Prologue
It was the lamest Halloween ever. My parents had gone out and left me to serve candy to the kiddies.
“I’m coming,” I said into the phone.
Jillian, my best friend, was already at the party waiting for me.
“I sent Todd to pick you up. He’s the Joker to your Harley Quinn,” she said, giggling.
I rolled my eyes. Todd had been trying hard the last couple of weeks to get in my pants, which was so not happening.
“Why him? Where’s Eddie?” I asked.
Eddie was my other best friend.
“Eddie’s busy.” She said the last like every letter in the word was important.
“Of course, he is.”
Eddie was easy on the eyes and girls at our school let him know that. And it ran in the family. Eddie’s older brother, Cam, played starring roles in my dreams. He was the mental block that kept me from appreciating any other guy in school.
The doorbell rang.
“He’s here. I’ll see you in a minute,” I said into the phone before ending the call.
I put my cell down and dismissively opened the door. I barely looked at the dark figure before giving Todd my back. I went to grab my purse where I left it in the living room where I’d been waiting.
When the door clicked closed, I spun around. It wasn’t the Joker standing there, but a large guy dressed all in black wearing a Batman mask.
“Jillian said you were dressed up as the Joker,” I asked nervously.
I wasn’t quite ready to believe I’d let in a total stranger.
The man stepped forward and I parried with a step back bumping into the back of the sofa. I grabbed on as I worked out a plan of escape in my head.
“Why would I do that? I’m here to save you from a life of crime,” he said, in a low gravelly voice I couldn’t make out.
His eyes scanned the length of my body and I second guessed myself again for the choice of costumes. The shirt was too tight and short. And the boy shorts barely covered my ass. I was all about girl power and the right to wear what I wanted, but the skimpy outfit wouldn’t survive this man’s massive hands if he wanted it off me.
I shivered as he moved forward crowding me giving me nowhere to run. My trusty bat too far away.
“Todd, this isn’t funny.”
“It’s not supposed to be,” he said voice still disguised as if he were really Batman. He could be anyone.
I laughed a little nervously hoping Todd had Oscar worthy acting skills I hadn’t known about.
“Please stop.” I begged in a panic.
“Trick or treat?”
“What?” I asked in confusion.
He repeated.
My mouth hung open until I realized he was deadly serious. My heart hammered in my chest and I whispered the only real option. “Treat.”
A Joker like grin blossomed on his face.
“A kiss then,” he said so casually, I might have mistaken it as a choice.
I blew out a breath. If he was asking, he couldn’t be a murderer or a rapist, right? Besides, from what I could see of his mouth, it was sexy as hell and I wanted to be a sinner. But the poor lighting masked the color of his eyes. I couldn’t be sure if it was Todd because those lips reminded me of someone else.
What harm was there? I’d kissed Todd before. It had been cold, sloppy and wet, but I could get through it again. Especially if I thought of a certain someone while doing it.
“Fine. One kiss,” I announced.
Though I’d hoped he’d take off the mask, he didn’t and leaned in. His shower-clean scent washed over me just as his soft lips branded mine. Nothing but heat radiated off him, leaving me warm and tingling in places I pressed against him.
His hands landed on my hips anchoring us together. Then those hands coursed up the bare sides of my rib cage, pushing up the half shirt I wore and stilling just at the undersides of my breasts. My fishnet-clad thigh quivered with anticipation.
The hot kiss hadn’t ended, and I wanted more. I drove my fingers in soft silky hair and got an idea. The elastic to the mask was just right there. I didn’t think but tugged up until the gorgeous face underneath was revealed.
There in front of me was a fantasy come true.
“Cam,” I said, not really mad, but trying to process.
Eddie’s older brother was totally off-limits per a pact I’d made years ago with my very best friend. And now I’d broken it.
The problem was, I no longer wanted to go to the party, I wanted to stay. Maybe Cam could be my first. Subconsciously, I think I’d always been saving myself for him.
“What was that all about?” I asked, trying not to sound like all the other girls that threw themselves at the McCabe brothers.