A Perfect Ten (Forbidden Men #5)(108)

I cracked my eyes open and caught Caroline studying it quietly.

“What?” I asked.

She shook her head before she smiled. “It could be worse. You could’ve gotten falling-down drunk and slept with some other girl, but instead, you thought of me, and got my name branded on you.”

I sighed. Yeah, I guess it could’ve been worse. But I still felt sick with worry, because seriously, it was never good luck when I got a drunk tattoo. Though I was a little thrilled by seeing her name stamped in my skin, and even more thrilled to see how much it pleased her, I also remained as uneasy as hell, because f*ck, what if this piece of bad luck ended up making me lose her?





I still wasn’t too pleased by the time we finished cleaning up and limped our way down to breakfast. Wearing a dark set of shades and leaning a little against Caroline to keep me upright—while she leaned back for the very same reason—I pointed as soon as I spotted Ham.

“You, you motherf*cker. What the hell happened last night?” I lifted my hands as I stood over him. He glanced up from his breakfast, and I arched my eyebrows. “You let me get a f*cking tattoo?”

I knew he had to have been sober the entire night. Not only was he not much of a drinker to begin with, but since his woman couldn’t drink a lot after her kidney donation, he’d follow the same path for her.

He just smiled and shook his head. “If you knew everything I kept you from doing last night, you’d realize the tattoo was actually very minor.”

“Oh God.” I slumped into a chair and cradled my head in my hands. “What else did I do?”

If he told me I tried to pick up some other chick, I’d puke. It wouldn’t be so hard—I already felt like I might. When Caroline sat next to me and touched my back, I set my hand on her leg, bracing for the worst.

Hamilton and Blondie glanced at each other before they shook their heads and smiled. “Man, you two definitely know how to have a good time,” was all he said.

But I needed a little more information than that. “What?” I demanded. “What did we do that could possibly be worse than a tattoo?”

“Where should we start?” Hamilton chuckled. “First I had to keep you from beating the tar out of some guy who was looking at Caroline. I guess you learned that he’d offered to buy her a drink earlier in the day, and...” He whistled under his breath and shook his head. “After I pulled you away from him, you made a big spectacle of telling everyone we passed that she was your woman. I swear, people in Nevada, and Oregon and Arizona heard the announcement that Caroline was with you.”

“Okay,” I said slowly. I could handle telling a bunch of drunk strangers that Caroline was mine. “Is that all?”

“Not even close.” Zwinn exchanged another amused glance amongst themselves. “There was a point in there you decided you were going to tell Noel about...” He motioned between Caroline and me. “You know.”

I glanced at Caroline. She was wearing sunglasses too, so I couldn’t see her eyes, but she did cover her mouth with her hand, obviously horrified.

“Shit.” I glanced at Ham. “Please tell me you stopped that?”

He nodded. “Of course. I confiscated both of your phones and kept them for the rest of the night. Here.” He motioned to where they currently sat on the table and nudged them our way.

“Whew.” I blew out a breath and reached for Caroline’s hand. “Well, thank you for stopping that.” The worst thing I could’ve done was tell Gamble over the phone I was with his sister while I was drunk and had her halfway across the country.

Ham nodded. “And that wasn’t even the best part.”

“Oh God,” I moaned. “What else?”

“Well...we came across this wedding party further down the beach. I guess there’s one of those twenty-four-hour insta-wedding chapel things nearby. They accept walkins and will even marry you right on the beach.”

I frowned and scratched my still-aching head. “I thought they only had those things in Las Vegas.”

Blondie giggled, so I scowled at her. “What?”

“That’s exactly what you said last night,” she informed me. “When you were completely wasted.”

“And right before you decided you wanted to marry Caroline,” Ham added.

Caroline leaned forward. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I tried to get married?” I repeated, lifting my eyebrows incredulously. “Last night?”

Zwinn nodded, and burst out laughing.

“But you stopped us, right?” When they nodded again, both Caroline and I let out similar relieved breaths. “Well, shit. Okay, I can see why you settled for letting me get a tattoo after that.”

“Actually.” Ham rolled up his own shirtsleeve to reveal the word Zoey scrawled on his bicep. “The tattoo was my idea. You’re the one who copied me.”

I shook my head. Wow. Apparently, I’d been a busy little boy.

“You designed this for me at the tattoo parlor,” Ham went on proudly as he gazed adoringly at his own ink before grinning at Blondie.

“Wait.” I waved my hand. “I was blind-ass drunk, and you still let me design a tattoo you’re going to have on your skin for the rest of your life? Man, that’s whack.”