Chapter 7

October 31st Arianna opened one eye and peeked at the time. It was just a bit past dawn. She grinned realizing she could clearly see the numbers on the clock without her glasses. She held her breath and lifted her hand to look at it. Shrieking, she flipped the covers back and jumped out of the bed. Nothing was blurry!

She darted to the mirror. She could see her face clearly! I haven’t changed much, she thought as she spun in circles toward the kitchen.

She had so much to do today. Treat bags to prepare, and as always, she baked special treats for the children of her customers who came by each year. Her treats on this day were made with a bit of magic, just so they’d be perfect. She loved to make little bags with samples of scented tea-light candles and new incense cones for the parents who were customers. She bounced as she went over the list of things to get done. She stopped when she came to the Evan’s party on the list. Would she dare to go?

She leaned back against the counter and crossed her arms as she waited for the kettle to boil. She always spent Hallows Eve at home for the trick-or-treaters, as least for the last five years. The first five years after that horrible night were spent trying to find the man to kiss her. She’d gotten more than a kiss in those years, but of course, they never knew her the next day.

She sat at the table as she did every morning, sipping her tea. Before she was finished, she’d decided she would go to the party. Why not go and have a little bit of fun for one night? If she wore the right costume, no one would associate her with the woman that owned Dreams and Evan brought her latte every day, so she was fairly sure he wouldn’t forget, at least she hoped he wouldn’t. She wasn’t ready to trade one night for the highlight of her every day.

The right costume? What would that be? She closed her eyes and tried to picture what she’d like to wear on this one night that she was completely her old self. A wide grin spread across her face. She added the costume pieces to her mental list. “I have a lot of work to do.”

~

Arianna smiled sweetly at the clerk as she rang up her items. She knew exactly what the woman was thinking. Who is this stranger in our little town? Is she moving here? She handed her the money and thanked her before moving to the door.

A cute-as-a-button toddler was giving his mother a hard time as she walked toward the street. She stopped and smiled down at him. Bending down, she reached into the bag and felt around for the treats. Pulling out a sucker, she smiled at the frazzled-looking mom. “May I?” She held up the sucker, and the woman nodded quickly. Setting down her bags, and then she held it out to the small child. His eyes immediately grew wider, and he stopped fussing at once. She pulled the wrapper off and let his little hand pull it from her fingers. Tucking the wrappers in her pocket, she picked up the bags and straightened. “Happy Halloween,” she said softly as she walked away.

~

Sipping her tea, she watched the spoon stirred the ingredients. Arianna loved to do the simple things with magic, it still gave her a thrill. Setting down the cup, she twirled over to the counter and looked down into the bowl. “Perfect.” Holding her hand over the bowl, fingers spread wide, she smiled and, sent the joy she felt into the batter, knowing the treats she made would help all those who ate them feel it too.

The trays swooped from the cupboard across the room to settle silently on the counter. As she monitored the batter as it poured onto the trays, because it needed to be perfect, she checked the clock to be sure she was giving herself enough time to add a few finishes touches to her costume for the party.

~

Evan flashed a huge fake grin at the nurse in a too-tight costume as he worked his way back to the bar. He stopped and watched his, what would he call him? He was an employee, but he handled everything from Evan’s cars to calling the pool cleaners. He was also the only employee who knew of his magical abilities and had no problems with it. Whatever his title was, he was having a blast playing bartender at the party. Dressed as a Chippendale, and not the chipmunk kind, he flirted with an Egyptian princess that was waiting for her drinks. He waited until Teddy had struck out before leaning on the bar.

“How’s the king of the jungle?” Teddy leaned on the other side of the counter.

Evan hissed out a long breath. “Bored silly.” He glanced around the candle lit room at the too many costumed adults acting like kids. “Did I invite this many?” And where was Arianna? It was past nine, and he’d started to feel like everyone noticed he was watching the door more than the people talking to him.

