Chapter 42
Layla
MOMMA BEAR
oh she is heaven-sent
*photo attachment*
LAYLA
she’s the cutest
I’m quickly pulled from the photo my mom texted of Emmy as Bella’s car door slams shut. I follow her out.
“Care to explain why the fuck you had me drive thirty minutes to a costume store?”
“Good to see you too, Bella,” Kieran teases as Grayson hops out of his truck.
As Bella makes her way over, Kieran strolls toward me. “Cue the make-out session in three, two—”
“One,” I finish for him, just as Grayson cups Bella’s jaw and kisses her like he hasn’t seen her in years.
Kieran sighs, placing his hands on his hips. “Young love. How utterly disgusting.”
I bump my hip against his. “You don’t mean that.”
“Not a single word.”
Snorting to myself, I look up at the costume store. “No, seriously, why are we here?”
At my question, Bella pulls herself from Grayson.
Kieran grins down at me, his large frame making me tip my head back. “We’re going to a haunted house tonight.”
A thrill of excitement rushes down my spine. “No way!”
“Oh, this is heaven for Layla,” Bella calls out, leaning against Grayson. “Interactive actors.”
“The whole shebang,” Kieran confirms.
Jumping up and down I can’t contain my excitement. “Oh my god!”
Kieran slings an arm over my shoulder. “Come on, sunshine, we’ve got to pick out a matching costume.”
He starts to lead me toward the store, and I arch a brow. “How far are you willing to go in the costume department?”
Grinning wickedly at me Kieran drawls, “All the way, sunshine.”
“Careful what you commit to.”
Shrugging, Kieran opens the door for me, letting me walk in first. “I’m not the one afraid of commitment.”
Before I can call him out on that little jab, he claps his hands. “Cindy and O’Connor said they have costumes sorted so they’ll meet us there.”
Bella squeals. “A triple date, how cute!”
Glowering at my best friend I hiss under my breath. “Bella.”
“What?” She flaps her hand at Kieran and me. “You’re going to be wearing matching costumes.”
“That does not equate a date.”
Kieran throws his arm around my shoulder. “Before you stab my heart again, let’s go pick out a costume.”
Grayson laughs to himself before pulling my friend away. “Leave them to have their lover’s spat.”
“It is not a lover’s spat!” I protest.
Bella arches a brow at me over her shoulder as Grayson all but drags her down one of the store’s endless aisles of costumes. “The look in your eyes says otherwise.”
She just laughs at me gaping at her before Grayson lifts her into his arms and takes off down the aisle.
Spinning on my heel, I all but stomp my foot and huff. “We are not having a lover’s spat.”
Kieran holds his hands up in surrender. “Hey, I wasn’t the one who said it.” Before I can protest further, he smiles, the one that makes his dimples pop out—identical to Emmy’s.
And suddenly, the frustration that was bubbling through my blood dissipates.
Curse him and that gorgeous smile.
“What do you want to go as, sweetheart?”
“Don’t sweetheart me.”
“My apologies, my fine madam,” he teases.
“Not that either.”
“Fine.” He clears his throat dramatically. “What do you want to go as, sunshine?”
I narrow my eyes to try and feign annoyance but in reality, my heart is pounding.
And he knows it.
Superpower.
His brow cocks as he leans against the wall. “Well, well, well, you do like the nickname after all.”
Rolling my eyes, I turn and take off, strutting down an aisle to try and give my heart enough space to calm down. “You’re insufferable.”
His quick steps ring out behind me as he catches up. “We’ve been over this before. I know that when you say that, you really mean, Kieran, I adore you so much and I want to suck your face off.”
I gasp, spinning so quickly Kieran runs into me. “That is not what it means!”
He just rolls his eyes before laying his hands on my shoulder. “Of course it does.”
“No, it certainly does not!”
I sound like a toddler having a tantrum and yet I can’t stop myself. He always knows how to press just the right buttons.
