Page 46 of You Had Me at Chocolate

He beamed down at them indulgently and she thought, do not jump comic book vampire in front of kiddies.

Instead she grabbed three origami cranes from the bowl on the hallstand and handed them over to three very impressed little customers who exclaimed their delight taking them with a thank you before heading down the path, skipping to a clutch of adults who hovered at the open gate.

Clem waved at the parents who all waved back as Jude said, “I think we win Halloween.”

She laughed. “It’s not a competition.”

Snorting, he said, “Hell yes, it is. And we’re going to win this one just as Marietta is going to win in the best-town category for the chocolate display competition.”

Edwin had whipped himself into a frenzy organizing everything and Clem had read all about it in the local newspaper last week. An impartial judge from Helena—a local food critic—had been appointed and thanks to Facebook she knew shops from Bozeman to Livingstone and all the surrounding areas were busy planning how to decorate their windows once Halloween was over and they had their window spaces back.

Jude’s displays at the Graff gift shop, which changed every few days, were popular around town but he’d hinted at something very grand for the week of the Marietta Stroll, which was when judging would take place.

“Still competitive, I see?”

He smiled. “Can’t let Edwin down.”

Clem was about to laugh but she heard the gate open and turned to greet their next customers, the six-year-old Roberts twins, making their way up the path in puppy dog costumes. “Wowsers, Clem,” Calvin Roberts said from the gate as he clutched his chest dramatically, “you can put a spell on me any time.”

She laughed. Calvin had gone to grade school with her and was married to one of her good friends—who was standing right beside him. Tina whacked him in the chest playfully. “Ignore him.”

Jude leaned in and murmured, “Told you.”

His breath licked inside her ear canal as deftly as if it had been his tongue and feathered down her neck into the exposed V of her cleavage. Her nipples tightened and Clem definitely wanted to shut the door and do him.

This burgeoning sexual attraction to her friend was rather inconvenient.

But then Jax and Dax were on the porch saying, “Trick or treat,” and Jude was doing his bwah-ha-ha-ha thing and she thanked god for something else to do…

*

Three hours later, the last trick or treaters were gone. They were out of paper cranes and candy and Clem was sitting cross-legged on the couch in her pajamas devouring Jude’s gourmet mac and cheese and sipping on red wine as it snowed outside. He was in his pajamas—long flannel pants and a soft, well-worn T-shirt—doing the same.

It was warm and cozy as she stared at the fire dancing in the grate. If only she couldn’t still feel the bubble of arousal from earlier simmering in her belly. Persisting despite him de-vamping and the vicious ache in her arches from her stilettos.

“Shall we put the movie on?” he asked as he scraped the last morsel of cheese sauce from his bowl.

They’d made plans to watch Beetlejuice tonight but maybe it would be wiser to retire to her room? Despite it not being quite eight thirty. That was far preferable to the ridiculous urge to drink red wine from Jude Barlow’s navel.

But, if she went to bed now she’d just lay awake worrying about her mom. Clem didn’t know how long it would be before she’d stop worrying about the potential of another stroke but it sure as hell wasn’t yet.

“Sure.”

He chuckled. “You don’t sound very enthusiastic.”

“Sorry.” She shot him a self-deprecating smile. “I just haven’t watched this much TV since my Buffy addiction.”

He reached for Clem’s empty bowl and leaned forward at the hips to deposit both on the coffee table. “You don’t usually watch TV?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I normally read at nighttime.”

“Ah.” He ran a hand over his jaw and the deliciously scratchy noise of his whiskers added to the simmer. “That explains why you have so many books.”

Clem reached for the pad of origami paper on the coffee table and tore off a page. She needed to do something with hands itching to feel the prickle of those bristles. “You noticed,” she said as she made her first fold.

“I did.” He held out his hand for the pad and she handed it over. “There doesn’t seem to be much fiction though?”

She shrugged as she kept her eyes on the paper. “I love novels but I like to keep on top of all the nonfic so I know what exactly to recommend, if possible, to students or customers looking for specific things. Plus so many of them are fascinating. I learn so much and I get totally lost in them. I love it when that happens, when you go to a different world and then you look up because you’re thirsty or your ass has gone numb and two hours has passed and it feels like two minutes.”

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