Page 55 of She is the Darke

He didn’t dare breathe until she’d left the building and the door dinged closed behind her, and when he did at last exhale, it came out a long snarl.

“Will she survive you?” Wendell asked softly.

“Of course,” Callum answered…and hoped he was right.

Chapter Five

Today was turning out to be the best day ever.

Last night with Callum was surprising, and eye opening, and interesting. That boy was the most attractive man she’d ever met, and she couldn’t stop thinking about him. He’d been so cute when she’d handed him the bag of Snickers-infused kettle corn, and had given her a big hug. It was one of those long, rocking hugs that made her feel like he wasn’t just interested in fooling around with her in the costume shop dressing room. That part was still confusing, because she had definitely stepped out of her normal with a stranger, but she’d chalked it up to Callum’s hotness. She just hadn’t been able to resist him, and that was that.

He’d driven Stacia and her piles of fancy costumes back to the hotel in his big fancy pickup truck, and he’d carried it all inside. He’d said he had to go back to work, but he lingered like he didn’t want to, and ended up agreeing to hang out for a few minutes on the patio attached to her room. When he’d left, he got her number and squeezed her hand, kissed her knuckles lightly, and told her, “Don’t overthink what we did in the costume shop. I’ve never done that either.”

And that was enough to keep her from overthinking last night. In fact, she’d slept like the dead and woken up late this morning to a list of fun stuff to do from Alex on her bedroom floor, and a good morning text from Sexypants Dressing Room Diddler, as she’d labeled Callum in her phone.

She’d grabbed a gourmet sandwich from a deli down the street Alex had added to her list, and was now dressed in a fitted fox costume she’d brought from home, complete with orange sequin bodysuit, a tail, black wedges, ears, and painted-on whiskers. It was the most comfortable costume she had for walking around a pumpkin patch.

She parked in the sprawling dirt lot in front of the pumpkin patch and marveled at all of the people flooding in.

This must’ve been some event the town had planned!

And she was a part of it!

And Callum was going to be here. That alone had her putting a second coat of mascara on her false lashes.

Her friends back home didn’t even realize what they were missing out on. She’d begged them to come for years, but they’d been too busy with work, engagements, marriages, and kids, and this was the year Stacia finally stopped waiting around for a travel partner and took her life by the nuts and made it happen! And now look. She’d had one of the most exciting twenty-four hours of her entire life!

When she got to the end of the line, she got a little worried. It was huge. What if the pumpkin patch stopped taking entries?

“Stacia!” Someone called, and she looked around to find Alex waving to her from the front gate. The dark-haired woman was wearing her hair straight and had a long, black, curve-hugging dress on. Her make-up was very pale with dark accents.

“Morticia Addams?” Stacia asked as she reached her.

Alex put her hands on her hips and posed. “Nailed it.”

“I have to wait in line but I’ll be in there as soon as possible.”

“My brother told me to wait out here and make sure you didn’t stand in the line.”

“Your brother?”

“Callum.”

“Gasp! You’re an Ashbrock, too?”

Alex laughed and slipped an entry bracelet around her right wrist. “I sure am.”

“Wait, how did you get this bracelet?” she asked, looking guiltily behind her at the long line of waiting patrons.

“Callum pulled some strings.”

“Oh. Does he know the people who work here?”

“Yep, every one of them.” She waved to a couple of people dressed as Rhinoceroses. “He owns this place.”

“He what?” She must’ve misunderstood over all the noise and people saying hi to Alex. Geez, did she know every single person in town?

Alex gestured all around them. “This is Callum’s.”

---