neckline that draped over the taut curves of her breasts. Which were braless. He knew that because his stupid brain insisted on putting two and two together and coming up with “holy hotness.”

“You’re wearing your favorite skins,” he managed to get out, only then noticing the futuristic-looking prosthetic covers she must’ve been wearing under her pants tonight; he knew she used the skins under that kind of clothing to give her calves shape.

“I decided they went with this dress,” Catie said with a grin. “Love my rods, but I wanted the gold.”

Danny had to agree on both points—bare, her legs were incredible pieces of engineering that he’d been lucky enough to be allowed to examine close up. But these skins had a kind of bionic look to them, as if Catie were half machine—they were even specially painted to appear as if the lines of gold were alive. Electronic blood.

She’d also gotten rid of her glittery sneakers in favor of a pair of short black ankle boots without a heel. The makeup, however, was the same—which wasn’t always a given with Catie.

“You got your wallet?” Catie said to him as she returned to her bedroom to grab her purse. “You had it in your pants pocket before.”

“Right, thanks.” He swung back into his room.

“Don’t forget your coat,” he said as they prepared to leave. “We’ll probably have to walk a few minutes to the bar. I looked online, and there’s no drop-off zone near there and the parking will be a circus this time of night.”

“Yes, Dad,” Catie said, the snark alive in her tone.

Danny narrowed his eyes. “What’s with you? You just told me I was about to forget my wallet, and I thanked you like a normal human instead of going all Godzilla on your ass.”