Fallin' in Love (2 page)

Luke grinned. "We should have brought a shoe to distract him."

The woman laughed. "He loves shoes too? I thought Pixie was the only one who devoured them on a daily basis."

Hellboy and Pixie stopped their rough-housing to gaze at each other as if they had found their soulmate.

Until Hellboy saw a stray apple laying on the ground, and took off after it, with Luke gripping the leash, trying to keep up with the little monster.

***

M
ia leaned back against the apple tree, sitting next to Luke on the blanket he'd thought to bring from the car. There were a lot of perks to having a chef for a boyfriend, most notably his ability to whip simple everyday ingredients into a scrumptious picnic.

"You are amazing," she said. "And so is this cider."

"Wait til you taste it with this."

Mia opened her mouth for the morsel of cheese he offered. She had barely started chewing when the tart cider blended with the nutty cheddar. "Oh my God."

"People are going to think we're doing something else if you keep that up."

"If you keep giving me things like this to eat, we
will
be doing something else."

"You put such ideas into my head." He clucked his tongue. "And almost all of them would get us arrested."

He finished slicing an apple, one they'd picked earlier, and handed it to her. Mia took it from his outstretched fingers with her teeth.

"Wow," he said, "I'm lucky you didn't bite me."

"I'm saving that for later."

His eyes sparked with appreciation, and Mia could feel her heart swelling with happiness. What a wonderful day it had turned out to be. The air had just a hint of the crispness which signaled summer wouldn't be able to hang on forever. The occasional breeze shook the leaves on the trees, exposing the apples nestled in the branches above, and ruffling Hellboy's fur while he snored at the edge of the blanket.

"Thank goodness Hellboy managed to wear himself out," Luke said.

He put his arm around Mia, drawing her in to his side. She was pretty sure she heard a sigh of contentment when she snuggled closer. She looked up at him, just to make sure, and in the next instant, he yawned.

The shocked look on his face made Mia burst out laughing.

"I'll have to chastise Hellboy for wearing you out," she teased. "That was supposed to be my job today."

"Don't you worry. I have plenty of stamina in reserve."

"Good to know." She nuzzled his shirt, warmed from being in the sunshine. "Because we've got a bushel of apples to turn into pies."

He gave her a playful squeeze. She nearly squealed but Luke silenced her with a kiss, one that made her forget teasing, or pies, or anything but falling under his spell, under an apple tree, on the most perfect day ever created.

***

L
uke barely had a chance to open the car door before Hellboy darted into the backyard as if actual hellhounds were on his tail. The pup must have made at least four laps around the yard before he finally stopped, panting heavily, but with his trademark grin finally back in place.

"Good to see you happy again, buddy."

Luke grabbed the picnic basket from the trunk. He managed to tuck the leash into his back pocket, although not quickly enough, because Hellboy gave him a suspicious look before racing to the farthest corner of the yard.

Mia slapped her hands against her thighs, trying to woo Hellboy out of his lair, but he just stared blankly, as if he didn't have a clue what she wanted.

Luke laughed. "He's never going to let us forget that whole leash business."

"It doesn't seem so. I wonder if he'll ever want to visit us again."

"I doubt that will be a problem."

Luke took the basket inside the house and placed it on the kitchen table. He thought about grabbing some wine and heading down to the dock, since there probably weren't too many days left for them to enjoy it. They had spent many a summer evening there, getting to know each other, sharing their first kiss—

"Stop that!" Mia cried.

What the hell? Luke dashed outside, the screen door slamming behind him. Mia was waving her hands at Hellboy in a vain attempt to stop him from gnawing on the pumpkin she'd just placed on the patio step.

"That's one way for him to get his revenge."

"It's bigger than he is!"

"Yeah, but to him it's just another ball." Luke wrapped his arms around Mia from behind. "Although I'm glad you're not going to toss this one at my car."

She relaxed her head against his chest. "I still feel bad about breaking your headlight that day."

"I don't," he said, peppering her cheek with kisses. "If you hadn't—well, I probably wouldn't have come over, even though I wanted to get to know you, in the worst way."

