Page 17 of Promises & Pumpkins (Haunted in Hazy Cove #1)

Harper

“What about this?” Bridget asked, holding up a plastic bag with a one-size-fits-most costume. I cocked my head to the side. She couldn’t be serious.

“You’re joking right?” I looked at the picture of the nurse in a short skirt and bright-red fishnets that adorned the front of the package.

My sister looked at the bag and then back at me and scrunched her nose. “I think it’s cute!” She put her hands on her hips, still holding the costume from her pointer finger. “Didn’t you say he’s going as a doctor?”

“A surgeon.” I realized the correction was unnecessary and shook my head.

“I can’t dress as a sexy nurse to go trick-or-treating with a little kid!

” I imagined the look on a neighbor’s face when they opened their front door to find a girl dressed as a half princess, half doctor and a nurse behind her that looked like she should be dancing on a pole, not asking for bite-sized candy on their front porch.

“You’re no fun.” She rolled her eyes when I took the costume and hung it back on the rack.

I tilted my head and looked at her from the corner of my eye. “I’m plenty of fun,” I corrected her. “Now will you please be serious?”

“I am being serious. You’re no fun.” She shrugged, walking down the aisle to find another costume. “Is a nun better? Who is better behaved than a nun?”

I grumbled. “A nun in fishnets?” I took the costume from her and read the name. “Sinful Sister? Bridget, how is this appropriate?”

“I’m just saying, sexy single dad will love it.

” She took it from me, holding the plastic up in front of her like she was imagining wearing the lingerie that apparently passed as a costume.

She shimmied, and I regretted bringing her with me to shop at all.

Why was every costume so sexy? How had I never paid attention to that before?

When my sister picked up another costume, I put my hand in the air to stop her. “No, I’m not dressing as the Perfect Rider Cowgirl. That fringe skirt alone is just begging to get me in trouble!”

Bridget cackled, dropping the costume back on the rack. “Well, you have to pick something. You’re running out of time.”

I sighed. “I know, I know.” I turned the corner, determined to find something, and I giggled when I saw the perfect costume. “What about this?”

“A cop?” Bridget lifted her brows, biting back a laugh.

I grabbed a set of barely-stronger-than-plastic handcuffs from the shelf, swinging them around my finger. “Yeah.” What would Miles say? I imagined his face would say more than his words. “I mean, why not? It could be kinda fun.”

“I say go for it, Officer Sexy.”

I felt silly ringing his doorbell, and I bounced from one foot to the other while I waited. Then the lock clicked, and the door swung open. “Trick or treat,” I said when Miles was standing in front of me. His eyes widened, and both eyebrows rose in surprise.

“Well, hello, officer.” He stood in place, staring at me.

I followed his gaze when he gave me a slow once-over, taking in every detail of the costume from the knee-length dress and handcuffs hanging from my hip to the knee-high boots I wore with it.

When he licked his lips, I got nervous. Had I made the wrong choice?

“It’s too much, isn’t it?” I asked, feeling my cheeks warming quickly.

Miles shook his head. “Not at all. You look amazing.” He reached out and flicked the handcuffs, smirking. “If I’m lucky, you’ll use these on me later.”

“I was hoping I was going to be the one to get lucky.” I winked, and my voice was raspy. I coughed to clear it, stepping toward him and stretching onto my toes.

“If you wanted me to use handcuffs, baby, you just had to ask.” His words settled between my legs, and my mouth dried out. When I tried to swallow, the lump caught in my throat. Then he kissed me, and I hummed at the familiar comforting taste of his lips.

“Is that a promise or a threat?” I whispered against his lips. A low growl rolled from Miles’ chest.

“When you look at me like that, it’s both.”

When we were interrupted by a small voice, Miles stepped back. “What’s both?” Maddie asked. Then she looked at me. “Oh my gosh! You’re a cop like Daddy!”

“I am!”

Maddie looked up at me while her tiara slid crooked on the top of her head. She fixed it with a grin before correcting the stethoscope around her neck. “Do you like my costume?” she asked with a grin, twisting her hips side to side so her princess dress wrapped around her legs.

“You look great, doctor,” I said. “So does your surgeon counterpart.” When Miles winked, the butterflies in my stomach started to wake up.

“Do you like my crown?” she added when she had straightened it. Maddie struck a pose, and I couldn’t hold back the laugh that slipped from me.

I nodded. “I love it.”

Maddie lit up with the approval she was seeking. “Good.” She nodded once. “Now let’s go get candy. Right, Daddy? You said we could go as soon as Harper got here!”

Miles shrugged and looked at me as if to explain that he had indeed agreed to that. “What do you think?” he asked, tearing his eyes away from me and looking down at Maddie. “Should we go get the princess doctor some candy?”

“Yes!” Maddie shrieked, answering loudly enough for all of us.

She leapt off the first step and down to the sidewalk, dancing in circles around us while we walked.

“Trick or treat, trick or treat, trick or treat!” She dragged out the last word, singing the two words over and over while we walked.

I snickered when she fixed her tiara again and skipped a few steps ahead of us.

“I really do like your costume,” I said quietly, wrapping my hand around Miles’ arm.

“Thank you, trouble. I like yours too.” He leaned in, bringing his lips close to my ear. “But I think you already knew I would when you picked it out.”

I shrugged. If only he knew how many costumes I had put back because he would’ve liked them too much. “At least I didn’t dress as the nurse.” I wiggled my brow, earning a low laugh in return.

“You’re bad,” he said.

I stepped closer to him, watching while Maddie ran up to the first house and hit the doorbell. “I guess you’ll have to call the cops.”

