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Stop wondering if she’d call you that while you’re fucking her right through the closest wall and—
“I’ve been working here since I was fifteen,” she continues. “Pops was the only person in town who wasn’t afraid that hiring a Tanner woman would result in a lot of headaches and the destruction of his property at some point in time. Plus, he was super impressed with my Halloween decorating abilities. Aren’t they the cutest?”
The mention of my grandfather is the only thing that stops me from asking her more about this “destruction of property” business, while Sidney looks around the heavily decorated bar with a proud smile on her face. Ofcoursethat man had a soft spot for her. He was a hard-ass who never had a kind word for anyone in my family, even with a jovial nickname like Pops. He took one look at this absolute ray of Halloween sunshine and hired an underage teenager to work in his bar. I’ve only known her for five minutes, and I wouldn’t even hesitate to break a few laws to make her happy.
I need to sell this damn bar and get the hell out of this town and its voodoo bullshit immediately. Knowing that Sidney comes with the place should in no way entice me into keeping it.
It’s already been proven that I don’t have the ability to makeanyonehappy. Having these kinds of thoughts about a woman I just met is probably the dumbest thing I’ve ever done, right up there with traveling across the country at the spur of the moment, hoping this place would finally give me some answers.
The shock of finding out my grandfather owned a Halloween-themed bar in a small town in the middle of nowhere that he didn’t tell a single soul about for thirty years, was only surpassed by finding out he’d left it tomeduring the reading of his will. If only that were the most shocking thing to happen that day.
“And to answer your earlier question about what the fuck is going on, my sister and cousin like to play this game every year called Trick or Treat, hence the reason my underwear is strewn all over town. Sadly, I don’t get to decide between the two options. They just play tricks on me the entirety of October. I never get any treats, just tricks. I want a treat. I deserve a damn treat dealing withthisnonsense, on top of covering for them when they do stupid shit,” Sidney grumbles with an adorable pout on her face.
I suddenly want to give her all the treats in the world, and not just the one in my jeans that’s been painfully erect since she first stalked over to me. The need to take care of her overwhelms me, wanting to wrap my arms around her and protect her at all costs… all because of a couple of harmless teenagers and some fucking missing underwear.
Christ… I need to get out of here.
My eyes do a double-take when a black cat walks through the crowd of people to stop at Sidney’s feet, while she quickly bends down and gives it a head scratch.
“You can’t have a cat in a bar. Especially one that serves food. It’s a fucking health code violation.”
“Tell that to Pops.” Sidney stands back up, ignoring the angry bite in my voice with a smile, like my irritation amuses her. And I like it way too much, which just pisses me off even more. “He’s let her hang out at the pub since I started here.”
“Yeah, well, I own the place now. He was my grandfather… and he’s dead.”
Sidney’s mouth immediately drops open with a shocked gasp.
Oh, nice going, Ford. Real smooth, asshole.
Her eyes immediately fill with tears, and it feels like someone shoves a hot branding iron into my chest when she sniffles.
“I wondered why he wasn’t in town yet. God, I’m so sorry. We only saw him every October when he’d come to check on things here, but he was always so sweet, and kind… such a great boss.”
Sweet and kind? I’d laugh out loud if Sidney’s watery eyes staring up at me weren’t completely fucking with my head. And if I weren’t suddenly pissed off all over again, having it officially confirmed that the yearly October trips my grandfather had been taking for as long as I could remember weren’t really to hang out with an old college roommate, like he always told us.
“Are you okay? Do you need a hug? What about a candy corn martini?” Sidney asks, the concern on her face as she studies me when she still has tears shining in her eyes making me want to take her up on her offer of a hug, even though I’m perfectly fine. I don’t need a damn hug to make me feel better.
“What’s the cat’s name?” I ask her my own question instead, willing to do anything to stop thinking about all her soft parts pressed up against my hard ones. Even if it means talking about this stupid furball currently rubbing its face against the top of my boot. I hate small talk; it’s a pointless waste of time. But I’m about ready to ask her about the goddamn weather just to keep her here with me longer.
“Hay,” Sidney states.
“Hey what?”
“No, nothey what. It’s Haaay,” she drags out the word.
“Heeey,” I reply in just as much confusion, waving my hand at her.
“The cat’s name isHay!” Sidney laughs, the sound tightening my chest again. “H-A-Y, like the bales of hay in a field. I found her as a kitten wandering through the hay maze at Diederich’s Farm, so that’s how she got her name.”
Christ… why is everything she does so adorable?
“Marcus! Get this man a candy corn martini, stat!” Sidney suddenly shouts to the guy behind the bar, who’s built like a linebacker just like me but with a shaved head and a big smile on his face as he quickly makes drinks for the crowd at the bar.
“I don’t want whatever that is,” I mutter, looking around in confusion as everyone in the packed place suddenly goes running out the door, cheering and shouting with their drinks in their hands. “Where the hell is everyone going?”
Sidney answers me by grabbing one of the drinks that Marcus just set down on the bar. She takes a big sip while she grabs my hand with her free one and then drags me over to the front window that takes up the entire wall. The only reason I refrain from making a comment about how she’s underage and definitely shouldn’t be having a drink in this bar is because my hand still feels like it’s on fire from when she grabbed it. I can’t stop staring down at it while she sips her drink, wondering what in the fuck is going on, while the place quickly empties out. All of the bar patrons file out onto the street and join what looks like the whole town that is currently gathered on the square, all counting backward from ten at the top of their lungs.
“Quick, what’s your favorite Halloween memory?” Sidney asks me with a smile on her face as I stare at her profile, while she looks out the window, taking another sip of her drink.