Teddy looked around the room and shrugged his naked shoulders. “I don’t know when you consider each invite bringing a date…” He nodded. “Yeah probably.” He poured a rum and Coke and handed it to Evan. “You could select some sexy demon or angel to cozy up to.”

Evan sighed and fiddled with the napkins stacked neatly on the bar. “And how do I know which of them I’m the boss and which I’m not? I can’t go to work on Monday and find out I was seducing my own assistant or one of the secretaries.” He sipped the drink. “Tell me again why I wanted masks only.”

Teddy wiggled his dark eyebrows at him. “For the intrigue and mystery.”

Evan laughed. “Next time I want intrigue and mystery, tell me to go buy a book or watch a movie, okay?”

Teddy nodded. “Okay.” He glanced toward the entrance and then snapped his neck back to look at the door again. “Wow,” he whispered. “That’s several steps beyond intrigue and moving right into hot!”

Evan chuckled at the description and turned to look over his shoulder. Very nice, he thought at first glance. A witch stood in the entranceway looking around. She had passed on the typical witch portrayal and had gone for sexy instead. Her auburn hair hung just past her shoulders and framed her masked face. He ran his eyes down her curved shape to her black heels, and she pulled off sexy exquisitely. He was about to turn back to Teddy when she turned and a slender, very nicely shaped leg peaked out of the slit in black skirt. Black fishnet stockings lovingly wrapped that leg.

He turned to face the entranceway and took his fill, observing each inch of that leg. Every man has one weakness, he thought, and his just happened to be fishnet stockings. Maybe it was odd, but still the truth. She had gone from mildly interesting to extremely appealing with one move of a leg. He shook his head and reached back to quickly down the rest of his drink. Setting the glass on the bar, he gave the grinning bartender a shrug. “As the host, it would be rude to not go over and greet her.”

Teddy nodded and made a serious face. “Very rude indeed.” He looked back at the woman. “If her taste doesn’t run to king of the jungle, send her this way.”

“Uh-huh.” He didn’t take his eyes off her as he walked away.

Evan avoided the need to stop and chat with the vampire and pink princess, focusing on the most direct path to the woman who still hadn’t moved from the door. He wished for a moment that he could growl like the lion he was portraying when a doctor in surgical scrubs moved in on the witch. The doctor got shot down rather quickly as the witch glared at him.

He stopped and looked at her for a moment, or more importantly at her eyes. Was it…it couldn’t be. He moved a few feet in the other direction, pausing to smile politely at the turtle as he passed between him and the rabbit he was talking to. The humor of that wasn’t lost on him, but he had another agenda at the moment.

Stopping, he leaned beside the door and looked back at the witch. She had taken a few steps toward the wide door and all the attendants and was searching the crowd. He grinned. He’d know those eyes anywhere under any mask. Maybe she wasn’t moving too far because she didn’t have her glasses on and couldn’t see. A blessing he thought considering how mouth-watering she looked in that costume. So, lovely Arianna hid one sexy as hell body under all those shapeless dresses she wore in her shop.

He should have dressed as something with darker intent, he thought as he straightened from the door. He’d finally gotten her to his lair, and he wasn’t about to let her escape easily.

~

The irony wasn’t lost on Arianna as she looked around at all the fabulous costumes. The last costume party she’d been at she had been a pretty ballerina. She had matured a lot since that time. Running a hand down the snug low-cut black dress she wore, she laughed to herself. She had matured with the reality of life.

She looked around again and almost groaned aloud as a pirate was heading her way. He was giving her a leering, come-get-me look. Not likely, she thought and turned enough in the other direction that she hoped he’d get the message. It had been several years since she’d had the company of a man, but she wasn’t desperate enough to go there. She realized that sometimes not being seen was a good thing.

She searched through the crowd trying to find Evan. He’d most likely be in a tasteful costume, which left out most of the room. She spotted a sheik that had the right height and then bit her lip when the sheik turned and was most definitely a woman.

