“Oh! Oh! That’s me!” I jumped up at the sight of the mailman and made grabby hand gestures for the parcel in his hands.
Our hands brushed, and immediately, the air zinged with static as the mother of all shocks went up his arm.
“Hell!” he cursed, shaking his hand.
Mairead’s mouth dropped open, and I felt my cheeks heat.
“How weird,” I said, scratching my head.
“Yeah…” The mailman grimaced and backed away toward the door.
Frowning, I turned away, slightly embarrassed I’d zapped a complete stranger. Hugging the parcel to my chest, I sighed. How inconvenient.
“Are you sure you’re not doing that on purpose?” Mairead asked when he’d left.
“Of course, I’m sure!” I exclaimed. “I don’t get my jollies going around shocking random strangers.”
“You’re gettin’ weirder by the day.” She nodded at the parcel. “What’s that, then?”
“It’s my Halloween costume!” I declared, tearing open the plastic with a flourish.
Holding up the packet, I grinned.
“A sexy witch?” Mairead raised her eyebrows. “Case in point.”
“I told you I wasn’t messing around.” I grinned, my static charge forgotten for the time being. “Best costume ever.”
“I thought costumes were compulsory!”
Boone stood on the front step, wearing his usual getup of jeans, boots, black and red checkered shirt, tight black T-shirt, and his ratty leather bomber jacket. While I appreciated his penchant for tight underthings, I was so not unimpressed.
To think I’d gone to all the trouble of ordering a costume online when I loathed dressing up. The fishnet stockings I’d loaned off Mairead began to itch my crotch area, and I wondered how anyone wore these things. Picking an itchy front wedgie was so not sexy. Even more so when your costume was a sexy witch…not itch.
He shrugged and buried his hands deeper into his pockets.
“Typical.” I pouted.
“Are you goin’ to show me what’s under that coat?”
“Nope.” I smiled sweetly, tightened the trench coat I’d found in Aileen’s closet, and shook my head. “Not until we get to Molly McCreedy’s.”
“It better be appropriate for all ages.”
I rolled my eyes, knowing the fishnet stockings were only appropriate on two occasions. When you were a Goth and on Halloween. Luckily for me, it was the latter. I could never pull off fishnets.
“I still haven’t forgiven you for forgetting to bring me my energy drink the other day,” I drawled, not impressed by his teasing.
“I’ll make it up to you.”
“You better.”
Boone grinned and leaned down, pressing a kiss to my lips.
“That’s a good start,” I murmured.
I locked the door to the cottage behind me, and we made the three-minute walk over to Molly McCreedy’s in silence. Mostly, I was annoyed Boone had gotten out of dressing up. I’d been conspiring for him to dress up as a fox ever since Mairead gave me the invitation, but he wouldn’t have a bar of it. Sometimes, that man was too serious for his own good.
The party was in full swing as we approached the pub. Outside, Fergus’s donkey was tied to her usual post with a blue tutu around her middle and a matching bow in her mane. Even she’d gotten the memo!
Carved pumpkins and hay bales were arranged outside, fake spider webs and skeletons were weaved around the exterior, and when we went inside, we were greeted by little old Mary Donnelly dressed as a pink fairy.
“Oh, Skye,” she said when she saw my trench coat. “You’re not dressed as a flasher, are you? There better be somethin’ underneath there. No one wants to buy when you’re giving away for free. I’ve still penciled you in for a spring reception at the teahouse. There’s no way I’m writin’ your bookin’ in pen if you forgot to wear your underthings!”
My mouth fell open, and Boone began to laugh, his hands clutching his sides.
“And, Boone,” she went on. “Where’s your costume?” She clipped him around the ear, which silenced his amusement.
Shucking off my coat, I produced my shimmering green witches hat and shoved it onto my head.
“I’m not sure about that, but it’s a sight better than what I was expectin’,” Mary declared, before shooing us into the pub. “Have fun, dears.”
“A witch?” Boone asked, cocking his head to the side. “Really?”
“Yes, really,” I replied, dodging a skeleton hanging from the ceiling.
“Can I get you a drink?”
“Yes,” I declared, swatting away a spider web. “A big one with one of those little umbrellas!”
As he disappeared toward the bar, I spotted Mairead twirling around on the dance floor by the fireplace. She was flirting with a boy I’d seen Mrs. Boyle chase with her broom on many occasions. I would go as far to say he was the old woman’s number one nemesis before he’d disappeared off to college.
Wait… Mairead was flirting?
“Hey, Skye!”
Turning, I smiled as Maggie appeared. Her costume was a Bavarian Beer Maid. It seemed her irony meter was as high as mine.
“What are you wearin’?” she asked, tugging me on the arm.
“A brilliant costume,” I declared.
“A sexy witch,” she said with a laugh. “That’s original.”
“Hey, I’m Australian. We don’t celebrate Halloween. Not really. I’m a newbie, thank you very much. I went for a costume classic.” I put my hands on my hips and pouted seductively at her. “And I don’t look half bad.”
“Your skirt is so short I can almost see your knickers! I bet Boone likes it.” She wiggled her eyebrows up and down.
“I’ll let you know tomorrow.” I winked suggestively.
“Lucky bitch,” she said with a laugh as Sean McKinnon—who was dressed as a scarecrow with hay shoved underneath his rumpled clothes—wrapped his arm around her waist and twirled her away. “Sean!” she screeched. “What did I tell you about sexual harassment in the workplace!”
Boone appeared and handed me a drink with a smile, his free hand sliding around my waist.
“Maggie is right,” he murmured into my ear. “I can almost see your knickers.”
“I really think you should’ve come as a fox,” I said. “Like a sports team mascot with an oversized fluffy head.”
He screwed up his nose and sipped at his pint
