When I did, I pulled down the skirt of my T-shirt dress.

If you told me a year ago I’d go out to a fancy dinner in a clingy dress and high-heeled strappy sandals, doing this with a biker on his bike, I would have asked to check your temperature.

But the meal was delicious. The company way better. Joker and I had finally gotten our fancy dinner date at The Broker. Fat shrimp. Juicy steak. Delicious wine (for me; Joker drank beer).

Just me and Joker.

Travis was coming home tomorrow.

So life was good.

And now, for some reason, instead of taking us home after dinner, we were at Ride.

Not at the Chaos Compound; he’d parked outside the steps to the office of the garage.

There were tall overhead lights illuminating the space, and I watched Joker as he got off his bike.

“What are we doing here, sweetie?” I asked when he turned to me.

“Build’s done,” he stated, reaching out to grab my hand. “The guy who commissioned it is comin’ tomorrow to pick it up. Want you to see it before he does.”

I smiled up at him big and bright because I wanted that too.

He walked me up the steps and let my hand go to unlock the door. He went in, flipping on the light as he did, and I followed.

He closed the door behind me, and I thought it was strange that he locked it but I didn’t ask after it as he grabbed my hand again and moved me to the other door that led to the garage.

We went through and I stood at the landing on top of the stairs. Joker hit switches and the overhead lights blinked on, filling the space with brightness.

The car, canary yellow with a plethora of sleek, fantastic swirling, curving, spiking red stripes leading from the wheel wells all the way down the sides, was shining on the floor.

“Oh my gosh!” I cried, hurrying to the stairs and down them, my eyes to the car. “It’s unbelievable.”

It was. Low to the ground. Amazing curves. A narrow slit for a windshield.

Road cool but so hot!

I rushed to it on my heels and took it in from a closer perspective.

It was even better.

“I’m scared to touch it,” I breathed.

“Not even my best and she acts like I painted the Mona Lisa,” Joker muttered from close behind me.

I whirled and looked up at him. “You can be humble because you should be humble. That doesn’t mean it isn’t unbelievable.”

He grinned down at me.

I loved that grin.

I loved that man.

“Thank you for showing me,” I said.

His hands came to my hips and he immediately started walking, shuffling me backward, murmuring, “You’re welcome, Butterfly.”