She stopped looking around and watched as a lion headed in her direction, a lion that was pure man. Chastising herself the whole time, she let her eyes travel down over the golden pants he wore. Definitely a man. Not wanting to get caught ogling, she quickly looked back to his masked face. The smile beneath the golden mask was pleasant and not unappealing.

She allowed her eyes to move from his golden mask down over him again. He wore a collar. How cute was that, she thought. He was basically naked until she reached his waist. With good reason too, she mused as she bit her lip. A nice toned chest and tummy like that warranted freedom from clothes. She took her time moving her eyes over the covered portions of him once more, and she had to say that from his fuzzy golden mane to his tail that swayed with each movement, it was a well-designed outfit.

Arianna felt a tingle go through her. She closed her eyes for a brief moment and took a breath. Either there was someone here who held the secret of magic or . . . she opened her eyes, or she had a raging case of hormones too long denied. Most likely the latter of the two, but the way the lion’s look was simmering through her whole system, she wondered if she should make her exit. Leaving without speaking to Evan would be rude though.

He came right up to her with a friendly smile. “There you are.” He glanced behind her.

Thinking he’d recognized her, she thought her heart had stopped, and then she sensed someone behind her. She turned her head to see the pirate looking a wee bit disappointed. She smiled at him and then turned back to the lion. “I knew if I stood here long enough, you’d find me.”

He moved closer to her and placed a hand on her arm. He glanced behind her again and then grinned. “You looked like you needed rescuing.”

She hissed out a breath and smiled back at him. “It was a close call, Thank you.” She looked around quickly and then stepped a more comfortable distance from him.

He turned and looked around and then back to her. “Are you looking for someone?”

She nodded. “I wanted to speak to Evan.”

He chuckled. “Evan is…” he shrugged, “very busy at the moment and wishes not to be disturbed.”

Arianna started to speak, but the music suddenly got very loud and she didn’t want to yell over it. She leaned closer to his mane-covered head. “Do you think he’ll be long? I really can’t stay.”

He spoke close to her ear, trying not to sound too much like himself. “But you just got here. At least come in and have a drink.”

She looked at all the eyes behind masks that kept straying to her. “I’m not sure…” Her body tingled being this close to him. “Can I get word to him?”

He straightened and held up a hand. Walking back into the room, she watched him go and lean over the bar. He spoke to the half-naked, dark-haired man behind it. The bartender glanced her way and then nodded with a big grin.

Smiling, the lion came back over to her. Just as he reached her, a pimp wearing a big purple hat slid in front of her. She looked at him and then over his shoulder and wished the lion would walk faster.

The lion stepped up beside her before the pimp had a chance to finish thoroughly looking her over and smiled at her. “Let’s go find some quiet.” She nodded and took the arm he offered.

“Better luck next time,” the lion said loudly to the pimp as he led her down a hallway. He leaned over to speak closer to her ear. “You don’t mind finding a quieter, less hormone-saturated space, do you?”

She laughed. She was having enough hormone issues of her own right now. She didn’t need to be around anymore. Normally, she wouldn’t just walk away with a stranger, but to her, it appeared the lion was the least harmless predator in the room. She shook her head.

He led her to the door at the opposite end of the house. It had once been the study, but she couldn’t tell him she knew this. He peeked in and then opened the door to her. She walked in and looked around. It was no longer a study, but a room that said, “Come in and relax.” Furniture was placed in a way that someone could try one area after the other until the right preference was found. Arianna turned and looked at him. “Do you think it’s all right we’re in here, the door was closed.”

He nodded and went over to pull the curtains open. “It’s fine. I know the owner. Evan won’t mind at all.” He turned and then sighed. “Now, that I know you’re safe from every man’s clutches, may I get something to drink for you?”

She bit her lip for a moment. “A white wine would be nice.”

He nodded abruptly and headed back to the door. “Stay in here and try not to get hit on until I return.”

Arianna laughed and watched him close the door. She went over and stood by the window that overlooked the large backyard. The moonlight was perfect lighting, and she had the urge to go dance across the lawn. If it weren’t for the crowd of partiers hovering near the back door, she might have done just that.