Shoulders shaking, she shoved the fear aside in favor of enjoying this night out of time. “City’s going to be scarlet by the time we’re done, hotshot.”

As they walked through the street together after their driver dropped them off at the closest spot he could get into, she found that she was happy. She felt young and cheerful and content deep inside.

And if her hand kept wanting to reach out to take Danny’s, if her stomach kept wanting to flutter, if her mind kept circling back to that moment on the red carpet that had stolen the air right out of her lungs, well… it was only a temporary madness. This was all pretend, and it would be over before she knew it.

“There’s the place.” Danny pointed.

“Wow, look at that queue.” She hadn’t expected it of the hole-in-the-wall spot. “I only managed to round up a couple of folks who might get Leon some media attention. Jerri has a big local following—she said she’d give the party a shout-out.” Catie and the model had connected online and had only met in person a couple of times, but it was a relationship Catie could see turning into a genuine friendship.

“Well, looks like she’s made Vertigo the spot to be tonight,” Danny said and reached out to take her hand. “I’ll be the torpedo.”

Since he was bigger and that queue of people had now spotted them, with a number having their phones out as they clicked and squealed, Catie decided to go with it. She had no wish to die an ignominious death in a stampede of women who wanted to aim themselves at Danny.

When his admirers kept their distance despite the fact they were all but bursting with excitement, she glanced at him to see that he had on what she’d always called his “serious shit” face. That face tended to come out on the rugby field when the chips were down and the team had to pull a win out of their butt. It also came out when there were important family things on the table.

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!”