2. Chapter 2
Cate
Halloween - Twelve Years Ago
The sky was a deep midnight blue, the kind that made the whole city feel colder than it already was. Snow drifted in slow spirals, melting the second it touched my hair. Typical Colorado Halloween - equal parts magic and misery.
I zipped my coat to my chin. “Remind me why we’re doing this again?”
“Because it’s Halloween,” Amy said, bouncing in place like that could keep her warm. “And haunted houses are fun.”
“Haunted houses are stupid,” I muttered, shoving my hands deeper into my pockets as the line inched forward. “Whoever said you’re supposed to go to one has clearly never stood outside in Colorado in late October.”
Amy shrugged. “That’s probably true. What would you rather be doing?”
“Dancing. Somewhere warm. Preferably while not haunted.”
Amy snorted. “So… the club.”
“Exactly.”
She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. She knew I meant it.
The wind picked up suddenly and whipped her knit hat clean off her head. She yelped and sprinted after it, disappearing into the parking lot.
I sighed and took another reluctant step forward. The line behind me was somehow even longer than when we’d arrived.
“Amy!” I yelled. “We’re almost up!”
She waved me ahead without slowing down. “Go ahead! I’ll meet you inside!”
Of course she would.
I handed my ticket to the attendant - a man with a Santa belly, a nicotine smile, and zero respect for personal space.
“Watch out for the boogeyman,” he cackled.
“Great,” I muttered, slipping past him and tugging aside the heavy black curtain.
Inside was pitch dark except for a red rope light snaking along the floor. Shadows moved up ahead - screams, laughter, the thud of someone, or something, hitting a wall.
Fantastic.
“Okay, Cate,” I whispered, giving myself a little pep talk. “Just get through it.”
My breath fogged in the cold air as my eyes adjusted. When an older couple suddenly appeared behind me, I stepped off the narrow path to let them pass.
I immediately regretted it.
Something brushed the back of my head.
I jerked around, stumbled, and crashed straight through a thick spiderweb. Sticky threads clung to my hair and face. I screamed, swatting wildly, and staggered backward into a table.
“Calm down,” I whispered, eyes squeezed shut. “It’s fake. It’s all fake.”
But when I opened them, my hands were smeared with something dark and slick.
Oh no.
Against every instinct I had, I looked at the table.
A severed head rested on a silver platter, a bloody tongue beside it.
“Nope,” I whispered, wiping my hands on my jeans. “Absolutely not.”
My heart was thundering. I backed away slowly, too scared to run, too scared not to.
A cackling laugh split the air and I dove under the table.
The world narrowed to my own breathing. A group of girls walked past, giggling, and I reminded myself this was pretend.
Stupid.
Over-the-top.
Still trembling, I crawled out and found the red-lit path again, refusing to look anywhere except my feet. Three rooms later I finally spotted a light ahead.
The exit.
I sped up, nearly colliding with a guy walking in front of me.
“Sorry, sorry,” I muttered, willing myself not to panic. “Almost out. Almost…”
“RUUUMMMM!”
A blast of air hit the back of my neck.
I spun around in time to see a tall figure looming behind me, cloth mask stretched tight, chainsaw raised overhead.
I screamed and launched forward, slamming full-force into the guy in front of me. We tumbled through the open doorway and onto the floor.
“Oof.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, face buried in his chest, waiting for the chainsaw to carve me in half.
It didn’t.
Instead, strong hands slid up my arms, steady and grounding.
“Hey,” a voice said calmly. “You okay?”
I cracked one eye open.
He was… unfairly handsome.
“Oh my God,” I gasped, mortified, suddenly aware of his body beneath mine… and how perfectly we were lined up. Heat rushed to my face. “I’m so sorry.”
He grinned up at me, eyes warm. “Well, hello there.”
My stomach flipped.
“Are you okay?” he asked gentler now.
“Yeah. I think so. You?”
“Well,” he said seriously for one terrifying second, “I can’t feel my legs.”