The crowd of people around us faded away when Miles put his arm around me, pulling me against him. From the front porch, Maddie held up a piece of candy and waved it before dropping it in her bag. “Say thank you,” Miles shouted, and I giggled.

“Are you going to make me say thank you later?” What was I saying? His eyes darkened, letting me know that I was venturing into dangerous territory. So much for behaving.

“I plan on getting you to say more than thank you.” When he spoke again, his voice changed completely. The gravelly tone that was there disappeared, and it was replaced with wholesome warmth. “What did you get?” he asked Maddie when she skipped up to us grinning.

She sucked in a deep breath and held out two fingers. “I got two candies!” Then she reached up and grabbed his free hand, tugging him behind her while she took off for the next house. “I love Halloween!”

At the next house, Maddie let go of Miles and took my hand. “Will you come up with me for this one?" she pleaded. I shrugged, following her up the driveway.

“Do you think they’ll give me candy too?” I asked her. I felt Miles’ eyes following each step we took, and his laugh traveled with us when Maddie shrugged.

“Only if you say trick or treat,” she explained. Then she danced up to the door, ringing the bell and bouncing around while she waited for it to open. Once it was open barely a crack, she threw her hands in the air and squealed, “Trick or treat!”

An older woman beamed at Maddie. “Well look at you!” she said, holding a bowl in both hands. “I sure like your costume. Are you a princess?”

“I’m a princess doctor,” she corrected, fixing her tiara again. It would be a miracle if it made it home with her.

“Oh, a princess doctor,” the woman said like she should’ve known. “That’s a great costume. Can princess doctors eat candy?”

Maddie nodded, holding her bag out in front of her. “They can have lot of it!” she said, earning a laugh from the woman with the candy bowl. She was cute, and she knew it—especially when it resulted in getting more than a couple pieces of candy. “Thank you!”

“She’s adorable,” the woman said to me when Maddie turned to run down the front porch, already eager to get to the next house. “Happy Halloween!”

“Happy Halloween,” I said, following Maddie to where Miles watched us expectantly from the end of the driveway.

The pattern continued for the next several houses. Maddie would dance up to the house, running back down the driveway when she had added candy to her bag. Each time she returned, the smile on her face got wider.

“This is so much fun! Can it be Halloween more often?” Maddie asked, standing between us with a grip on both of our hands.

When Miles’ phone started to ring in his pocket, she gasped, then a wave of emotions crossed over her face, starting with surprise then anger and ending with sadness.

“Oh no,” she whined, already rolling her lip in an obvious pout.

I followed her disappointment to Miles when he answered the phone. “Captain Hunter.” His voice was low and serious, different than I had heard it before—like it carried weight and responsibility behind it.

I strained to try and hear the muffled voice on the other line but couldn’t.

Miles said everything with his guilt-ridden expression and the low harumphs and agreements he uttered.

“You can’t handle it?” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his finger and thumb. “Okay, okay. Yeah. I’m on my way.”

“No!” Maddie wailed when he hung up the phone before waiting to hear what he had to say. “Daddy, that’s not fair.” Large tears started to streak their way down her face. This time, when her tiara dipped to the side, she didn’t bother to fix it.

“I know, sweetheart,” Miles said, squatting down so he was at her level. He pulled the surgeon cap off his head and looked her in the eyes like he was going to be able to reason with her. “But you know how my job is. Sometimes I have to go help people.”

She sniffled, and my chest cracked. “Do you ha-ha-have to?” A sob wracked through her body, drawing attention from kids around us who carried on with their holiday celebration without any interruption. My stomach sank for every tear that dripped onto her costume.

“Yeah, I have to, and I’m going to take you over to Grandma’s.” He wiped away one of her tears, but they were quickly replaced with more. The look on his face was defeated. “Do you forgive me?” She scrunched her nose while she had an inner debate with herself.

“What if I stay with her?” I asked before I knew what I was saying. The sadness on Maddie’s face changed something in me.

Miles looked up over his shoulder. “What?” Maddie sniffled again, and her breath shook when she exhaled.

“What if I finish taking her around to the houses for you?” Maddie looked up at me with wide eyes and then looked to her dad for an answer.

“Are you sure?” He looked unsure about it, standing up from his squat and putting his hand on the top of her head. I nodded.

“Yeah, it could be fun.” I reached out and fixed Maddie’s crown, shrugging a single shoulder. “What do you think, Maddie?”

It took her just a second before she started to nod quickly. “Yeah!” she yelled. “Harper can trick-or-treat with me!”

Miles looked at me, down to Maddie, and back, then he paused. I counted his breaths—three full breaths before he responded. “You really don’t mind?”

“Not at all. Maybe it will even be fun.” I smiled at him when Maddie wrapped her arm around my leg. “Plus, I could really go for a Snickers. And I haven’t gotten one yet.”

His smile made my chest swell with a warning. “You girls have fun.” He wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me to him and kissing me so I still felt his lips when he pulled away. “You behave and listen to Harper, okay?”

Maddie nodded, agreeing and grabbing my hand. “Now let’s go!” she demanded. “We don’t want them to run out of candy!”

“I don’t think anyone is going to run out of candy,” I said, following her anyway. Before we were too far, I looked over my shoulder and smiled. “We’ll be fine,” I mouthed to him silently, nodding so he knew he could go.

“But what if they do?” Maddie interrupted my silent conversation, tugging harder. “Come on.” I laughed when she dragged the word out until she ran out of breath.

“Okay, okay. I’m coming,” I said, closing my hand around hers and catching up to her tiny stride. “Let’s go get some more candy.”