Page 66 of The Pumpkin Spice Cafe
‘Nothing can be scarier than them.’ Jeanie gestured toward where some of the contest losers gathered ominously. She wouldn’t be surprised if they held pitchforks.
Logan huffed a laugh. ‘Let’s go.’ He tugged her with him, keeping her close by his side as they made their way across the festival.
In fact, Logan kept her there even when they hurried past Kaori and her family; the book club president only had time to raise her eyebrows in surprise. Jeanie grinned back in return. He kept her right beside him as they stopped to say hi to Noah, even as the fisherman’s grin grew bigger and he actually winked at Jeanie. Logan held her hand as they passed the bakery tent and waved to Annie and Hazel inside.
He even brushed a kiss on her cheek as they waited in line for Linda and Nancy to let them into the firehouse-turned-haunted house.
And with every little gesture, with every happy glance from the people around them, some of the nerves, the doubts, the worries eased in Jeanie’s gut. This was her home now, her friends, her customers.
Her Logan.
She liked it.
She wanted to keep him, to keep this, to live in this perfect day for as long as she could.
‘How scared should I be?’ she asked, as they made their way through the spider web-covered entrance. Logan squeezed her hand.
‘Well, the local scouts set this up every year. They tend to go pretty hard––’
Logan had barely finished his sentence before a deranged clown leaped out from the dark. Jeanie shrieked and buried her face in Logan’s sleeve. The clown cackled maniacally and returned to his position to scare the living hell out of the next customers.
‘You okay?’ Logan asked, amusement clear in his voice.
‘Yep, fine. Totally fine,’ she said, her face still pressed against him, her heart racing. He chuckled softly and led her around the next corner. A rather undersized witch stirred a smoking cauldron in the corner, but she recognized Logan and gave him a big grin before remembering her role and fixed her face back into a scowl.
Jeanie stifled a laugh.
Logan tugged her along, the smile clear on his own face even in the dark.
They wound their way through the maze-like interior of the house, with Jeanie clinging to Logan’s hand. If she was honest, after the first scare from the clown she was fine, but any excuse to be this close to Logan was good with her. Maybe they weren’t going to hide anymore, but it was fun to be away from the prying eyes of the town for a few minutes. Especially, when Logan pulled her into a corner, his mouth finding hers in the dark.
‘Hi,’ she whispered against his lips.
‘Hi.’ His voice was a low rumble. ‘Are you enjoying the festival?’ he asked, nipping her bottom lip.
‘Very much.’ His hands traced her hips. He squeezed her ass and tugged her closer. ‘Even more so now.’ She sounded out of breath like they had run through the haunted house.
Logan groaned, nuzzling against her neck. She gasped as he ran his teeth across the sensitive skin there.
‘Hey! Who’s that? I told you kids—’
A bright light flashed in Jeanie’s eyes, and they froze, Logan’s hands still clutching her backside, Jeanie’s leg already hitched over his hip.
‘Logan?’
He groaned and pulled away, and Jeanie knew that had it been light enough she would see the blush creeping up his cheeks. But he didn’t shove her away this time. Just took her hand and faced Linda and her flashlight.
Linda laughed in delight. ‘I thought it was those damn teenagers again! I’ve caught three different couples already making out in here. Guess we need to make it scarier next year.’ She turned, laughing to herself, and made her way back through the maze.
Logan ran a hand down his face. ‘Sorry about that. I shouldn’t have—’
‘Let’s go back to my place.’
‘This obviously isn’t the time or the place, I just ... wait what?’
‘Let’s go. No interruptions this time,’ she said.
Logan’s eyes widened briefly before he dropped his mouth to her ear. ‘No interruptions?’ His breath was warm against her skin and Jeanie leaned into him further.