My heart dropped…
Then he laughed. “Other than that, I’m fantastic.”
“Oh my God.” I tried to scramble up, then froze when I realized I was literally pinning him down. “I’m the reason you can’t move.”
Still smiling, a pair of dimples creasing his cheeks, he admitted, “Guilty.”
Heat rushed up my neck. I rolled off him and landed on the floor, burying my face in my hands. “I swear I’m not usually this pathetic.”
“You’re not pathetic,” he said, not teasing, not amused.
It was like he actually meant it.
He stood and brushed off his jeans, then offered me his hand. “Here. Let me help you up.”
I took it, my whole body buzzing. “Thanks. Sorry again.”
“No harm done,” he said, easily. “Let’s get you out of here.”
He let me hold onto his arm through the last few rooms. I told myself it was just the adrenaline, just the dark. But when his hand adjusted slightly, careful and sure, I didn’t pull away.
Cold air hit my face as we stepped outside. Snow was falling again, soft and quiet, like the world had reset itself.
“Cate!” Amy’s voice rang out from the line.
I froze.
My hand was still wrapped around this stranger’s arm. And he was… wow. Tall. Broad shoulders. Light brown hair threaded with gold. A denim jacket lined with shearling.
My face heated and I quickly let go.
“I-I need to get to my friend,” I said, already backing away. “She’ll have a field day if she sees all this.”
He smiled like he understood completely.
I hurried across the lot toward Amy, trying to pretend I wasn’t still buzzing - from fear, from laughter, from him.
“Who’s your friend?” she called out as soon as I reached her, eyes sparkling.
Before I could answer, footsteps crunched through the snow behind me.
The stranger stopped a few feet away and offered Amy his hand. “Hi. I’m John.”
Amy shook it, grinning at me over his shoulder. “Nice to meet you, John. How do you two know each other?”
“We bumped into each other,” he said smoothly. “Inside.”
I shot him a grateful look. He returned it.
“We should probably go,” I said quickly, reaching for Amy. “It was nice meeting you.”
John lifted my hand and kissed my knuckles. “The pleasure was all mine.”
My knees nearly gave out.
Before Amy could interrogate me, and before John could watch me turn beet red, I tugged her toward the car.
“Cate!” she protested. “I haven’t even gone in yet!”
“Too bad,” I said. “You made me go in alone.”
She groaned. “Fine. Next time you pick.”
“You bet your ass I do.”
We’d barely made it halfway across the parking lot when…
“Cate!”
I turned to see John jogging toward us, breath visible in the cold. Amy immediately drifted toward the car.
“I’m sorry about all of that.”
“That’s okay,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Happens all the time. And your secret’s safe with me.”
“Thanks,” I managed, pulse tripping over itself. “Well… now that I’ve humiliated myself thoroughly in front of a complete stranger…”
“We’re not strangers,” he said. “I’m John. You’re Cate. Short for… Katie? Kaitlyn? Kathleen?”
“Catherine,” I said. “With a C.”
He smiled, and something inside me softened.
“Can I call you sometime?”
I shook my head. “I don’t really… do the whole dating thing.”
“How about coffee instead?” he offered. “As a thank you. For letting me break your fall.”
Amy’s car pulled up behind me.
John hesitated. “Meeting someone like this doesn’t happen every day.”
Something warm, and a little dangerous, fluttered in my chest.
“I’ll be at The Scot & Barrel tomorrow around six,” he said, stepping back. “If you show, great. If not…” He shrugged. “I’m still glad I met you.”
I slid into the car, heart pounding.
“What was that?” Amy demanded as she pulled onto the road.
“He wanted my number,” I whispered.
“And?”
“And I didn’t give it to him.”
“What? Why not?”
“Because I don’t know anything about him.”
“You didn’t know anything about Mr. Dreamy-Eyes from the bar last night…”
“That was different,” I snapped. Then softer, “And he wasn’t wearing a ring.”
Amy squealed. “Oh my God. You like him.”
I looked out the window, a smile tugging at my lips.
“He did smell good.”