Page 39 of Revelry
“Are you just going to grunt all night?”
Guess how he answered.
I paused before entering and he bumped into me before gripping my shoulders and righting us both. “Now remember,” I began, peering miles up at him and his dark gaze beneath the brim of his hat. “Tonight is about fun. Nothing but fun. So, think fun thoughts.” I tweaked his nose and he exhaled heavily but didn’t complain.
Pushing open the doors, we were immediately flooded by the band playing a country version ofThriller. Bats hung from the ceiling along with more cobwebs which also draped over the bar. You could just about see the wooden floor through a thin layer of mist. Glowing red eyes were spread over the walls and there were tombstones dotted here and there with a coffin standing upright in the corner.
“It looks amazing!” I squealed, excitement fizzling inside me.
The mechanical bull had blood dripping from his maw and what looked to be entrails dangling from his horns. So freaking creative.
The high-top tables towards the back of the bar had been moved and in their place was an eyeball bobbing station, a pumpkin carving station along with a trick or treat table full of covered boxes with a hole to put your hand in and see what’s inside.
“Yes, it does,” Tate agreed. I turned to see him looking around the bar with interest and gave myself a pat on the back.
It was going to be a good night; I could just feel it.
Chapter Ten
Tate
The woman was a menace.
I could hardly tear my eyes away from her low cut, short red cocktail dress and don’t even get me started on the garter hugging her thick thigh that I wanted to pull off with my teeth, maybe graze her flesh while I’m at it and put my mark on her.
Betty Boop eat your heart out. That’s clearly who Gertrude was supposed to be with her glossed red lips and dark eye makeup which made her wide eyes look bigger than normal. She’d even put a little beauty mark by her lip that I wanted to slide my tongue over. Her black curls were pinned up to make them appear shorter than they were with a few tendrils slicked to her forehead in that classic Betty style.
I wouldn’t be able to complete our fun agenda because she was going to give me a heart attack. The blood still hadn’t dissipated from the area it had rushed to after seeing her little panties covering her ass earlier. It had taken everything in me not to flip up her dress and see just what the rest of those panties looked like. I didn’t understand my sudden ferocious need for her. I hadn’t had that before for anyone.
“Come on, let’s go talk to Daisy!” Gertrude tugged my hand, her palm sliding softly into mine and I marveled at how tiny hers was in my grasp.
When Daisy saw us, she and Gertrude both squealed and then hugged each other. Then Daisy shocked me by flinging herself at me and squeezing me tight. I wasn’t expecting it and didn’t have time to return the hug before she was pulling away.
“You’ve done an amazing job with the place, it’s perfection! I love all the tiny details!” Gertrude enthused, her eyes bright.
“Thank you, it’s been so fun to do and nice to finally have some work,” Daisy replied. I frowned at her, remembering seeing her at Duke’s ranch in the maid’s outfit. Her eyes met mine before they flicked away again and I remembered her asking me not to tell anyone she was there.
I glanced around the bar. Gertrude was right, it looked amazing. The staging of the party was impressive, but my brain couldn’t get over the fact that this wasn’t what the bar normally looked like and kept wanting me to rearrange the décor to something I recognized.
I put my hand on the small of her back, her heat searing my palm, and dipped my head. “What do you want to drink?”
She glanced up at me from under her thick lashes and my dick pulsed in my jeans. “Root beer is fine, thanks.”
A soft smile tipped her lips and my eyes locked onto it before I tore myself away and went to the bar. When I’d asked Gertrude for fun, I had meant the playful, strictly friendly variety. But now all my brain, and other areas, was thinking about was the kind ofadultfun we could have together. The idea of all her enthusiasm writhing under me as I pounded into her had me losing my breath.
It had been a long time since I’d gotten laid, but that image alone of us in bed together was somehow better than every sexual encounter I’d had before.
“Whiskey and a root beer,” I rasped to the woman behind the bar dressed as a ghost. I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the Gertrude-related urges and images. If I was going to sleep with someone it wouldn’t, couldn’t be her. She was my neighbor, and it would get messy and complicated.
When I usually needed to scratch an itch, I liked strangers who didn’t expect anything and I sure as shit knew Gertrudewas the type of woman to expect something. She had just gotten divorced for Christ’s sake, she was definitely off the freaking table.
I glanced to the left and saw Jack behind the bar, also dressed as a cowboy. I steeled myself as I strolled down the bar, tucking some of the webbing under that was sticking out as I went.
“Hey, man,” I said, not knowing where to go from there and hoping Jack would take the lead.
He looked up and smiled. “Hey Tate! Didn’t figure you for being a Halloween guy.” He gestured to us both. “We’re matching!”
“Yeah.” I smoothed a hand over my plaid shirt. “This was Gertrude’s idea.” She’d asked me to trust her and that was something I didn’t find easy to do but so far, she hadn’t steered me wrong.