Mia turned in his embrace until she was facing him. "Why not?"

"What would I have said? 'Howdy, ma'am, I think you're incredibly sexy and I'd like to get to know you, even though you're only going to be here a couple weeks.'"

"Yeah, that might have made me nervous. Especially the 'Howdy, ma'am' part." She buried a laugh in his chest, and Luke couldn't resist the chance to dot some more kisses along her temple. "Did I ever tell you I thought you were a music video stud?"

He bit her earlobe lightly. "You said you thought I was a chauffeur."

"That too."

"You have a very nice imagination."

"Wait til you hear what I'm imagining for later."

Luke gave a low growl, similar to what Hellboy was doing to the pumpkin. He glanced over Mia's shoulder to see what damage the dog had caused so far. He didn't even want to think what the hellhound would do to the scarecrow Mia had bought for decoration.

"I thought we got him one of those baby pumpkins. Something more his size."

"We did." Mia grinned. "But I think I'll save it as a distraction for later, once he's taken out all his frustrations on this one."

"Well, if you don't bring it out soon, that one is going to be pumpkin pie."

"Oooh, pie." Her eyes twinkled with mischief. "We've got some apple pies to make."

Luke kissed her neck, making goose bumps appear all over her skin.

"The pies can wait," he murmured. "Let's go make something else for a while."

O
ctober

Mia tucked the phone between her ear and shoulder. "I wish you were here instead of at work." She unwrapped another miniature chocolate bar and popped it into her mouth. "Although now I won't have to share any of the good candy."

"There should be plenty left, since you probably won't see very many trick-or-treaters out there tonight."

"I know. Sondra already warned me that it's a bit deserted on Halloween."

Hellboy barked, a couple of times, from his perch on the couch. He surveyed the room and then added another little warning ruff.

"It almost sounds like a scary movie setup," Luke said with a laugh. "But no need to be worried when you've got Hellboy for protection."

"He's fierce all right. Aren't you, Bootsie?" The dog growled, as if unhappy that she'd reverted to using his original name. Mia giggled. "Wait til you see his costume."

"No wonder he's barking. Although, speaking of costumes, I'm more interested in what you're wearing."

"I can't believe you went there. Next you'll be trying to get me to have phone sex—"

"What a great idea."

"Naughty boy," she said. "Too bad you're stuck at the restaurant. Is it busy?"

"Not too bad actually. I'll probably get to leave earlier than I thought."

"I'm glad. I can't wait to see you in your chef costume."

"It's a
uniform
. Not a costume."

She could hear the indulgence in his voice, and it made her miss him intensely, even though she'd get to see him in just a few hours.

"Well, I still like seeing you in it. Even better is seeing your face when I take it off you."

"And I like when you're watching something besides my face when you take off my cost—I mean uniform."

She laughed again, enjoying their banter, as well as its distracting effect on him. "I really do miss you. I wish we got to see each other more than once a week."

"I know. I feel the same way. Hopefully one of these days—"

Just then the doorbell rang, which set Hellboy into a new frenzy of barking.

"Oh, good. I've finally got some trick-or-treaters. Hang on, okay? I don't want the beast to scare them off."

"No problem. Hey, keep the phone so I can be there with you."

Mia nearly melted at his words. "That's so sweet! Let me get the candy."

She grabbed the plastic jack-o-lantern by its handle, keeping the phone tucked into her shoulder, all while opening the door and blocking it so Hellboy couldn't race outdoors.

"Trick or treat!"

Mia's jaw dropped. Luke was standing on the step, holding his phone to his ear and grinning like a madman.

"Surprised?"

"I'm stunned."

He'd tricked her, but oh what a treat he was. Before she could throw herself into his arms, Hellboy jumped at Luke's legs, demanding his attention.

Luke gathered the pup into his arms. "Hey, that
is
a nice costume. The devil horns are perfect."

Mia chuckled. "What else, right?"

