Page 64 of Devoured By the Forbidden Mountain Man

I walked past him into the hall, close enough that my shoulder brushed his chest.

“You agreed to a costume.”

“I agreed to black clothes.” His hand touched my back as he followed me toward the dining room. “I’m starting to understand that was only the beginning.”

***

By four-thirty, the Lantern House had changed from a restaurant preparing for Halloween into one waiting for the doors to open.

The carved pumpkins were lit now, their faces glowing beneath the windows. Orange lights wound through the shelves behind the bar, reflecting off bottles and glassware. The music had been turned up enough to reach the whole dining room without drowning out conversation, and every time the kitchen door swung open, warm air carried another wave of roasted meat, browned butter, peppers, and cinnamon into the room.

I had changed in the small employee room at the back.

The Queen of Hearts dress fit better than I’d expected. Red and black curved over my waist and hips, with gold trim catching the warm light when I moved. My dark boots made it possible to cross the restaurant at speed without risking an ankle, which mattered considerably more to me than historical accuracy. I’d darkened my eyeliner, added a deep red lipstick, replaced my daytime earrings with a larger hammered-gold pair, and pinned the little crown into my chestnut waves so I wouldn’t lose it the first time somebody bumped me.

Case emerged in his disco-king costume looking as though the seventies had personally requested his presence behind the bar. He was still adjusting one cuff when Rex came down the back hall.

I forgot what I had been about to say.

His fitted black shirt made his shoulders look even broader, and the dark vest sharpened the contrast with the silver at his temples and in his beard. Dark trousers and boots kept the costume close enough to his normal clothes that he still looked like himself.

Then Case stepped behind him with a black cape.

Rex saw it coming and gave him a flat look. “No.”

Case ignored him and fastened the cape at his collar. “You cannot be a vampire in Idaho on Halloween wearing only black. Half the men in this county qualify.”

I was enjoying this far too much to help Rex. “The cape works.”

“Of course you think that.”

Case produced the fake fangs, and Rex stared at them long enough that I had to bite the inside of my cheek. A minute later, the fangs were in.

They should have made him look ridiculous. Instead, with the black clothes, cape, silvered hair, and beard, the brief flash of white when he tested the fit made heat curl through me.

Rex caught my expression, and his gaze held mine before dropping briefly to my mouth.

I walked closer and smoothed one side of the cape where Case had left it folded under the collar.

“You’re keeping the fangs for a while.”

He rested a hand at my waist, his thumb moving once over the red fabric as his gaze traveled over the costume and returned to my face.

“You look incredible.”

The simple appreciation in his voice warmed me more than a practiced compliment would have.

“Thank you.”

He leaned closer as though he meant to kiss me, then seemed to remember what was currently attached to his teeth. I laughed before I could stop myself, and Rex removed the fangs with one hand before bending toward me.

His mouth touched mine briefly, careful of the lipstick but not so careful that I didn’t feel it all the way down.

Case made a satisfied sound somewhere behind us.

I didn’t turn around. “Whatever you’re about to say, don’t.”

“I was only admiring my work.”