He just stood there looking blank.
I sighed heavily. Did he ever watch movies? “From A Nightmare Before Christmas.”
“Never seen it,” he said, looking unimpressed.
“You’re in luck,” I declared, yanking him inside. I secretly grinned. “We can rectify that immediately.”
He looked me from head-to-toe again, and once more I tried to ignore what his eyes did to me. It wasn’t easy. Especially since not that long ago we had been vertical, on his bed, doing things that still made me blush. He needed to stop affecting me like this. After all, I was only human, well mostly human I think. The jury was still out. “Why didn’t you go for something more girly?” he asked seriously.
“You mean slutty.” I was going to dropkick him. Soon.
He shrugged. “Your words not mine.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s what you were thinking.”
“I’ll tell you what I am thinking,” he purred. His voice had suddenly gotten low and seductive.
That was the signal that I was in trouble. My body responded instantly to his insinuation. “Nope,” I said, waving my finger in the air. “Not tonight. Don’t even think about it. Tonight, you are not distracting me with your sexual prowess.”
“My what?”
“Just sit down. And keep your hands to yourself.”
He gave me a crooked grin. “I thought you liked my hands.”
“Don’t flatter yourself.” I knew I was giving off mixed signals, but I just couldn’t help it.
“Do you want me to prove you’re a liar?” he challenged.
One day I was going to make Chase Winters eat his words. I ignored him and popped the movie into the DVD player. Snuggling onto the couch next to him, I kept an ear out for the trick-or-treaters I was pretty sure weren’t coming. There was a giant bowl of assorted candy by the door. The good kind, it was brimming with chocolate goodness. Since we pretty much lived in the boonies, I don’t even know why mom insisted we buy candy. Really, how many trick-or-treaters did she honestly think we were going to get?
I’ll tell you.
Five. And two of those were Lexi and Travis. At least they understood the fun in dressing up.
The upside – I got all the leftover candy. Not that my hips needed the extra pounds, but my sweet tooth wouldn’t be able to ignore the temptation. It was kind of like my body being unable to ignore Chase. He tasted so good, but afterward you felt guilty.
On most days I thought my house was haunted. On Halloween, I was absolutely certain. All night I’d heard eerie noises. So when the ceiling above my head creaked, I should have expected it. Instead I acted like a scared little mouse and jumped into Chase’s lap, so much for the hands off policy.
His arms prevented me from tumbling off the couch. “Don’t worry Angel Eyes. I’ll protect you from the scary ghosts.” He smirked, mocking me.
“Hilarious,” I replied sarcastically…on second thought... “But seriously, are there such things as ghosts?” I asked hesitantly. It was plausible, right? I mean, I had a half-demon on my couch.
His sparkling silver eyes studied me, and then he burst out laughing to my exasperation.
Was that a yes or a no?
Luckily he was saved from my fists of fury by the doorbell. I’d been contemplating using them on him if he kept laughing at me. Trick-or-Treating had ended, but I figured there might be a few stragglers. Turned out, the straggler was Lexi.
“Am I interrupting something?” she asked, peering over my shoulder. “Or are you guys ready to go?”
Ugh. How could I have forgotten?
The sacred Spring Valley Halloween Bash.
It wasn’t so much that I had forgotten we were going, it was that I had been so caught up in the movie and not passing out candy. “Umm. Yeah totally ready. Right Chase?” I turned around expecting to find him stretched out on the couch, but he was right behind me. “Dammit. You know I hate it when you sneak up on me.”
He gave me a snarky grin. “I wasn’t sneaking,”
“Whatever. Let’s just go,” I muttered.
Spring Valley’s Halloween Bash consisted of an empty cornfield, piled with more pickups than I thought possible, a mile high, very unsafe looking bonfire, and the scent of un-chaperoned mischief. Stalks of dried and shriveled corn blanketed the ground. The bed of one of the many pickups blasted the newest Taylor Swift song, and there were red solo cups littered everywhere. The only source of light in the otherwise blinding night was the out of control fire and, of course, KC lights.
“Are you sure you are ready for this?” Chase asked, close to my ear.
I refrained from elbowing him.