Luke's gaze roamed over Mia from her toes all the way to the top of her head. He finally remembered his phone, and tapped the screen distractedly before tucking it into his back pocket.

"We might have to celebrate Halloween every week. Especially with those boots." He gave her a slow grin that made her shiver with anticipation. "And the wig—I think I like you as a brunette."

She laughed, giving him a kiss before ushering him in, locking the door behind him. "Sounds good to me. Only you'll have to come up with a different
uniform
. You can't rely on this one all the time."

He sat Hellboy back down on the floor before pulling her into his arms. "Are you sure? My girlfriend really likes it."

"Does she?"

"Yes." He kissed the tip of her nose. "In fact, we were just talking about it on the phone. She's got a thing for almost-world-class chefs."

Mia pretended to frown. "Oh, I think she just told you that so you'd keep cooking for her."

"That's another reason I'm crazy about her. She's wicked smart."

"Enough about her." Mia reached up to undo the top button of his shirt. "Let's get you out of this and into something a little more naked."

His swift intake of breath made her even more excited than she thought possible. He leaned in for a kiss, but before his lips could reach hers, Hellboy interrupted with another blast of barking.

They both groaned.

"I'll distract the hellhound." Luke toed off both shoes and scooted them in the dog's direction.

"Two?" Mia raised her eyebrows. "That's going to keep him entertained the rest of the night."

His eyes sparked with passion. "Exactly what I'd planned on."

***

L
uke closed the door to the bedroom, but kept his eyes on Mia. Her Vampirella costume turned him on in a big way—and she knew it. Her lips lifted in a slow smile while she beckoned him with some ridiculously long blood-red nails.

He walked toward her while yanking off his shirt. It reminded him of the first time they'd made love here. He'd been so impatient, like a randy teenager, unable to believe his good luck at having her in his bedroom.

He still couldn't believe his good luck. Mia was a treasure, in every way, and tonight was just another example. He stopped to admire her again.

"What's taking so long?" she said with a mock pout. "Do I need to complain to the chef about the lousy service in this establishment?"

He laughed out loud. "No, no need for that. I'm sure I can make it up to you."

She heaved a sigh and rolled her eyes, but they were twinkling with mischief. "Well, if you think you can."

"Oh, I'm confident I can."

She couldn't hide the shiver, thrilling him even more. "Show me what you've got then. I'm waiting."

Her last words came out in a whisper. Maybe she couldn't breathe in the corset she was wearing. That would be a shame, because he really liked how it looked on her, and the way it made her breasts—

Now he was the one who couldn't breathe.

"I'm so glad I was the only trick-or-treater tonight," he managed.

Mia giggled, and somehow it made her vavoom outfit even sexier. There was something about her that made him feel happy and aroused and content, all at once. He didn't know how she did it, but boy was he glad she did.

"Maybe we should have put a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the front door," she said.

"I'm not worried. If anyone does show up, Hellboy the guard dog will rip them to shreds."

That made her laugh even more. "Your imagination is getting away from you."

He wrestled the rest of his clothes off and threw them behind him. He stood there, naked, his hands on his hips. "You have no idea."

She glanced down, and then back up at his face. "I've got an inkling."

"An inkling?" He gave her a mock frown. "You consider this an inkling? Maybe I should have worn my caveman costume."

She threw her arms around him. He loved the feel of her breasts pressed against his bare chest. He circled his fingers around her waist, enjoying the satiny material of the corset beneath his fingers. She smoothed her hands up his back, and then down over his butt, making him groan with pleasure.

"Mia, I'm torn between wanting you to keep this stuff on, and wanting you to take it off completely."

"Let's do both—ooh, judging from the audience response, you like that idea."

He laughed at how his body had given him away. "Yes, very much. We, I mean, I, just need a few more details."

Her hands began roaming over his skin again, only this time they found their way to his chest, touching so lightly it was almost ticklish. He had to remind himself to stay patient. They had the rest of the weekend to enjoy themselves, and it was obvious that Mia was in no rush to end this pleasure.

Neither was he.

"How about we play a game?" she murmured.