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Rage

Page 52

by Kat Mizera

He gets up and immediately shakes my hand before turning to Luna. His eyes rake over her appreciatively, and I feel a vein start to throb in my temple. I know that mildly predatory look—and Luna is not up for grabs.

“Who is this delightful lady?” he asks, reaching for one of her hands.

“This is Luna. My girlfriend.” I say it bluntly, letting him know I’m not messing around, and I catch his look of surprise.

“Very nice to meet you, Luna.” He smiles at her and then turns to the young woman at the table. “This is Candy. We’ve been seeing each other for a couple of months. Honey, this is Rage the Cage and his girlfriend.”

“Hi. Nice to meet you.” She smiles politely, and we exchange pleasantries.

We sit down and a waiter immediately brings us menus. I order a beer and Luna asks for a wine spritzer, but Candy orders a double martini and Garth gets a margarita with a tequila chaser.

“A little early in the day for tequila, eh?” I ask, trying to keep my tone light.

He shrugs. “You only live once, my friend.”

“What do you do, Luna?” Candy asks her.

“I’m an administrative assistant for a security firm,” she replies smoothly.

“Really more of an office manager,” I interject. I hate that she has to minimize her responsibilities and skills, but Daniil says it’s easier not to draw attention to herself.

“So, you work with a bunch of hunky bodyguards all day?” Candy asks.

“I do.” Luna smiles and bats her eyelashes at me. “But I only have eyes for one.”

“Aw, that’s sweet.”

“Besides, there’s only one guy that’s single now, and he’s an independent contractor so he’s not around a lot.”

“You thinking about settling down?” Garth asks curiously.

“If that’s what she wants.” I slide my arm around the back of her chair.

“I’m not ready for all that,” Candy says, shaking her head with a playful smirk at Garth.

“Dee’s a model,” he says with what appears to be a patient smile.

Of course she is; back in the day, Garth was always hooking up with models and actresses.

“She’s going to be on next year’s Sports Illustrated cover,” Garth adds proudly. “She’s going places. Unfortunately, it means a lot of time apart for us.”

“That’s why we’re keeping things casual,” Candy reminds him.

“So, tell me about the charity event,” Luna interjects, deftly changing the subject.

“Oh, it’s going to be a blast!” Candy says, her face lighting up. “I’m helping Garth organize it. So far, we’ve got five fights lined up.” Her eyes twinkle. “And hopefully, after today, it will be six.”

I figured that’s what this meeting was about, but I didn’t expect such a hard sell. “Well, I want to know more details,” I say.

“How would you feel about fighting Bronco Guerin?” Garth leans forward on the table, his face filled with excitement.

Jesus.

Ben “Bronco” Guerin is badass.

I’d break him in half in a street fight, but in the ring? With judges and points and rules? He’s a beast. And he just retired last year. So he hasn’t been out of the game very long. I’ve also heard a lot of rumors about him.

“Is he still juicing?” I ask quietly.