Page 61 of Trick or Tease

“But don’t worry,” she continued, straightening up and grinning. “Old Samuel is friendly enough. He just likes to keep an eye on things. If you see him, wave. He likes that.”

The trailer started the slow trip up the hill and I got back to serving cocoa. There were so many people. I expected this to be like it used to be, with some local folks swinging by. But damn, this was massive. Billy and the girls might actually be onto something.

Twenty minutes later, I watched the tractor rumble back down the hill. The families on the flatbed were laughing and chattering excitedly about their haunted hayride experience. Several of the kids were waving enthusiastically at nothing in particular, clearly hoping to catch another glimpse of “friendly Samuel.”

Sabrina hopped down from the trailer.

“That was incredible!” she said. “Did you hear them talking? They loved it!”

I handed her a cup of cider. “You’re a natural at this,” I said.

“Really?” She took a sip of the warm cider, studying my face. “You don’t think I was laying it on too thick with the ghost stories?”

“Are you kidding? They loved it. This is incredible, Sabrina. What you and Billy have created here, it’s special.”

“You sound surprised.”

“I am surprised. But not because I thought you couldn’t do it,” I said quickly. “I’m surprised because I’d forgotten what it feels like to see something built from scratch like this. Something real and meaningful instead of just profitable.”

“Come on,” she said suddenly, grabbing my hand. “I need to get away from all this noise for a minute. And you look like you could use a break.”

Before I could protest, she was pulling me toward the old barn. The sounds of the festival faded as we stepped inside.

“Much better,” Sabrina said. “Don’t get me wrong, I love that we’re so busy. But I haven’t had five minutes to just breathe all day.”

I found myself moving toward her. It was like I had no control over my own body.

“Sabrina,” I said. Every rational part of my brain was screaming at me to step back, to maintain the distance I’d been so carefully preserving. But she was looking at me with her lips slightly parted, rational thought was becoming increasingly difficult.

“I know,” she said softly. “I know this is complicated. I know you’re leaving.”

There was a moment of inner debate before I said fuck it.

I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her, finally giving in to what we’d both been wanting. She melted against me immediately, her arms coming up to wrap around my neck as she kissed me back with a hunger that matched my own.

My mouth covered hers. She parted her lips and I slipped my tongue inside. I couldn’t get enough of her.

“Fuck me,” I groaned. “You taste so good.”

She murmured something against my lips but I swallowed the words.

I could feel her heart racing. Every rational thought I had was dissolving under the heat of her response. She pressed closer, her hands slid down my back like she was afraid I might pull away again.

Not this time.

I backed her against the wooden beam that ran down the center of the barn, my body caging her in. The old wood was rough against my palm as I braced myself beside her head, but all I could focus on was the way she was looking at me.

She wanted me.

I kissed her harder, deeper, pouring days of pent-up want into the connection between us. Her witch hat tumbled to the ground, forgotten, as I tangled my fingers in her blonde hair. She arched against me. I could feel the soft curves of her body through our clothes.

It was insane. We were in a barn, with hundreds of people just outside. But I couldn’t bring myself to care. Not when she was making soft little sounds against my lips that were driving me out of my mind.

“We shouldn’t be doing this,” I managed to say, even as my hands slid down to her waist, pulling her flush against me.

“Probably not,” she agreed, but her fingers were already working at the buttons of my shirt. “But I’m not stopping.”

A burst of laughter outside grabbed our attention.