Kieran drops his head so we’re at eye level. “Layla, you’ve come on my tongue screaming my name. It’s too late now to pretend otherwise.”
My eyes widen so far, I’m worried they’ll get stuck.
“You—you—”
“Yes, me?” he teases.
Groaning, I push him off me. “You can’t say things like that!”
“And why not?”
Yeah, Layla why not?
Peering around the aisle, I snatch the closest thing I can find, which funnily enough fits exactly what I want to do. Shoving it at Kieran’s chest, I demand, “Put that on and shut up!”
Kieran’s eyes are sparkling with such heat already, and somehow they glow more as he looks down at what I threw at him. “Fuck me, I knew your books were kinky but this is next level.”
Sitting in Kieran’s hands is a mask for a Hannibal Lecter costume.
I throw my hands in the air. “I actually can’t with you. How the hell do you manage to make every little thing I say dirty?”
His eyes do a very slow perusal of my body, when his gaze finally lifts to mine, they’re hooded. “Have you looked in a mirror? It’s extremely easy.”
“Oh my god, you’re intolerable.”
“Just admit you want me and we can drop it.”
He’s pushing, far more than he has in the past three weeks. This is like the old Kieran. The one I have desperately wanted back and yet in equal measures have been terrified to see again, because he’s so hard to say no to.
I turn away from him before his superpower can read the thoughts running havoc through my mind, forcing myself to focus on the costumes. One catches my eye, sparking a hint of anticipation in my blood.
Ignoring whatever Kieran is babbling on about now, I stride down the mask aisle and stop a third of the way down. Taking two off the wall, I turn to face Kieran, grinning madly as I lift them.
“How badly do you want to prove that you want me?”
Kieran’s strides eat up the aisle, his gaze devouring me. “I’d die for you if it meant you’d take me seriously.”
Swallowing thickly, I try to ignore the way his honest words make my belly heat. “Wear this then.”
Dropping the Hannibal Lecter mask, he catches the new one I throw him, his lip twitching. “Oh, we’re so fucking on.”
Surprise flashes through me. “Really? You’re going to wear it with me?”
“Sunshine, you could torture me and so long as your hands are on my body I’d be a good boy and scream.”
“What a delightful picture.”
“Want me to scream for you?”
“Maybe.”
He chuckles darkly, then cocks his head at the mask. “You’ve read a book about this, haven’t you?”
Blinking I try to cover my shock. “N-no.”
His lip twitches. “Care to share what scene you’re remembering that’s making your cheeks flush?”
“No!”
“So there is a book.”
I quickly shove the mask over my face, hiding my reactions. “Good luck using your superpower on me now, Ashford.”
He steps forward slowly, his eyes eating me up, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d think he could see all the way down to my soul if I weren’t wearing a mask.
I tip my head back, waiting with baited breath as Kieran ever so slowly lifts the matching Ghostface mask and slides it on, cocking his head. The move has a jolt of heat zapping down my core.
Goosebumps pebble my flesh.
“I don’t need to see your face to know when you’re turned on, Layla.” He reaches out, his finger caressing the raised skin of my arm. “You’re my favorite book to read. Even if some chapters are missing I know them by heart.”
Bella comes rushing around the corner. “Layla!”
Jumping apart, I spin in time to see my best friend look at Kieran standing behind me in the Ghostface mask then to me breathing heavily in a matching mask.
She points between us. “My timing is bad, isn’t it?”
“Fucking horrendous,” Kieran drawls dryly.
“Whoopsies.” Shrugging, she wraps an arm around my shoulder.
“Well, the moment’s gone now so I’m going to steal you.
I found the perfect outfit for you, and it’s absolutely going to match that mask.
” Bella lifts her gaze over my shoulder to Kieran.
“And will make you not hate me for what I just interrupted.”
He huffs. “I fucking hope so.”
Grayson rounds the corner wearing a white chef’s hat and the goofiest grin on his face I can’t help but laugh. “What the hell are you going as?”
He throws his arms out to his sides. “Ratatouille!” he declares.