Page 44 of As Long As You Kiss Me

She grinned. “You should be. I can be terrifying when I want.”

“Let’s just get these spiders.” He turned to one of the glass terrariums that housed a tarantula.

“Which one do you think we should get?”

“How about one that looks like it might have come from outside?” Jackson suggested.

“That’s a good idea. Tarantulas don’t live around here in the wild. He’ll know someone planted it.”

“That’s why the mice are a great idea. He wouldn’t suspect that it had been planted,” Jackson said.

“Exactly.” Sully walked down the aisle, looking at the different spiders available. “How about a wolf spider?”

Jackson stepped beside her and stared into the tank. “That’s perfect. They could live around here, right?”

“I don’t know for sure, but it looks like a spider that could be from around here.” Sully watched the little spider scurry around the tank and tried to keep it from creeping her out too badly.

“Good enough for me. Should we get one?”

“Make that two. And then we’ll swing by the Halloween store and pick up some fake spiders. We can attach them to his window screens so he thinks they’re invading his house.”

“That’s a great idea.”

Jackson insisted on paying for the spiders and a mouse and put the container in the floor of his truck.

It was terrifying to ride around town, knowing that those creepy critters were between her feet. The sooner this was over, the better.

Jackson pulled up to the Halloween store parking lot, and they left the critters in the car. It wasn’t a hot day, so they would be fine for a few minutes.

Sully and Jackson went into the store and split up to look for the fake spiders. Sully wandered past costumes and decorations. Skeletons hung from the ceiling and floated back and forth. Tombstones sat by jack-o'-lanterns. She went down an aisle and found the section that had spider webs. A bit farther down the aisle, she found the spiders. She picked up the package and studied it. It was perfect.

A shadow fell over the bag of spiders, and she looked up into a horrifying monster’s face. She screamed, and the bag of spiders flew into the air.

That was when she heard familiar laughter.

Jackson pulled off the scary mask, and she could have whacked him. Her heart was still racing from that scare.

“You should have seen your face,” Jackson said, bent over in laughter.

“I’m sure it was priceless for you.” She crossed her arms and gave him the stink eye.

“Oh, come on. You have to admit that was funny.” He tucked the mask on a nearby shelf.

They walked toward the register to pay for the spiders, and a creepy howling noise sounded right next to Sully, causing her to jump. “What was that?” She turned and saw a small device that played spooky sounds. She picked up one of the boxes beneath the display. “Hey, we can use this.” She examined the box. “It looks like it takes batteries.”

“Even better.” Jackson reached out and took the box from her. “This thing is cool.”

“Let’s buy it.” She took it back from him.

They checked out, and Jackson bought the items just like he’d done at the pet shop earlier.

She scowled at him. “You don’t always need to pay for things.”

“Yeah, but I like being your sugar daddy,” he joked.

“Oh, in that case, can you pay my half of the rent? I can take the money and book a cruise instead.”

“Uh,” Jackson said.

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