Page 24 of Haunt the Mall

I tied the sleeves around his shoulders so he could wear it more like a cape. “Here, enjoy a preppy interpretation until we can get into the office to exchange sizes,” I said.

He fiddled with the knot and frowned. “Why aren’t you going in?”

My throat strained, probably from dehydration. I twisted open a hard candy and sucked the syrup from its rocky base. “The costumes will still be there in a few minutes.”

Giggling folks darted to and from the dressing room in groups, making it an impromptu photo booth.

“Hold on, my boob’s out,” Bree said.

AJ choked on a caramel chew. Coughing, he knocked on his chest. I slapped his back and shook my head.

Even though I’d seen a few of my coworkers in their underwear for non-sexy reasons like this, now that I was their boss, it was different. Weird how that turned around so fast.

At least everyone was excited about the outfits. It was a full-on dance party in the store. Selfie central. People laughed and threw clothes at one another.

“Make sure we can resell those,” I called. Other than that, I didn’t care if they opened a few packages. Customers needed multiple sizes to try, anyway.

Willow twisted her hair amid the outskirts of the makeshift runway. Was she the runt of the litter, unable to squeeze into the office and check out the good stuff? Or was she not into dress-up?

Either way, AJ needed to get in there.

I knocked on the office door. “Hey, can everyone get dressed for a second? A few of us still need to grab full outfits for the store pic.”

“Okay,” they chimed.

Platform heels and Converse clunked on the floor as they made their way out of the office.

“All clear?” I peeked inside the empty room. “Fantastic. Anyone who wants to change privately can now come in and make their selections.”

Willow ducked inside and headed towards the zombie fare.

AJ tried on an extra-large sweater over his clothes. It hung almost to his knees. “I think this is probably the least exciting outfit here,” he said.

“You’re still edgy.” I picked out a few accessories that made my spidey senses tingle. Willow slunk into the dressing room, so I locked myself in the office to change.

In the hall, AJ asked, “So, do people wear the sexy costumes when they’re in relationships or when they’re single?”

“Both,” Bree answered. “People want to get freaky.”

I smiled and rolled cobweb tights up my thighs, wishing I had faint teeth marks from my dream man’s bites in real life. “Sometimes you just want to let out the inner beast," I said.

Howls rang out through the store, followed by laughter. What a bunch of animals.

I wriggled into a velvet dress with gossamer sleeves. “But really, costumes are about safely exploring what we’re capable of,” I said. “That’s why there are so many variations.”

“Oh, please. It’s about fake blood and ass. Just ask the guys leering in the window,” Bree said.

Leering? I stormed out of the office. No one harassed my employees.

Pushing up my sleeves, I marched to the front of the store where a few guys peered through the window displays. Mostly teens. One guy stood apart from them, scanning instead of gawking.

Spider-Man.

He caught sight of me and started, his pretty eyes brightening.

Shit. What was I supposed to do? Yell at the other guys and flirt with him? But this was my chance–I had to get his name.

I unlocked the door and poked my head into the mall. “Hello, gentlemen. The mall’s closing, so you should probably keep moving.”

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