Page 26 of The King of Halloween
“You’ve joined us for the festival!” the mayor called with an exaggerated wave.
Casually throwing the end of his scarf over his shoulder, Raj walked to the mayor’s side while keeping his back always slightly to Adam. “I did. Managed to slip away from the hotel for a few minutes.”
“How’s it going, my boy?”
Did it get really quiet? Raj’s toes clenched as he realized everyone was looking at him and listening. “Great,” he cried out. “Everything’s on schedule for the soft opening tomorrow.”
“If it proves to be a tight fit, a little lubricant goes a long way.”
Raj’s face turned beet red, and he stared right at the instigator. In the dark of the night, his eyes were a shadow crawling across a tombstone. But by the light, they glowed like mercury plunging into an ocean. The idea of those quicksilver eyes bearing down on him while he circled Raj’s ass with a lubed finger cut him to the quick. “What?” Raj squeaked out.
“Slip a little grease someone’s way,” Adam said, and fanned out a mess of one-dollar bills. “Why, what else could I mean?”
The others all laughed as if they were too pure to catch the deliberate innuendo. Then Adam gave a quick smirk and licked the side of his lips.
He’s messing with me. I don’t know how or why… Okay, I know the why. He doesn’t want me here. But the flirting should be unnerving. Hammering thoughts of that taut forearm undoing his tie one-handed into my mind until I go mad…
“Are you ready?” a woman called out from below one of the three canopies. They shielded tables each holding a huge crock pot, lines of apples and sticks, and a big bowl of sprinkles.
“For…?” Raj asked, realizing he should have checked the full schedule before heading in here.
His nemesis sidled in beside him. A cologne of licking flames and forgotten souls wafted on the breeze. Raj did his best to shut his nose before he imprinted on it. “It’s the annual caramel apple contest,” Adam said, pointing to the supplies.
“Oh, is this your first year?” the woman at the center asked. Raj gave a quick nod. “You’re so lucky. This is so much fun. We sell caramel apples to raise funds for the committee. And every year we make a game out of it. Whoever can make the most caramel apples in thirty minutes wins.”
“Wins what?” Raj asked.
The woman blinked a moment, then smiled. “The town’s respect.”
Exactly what he needed.
Raj reached for his sleeves to roll them up when Adam gave him a withering, dissecting look. The look dared Raj to try to beat him. To best him at this quaint Anoka tradition and earn not only the town’s respect but that damn crown he clung to.
Adam sauntered over to the canopy and took his place at the farthest right station right in front of the crock pot probably full of caramel. An old lady wearing a crocheted bonnet and hand-knit sweater with a black cat on the front leaned in beside him. She gave a quick side hug to Adam, who was too busy lording over his spot to return it.
This is so stupid. What am I doing? I need to get back to the hotel, finish things, and…
“Here, dearie.” The old lady by Adam waved to Raj. “Why don’t you take that pot?” She pointed to the one right beside Adam’s.
The glove was thrown, and Raj couldn’t walk away even if his life depended on it.
“Thank you, um…?” He shrugged off his coat and rolled up his sleeves. With his forearms exposed, he turned to the kind woman, only to catch a peculiar expression on Adam’s face. It looked halfway between a sneeze and a snarl.
“Oh, I’m Carol,” the woman said, her hand out to him.
He reached around Adam—who refused to give up his space—in order to shake hers. “I’m Raj.”
“I know, love. You’re famous around here.”
“I am?”
“A bona fide movie man in our little town. Oh, you two should talk shop.” She wrapped her arms around Adam’s shoulders and forced his rebar body to bend.
Staring at the rigid man, Raj asked, “You were…?”
“Theater, Mom. It’s a different beast from Hollywood.”
“Same thing,” she said with a laugh. “You two have so much in common.”
