Page 11 of Knotty Bargain (Monster Holidays #3)

CHAPTER 11

CORDELIA

T he farmer's market is one of my favorite places to visit in the fall. The scents of apple cider and cinnamon swirl around us, making my stomach rumble. My mouth waters as we pass a tent selling all sorts of jam.

Towering over me, Levi's dark presence draws curious glances, but his eyes remain fixed ahead, scanning the rows of pumpkins and gourds. I hug my cardigan tighter; the weather is cooler than I expected today.

"Maybe we should have brought a cart. The pumpkins we passed are huge," I say. "We can't carry four of them."

A wicked glint sparks in his obsidian eyes. "I could carry a pumpkin in each hand if I shifted forms."

"No!" The word bursts out, too loud. Heat floods my cheeks as heads turn our way. I glare at him. "Absolutely not. I can't imagine the chaos that would bring."

His chuckle rumbles low, sending a shiver down my spine that has nothing to do with the cold. "Ashamed to be seen with me, Pumpkin?"

"What? No, I just..." My tongue trips over itself. My face goes hot, thinking he's mocking me, but his face is serious. "I'm not used to people looking at me. And everyone's looking at you, so that makes them look at me, too. The demon form would only make matters worse." Shadow Glen loves Halloween now, but not this much.

Strong fingers curl around my waist, pulling me into the solid wall of his chest. I stumble into Levi. I peek up at him through my lashes, my pulse stuttering at our proximity. "What are you doing?"

"Let them stare," he growls, his voice way too sexy. "We're supposed to be pretending, remember?"

Levi's heat sears through my thin sweater, and I'm abruptly aware of every place our bodies touch. It's too much, too fast.

Levi must feel it. He asks, "Tell me. Why aren't you used to have people looking at you?"

I swallow hard. "I've always been... lonely. Kind of awkward. My mom wasn't a good mom. Everything I did was wrong somehow. I was never enough. Sylvia was my only real friend. And after my mom died, Miranda... She took me in and gave me a home again. But it still feels that I never quite healed of the way my mom treated me. Then there's Marcus and Vivian. They always make me feel like I don't fit. Like I'm still doing something wrong."

His midnight gaze softens. "What happened to your parents?"

There's a strange sort of safety here, cocooned against his chest, like the rest of the world has fallen away. I find myself wanting to tell him things. "Dad left when I was a kid. He wasn't interested in being a dad, I guess." I shrug. That wound had healed years ago. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only kid with a deadbeat father. "Mom was in a car accident. I was at a sleepover with Syl when we got the call."

Levi is quiet for a long moment. Then, so gentle I almost miss it, "I understand complicated family shit. Mine always expected me to obey. As if I had asked to be born. They always expected me to do everything they desired out of gratitude for giving me life. They pushed me into a job I never wanted." He shrugs, a king's heavy mantle weighing his broad shoulders.

I meet his eyes, and the understanding that passes between us is so raw, so real it aches. We're more alike than I ever imagined, two lonely hearts stumbling through the dark. Maybe that's why this pretending feels dangerously close to something else.

Abruptly, Levi lets go. "How about this one, Pumpkin?"

He hefts a massive pumpkin with one hand as if it weighs nothing, his biceps flexing beneath his black Henley. My mouth goes dry. Seriously, how is he even real?

"Um, y-yeah," I stammer. "That's perfect."

He quirks a brow, lips twitching. "Something wrong?"

"Nope." I spin toward the next tent, cheeks blazing. "Not a thing."

As Levi falls into step beside me, pumpkin tucked casually under his arm, I struggle to slow my thundering heart. I can't be attracted to him. He's literally a demon, the devil himself. This is all just pretend.

Right?