That was the biggest problem. I liked Steven. But when I’d gotten home after our date, I’d poured myself a glass of wine, laid out my pills, and pondered why I didn’t like him more. Maybe we were uncomfortably comfortable. I didn’t want to be so comfortable with someone that I didn’t feel a damn spark when I looked at them. With Steven, it felt like a soft, cozy fabric brushing up against me. Nice, but not a spark of fire that excited the hell out of me.
My apartment buzzer sounded. “Speak of the devil men …”
I buzzed them up and when I opened the door, Jax gave me a brief hug before looking for his wife like an animal starved.
When he saw her, his eyebrows slammed down, and he stalked over to her. “Oh, no,” he growled as he waved at her outfit.
“Oh, yes!” I exclaimed, clapping as I saw his dangerous look. It meant we did her up perfectly. “I love that you’re Batman. This is so perfect, you two.”
“She’s not wearing that, Vick.” He glared at me and then at his wife. “You’re not wearing that, Whitfield.”
“You mean Stonewood?” Brey smirked and crossed her arms over her chest. “We think my outfit’s cute.”
“Your outfit is a second skin, and that fine ass is mine. Not for anyone else’s eyes.”
“It is a fine ass, Brey,” Jaydon added.
I laughed. Jax looked like steam was about to come out of his ears.
“Avert your eyes, you asshole,” Jax grumbled at his brother.
“Oh, come on, man. You know I’m joking with you.” He winked at Brey and smirked at me, “Not really though.”
I grabbed my coat. “You boys clean up nice. Jaydon, the Joker costume.” I nodded my head. “You even have the makeup on point.”
“I got a friend to do it.” He waggled his eyebrows.
“Gross.” I rolled my eyes and waved them toward the door. “We better get going. I don’t want to miss the haunted house. It’s supposed to be three floors of hell and then they bury you alive for ten minutes. People are going to freak the hell out.”
“We’re going to stay here for a minute while Brey changes.” Jax stood cemented in place like an immovable wall.
“You stay,” Brey replied, completely unfazed as she walked out the door and yelled over her shoulder. “I’m going to see who does like my costume.”
He growled, but made his way after her with a grin on his face. That man loved her even when she was testing him, maybe more so.
Brey and I chatted with the driver while he navigated the streets to pick up Steven and then take us to the Farmland Haunted House. The road darkened, twisting and turning like a snake until we pulled up to the old barn.
Ghouls and monsters hovered around our group as we waited outside the haunted house. They were letting our team in only ten at a time. Turned out, a lot of people from Stonewood Enterprises wanted to attend the impromptu Halloween party.
Brey nudged me. “Probably should have worn something a bit warmer.” She laughed, but Jax had already wrapped his Batman cape around her. He looked happy as hell to have an excuse to.
Steven hadn’t been so thoughtful, or rather, he was in the same position as me with his green attire and no coat. He shivered near us. Jaydon unbuttoned his purple jacket. “You’ll freeze, Vick.”
I held up my hand. “No can do. Purple clashes with my green.”
Jaydon snorted. “So, take it off when we get inside.”
I couldn’t admit the real reason I wouldn’t put on his coat. Waiting for a man I wasn’t with to see my outfit before I covered it up would be silly. Still, I shook my head.
“Vick,” he grunted as he held out the purple blazer. “Put the damn thing on.”
“She enjoys living on the edge,” the voice I’d been dying to hear responded to his brother.
I turned to take in the vision that Jett Stonewood had warped into on Halloween. The black silk suit reflected a slight shimmer under the moonlight. The clean lines and tailoring showed off his athletic build. He lurked in the shadows but the bold-white mask covering half his face drew everyone’s attention. His collared shirt was the same onyx as his belt and shoes. And even in the darkness, his eyes sparkled and commanded me to look straight at him.
“A modern Phantom of the Opera?”
“A risqué, over-the-top Tinker Bell?”