He kissed her forehead and pulled her close, pressing her hip into his pelvis. Hopefully it just looked like a hug, but between his gun on one side and his stick on the other lay proof of what her words did to him. She twisted and gasped against his chest and he quietly laughed. “This is so not the place for this conversation.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t have come tonight.”
Jesus, he couldn’t resist that. He squeezed her waist and ducked his head again. “I think you should come every night.”
“Haunt has been a once a year—oh.” She stilled, then turned her face even more towards him. “Who says I don’t come every night?”
Blood pounded through his veins, racing for his cock at the breathtaking image of Liv getting herself off. His tongue felt thick and useless in his mouth and he gave up any hope of responding. She’d most definitely won that round.
Smirking in knowing victory, she pushed away from him, but it was okay because she found his hand and wove her fingers into his and pulsed her hand reassuringly.
They moved forward again, silently this time. Even when he found his voice again, he wasn’t going to ruin the perfection of the moment. It was hot and heady and everything he couldn’t figure out on his own.
It felt like a first date.
A really, really good first date. So he didn’t say anything, just held Liv’s hand and savoured the warm press of her hip against his thigh. She didn’t say anything either. Probably didn’t want to risk goading him into saying something even more outlandish. Which he would, if it made her laugh or turned her on—or even better, did both at the same time. She might have landed a direct shot, but dirty teasing was his specialty when he wasn’t blindsided by it. He’d have another chance soon enough.
Two wagons came in back to back, and the line leapt forward by forty people. Pretty soon it was their turn and they found a hay bale at the back of the wagon. Rafe sat first, secretly hoping Liv would choose to nestle into his side. He wasn’t disappointed. He wrapped his arm around her and rested his cheek on the soft fleece of her hat.
The driver snapped his reins and off they went, the wagon bumping and swaying gently into the night. In the distance, spooky music promised a scary good time, and the kids in front of them were bouncing in anticipation.
Rafe knew the feeling. “So…”
She smiled up at him. “So?”
“I’m surprised to see you here tonight.”
She looked at him for a long moment. There was more in her eyes than she was willing to say out loud, and his heart thumped against his chest.Shut up, hope, there’s no place for you here. Except it felt like there really was. “We might want to use the park at night. This is easier than asking Tom for an after-hours tour.”
We, huh? “So the job is going well, eh?”
She nodded. “Yeah, actually—“
The driver slowed the wagon to a stop and Liv cut herself off to listen to his opening spiel.
When they started moving again, Rafe decided a real conversation could wait until they weren’t going to be interrupted every few minutes. He cleared his throat. “Are you giving candy out on Tuesday?”
Liv nodded. “I bought a giant bag of Snickers and another of Rockets.” His favourites. “If you come over, I might give you some. If your costume is decent, of course. I have standards.”
He chuckled. “What if I wore one of my uniforms?”
She smoothed her hand over his knee. “Hmm. Not very original. I’d like to see a French maid costume, or maybe a tiny red devil dress.”
He didn’t say anything. Most of his responses weren’t hayride-appropriate. She laughed gently against his side. They reached the first station and his brother Tom stepped forward. He wore his park ranger shirt, but his pants were a ripped-to-shreds replacement for his usual ones, and his face was made up in the most gruesome way. He made an excellent monster. “Turn back,” he warned in a booming growl. “No good lies ahead.”
The driver of the wagon laughed, an unexpected interaction that made even Rafe jump a little. The driver gestured to the people sitting behind him. “You think your zombies are any match for these soldiers?”
Oooh, zombie warfare. Tom had changed the show this year. Liv squeezed his knee as the kids in front of them huddled closer together.
Tom stomped around the wagon, shining a flashlight here and there, muttering threats of death and destruction as he moved. Finally he stepped back into the shadows of the woods, yelling a final warning as he faded into the darkness. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, good people of Pine Harbour.”
With a jerk, the wagon started again, this time with a lot more nervous chatter as they headed around the bend in the dirt road. Murmurs turned to screams as they encountered the first wave of zombies, moaning and groaning at them from the side of the road. The actors followed them to the next bend, then faded back to their staging position.
The driver kept the suspense levels high as they encountered more zombie stations, and then he jerked the wagon to a stop when his radio crackled to life.
This time, it wasn’t zombies that came out of the woods, but two of Tom’s fellow rangers. They leapt onto the wagon and urged the driver to go again. They gave everyone on the wagon instructions to stay seated no matter what, then made a big production of giving the driver a map for a short cut. He begged them to stay with them and get out safely, but they said there were other wagons of innocent people in the park they needed to find. He slowed to a stop, they jumped off, and then he made one final turn.
Into what looked like a wall of zombies.
