Page 18 of The King of Halloween
“Win what?” he cried out, flabbergasted, before his eyes narrowed. “This is about that King thing, isn’t it? You think I’m going for the crown?”
Adam jerked at how dismissively he spoke of an Anoka tradition. This outsider cared nothing for this town and its culture. “I do now,” he said.
Raj sneered and kept shaking his head. “No, you know what, you should be scared. Because I’m going to win over the council, my hotel will dazzle people from the whole county, my haunt will be the talk of Anoka, and your streak as the King of Halloween will end, Mr. Stein.”
Blood boiling, Adam wanted to leap over and wring Raj’s neck. No one was taking this from him. Not the mayor, not Marianne, and certainly not some upstart outsider here to sell out the town. The crown was and should always be his!
Both men panted hard, about to come to blows at Stitches’ feet. Adam, in a red haze, took a step closer, and Raj met him. He tipped his head up, not caring about the half-foot height difference. Raising his finger, he prepared to poke Raj in the chest.
“That guy is a hoot and a half… Um, did I miss something?”
Raj’s goofy partner stood on the steps. He kept thumbing through a stack of papers while watching the two of them. Both Adam and Raj stared at the man, then each other, before realizing how that must have looked.
Fuck. Trying to shake off his nervous and alien urge to hit something, Adam wandered off. He turned his back on Raj as Logan jogged down the stairs to join him. Closing his eyes, he probably imagined the greeting kiss from a couple celebrating the end of his town.
“How did it go?” Raj asked softly.
“Good. We’re all set. Did you know we’re hosting a movie night in the ballroom?”
“Ah, yes…”
“So we should probably put a floor in,” Logan said with such honesty that it made Adam bark out a laugh. That poser was screwed, and he knew it.
Adam risked a glance over his shoulder only to find Raj staring right at him. Both men turned red and looked the other way.
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I am beat.” Logan gave a huge yawn and stretched. “You coming?”
Don’t think about them in bed. Don’t think about him in cute pajamas. Don’t picture him exploding in Logan’s mouth.
Damn it.
“Yes,” Raj said, nearly causing Adam to groan. He followed after Logan but gave one last look back at Adam’s blistering face. “Mr. Stein.”
“Mr. Choudhary,” Adam answered. As he watched the two of them trail off to their luxurious California king bed, he muttered to himself, “This means war.”
?CHAPTER SIX
?
WHO DOES HE think he is?
Blinded by red, Raj stomped up the stairs of his hotel with such force that the century-old wood cracked. “That…petulant drama queen.” The words spat like broken teeth. He’d had his fair share of the fickle and thin-skinned out west and thought he’d escape it here. A few years of passive-aggressive blessings to his face at least. But there was fucking Adam Stein, standing right in front of him, deciding what he wanted, what he thought, what he was—
“Raj!”
A hand grabbed the back of his jacket, nearly yanking him off of his feet. He twisted in the coat until staring Logan in the eye. “What?” his voice reached shrieking tea kettle levels as he glared down his business partner.
“You nearly fell down the hole, man.” Logan jerked his chin in that direction.
Numb, Raj peered back at the open gap in the floorboards. His stomach lurched at the ten-foot fall directly onto cement and piles of rebar. “Why is this here?” Raj thundered.
“Cause we don’t have the whatever you want yet,” Logan mumbled.
Right. His dumb idea to have lights and sounds rise from under the floor. Every stupid plan cost him more money and time. But he couldn’t do his hotel without twitching towels in the communal bathroom.
“Hey.” Logan tapped his rolled-up documents on Raj’s head, then strolled around the gap without looking. Raj more cautiously sidled past it. “We got the permits. All we need is one last inspection by the fire marshal in the haunt, and we’re ready to make bank.”
One last inspection. That was all. Then he could realize his dream of leaving everything behind to run a haunted bed and breakfast. Just without the cats and doting husband who bakes scones every morning on the side. It’s fine. He had Logan, who…was staring down the drill with the bit near his eye.
